Card layout and Photos

The R9 270X DirectCU II Top shares is design with a good portion of Asus’s VGA product line. This is because the card has Asus’s DirectCU II cooling that they use any chance they can get. For those of you who don’t know what DirectCU II is, this is their Direct Contact design and the II means two fans. They use 5 heatpipes that have direct contact on the GPU, similar to how most modern CPU coolers work, and pull the heat away from the GPU out onto the heatsink where the two fans can blow over the heatsink and dissipate the heat. This design is considerably different than a reference cooler for example that blows air over a heatsink from the front of the card to the back, blowing out of the back. In order to get more airflow, this design pushes air down through the heatsink and against the PCB. This means, like any other aftermarket cooler, that the card vents its air into the case not out the back. Asus uses a plastic fan shroud to help shape the airflow as well. This fan shroud also gives the card its Asus styling with its black and red theme.

image 5

image 11

image 12

The end of the R9 270X DirectCU II Top is half opened and extended out beyond the PCB to give it additional airflow from the second fan.

image 7

The underside of the R9 270X DirectCU II Top has two of the cards five direct contact heatpipes that help pull the heat from the GPU out over the rest of the heatsink so that the cards two fans can cool things down. In this photo you can see some of the heatsink itself as well, you can see that there is a gap of about a half inch between the heatsink and the PCB to give room for a little airflow. You can also see in this photo that there isn’t any way for air to push out the back of the card with that large of a gap from the end of the fan shroud to the rear PCI slot vents.

image 6

So when you have the card installed, what are you going to see? Well the top of the R9 270X DirectCU II Top has both the Asus badge as well as the DirectCU II logo on the fan shroud. Each of the heatpipes coming directly from the GPU and run across the top of the card before going back into the heatsink.  They have been nickel plated for an eye catching finish as well.

image 15

image 8

For power, the R9 270X DirectCU II Top has the same double 6-pin power requirement as most other R9 270X’s. Asus did flip the connections around backwards in comparison though to give a little more room for the cards extremely large heatpipes. You can see that the PCB is notched for each of the retention clips. Another feature I noticed that I am a big fan of is the small LED on the back of the PCB by each power connection. When you have the card plugged into the PCI slot, they will light up red if there isn’t power to the 6 pin connection. Once each plug gets power that light turns to green. This is a great way to confirm if you are having issues and you think maybe a plug has come undone.

image 13

Much like most R9 270X’s this card comes a single Crossfire connector and from the looks of it, it is the same height as reference PCB cards so there is a better chance that the DirectCU II Top will crossfire with other models than some of the other cards I have tested.

image 14

The R9 270X DirectCU II Top comes with a fairly standard assortment of video connections. You have full size DisplayPort and HDMI connections along with two DVI connections as well. Aside from those there is a half slot vent for a little additional ventilation.

image 9

With the card flipped over, we can see the black PCB of the R9 270X DirectCU II Top as well as the notches I previously mentioned for both of the power plugs. Here you can also see the support bracket along the top of the card that helps support the weight that the DirectCU II cooler adds to the card.

image 10

 

Log in to comment

We have 2012 guests and no members online

supportus