Sapphire Radeon R9 270X 2GB TOXIC Video Cards in CrossFire

Introduction

A few months ago we got a chance to check out the Sapphire R9 270X 2GB TOXIC, and found ourselves extremely impressed with what was being offered from the company. We actually found ourselves so happy with the model, that after we finished looking at it, I made it a personal mission to try and hunt down a second one from Sapphire to see what CrossFire performance looked like.

While it took a few months, we finally got a second R9 270X 2GB TOXIC from Sapphire, and we now find ourselves with the ability to test the card. Along with the ability to test this Sapphire model in CrossFire, it's also the first time we've had the chance to test the R9 270X 2GB in CrossFire.

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Due to the fact that we've already had a look at the Sapphire R9 270X 2GB TOXIC in detail, we won't be looking at the card again. If you want to see what exactly we're dealing with, then we recommend you head over to the original review that we linked to in the first paragraph. Instead, today we'll be moving from our introduction, into our test system setup before getting stuck into the performance side of things.

Priced at $239.99, it will be interesting to see just how this $480 setup goes against the more expensive single card setups on offer at the moment. So, with that all said and done, let's stop talking and just get into the testbed before covering the cards that you'll see in our graphs today.

Benchmarks - Test System Setup

We would like to thank the following companies for supplying and supporting us with our test system hardware and equipment: Intel, ASUS and Corsair.

With a price tag of around the $480 mark, the Sapphire R9 270X 2GB TOXIC CrossFire setup isn't a cheap one. Compared to the AMD single card solution, it hits at around $20 - $40 less than a single R9 290 4GB, and around $120 less than the top of the range R9 290X 4GB. Those are the two setups that we'll be paying the most attention to today when comparing the Sapphire setup.

Along with those two high-end offerings, we've got the older HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB, Sapphire R9 280X 3GB TOXIC, and the MSI R9 280X 2GB Twin Frozr Gaming OC in CrossFire. As for the NVIDIA side of things, we've got the GTX 770 2GB, MSI GTX 780 Lightning overclocked to over 1000MHz on the core, and the EVGA GTX TITAN 6GB SuperClocked to round things off today.

Before we get into the benchmark results though, we want to make sure everything on the setup is looking right. Looking above, you can see our GPU-Z screenshot, and at the bottom you can of course see the cards are running in CrossFire with 2 GPUs enabled.

The FPS Numbers Explained

When we benchmark our video cards and look at the graphs, we aim to get to a certain level of FPS which we consider playable. While many may argue that the human eye can't see over 24 FPS or 30 FPS, any true gamer will tell you that as we climb higher in Frames Per Seconds (FPS), the overall gameplay feels smoother. There are three numbers we're looking out for when it comes to our benchmarks.

30 FPS - It's the minimum number we aim for when it comes to games. If you're not dropping below 30 FPS during games, you're going to have a nice, and smooth, gaming experience. The ideal situation is that even in a heavy fire fight, the minimum stays above 30 FPS, making sure that you can continue to aim easily, or turn the corner with no drama.

60 FPS - It's the average we look for when we don't have a minimum coming at us. If we're getting an average of 60 FPS, we should have a minimum of 30 FPS or better, and as mentioned above, it means we've got some smooth game play happening.

120 FPS - The new number that we've been hunting down over recent months. If you're the owner of a 120 Hz monitor, to get the most out of it, you want to get around the 120 FPS mark. Moving from 60 FPS / 60 Hz to 120 FPS / 120 Hz brings with it a certain fluidity that can't really be explained, but instead has to be experienced. Of course, if you're buying a 120 Hz monitor to take advantage of 3D, an average of 120 FPS in our benchmark means that in 3D, you will have an average of 60 FPS, which again means you should expect some smooth gameplay.

Why are some graphs incomplete?

Adding new game benchmarks is a long, tedious, and time consuming task as every video card has to be re-tested in those new benchmarks. Because of this, we have always just evaluated our benchmark line up every six months. To stay up to date and current with the latest benchmarks and games available, we've changed our approach to adding new benchmarks.

