MSI Radeon R9 270X Gaming Video Card Review

As with most custom MSI video cards the R9 270X Gaming comes with the Twin Frozr cooling system.  Twin Frozr IV used on the Gaming edition cards feature dual cooling fans with a shroud that resembles the old Lightning edition.  A red stripe gives you a visual indicator that this is a gaming card and matches many of the other MSI Gaming products.  

The R9 270X Gaming measures in at 10 inches giving it a standard length that should fit into most desktop and tower system.  

Flipping the card over we can make out where all of the major components are located.  The VRM is split on this graphics card and if you look carefully you can see where the chokes pass thru the PCB.  Memory chips surround the GPU and in terms of surface components there are a few but, nothing out of the ordinary.

The Twin Frozr IV is held in place with four spring loaded screws and secured at each corner of the GPU.

It would appear that traditional CrossFire is limited to a maximum of two GPUs when using the R9 270X due to the single bridge connection.  We have seen this become a standard for the lower end graphics cards due to the buying tendencies of consumers at this level. 

Video output is comprised of two dual link DVI video outputs combined with a single Display Port and standard HDMI connection.  AMD Eyefinity supports up to three HDMI/DVI displays enabling a surround gaming experience assuming the panels are matched.  In previous generations the displays needed to be split across DisplayPort considering that only two panels were supported on the HDMI/DVI connection.

Unlike some high-end video cards you'll only need two 6-pin PCI Express power connectors to run the R9 270X.