ASUS Radeon R9 270 DirectCU II OC Review
Category : AMD
Published by Christian Ney on 27.11.13
Today, we have a chance to check out the new ASUS Radeon R9 270 DC2OC graphics cards that is a part of ASUS' Radeon R9 line-up and features fully custom design, on both the PCB and the cooler. ASUS decided to use its own DirectCU II cooler that we had a chance to see on some ASUS graphics cards earlier. With a slight factory overclock and full custom design, we definitely wanted to see how it will perform against its big sister the Radeon R9 270X DirectCU II OC and the now retired Radeon HD 7870 DirectCU II Top V2.
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Presentation
ASUS R9 270 DC2OC is based on a completely custom design and the PCB behind the DirectCU II cooler is completely different from the ones we had a chance to see on the R9 270X, HD 7870 or the HD 7790 from ASUS and even features a slight factory overclock. The DirectCU II cooler on top of the custom PCB is a bit different that what we are used to see when we talk about ASUS' DirectCU II coolers as this is a small size version, something similar to what we saw back on the ASUS HD 7790.
Based on the AMD 28nm Pitcairn GPU, the R9 270 is a bit different than the HD 7850 which actually used a cutdown version of the HD 7870 GPU, while R9 270 uses the same GPU found on the R9 270X, just with slightly lower clocks.
Since it is the DirectCU II OC version of the ASUS Radeon R9 270 series, the card features a slight factory overclock of 50 MHz which takes the GPU Boost clock up to 975MHz. Although the factory overclock is a mere 50MHz, the ASUS DirectCU II OC is still the fastest and highest clocked Radeon R9 270 on the market, considering that Gigabyte's R9 270 OC , HIS' R9 270 IceQ X and MSI's R9 270 Gaming share the same clock, link.
Although the R9 270 has the PowerTune Boost functionality we simply did not see it in action during our testing. This means that the ASUS R9 270 DC2OC actually has a core base clock of 950 MHz and a boost clock of 975 MHz. During our testing, the card was always running at full speed of 975 MHz under load, and it did not apparently need to reduce its GPU clock speed. The downclock was only triggered in FurMark since the PowerTune Boost is power based and the graphics card goes above its TDP limit in Furmark. In this case, after launching FurMark the GPU goes directly down to 950 MHz/1.175V from 975 MHz/1.213V. FurMark is usually the best tool to show the performance of the graphics card in worst case scenarios, although it is highly unlikely that you will see it during gaming or any other scenario.
Specifications
| Radeon R9 270X | ASUS R9 270 DC2OC | Radeon R9 270 | Radeon HD 7870 | |
| Chip | Pitcairn XTL Curacao XT |
Pitcairn Curacao |
Pitcairn Curacao |
Pitcairn XT |
| Process | 28 nm | 28 nm | 28 nm | 28 nm |
| Transistors | 2.80 billion | 2.80 billion | 2.80 billion | 2.80 billion |
| GPU clock | 1'050 MHz | 975 MHz | 925 MHz | 1'000 MHz |
| Memory GDDR5 | 2'048 MB | 2'048 MB | 2'048 MB | 2'048 MB |
| Memory clock | 1'400 (5'600) MHz | 1'400 (5'600) MHz | 1'400 (5'600) MHz | 1'200 (4'800) MHz |
| Memory interface | 256 Bit | 256 Bit | 256 Bit | 256 Bit |
| Memory bandwidth | 179.2 GB/s | 179.2 GB/s | 179.2 GB/s | 153.6 GB/s |
| Shader Cores | 1'280 | 1'280 | 1'280 | 1'280 |
| TMUs | 80 | 80 | 80 | 80 |
| ROPs | 32 | 32 | 32 | 32 |
| TDP | 180 Watt | xxx Watt | 150 Watt | 190 Watt |
| PCB Type | Reference Design | Custom Design | Reference Design | Reference Design |
| Lenght (PCB - Total) | xx.x - xx.x cm | 20.8 - 22.9 cm | xx.x - xx.x cm | xx.x - xx.x cm |
| Height (PCB - Total) | 11.1 - 11.1 cm | 11.1 - 12.4 cm | 11.1 - 11.1 cm | 11.1 - 11.1 cm |
| Slots | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Cooler | AMD Reference | DirectCU II | AMD Reference | AMD Reference |
| Launch Price | $199 | $XXX | $179 | $350 |
The card
As mentioned earlier, ASUS decide to use the same cooler for R9 270 DC2OC that we have previously seen on the ASUS Radeon HD 7790 graphics card. This version of the DirectCU II cooler features two 8mm nickel plated heatpipes and a single large fin stack made of aluminium soldered to heatpipes and in contact with the so called base. The base on the other hand, surrounding the aforementioned heatpipes, covers a rather large area and features holes for mounting. Like most of ASUS' DirectCU coolers, the heatpipes are in direct contact with the core for more efficient cooling (the contact area is not nickel plated).
