The XFX Radeon R7 370 2GB Double Dissipation Black Edition is an affordable entry in Radeon's 300 series line, a re-branding of the company's Radeon 200 series, with higher clock speeds and more memory. This graphics card offers decent 1080p gaming performance, but at $169.99, it's hard to recommend over the similarly priced Nvidia GeForce GTX 950 or AMD's Radeon R9 380-based GPUs, which offer better performance.
With its "Ghost Thermal" heatsink and "Double Dissipation" cooler, the R7 370 has a decent design, and the two 90mm fans don't get too loud. The GPU comes with dual-link DVI ports, a full-size DisplayPort, and an HDMI 1.4a port. Its 9.2-inch length is close to that of the stock Nvidia GeForce GTX 960 (9.5 inches), but is longer than the Nvidia GTX 950 (8 inches).
The chip is based on the same one used in the AMD Radeon HD 7850 from 2012, later reworked into the AMD Radeon R9 270, which means it's not exactly cutting edge now. Because the AMD Radeon 300 series is an update of the AMD Radeon 200 series, the R7 370's older architecture translates into a performance gap compared with similarly priced GPUs.
The XFX R7 370 has the same 1,024 stream processors and 64 texture units of the stock version of the card, but its clock speed has been bumped from 975MHz to 1,040MHz. The increased speed does require more power, though, meaning it needs two six-pin connectors and at least a 500-watt power supply (XFX recommends 650 watts).
On the 3DMark test, the XFX R7 370 was outperformed by 19 percent by the EVGA GeForce GTX 950 SSC, a card that costs the same. The similarly priced Nvidia GTX 960 and AMD R9 380 also performed significantly better on the same test. This pattern continued in the gaming tests, with the R7 370 consistently pushing out fewer frames per second than the other GPUs.
With the XFX R7 370's legacy architecture resulting in an inherently outdated design and average performance, there are better options out there for you in this range. The Nvidia GeForce GTX 950 is a better performer for less money, and if you're looking at this price point, $30 more can get you a faster AMD Radeon R9 380. The XFX R7 370 can handle most of today's games well at mostly high settings, and is not a bad GPU, but it's simply not the most reasonable choice for your budget. If you can get a good deal on this card by shopping around, it might be worthwhile, but it's outperformed by options that cost the same or slightly less.
For more details, check out the XFX Radeon R7 370 2GB Double Dissipation Black Edition review on our sister site, Computer Shopper.
This article originally appeared on PCMag.com.