Radeon R9 270 vs Radeon RX 480 mobile

In this comparison between Radeon R9 270 and Radeon RX 480 mobile you will find out which graphics card performs better in today's games. Bear in mind that third-party versions may have more efficient cooling and higher clock speeds. This will increase cards' performance, though not by much. In addition to raw power you should also take into account the dimensions. Thicker models simply will not fit into a small mini-ITX case. The resolution of your monitor also affects the choice, since 4K gameplay requires a more powerful GPU. And don't overspend on the graphics card. Other parts of your build may also need to be upgraded, save some money for the CPU or power supply. For some people Radeon R9 270 will be the best choice, for others Radeon RX 480 mobile will be their preference. Study the comparison tables below and make your choice.

Radeon RX 480 mobile is a Laptop Graphics Card

Note: Radeon RX 480 mobile is only used in laptop graphics. It has lower GPU clock speed compared to the desktop variant, which results in lower power consumption, but also 10-30% lower gaming performance. Check available laptop models with Radeon RX 480 mobile here:

Main Specs

  Radeon R9 270 Radeon RX 480 mobile
Power consumption (TDP) 150 Watt 100 Watt
Interface PCIe 3.0 x16 MXM-B (3.0)
Supplementary power connectors 1 x 6-pin
Memory type GDDR5 GDDR5
Maximum RAM amount 2 GB 8 GB
Display Connectors 2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort No outputs
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  • Radeon R9 270 has 50% more power consumption, than Radeon RX 480 mobile.
  • Radeon R9 270 is connected by PCIe 3.0 x16, and Radeon RX 480 mobile uses MXM-B (3.0) interface.
  • Radeon RX 480 mobile has 6 GB more memory, than Radeon R9 270.
  • Radeon R9 270 is used in Desktops, and Radeon RX 480 mobile - in Laptops.
  • Radeon R9 270 is build with GCN 1.0 architecture, and Radeon RX 480 mobile - with Polaris.
  • Radeon R9 270 is manufactured by 28 nm process technology, and Radeon RX 480 mobile - by 14 nm process technology.

Game benchmarks

high / 1080p 21−24 12−14
ultra / 1080p 12−14 7−8
QHD / 1440p 7−8 0−1
4K / 2160p 5−6
low / 720p 40−45 27−30
medium / 1080p 27−30 14−16
The average gaming FPS of Radeon R9 270 in Assassin's Creed Odyssey is 62% more, than Radeon RX 480 mobile.

Full Specs

  Radeon R9 270 Radeon RX 480 mobile
Architecture GCN 1.0 Polaris
Code name Curacao Polaris
Type Desktop Laptop
Release date 13 November 2013 1 August 2016
Pipelines 1280 2304
Boost Clock 925 MHz 1077 MHz
Transistor count 2,800 million 5,700 million
Manufacturing process technology 28 nm 14 nm
Texture fill rate 74.00 155.1
Floating-point performance 2,368 gflops 4,963 gflops
Length 210 mm
Memory bus width 256 Bit 256 Bit
Memory clock speed 8000 MHz
Memory bandwidth 179.2 GB/s 256.0 GB/s
Shared memory -
DirectX 12 (12_0)
Shader Model 5.1 6.4
OpenGL 4.6 4.6
OpenCL 1.2 2.0
Vulkan + 1.2.131
FreeSync +
Bus support PCIe 3.0
HDMI +
Bitcoin / BTC (SHA256) 293 Mh/s
Laptop size large
Eyefinity +
HD3D +
TrueAudio +
Design reference
DisplayPort support +
CrossFire +
DDMA audio +
Ethereum / ETH (DaggerHashimoto) 16 Mh/s
LiquidVR +
TressFX +
UVD +
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