MSI Twin Frozr VS Sapphire? Help!

[cheeze_tartz]

I am currently looking for the best GPU for around $180. The MSI Twin Frozr R9 270x has 2gb of memory for $180, and the Sapphire Dual-X 270x is $178 and has 4gb memory. i don't know which is better.

[Kermit]

Personally, I like Sapphire's design better, plus it has double the vram.... so thats what I would choose

[chopdok]

4GB of VRAM on R9 270X is kinda useless. Its all about the computational power of the GPU itself - VRAM only affects perfrormance when there is not enough of it to store all the data the chip needs to process. When there is too much of it - it gives no additional performance boost. That said, you should still get a Sapphire - its 2$ cheaper, and the same thing essentially.

[chopdok]

Double.

[Shhuks]

I had a twin frozr 270x before and had to take it back because it didn't work out of the box. Thus, I would go for the Sapphire.

[Kermit]

4GB of VRAM on R9 270X is kinda useless. Its all about the computational power of the GPU itself - VRAM only affects perfrormance when there is not enough of it to store all the data the chip needs to process. When there is too much of it - it gives no additional performance boost. That said, you should still get a Sapphire - its 2$ cheaper, and the same thing essentially.

 

well not to say that some games will push past the 2gb vram mark, so yes it does allow a boost over the MSI model

[cheeze_tartz]

Ok thnx all I will go with the Sapphire

[chopdok]

well not to say that some games will push past the 2gb vram mark, so yes it does allow a boost over the MSI model

If a game goes over 2 GB on R9 270X - the performance will be crap anyway. The chip simply can't process that much. Also, memory allocation does not work the way you think it works. There are plenty of data that gets allocated into system memory anyway, as a norm - because its not bandwith-sensitive. And if more VRAM is availible, it might get allocated into VRAM, but it will give you no performance boost whatsoever. And if you have more than 2GB of textures and AA samples - the card will choke its guts out. Its 270, not 280.

[Kermit]

If a game goes over 2 GB on R9 270X - the performance will be crap anyway. The chip simply can't process that much. Also, memory allocation does not work the way you think it works. There are plenty of data that gets allocated into system memory anyway - because its not bandwith-sensitive. And if more VRAM is availible, it might get allocated into VRAM, but it will give you no performance boost whatsoever.

 

but the msi model maxes out at 2gb so why wouldn't you want a performance boost, even if very small

[chopdok]

but the msi model maxes out at 2gb so why wouldn't you want a performance boost, even if very small

There is 0 performance difference between 2GB and 4 GB. He should still get 4GB version - because its 2$ cheaper, and also because Sapphire Dual-X is awesome cooling solution, and because it has Dual-Bios. But I don't want OP to have false impressions that he gets a "proper" 4GB card. He gets a GPU that was designed for 2GB VRAM, with 2GB more that is pretty much useless. The only real difference I can think of that these 2 GB will make is that it will Alt+Tab faster - because WDM.

[Kermit]

There is 0 performance difference between 2GB and 4 GB. He should still get 4GB version - because its 2$ cheaper, and also because Sapphire Dual-X is awesome cooling solution, and because it has Dual-Bios. But I don't want OP to have false impressions that he gets a "proper" 4GB card. He gets a GPU that was designed for 2GB VRAM, with 2GB more that is pretty much useless. The only real difference I can think of that these 2 GB will make is that it will Alt+Tab faster - because WDM.

 

Look. I don't want to fight this battle, but there is a small performance boost. I understand that it is not optimized for 4GB, but it is still available. Instead of a game maxing out at 2GB, it can still go above that on the Sapphire model, even if it doesn't yield a large boost. 4GB is better than 2GB when it comes to pure performance in games, on the same card architecture.