Our benchmark line up will progress and be updated as newer, more intensive games with benchmarks come to light. While this will mean that initially you may only see a single video card in those particular graphs, as the weeks go on, and we test more and more video cards, the results will grow quickly. This will help keep our benchmark line up as up to date as possible as we introduce and remove games on a constant basis.

Benchmarks - 3DMark 11

3DMark 11

Version and / or Patch Used: 1.1

Developer Homepage: http://www.futuremark.com

Product Homepage: http://www.3dmark.com/3dmark11/

Buy It Here

3DMark 11 is the latest version of the world's most popular benchmark. Designed to measure your PC's gaming performance, 3DMark 11 makes extensive use of all the new features in DirectX 11, including tessellation, compute shaders, and multi-threading. Trusted by gamers worldwide to give accurate and unbiased results, 3DMark 11 is the best way to consistently and reliably test DirectX 11 under game-like loads.

We start off strong with 3Dmark 11, and you can see our Sapphire R9 270X 2GB TOXIC CrossFire setup has no problems taking out all the single GPU offerings at the Performance preset. The only time we see a single GPU setup outperform it, is the higher-end NVIDIA offerings, and only in the higher resolution Extreme preset.

Benchmarks - 3DMark Fire Strike

3DMark Fire Strike

Version and / or Patch Used: 1

Developer Homepage: http://www.futuremark.com

Product Homepage: http://www.futuremark.com/benchmarks/3dmark

Buy It Here

Fire Strike is our new showcase DirectX 11 benchmark designed for high-performance gaming PCs. It is our most ambitious and technical benchmark ever, featuring real-time graphics rendered with detail and complexity far beyond what is found in other benchmarks and games today. Fire Strike will only be available in the Windows editions of 3DMark initially.

Looking at the newer 3DMark Fire Strike benchmark, you can see great numbers again, putting the setup ahead of all our single GPU offerings at both presets here, including the heavily overclocked MSI GTX 780 Lightning. We're hoping that these kinds of performance increases continue to be seen when we get into our gaming benchmarks.

Benchmarks - Unigine Heaven Benchmark

Unigine Heaven Benchmark

Version and / or Patch Used: 3

Developer Homepage: http://www.unigine.com

Product Homepage: http://unigine.com/press-releases/091022-heaven_benchmark//

New benchmark grants the power to unleash the DirectX 11 potential, in the gift wrapping of impressively towering graphics capabilities. It reveals the enchanting magic of floating islands with a tiny village hidden in the cloudy skies. With the interactive mode, emerging experience of exploring the intricate world is ensured within reach. Through its advanced renderer, Unigine is one of the first to set precedence in showcasing the art assets with tessellation, bringing compelling visual finesse, utilizing the technology to the full extend, and exhibiting the possibilities of enriching 3D gaming.

The tessellation heavy Heaven benchmark continues to see amazing performance come from out Sapphire R9 270X 2GB TOXIC CrossFire setup. You can again see that when it comes to Single GPU options, the Sapphire setup here manages to come out ahead by a convincible margin in both presets.

Benchmarks - Phantasy Star Online 2

Phantasy Star Online 2

Version and / or Patch Used: Standalone Benchmark

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.sega.com/?t=EnglishUSA

Product Homepage: http://www.pso2.com/us/html/index.html

Play Phantasy Star Online 2 and experience revolutionary combat in an action-driven, free-to-play multiplayer online RPG from SEGA. Take a journey into an immersive sci-fi fantasy narrative and explore mysterious worlds to unravel their secrets. Join fellow adventurers and fight against the legions of darkness to banish them from the galaxy.

Score explanation: Less than 2000: Please adjust your game settings because the processing load is quite heavy.

2000 through 5000: The game runs fine at the setting, if you have room, you can adjust some settings.

5001+: The game works wonderfully at this setting.

