Radeon RX 460 vs R9 270X

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Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon R9 270X and Radeon RX 460, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

R9 270X
2013
4 GB GDDR5, 180 Watt
12.69
+18.9%

R9 270X outperforms RX 460 by a moderate 19% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.

Place in the ranking397434
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation5.781.12
Power efficiency4.859.79
ArchitectureGCN 1.0 (2011−2020)GCN 4.0 (2016−2020)
GPU code nameCuracaoBaffin
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Designreferenceno data
Release date8 October 2013 (11 years ago)8 August 2016 (8 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$199 $86

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

R9 270X has 416% better value for money than RX 460.

Detailed specifications

General parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores1280896
Core clock speedno data1090 MHz
Boost clock speed1050 MHz1200 MHz
Number of transistors2,800 million3,000 million
Manufacturing process technology28 nm14 nm
Power consumption (TDP)180 Watt75 Watt
Texture fill rate84.0067.20
Floating-point processing power2.688 TFLOPS2.15 TFLOPS
ROPs3216
TMUs8056

Form factor & compatibility

Information on compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop graphics cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility).

Bus supportPCIe 3.0no data
InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16PCIe 3.0 x8
Lengthno data170 mm
Width2-slot2-slot
Supplementary power connectors2 x 6-pinNone

VRAM capacity and type

Parameters of VRAM installed: its type, size, bus, clock and resulting bandwidth. Integrated GPUs have no dedicated video RAM and use a shared part of system RAM.

Memory typeGDDR5GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount4 GB2 GB
Memory bus width256 Bit128 Bit
Memory clock speedno data1750 MHz
Memory bandwidth179.2 GB/s112.0 GB/s
Shared memory--

Connectivity and outputs

Types and number of video connectors present on the reviewed GPUs. As a rule, data in this section is precise only for desktop reference ones (so-called Founders Edition for NVIDIA chips). OEM manufacturers may change the number and type of output ports, while for notebook cards availability of certain video outputs ports depends on the laptop model rather than on the card itself.

Display Connectors2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort1x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort
Eyefinity+-
HDMI++
DisplayPort support+-

Supported technologies

Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.

AppAcceleration+-
CrossFire+-
FreeSync++
HD3D+-
LiquidVR+-
TressFX+-
TrueAudio+-
UVD+-
DDMA audio+no data

API compatibility

List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectXDirectX® 1212 (12_0)
Shader Model5.16.4
OpenGL4.64.6
OpenCL1.22.0
Vulkan+1.2.131

Synthetic benchmark performance

Non-gaming benchmark results comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.


Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark score. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

R9 270X 12.69
+18.9%
RX 460 10.67

Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark. It gives the graphics card a thorough evaluation under various types of load, providing four separate benchmarks for Direct3D versions 9, 10, 11 and 12 (the last being done in 4K resolution if possible), and few more tests engaging DirectCompute capabilities.

R9 270X 4877
+18.9%
RX 460 4102

3DMark Fire Strike Graphics

Fire Strike is a DirectX 11 benchmark for gaming PCs. It features two separate tests displaying a fight between a humanoid and a fiery creature made of lava. Using 1920x1080 resolution, Fire Strike shows off some realistic graphics and is quite taxing on hardware.

R9 270X 6560
+15.1%
RX 460 5701

Gaming performance

Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.

Average FPS across all PC games

Here are the average frames per second in a large set of popular games across different resolutions:

Full HD45−50
+12.5%
40
−12.5%
1440p80−85
+14.3%
70
−14.3%
4K24−27
+14.3%
21
−14.3%

Cost per frame, $

1080p4.42
−106%
2.15
+106%
1440p2.49
−102%
1.23
+102%
4K8.29
−102%
4.10
+102%
  • RX 460 has 106% lower cost per frame in 1080p
  • RX 460 has 102% lower cost per frame in 1440p
  • RX 460 has 102% lower cost per frame in 4K

