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The AMD Radeon RX 480 8GB is certainly a very capable graphics card and as our readers have been discussing in the build up to launch today the much touted price point of $199.99 really did seem too good to be true.
While American prices seem very competitive the situation in the United Kingdom isn't quite so positive. We have been told by AMD directly that the reference RX 480 4GB will be priced around £180 and the 8GB version which we reviewed today will be around £215. We can always blame UK 20% VAT for the higher prices, but since the announcement of the UK wanting to opt out of the European Union, the pound sterling has devalued to a 31 year low.
On a more positive note, it is refreshing to see that AMD have managed to deliver performance levels ahead of the R9 380x and GTX 970. When manually overclocked to 1,375mhz we found the RX 480 was slightly faster than the R9 390 and very closely matched against the Asus GTX980 Strix – in some engines a little behind, and in others, a little ahead. It really does all depend on the games you want to play.
Power efficiency of the RX 480 8GB is noteworthy – it topped our graph. When we increased core voltage to achieve the maximum overclock possible the power consumption increased by 40 watts. At this level the system load was only 5 watts lower than when fitted with a reference Nvidia GTX 1080.
All in all I have been immensely impressed with the RX 480 8GB, and even my previous niggle of AMD not adopting an HDMI 2.0 port has been addressed. At long last, 60hz refresh rates at Ultra HD 4k resolutions are now a possibility on an HDMI driven television set.
There is only one real concern with the reference RX 480, and it is unfortunately quite a big one. The reference cooler is quite frankly, rubbish. AMD have basically installed a diminutive heatsink on the core and are pushing cold air over it with a small blower style fan that can spin up to 5,100 rpm.
This means that if you want to reduce the temperatures below 80c under load then you are going to need to increase the fan speeds, effectively breaking away from the quiet default profile. Also if you want to overclock and leave the fan on automatic, the card will throttle heavily. WattMan is an attractive, fully loaded software package, but due to the weak cooling system I found you had to really crank the fan speeds and adjust the temperature threshold to the upper end of the scale (90c) to ensure throttling was kept to a minimum. I really do wish AMD would up their game with their reference cooling solutions on launch day.
At 1,375mhz, the RX 480 8GB delivered stellar performance, but I couldn't live with the 47dBa+ noise levels required when the voltage was cranked to get stability. My only reason for including these overclocked results was to give us an early indication of how AMD partners will likely sell their modified, tweaked cards in the coming weeks. I am looking forward to testing the Polaris architecture with a proper heatpipe style cooler and multiple high grade fans in place from companies such as Sapphire.
The RX 480 earns our Worth Buying Award, I would have scored it higher, but the reference cooling system is very poor, and I advise our readers to wait on custom cooled cards from AMD partners before parting with the cash. I am confident with 2 and 3 fan cooling systems and heatsinks connected to high grade heatpipes that cooling proficiency will reap higher overclocks, minimise throttling and reduce noise emissions under load.
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Pros:
- excellent performance levels out of the box.
- decent price points.
- overclocking potential looks high.
- high power efficiency at stock settings.
Cons:
- mediocre cooling system on the reference card.
- throttling issues can occur unless fan levels and temperature targets are increased.
- small blower style fan can get loud.
- no backplate.
Kitguru says: The AMD RX480 8GB is a powerful and capable graphics card which appears to exhibit plenty of overclocking potential. While the reference card has performed well in our analysis, the cooling system is rather feeble and we look forward to testing higher grade partner cards in the coming weeks.
XFX have a backplate with their Cards
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/xfx-radeon-rx-480-black-edition-8192mb-gddr5-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-238-xf.html
Weird performance, wonder if it is immature drivers in some of these games. Sometimes it’s as fast as a factory OC GTX980, sometimes it’s slower than a 970. That’s quite a large swing.
Some games are more beneficial to AMD or Nvidia (without always being a conscious choice … AMD struggle with drawcalls multi-threading in DX11 so the more drawcalls the more AMD will be disadvantaged).
Kind of consistent with other review.
The VR test needs some work (the frame count is a better indicator than the overall fidelity ranking and the SteamVR perf test switch between setttings depending on performances).
I expected the 480 to be between 980 and TI, but found out it’s more between 970 and 980.
I know that AMD will push stuff like Ashes of the Singularity into these reviews because they simply have better performance on it than Nvidia. However it’s still strange to see it so far above the 970 on a couple of the games here then beaten on others.
It’s not really an upgrade on the 970 or the 390, clearly. I expected a little more if I am honest
Anyway for that money it’s best option for now. Let’s wait for the 1060. But i don’t thnik nvidia would sell it cheaper than 980 as it will probably match it’s performence. In my opinion 1060 will be still 50$+ more expensive.
it is ahead of 980 and 970 on DX12 games.
Yes and No.
Ashes of singularity is well know for being advantageous to AMD cards, but I think it is mainly because the bench make use of asynchronous computing (which nvidia failed to implement even on their latest cards … such a bad decision u__u).