PSO 2 is one of those benchmarks that doesn't benefit from the CrossFire setup. While that's not great news, the good news is that with over 9,000 points being seen, the game runs extremely smooth at the highest resolution.

Benchmarks - Lost Planet 2

Lost Planet 2

Version and / or Patch Used: Standalone Benchmark

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark - Test A Scene 1

Developer Homepage: http://www.capcom.com/

Product Homepage: http://www.lostplanet2game.com/

Lost Planet 2 is a third-person shooter video game developed and published by Capcom. The game is the sequel to Lost Planet: Extreme Condition which is also made by Capcom, taking place ten years after the events of the first game, on the same fictional planet. The story takes place back on E.D.N. III 10 years after the events of the first game. The snow has melted to reveal jungles and more tropical areas that have taken the place of more frozen regions. The plot begins with Mercenaries fighting against Jungle Pirates. After destroying a mine, the Mercenaries continue on to evacuate the area, in which a Category-G Akrid appears and attacks them. After being rescued, they find out their evacuation point (Where the Category-G appeared) was a set-up and no pick up team awaited them. The last words imply possible DLC additions to the game: "There's nothing to be gained by wiping out snow pirates... unless you had some kind of grudge."

Really strong performance under Lost Planet 2, and with just extremely playable numbers across the board. The Sapphire R9 270X 2GB TOXIC CrossFire setup has no problem out performing all the single GPU AMD setups across the board. Looking at the NVIDIA side of things though, you can see that the higher-end NVIDIA options manage to perform quite similar to CrossFire setup. NVIDIA cards have always loved Lost Planet 2, and you can see that here.

Benchmarks - Just Cause 2

Just Cause 2

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Dark Tower

Developer Homepage: http://www.eidos.com/

Product Homepage: http://www.justcause.com/

Just Cause 2 employs the Avalanche Engine 2.0, an updated version of the engine used in Just Cause. The game is set on the other side of the world from the original Just Cause, on the fictional island of Panau in Southeast Asia. Panau has varied terrain, from desert to alpine to rainforest. Rico Rodriguez returns as the protagonist, aiming to overthrow the evil dictator Pandak "Baby" Panay, and confront his former mentor, Tom Sheldon.

Just Cause 2 numbers are fantastic across the board, and you can see we've got some extremely good numbers at all resolutions, which leaves all of our single GPU setups for dead. The Sapphire R9 270X 2GB TOXIC CrossFire setup is showing some real value here. Let's hope that continues as we get into some more intensive games.

Benchmarks - F1 2012

F1 2012

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.codemasters.com/uk/

Product Homepage: http://www.codemasters.com

In F1 2012 players will feel the unparalleled thrill of becoming a FORMULA ONE driver with a host of new features, wide-ranging technical and gameplay advancements and extensive competitive and co-operative multiplayer components. F1 2012 will feature all of the official teams, drivers and circuits from the 2012 FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, including the debut of the 2012 FORMULA 1 UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX at Austin, Texas, and the return of Germany's famous Hockenheim circuit to the calendar.

F1 2012 sees a massive performance drop when it comes to CrossFire. While this wasn't seen on the MSI R9 280X CrossFire setup a few months back, since then, the latest AMD drivers have had issues.

If you're experience an issue like this under a game, we'd recommend that you turn CrossFire off before playing. Of course, it's not ideal but we've got our fingers crossed that the issue is fixed, as we know CrossFire was fine under this game at one point.

Benchmarks - Metro Last Light

Metro Last Light

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.4a-games.com/

Product Homepage: http://enterthemetro.com/

Metro: Last Light takes place one year after the events of Metro 2033, proceeding from the ending where Artyom chose to call down the missile strike on the Dark Ones. The Rangers have since occupied the D6 military facility, with Artyom having become an official member of the group. Khan, the nomad mystic, arrives at D6 to inform Artyom and the Rangers that a single Dark One survived the missile strike. Khan believes the Dark One is the key to humanity's future, and wants to make peace with it, while Ranger leader Colonel Miller wants to kill the creature due to its potential threat. Miller sends Artyom to the surface with a mission to kill the Dark One; he is accompanied by Anna, Miller's sarcastic daughter, and the Rangers' best sniper.