Overall the cooler is well manufactured but the heatpipes base is far from the mirror finish. On the upper side you can see a thermal pad which only makes contact with one and a half memory chips so we are not quite sure the use of it. The used thermal paste is pre-applied type, dry looking and spread around the core. Although the cooler is well manufactured, the thermal paste looks so cheap that we have decided to remove it completely and apply some good thermal paste to see if it will take better care from the manufacturer choice and offer some better thermal performance. With the new thermal paste temperatures were 3 and 4°C lower in idle and load, respectively, when compared to the originally applied thermal compound.
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The ASUS R9 270 DC2OC uses a custom PCB with a custom power design. ASUS went for a so called 6+1+1+1-phase power design implementation where the GPU gets six phases, which is still two phases more compared to the AMD reference design and one phases each for the memory, PLL and the PCIe. Component wise, the DC2OC complies with ASUS Super Alloy Power standard.
Checking the voltage regulation chips we found a digital multi-phase controller labelled Hybrid Digi+ VRM ASP1215 (a rebranded CHiL) taking care of both GPU and memory voltage regulation.
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The memory chips used are made by Elpida and carry the model number W2032BBBG-6A-F. They are specified to run at 1'500 MHz (6'000 MHz effective).
Photo Gallery
Delivery
The card ships well bolstered in a foam made mold. Bundled with the graphics card are a software disc, an installation manual, a soft CrossFire bridge and a DVI to D-Sub VGA video adapter.
Test Setup
| Mainboard |
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| CPUs |
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| Memory |
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| Graphic Cards |
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| Drivers |
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| Games and OS |
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| HDD |
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| PSU |
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Weighted average
Temperatures / Noise levels
Fan Speed
Noise Level
For the noise level results, we measured the noise level using a decibel meter (Voltcraft SL-200) located at 1 meter away from the graphics card.
Idle Temperature
Idle, temperature is taken after 15 minutes @ lowest, 40 %, 50 %, 70 % and 100 % fan speed.
Room Temperature: 25°C
Temperature under Furmark
For FurMark, temperature is taken after 15 minutes of GPU Burn test at lowest, 40 %, 50 %, 70 % and 100 % fan speed.
We stopped the test when the GPU temperature hit 90°C.
Room Temperature: 25°C
Temperature and fan speed under BattleField 3
For BattleField 3, temperature and fan speed values taken are the highest achieved after 1 hour gaming @ auto fan speed.
Performance/Watt
| Graphics Cards | Performance Index | Power C. (Watts)* | Performance/Watt*10 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 660 Ti (ASUS DC2T) | 53.55 | 178 | 3.01 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX TITAN (Ref) | 85.05 | 306 | 2.78 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 770 (ASUS DC2OC) | 70.92 | 257 | 2.76 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 670 (ASUS DC2T) | 62.00 | 227 | 2.73 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 780 (ASUS DC2OC) | 81.66 | 302 | 2.70 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 660 (ASUS DC2T) | 47.37 | 177 | 2.68 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 680 (Ref) | 68.36 | 258 | 2.65 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 760 (ASUS DC2OC) | 56.63 | 218 | 2.60 |
| AMD Radeon R9 270 (ASUS DC2OC) | 49.98 | 194 | 2.58 |
| ASUS Radeon R9 270 DirectCU II OC | 51.90 | 209 | 2.48 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost (Ref) | 40.87 | 169 | 2.42 |
| AMD Radeon R9 270X (ASUS DC2T) | 53.39 | 223 | 2.39 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7870 (ASUS DC2T V2) | 50.03 | 220 | 2.27 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7850 (ASUS DC2T) | 42.04 | 195 | 2.16 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7790 (ASUS DC2OC - Ref PCB) | 32.75 | 152 | 2.15 |
| AMD Radeon R9 280X (ASUS DC2T) | 68.40 | 320 | 2.14 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti (ASUS DC2T) | 30.8 | 151 | 2.04 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 580 (Ref) | 50.49 | 254 | 1.99 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7970 (XFX DD - Ref PCB) | 63.41 | 323 | 1.96 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition (ASUS Matrix P.) | 69.99 | 360 | 1.94 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6950 (Ref) | 36.83 | 208 | 1.77 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6970 (Ref) | 41.32 | 244 | 1.69 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6870 (Ref) | 31.88 | 200 | 1.59 |
| AMD Radeon HD 5850 (Ref) | 30.05 | 193 | 1.56 |
| AMD Radeon HD 5870 (Ref) | 35.98 | 232 | 1.55 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6990 (Ref) | 73.96 | 481 | 1.54 |
| *Entire system | More is better | Less is better | More is better |
The "Performance Index" value is calculated as the sum of all benchmarks results divided by the amount of games (3DMark and Unigine are not included into the calculation).
