Not an unfamiliar name, PowerColor makes a come back to the Malaysian market, bringing in more AMD Radeon goodness. 😀
Yes yes I know that AMD Radeon R7 200 and R9 200 stuff aren’t new, we’re in 2015 already and everyone’s anticipating the R9 300 series. While the Red Team prepares to wow the world (hopefully) with their latest range of product, the R7 and R9 200 is still pretty much relevant in today’s market. The R7 240 1GB GDDR5 model here for example is a great low-cost solution for less demanding games.
The card is so simple, I don’t think I’ll have to elaborate much. Unlike higher-end cards that are often with DisplayPort and without VGA connector, the R7 240 here being a low end card still maintains a VGA connector but it is without DisplayPort.
Being a low-powered card, it doesn’t require any PCI-E power connection to work.
Here’s the GPU-Z for the PowerColor R7 240 1GB GDDR5 V3 OC
More details on the official product page.
Test Setup
| Processor | Intel Core i5-4670K |
| RAM | Kingston HyperX 2x 4GB DDR3 2400Mhz Kit |
| Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-Z97X Gaming 3 |
| Cooler | NZXT Kraken X31 |
| Monitor | Dell U2414H |
| Power Supply | FSP AURUM S 600W |
| Casing | NZXT S340 |
| Operating System | Windows 8 Pro 64bit |
Benchmark
Here we go!
Unigine Heaven 4.0
*720 Low = no AA, no tessalation, low details.
| Card | 720p LOW (avg) | 720p (avg) |
| PowerColor R7 240 1GB GDDR5 | 67.4 | 22.3 |
| ASUS R7 250 1GB GDDR5 | 79.0 | 27.2 |
Metro Last Light
| Card | FPS |
| PowerColor R7 240 1GB GDDR5 | 21.00 |
| ASUS R7 250 1GB GDDR5 | 27.50 |
Bioshock Infinite
Settings are at
2 – UltraDX11_DDOF | 2 – Custom | 1 – 16:9 | 4 – 1280×720
| Card | FPS |
| PowerColor R7 240 1GB GDDR5 | 34.13 |
| ASUS R7 250 1GB GDDR5 | 44.13 |
Temperature
Furmark Burn-in Test was used to stress the card. Fan settings are at Auto. Room set to ~25c.
Below is the full load details.
| Card | Idle(°C) | Load (°C) |
| PowerColor R7 240 1GB GDDR5 | 26 | 55 |
The Verdict
The PowerColor R7 240 1GB GDDR5 V3 OC retails at around RM 250, a decent card that’s capable of 720p gaming. The card is compact and the cooling is good, it’s just nice for anyone with low budget and looking for a card that’s sufficiently capable for gaming.