The Sapphire R9 270X 2GB TOXIC CrossFire setup sees some great performance under the intensive Metro: Last Light. You can see our numbers line up with the R9 290X 4GB in Uber Mode, which means we've got playable numbers at both 1680 x 1050, and 1920 x 1200. When moving to 2560 x 1600 though, you can see the 47 FPS average just isn't where we want it to be.

Benchmarks - Dirt Showdown

Dirt Showdown

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.codemasters.com/uk/

Product Homepage: http://www.codemasters.com/uk/dirtshowdown/360/

DiRT Showdown is the new arcade racing game from the team that brought you the award-winning DiRT series, uncaged in 2012. Pick up and play controls combine with electrifying events, frenzied crowds, and stunning graphics to deliver high octane, dive in and drive thrills from event one.

DiRT Showdown performance is extremely strong, with great numbers at all resolutions. You can see we manage to again come out ahead of all our single GPU setups, with this game simply not being an issue.

Benchmarks - Nexuiz

Nexuiz

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.alientrap.org/

Product Homepage: http://www.nexuiz.com/

Nexuiz is an Arena First Person shooter coming soon to consoles. Nexuiz is fast paced with extremely competitive game play. IllFonic brings Alientrap Software's Nexuiz to next-gen gaming consoles around the world while staying true to the game play refined over the years through development. IllFonic introduces a new Victorian influenced art style that is simultaneously futuristic, and sophisticated. Nexuiz for consoles is powered by CryENGINE 3.

Nexuiz sees a performance increase when CrossFire is thrown into the mix, but not the kind of performance increase we need for the numbers to be playable. While at the lowest resolution we're not all that far behind the 60 FPS average we want, the end result is that we are behind it. That of course means that as we go higher in the resolution table, we fall further and further behind that 60 FPS number.

Benchmarks - Sniper Elite V2

Sniper Elite V2

Version and / or Patch Used: Standalone Benchmark

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.rebellion.co.uk/

Product Homepage: http://sniperelitev2.com/us/age.html

Sniper Elite V2 features detailed sniping simulation with advanced ballistics, taking into account gravity, wind, velocity, bullet penetration, aim stability, and more. Guaranteed to provide players with the most realistic simulation of military sharpshooting yet available.

Sniper Elite V2 sees very strong gains, and great overall performance. You can see we've got no issue coming out ahead of all of the single GPU offerings again, and overall we've got playable numbers at all resolutions, which is of course the most important thing.

Benchmarks - Sleeping Dogs

Sleeping Dogs

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://eu.square-enix.com/en

Product Homepage: http://www.sleepingdogs.net/

The core gameplay of Sleeping Dogs consists of giving the player an open world environment in which players move around freely. Sleeping Dogs is played as an over-the-shoulder, third-person perspective, action-adventure game with role-playing elements. The player controls Wei Shen, a Chinese-American police officer, as he goes undercover to infiltrate the Sun On Yee Triad organization. On foot, the player character has the ability to walk, run, jump, climb over obstacles, and swim, as well as use weapons and martial arts in combat. Players also drive a variety of vehicles including cars, boats, and motorcycles.

Looking above, you can see that the numbers under Sleeping Dogs on the Sapphire R9 270X 2GB TOXIC CrossFire setup are fantastic. We've got great performance at all resolutions, and if you're on a 120Hz monitor, you're not going to be complaining about the FPS.

Benchmarks - Hitman Absolution

Hitman Absolution

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.ioi.dk/

Product Homepage: http://hitman.com/

Hitman: Absolution is an action-adventure stealth game developed by I/O Interactive and published by Square Enix. It is the fifth entry in the Hitman game series, and runs on I/O Interactive's proprietary Glacier 2 game engine. Before release, the developers stated that Absolution would be easier to play and more accessible, while still retaining hardcore aspects of the franchise. The game was released on 20 November 2012, which is in the 47th week of the year (in reference to the protagonist, Agent 47).