Performance/Price
| Graphics Cards | Performance Index | Price (€)* | Performance/€*10 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost | 40.87 | 110 | 3.72 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7870 | 50.03 | 136 | 3.68 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7790 | 32.75 | 97 | 3.38 |
| AMD Radeon R9 270 | 49.98 | 148 | 3.38 |
| AMD Radeon R9 270X | 53.39 | 160 | 3.34 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 660 | 47.37 | 143 | 3.31 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7850 | 40.04 | 123 | 3.26 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti | 30.80 | 95 | 3.24 |
| ASUS Radeon R9 270 DirectCU II OC | 51.90 | 166 | 3.13 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 670 | 62.00 | 213 | 2.91 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 660 Ti | 53.55 | 184 | 2.91 |
| AMD Radeon R9 280X | 68.40 | 237 | 2.89 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7970 | 63.41 | 223 | 2.84 |
| AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition | 69.99 | 249 | 2.81 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 760 | 56.63 | 202 | 2.80 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 770 | 70.92 | 263 | 2.70 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6870 | 31.88 | 125 | 2.55 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 680 | 68.36 | 289 | 2.37 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 580 | 50.49 | 215 | 2.35 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX 780 | 81.66 | 411 | 1.99 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6950 | 36.83 | 204 | 1.81 |
| AMD Radeon HD 5870 | 35.98 | 249 | 1.44 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6970 | 41.32 | 295 | 1.40 |
| AMD Radeon HD 5850 | 30.05 | 257 | 1.17 |
| AMD Radeon HD 6990 | 73.96 | 663 | 1.12 |
| nVidia GeForce GTX TITAN | 85.05 | 831 | 1.02 |
| * 18/11/2013 | More is better | Less is better | More is better |
For the price we took the lowest price available on geizhals.eu.
Conclusion
| General | + | - | |
| Overall results are quite good on the new ASUS Radeon R9 270 DirectCU II OC graphics card and it is practically the fastest out of the box R9 270 graphics card. The performance is good as it can match the performance of the Radeon R9 270X with just a slight overclock, which by the way can be achieved without any problems. It is definitely a good graphics card but there is always more room for improvement and despite that it has a decent cooler we would prefer it to be a bit more silent. The bundle is OK for a mid-range graphics card, but it unfortunately does not include any games. Currently the price is a bit on the high side so we think it should have been a bit cheaper. |
- Performance - Cooling performance - Design |
- Noise
levels
- Price |
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| Cooling / Noise Level | + | - | |
| The R9 270 DirectCU II OC is equipped with a smaller sized DirectCU II cooler - cooling performance is good but could have been improved with better thermal paste. ASUS could have also decided to go with a middle sized cooler that could easily justify a bit higher price tag that the ASUS R9 270 DirectCU II OC currently sells for. It is silent in idle but not noiseless but since it will mostly be in a closed case, noise will not be a big issue, while under load it is in decent margins but we would definitely liked it to be more silent. We would also liked if ASUS picked a different temperature target in the BIOS and raise it for about 10°C to make the card more silent and more attractive. Its close competitor, the MSI R9 270 Gaming series graphics card offers the same performance levels and it is more silent due to its full sized Twin Frozr IV Advanced cooler. | - Cooling performance | - Noise levels | |
| Performance | + | - | |
| Thanks to a slight factory overclock, the ASUS R9
270 DirectCU II OC is on average 4% faster than a reference clocked card
in tested games. Compared to previous generation, the R9 270 DC2OC is 4%
faster than the HD 7870 and 25% faster than the HD 7850. When compared to a reference clocked R9 270X, which shares the same chip, but with higher clocks, the R9 270 DC2OC is 4 % slower out of the box and as fast with 75MHz overclock on the GPU side. Since the GPU is the same but with different clocks, we wanted to see how easy will it be to match the R9 270X performance with overclocking. Thanks to a solid design as well as a good non-reference cooler, the overclocking was a stroll in the park. Reaching 75 MHz more on the GPU did not even require any voltage tweaking and the ASUS R9 270 DC2OC was fully stable. We ran Unigine Heaven Extreme with the GPU at 1'050 MHz for six hours and everything went fine. The power consumption is quite high in idle (we recall it is because of ASUS own PCB design) with 53W against 48W obtained with other cards. Under load, the power consumption is good, the R9 270 is the most efficient AMD graphics card we tested so far, scoring the highest performance/watt ratio. The ASUS R9 270 DC2OC is a bit behind due to the factory overclock and higher voltage which makes the card draw 7% more (209W vs 194W) but since the performance also rose (4%), the graphics card keeps a very good performance/watt ratio. |
- Performance - Power consumption under load |
- Performance/Price | |
| Recommendation / Price | + | - | |
| The ASUS R9 270 DirectCU II OC is a good card but unfortunately it comes with a high price tag. The R9 270 is a card with a rather impressive performance/price ratio, something that ASUS' version lost because of its price, which is 20 Euros higher than the currently available cheapest R9 270 graphics card. A price which is unfortunately not justified since there is the R9 270 Gaming graphics card from MSI that offers same performance, better cooling, is also more silent and can be found for 10 Euros less. | - Gaming | - Price | |
| We gave the R9 270 DirectCU II OC from ASUS 4 out of 5 stars. | |||