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2 21−24
+27.8%
18
−27.8%
Cyberpunk 2077 24−27
+19%
21−24
−19%
Elden Ring 35−40
+22.6%
30−35
−22.6%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5 40−45
+17.1%
35−40
−17.1%
Counter-Strike 2 21−24
+15%
20−22
−15%
Cyberpunk 2077 24−27
+19%
21−24
−19%
Forza Horizon 4 50−55
+21.4%
40−45
−21.4%
Metro Exodus 35−40
−17.1%
41
+17.1%
Red Dead Redemption 2 30−35
+14.3%
27−30
−14.3%
Valorant 50−55
+25%
40−45
−25%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5 40−45
+17.1%
35−40
−17.1%
Counter-Strike 2 21−24
+15%
20−22
−15%
Cyberpunk 2077 24−27
+19%
21−24
−19%
Dota 2 45−50
+91.7%
24
−91.7%
Elden Ring 35−40
+22.6%
30−35
−22.6%
Far Cry 5 45−50
+11.4%
44
−11.4%
Fortnite 70−75
+16.1%
60−65
−16.1%
Forza Horizon 4 50−55
+21.4%
40−45
−21.4%
Grand Theft Auto V 45−50
+28.6%
35
−28.6%
Metro Exodus 35−40
+29.6%
27
−29.6%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 90−95
+84.3%
51
−84.3%
Red Dead Redemption 2 30−35
+88.2%
17
−88.2%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 35−40
+18.8%
30−35
−18.8%
Valorant 50−55
+25%
40−45
−25%
World of Tanks 170−180
+13.9%
150−160
−13.9%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 40−45
+24.2%
33
−24.2%
Counter-Strike 2 21−24
+130%
10
−130%
Cyberpunk 2077 24−27
+19%
21−24
−19%
Dota 2 45−50
+21.1%
35−40
−21.1%
Far Cry 5 45−50
+14%
40−45
−14%
Forza Horizon 4 50−55
+21.4%
40−45
−21.4%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 90−95
+236%
28
−236%
Valorant 50−55
+25%
40−45
−25%

1440p
High Preset

Dota 2 16−18
+21.4%
14−16
−21.4%
Elden Ring 18−20
+26.7%
14−16
−26.7%
Grand Theft Auto V 18−20
+28.6%
14−16
−28.6%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 85−90
+70%
50−55
−70%
Red Dead Redemption 2 10−12
+22.2%
9−10
−22.2%
World of Tanks 90−95
+18.4%
75−80
−18.4%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 24−27
+19%
21−24
−19%
Counter-Strike 2 12−14
+9.1%
10−12
−9.1%
Cyberpunk 2077 9−10
+12.5%
8−9
−12.5%
Far Cry 5 27−30
+26.1%
21−24
−26.1%
Forza Horizon 4 30−33
+25%
24−27
−25%
Metro Exodus 24−27
+23.8%
21−24
−23.8%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 16−18
+23.1%
12−14
−23.1%
Valorant 30−35
+19.2%
24−27
−19.2%

4K
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2 8−9
+60%
5−6
−60%
Dota 2 21−24
+9.5%
21−24
−9.5%
Elden Ring 8−9
+14.3%
7−8
−14.3%
Grand Theft Auto V 21−24
+9.5%
21−24
−9.5%
Metro Exodus 8−9
+33.3%
6−7
−33.3%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 35−40
+15.6%
32
−15.6%
Red Dead Redemption 2 8−9
+14.3%
7−8
−14.3%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 21−24
+9.5%
21−24
−9.5%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 12−14
+33.3%
9−10
−33.3%
Counter-Strike 2 8−9
+60%
5−6
−60%
Cyberpunk 2077 3−4
+0%
3−4
+0%
Dota 2 21−24
+9.5%
21−24
−9.5%
Far Cry 5 16−18
+23.1%
12−14
−23.1%
Fortnite 14−16
+27.3%
10−12
−27.3%
Forza Horizon 4 16−18
+21.4%
14−16
−21.4%
Valorant 12−14
+18.2%
10−12
−18.2%

This is how R9 270X and RX 460 compete in popular games:

  • R9 270X is 13% faster in 1080p
  • R9 270X is 14% faster in 1440p
  • R9 270X is 14% faster in 4K

Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:

  • in PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS, with 1080p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the R9 270X is 236% faster.
  • in Metro Exodus, with 1080p resolution and the Medium Preset, the RX 460 is 17% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

  • R9 270X is ahead in 61 test (97%)
  • RX 460 is ahead in 1 test (2%)
  • there's a draw in 1 test (2%)

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 12.69 10.67
Recency 8 October 2013 8 August 2016
Maximum RAM amount 4 GB 2 GB
Chip lithography 28 nm 14 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 180 Watt 75 Watt

R9 270X has a 18.9% higher aggregate performance score, and a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount.

RX 460, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 2 years, a 100% more advanced lithography process, and 140% lower power consumption.

The Radeon R9 270X is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon RX 460 in performance tests.


Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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AMD Radeon R9 270X
Radeon R9 270X
AMD Radeon RX 460
Radeon RX 460

Other comparisons

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Community ratings

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Questions & comments

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