Hitman: Absolution hits a bit of an FPS wall with the Sapphire R9 270X 2GB TOXIC CrossFire setup. FPS walls are never a great thing, but with the minimum coming in at 80 FPS, and the averages being in the high 90's, we're really not going to complain. NVIDIA also hits an FPS wall, but it comes in earlier than the AMD offerings, which is of course good news for them.

Benchmarks - Tomb Raider

Tomb Raider

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://www.nixxes.com/

Product Homepage: http://www.tombraider.com/us/base/agegate?refer=184&

Tomb Raider is an action-adventure platform video game. Published by Square Enix, Tomb Raider is the fifth title developed by Crystal Dynamics in the Tomb Raider franchise. As the first entry in a new Tomb Raider continuity, the game is a reboot that emphasizes the reconstructed origins of the culturally influential lead character Lara Croft. Tomb Raider was released on 5 March 2013 for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Microsoft Windows to universal critical acclaim.

Tomb Raider performance is strong at all resolutions, and you can see that we're ahead of the R9 290X 4GB across the board. More importantly though, the CrossFire setup manages to break into the 60 FPS realm when it comes to the average, while the R9 290X 4GB sits in the 50 FPS range.

Benchmarks - BioShock Infinite

BioShock Infinite

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark

Developer Homepage: http://irrationalgames.com/

Product Homepage: http://www.bioshockinfinite.com

BioShock Infinite is a first-person shooter video game, and the third installment in the BioShock series. Previously known as "Project Icarus", it is being developed by Irrational Games, and was released worldwide on the Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 platforms on March 26, 2013. BioShock Infinite is not part of the storyline of previous BioShock games, but features similar gameplay concepts and themes.

BioShock Infinite continues the trend of strong performance across the board. More importantly though, like we saw under Tomb Raider, you can see our CrossFire setup manages to bring our 2560 x 1600 FPS numbers into playable territory from non-playable. Considering the setup is cheaper than the single R9 290X 4GB, this is really the kind of performance gains you want to see.

Benchmarks - Battlefield 4

Battlefield 4

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Origin Update

Timedemo or Level Used: Custom 60 Second Run with FRAPS

Developer Homepage: http://dice.se/

Product Homepage: https://www.battlefield.com/games/battlefield-4

Battlefield 4 (also known as BF4) is an upcoming first-person shooter video game developed by EA Digital Illusions CE and published by Electronic Arts. The game is a sequel to 2011's Battlefield 3. Battlefield 4 features several changes compared to its predecessor. The game's heads-up display is much the same, composed of two compact rectangles. The lower left-hand corner features a mini-map and compass for navigation, and a simplified objective notice above it; the lower right includes a compact ammo counter and health meter. The mini-map, as well as the main game screen, shows symbols marking three kinds of entities: blue for allies, green for squadmates, and red/orange for enemies.

We don't have a ton of results for Battlefield 4 here, but you can see CrossFire performance isn't fantastic. While we've got playable numbers at all resolutions, we're a good chunk behind the R9 290 offerings, which we really shouldn't be. Battlefield 4 continues to get updates fixing issues, though. Hopefully this is one that is fixed soon.

Benchmarks - High Quality AA and AF

High Quality AA and AF

While we test all our games with maximum in-game settings, turning on Anti-Aliasing (AA) and Antistrophic Filtering (AF) helps take the intensity of our testing to another level.

Here, we see video cards go from playable FPS, to an unplayable FPS, and the real power houses continue to help break that 60 FPS mark we always aim for to provide a smooth gaming experience.

Metro: Last Light sees a boost with the second card, but the intensity of this benchmark when AA and AF is turned on is just too much for the setup, and you can see our FPS are a good chunk below that 60 FPS number we need at both resolutions. The only setup able to pull of playable FPS here is the 6GB wielding GTX TITAN that has always done extremely well under this benchmark.

