AMD Launches Low-end Radeon R9 270 GRaphics Card, New Game Bundles
AMD launched the Radeon R9 270 graphics card on
Wednesday, a budget solution ($179) bundled with with DICE's
shooter Battlefield 4.
Cards based on the R9 270 will be priced at
about $179, a step below the $199 R9 270X that the company
announced in September.
Based on AMD's Graphics Core Next (GCN) architecture, the AMD Radeon R9 270 graphics card is further enhanced by Mantle, a technology developed by AMD to enable game developers to harness the GCN-powered cores of both PCs and consoles. Mantle delivers a streamlined development process and games enabled with Mantle will be able to speak the native language of the GCN architecture, benefiting from hardware optimization that unlocks performance and image quality.
The card features a single power connector and 150W TDP.
The 270 series (270 and 270X) is being equipped with AMD's PowerTune Boost 1.0 technology to enable some turbo functionality.
The 270X is the successor to the 7870, designed to offer improved performance within roughly the same power envelope.
The 270 is the successor to the 7850. Compared to the 7850, the 270 has a a fully enabled Pitcairn GPU, bringing it up from 16 CUs to 20CUs, offering a 25% improvement in the amount of shader/texture hardware. Meanwhile it is also receiving a GPU clockspeed bump, from 860MHz to a boost clock of 925MHz. 270 also receives memory bus and clockspeed improvements with a 800MHz memory clock increase to 5.6GHz.
The 270X and 270 hold MSRPs of $199 and $179 respectively. NVIDIA isn't placing anything directly opposite the 270X. Above the 270X is the GTX 760 at $249, while between the 270X and 270 is the GTX 660 at roughly $179. For the 270 however this means that it will directly be competing with the GTX 660, as both should retail for roughly the same price. Below the 270 is the GTX 650 Ti Boost at $149, though its meant to compete with AMD?s R7 260X.
Early reports indicate that 270 performance is on par with the Radeon 7870.
Coinciding with today's launch of the 270, AMD is announced game bundles for the 200 series. The 270 and above are getting Battlefield 4. This bundle is separate from Never Settle Forever.
AMD also said the R7 260X will be joining AMD?s Never Settle Forever Silver tier, getting 2 games from that tier (from a selection of 9 games). Furthermore the tier itself is also being updated with Eidos?s upcoming Thief game joining the Silver tier, giving Silver tier holders the option of grabbing that game.
NVIDIA for their part will be continuing their holiday bundle, which will see the GTX 660 and GTX 760 including Assassin's Creed IV, Splinter Cell: Blacklist, and a $50 discount on NVIDIA's SHIELD gaming console.
Based on AMD's Graphics Core Next (GCN) architecture, the AMD Radeon R9 270 graphics card is further enhanced by Mantle, a technology developed by AMD to enable game developers to harness the GCN-powered cores of both PCs and consoles. Mantle delivers a streamlined development process and games enabled with Mantle will be able to speak the native language of the GCN architecture, benefiting from hardware optimization that unlocks performance and image quality.
The card features a single power connector and 150W TDP.
The 270 series (270 and 270X) is being equipped with AMD's PowerTune Boost 1.0 technology to enable some turbo functionality.
The 270X is the successor to the 7870, designed to offer improved performance within roughly the same power envelope.
The 270 is the successor to the 7850. Compared to the 7850, the 270 has a a fully enabled Pitcairn GPU, bringing it up from 16 CUs to 20CUs, offering a 25% improvement in the amount of shader/texture hardware. Meanwhile it is also receiving a GPU clockspeed bump, from 860MHz to a boost clock of 925MHz. 270 also receives memory bus and clockspeed improvements with a 800MHz memory clock increase to 5.6GHz.
| Specifications | ||||||
| AMD Radeon R9 270X | AMD Radeon R9 270 | AMD Radeon HD 7870 | AMD Radeon HD 7850 | |||
| Stream Processors | 1280 | 1280 | 1280 | 1024 | ||
| Texture Units | 80 | 80 | 80 | 64 | ||
| ROPs | 32 | 32 | 32 | 32 | ||
| Core Clock | 1000MHz | 900MHz | 1000MHz | 860MHz | ||
| Boost Clock | 1050MHz | 925MHz | N/A | N/A | ||
| Memory Clock | 5.6GHz GDDR5 | 5.6GHz GDDR5 | 4.8GHz GDDR5 | 4.8GHz GDDR5 | ||
| Memory Bus Width | 256-bit | 256-bit | 256-bit | 256-bit | ||
| VRAM | 2GB | 2GB | 2GB | 2GB | ||
| FP64 | 1/16 | 1/16 | 1/16 | 1/16 | ||
| TrueAudio | N | N | N | N | ||
| Transistor Count | 2.8B | 2.8B | 2.8B | 2.8B | ||
| Typical Board Power | 180W | 150W | 190W | 150W | ||
| Manufacturing Process | TSMC 28nm | TSMC 28nm | TSMC 28nm | TSMC 28nm | ||
| Architecture | GCN 1.0 | GCN 1.0 | GCN 1.0 | GCN 1.0 | ||
| GPU | Pitcairn | Pitcairn | Pitcairn | Pitcairn | ||
| Launch Date | 10/08/13 | 11/13/13 | 03/05/12 | 03/05/12 | ||
| Price | $199 | $179 | $349 | $249 | ||
The 270X and 270 hold MSRPs of $199 and $179 respectively. NVIDIA isn't placing anything directly opposite the 270X. Above the 270X is the GTX 760 at $249, while between the 270X and 270 is the GTX 660 at roughly $179. For the 270 however this means that it will directly be competing with the GTX 660, as both should retail for roughly the same price. Below the 270 is the GTX 650 Ti Boost at $149, though its meant to compete with AMD?s R7 260X.
Early reports indicate that 270 performance is on par with the Radeon 7870.
Coinciding with today's launch of the 270, AMD is announced game bundles for the 200 series. The 270 and above are getting Battlefield 4. This bundle is separate from Never Settle Forever.
AMD also said the R7 260X will be joining AMD?s Never Settle Forever Silver tier, getting 2 games from that tier (from a selection of 9 games). Furthermore the tier itself is also being updated with Eidos?s upcoming Thief game joining the Silver tier, giving Silver tier holders the option of grabbing that game.
NVIDIA for their part will be continuing their holiday bundle, which will see the GTX 660 and GTX 760 including Assassin's Creed IV, Splinter Cell: Blacklist, and a $50 discount on NVIDIA's SHIELD gaming console.