Just Cause 2 doesn't have the same issue as Metro: Last Light. You can see great performance at both resolutions, and numbers that are ahead of all the single GPU setups.

While not quite as intensive as Metro: Last Light you can see even the Sapphire R9 270X 2GB TOXIC CrossFire setup falls short of that 60 FPS number we need at the higher resolution. Fortunately, at 1920 x 1200 you can see a strong 74 FPS.

Temperature Test

The temperature of the core is pulled from MSI Afterburner with the max reading used after a completed run off 3DMark Vantage and the Performance preset.

The Sapphire TOXIC proved itself to do a great job when running just a single card. You can see again here that it continues to perform well when a second card is thrown into the mix.

Sound Test

Pulling out the TES 1350A Sound Level Meter, we find ourselves quickly yelling into the top of it to see how loud we can be.

After five minutes of that, we get a bit more serious and place the device two cm away from the fan on the card to find the maximum noise level of the card when idle (2D mode), and in load (3D mode).

Even with a second card thrown into the mist, the noise levels on the Sapphire R9 270X 2GB TOXIC CrossFire setup are really exceptional. You can see the single card is the quietest out of the long list here, but throwing a second one into the mix only impacts noise levels slightly, which is fantastic.

Power Consumption Test

Using our PROVA Power Analyzer WM-01, or "Power Thingy" as it has become quickly known as to our readers, we are now able to find out what kind of power is being used by our test system and the associated video cards installed. Keep in mind; it tests the complete system (minus LCD monitor, which is plugged directly into AC wall socket).

There are a few important notes to remember though; while our maximum power is taken in 3DMark06 at the same exact point, we have seen in some particular tests, the power being drawn as much as 10% more. We test at the exact same stage every time; therefore tests should be very consistent and accurate.

The other thing to remember is that our test system is bare minimum - only a SSD hard drive is used with a single CD ROM, and minimal cooling fans.

So while the system might draw 400 watts in our test system, placing it into your own PC with a number of other items, the draw is going to be higher.

A little over 500 Watt is an impressive number for the CrossFire setup that manages to put out some awesome performance. We'd throw a quality 650 Watt+ power supply at a setup like this.

Pricing, Availability and Final Thoughts

As we've already mentioned a few times, the Sapphire R9 270X 2GB TOXIC CrossFire setup is going to set you back around $480. This is of course no small amount of change, but when we compare it to the single GPU offerings that sit at this price level or higher, you can see some real value for this kind of setup.

As we mentioned earlier, a R9 290 4GB is going to set you back $20 - $40 more with the model starting at around the $500 mark, and many coming in closer to the $520 mark. Of course, moving above that to the more expensive R9 290X 4GB, you see a price difference of over $100. What we see for the most part, it seems like you'd almost be crazy to not go for a setup like the Sapphire R9 270X 2GB TOXIC CrossFire. The performance of it really is fantastic, and the price point is excellent.

Saying that though, it's obvious that CrossFire is hardly a perfect solution. F1 2012 clearly has issues. Nexuiz should also see greater gains then it does. PSO 2 numbers, while really strong, aren't where they could be. We also have the fact that some people just simply don't like dual GPU setups, and that's fair enough.

CrossFire and SLI though, these days, really do represent both great value, and great performance. The technology continues to not be perfect, and it probably never will be. It's very good, if not very, very good. But, perfect it is not. The draw backs these days are really quite limited though, and the technology is always fun to play with. At some point, everyone should go down the path of a dual video card setup.

Saying all that, if you're looking for a setup that comes in around the $500 mark, this is a really awesome one. The quality of the TOXIC cooler is fantastic. We saw it perform exceptionally well when we just had a single card in our system. Throwing the second one into the system impacts performance in the slightest way. When it comes to noise, the setup continues to be one of the quietest ones we've tested. If you're after a setup that brings with it some serious performance, without the cost of high noise levels, or a lot of heat: the Sapphire R9 270X 2GB TOXIC CrossFire could be the one for you.