The day when devs will make their games by forsaking non Async GPU is very far in the future (not everything can be dialed down to suit low end PC) so it will still be a long time before that feature make a significant impact.
In TombRaider the 980 is still ahead of the non-OC card (but considering the noise and temp of the overclocked version …).
Hitman starts showing the interest of the api (high CPU usage hence dx12 benefits), but then again, the reference card only equals the 980.
But the 480 is more future proof than the 9xx or even the 10xx
Indeed.
AMD has always offered a better perf/price ratio and the 480 is no stranger to that too.
Considering the latest price drop of the 9xx nvidia cards, and even suspecting another price drop in a short time, I can’t see nvidia selling a 1060 a less than the price of a 480.
I currently have a 750Gtx ti. I was looking at the 980 but with this release, I held off. Basically, should I get this or the 980.
I’d prefer to spend less, but If the performance is significantly less, then I’ll opt for the more expensive
Just wait for a factory oced 480. 2-3 weeks from it and you will have a singificantly better GPU than 980 in yours hands spending up to $300 ; )
Bit more than that. – UK ?
Agreed…
why would they come out with low end junk
84% of the desktop discrete GPU market buys graphics cards in the sub-$300 price level. 85% of the remaining 16% purchase graphics cards between $300 and $449. That leaves roughly 2.5-3% of PC gamers who buy graphics cards above $449. John Peddie already did the research and this report costs $5000 USD.
The RX 480 only has 32 ROPs and it’s trading blows with a 64 ROP 390 and 56 ROP 970. Not bad for a low-end AMD card. This card isn’t meant to be an upgrade for 970/390 users. You are confusing it with Vega. Many people on the Internet seem confused about this. R9 390 was a $329 card. Eventually AMD will have a $329-499 Vega card and those cards are the successors to 970/980/390/390X tiers.
They won’t sell it for less what 980 is worth. That’s for sure. And that is why it will be always more expensive than 480.
Guys are right. I got reference card cuz I want CF whithout OC. But if u wait few weeks you will get 980 killer for around 300E. Maybe less. Still -50E than the cheapest 980 in EU.
I think that in few week we can see 980 killer for around 300E. Its often 1:1 currency factor if it comes to graphic cards. But I dunno how it works in UK though.
Sometimes there is too much fanboyizm, on both side, to see simple things. RX 480 is a budget card placing itself between 970/980 which is not bad for a 250$ card. We all benefit from that. We will wait few months for upcoming vega 490/490x which will compete with 980ti/1070 and hopfully with 1080.
Im changing my Vapour-X 7970 Ghz 6G with card that have cost me berly 260E and I can expect in the near future a performance of a stock gtx 980. As you have said its not bad with card which has only 32 rops. 😀
It some games reference RX 480 has almost the same perormance as stock 980. But you’re right, its not an upgrade for people who have 970/390. I think it never meant to be. Even though it will eventually, with proper drivers, reach around of 980 performance.
This was aimed for all those pple who sill runs their rigs on gtx 5/6/7 series. I’ve seen many people mentioning that.
It looks cool. 😀
“But the 480 is more future proof than the 9xx or even the 10xx” And cheaper. I don’t even care if 480 surpass 980. It doesn’t really matter because it costs 100$ less. For what I know with proper drivers we can expect 480 to perform as good as stock 980.
It’s really good for a card with 32 ROP’s.
AMD pushing???! Guess you are a green fanboy.
I will more likely think reviewers may include Ashes because:
A) Is a DX 12 title, and there are only a few of them.
B) Can compare to AMD soft launch numbers and see if were truth or lies.
And btw for what I saw in all DX12 titles the RX480 beat the GTX980.
But also saw the 1070 being 50% or more faster, and sometimes coming close to double, which may put the price difference on discussion. In terms that if you can afford a little more than $300, then you should go with the 1070.
I’m not confusing it with Vega at all thanks, it’s difficult to see how your reply relates much to my post to be honest!
Yes, AMD pushing. But no, thanks for jumping wildly to conclusions.
Wow some people are very sensitive on here. Everyone knows Ashes has a publisher that has an agreement with AMD and that AMD themselves use that specific title when they talk about their cards, particularly the new RX 480. For obvious reasons. That controversy has been played out.
I would certainly hope that this card beats Nvidia cards that are over 18 months old on newer DX12 titles. It does on more of them, the AMD connected ones anyway. Not quite a full sweep however….
The point I suppose is that the 970 or 980 are not really competitors to this card and nobody will be buying them new. The GTX1060 will be the real rival, and that will be launched post haste it seems. Bring on the true comparison in the lineups then.
and that isn’t a bad thing either, it is a mainstream card, it just killed that segment entirely
I wouldn’t say “killed” because it is just above a 970 on average performances and just below a 970 on average prices. The 4Go /199$ version will probably more suited for that, if the 970 don’t drop its price again.
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I know Ashes is more AMD friendly, and that has happened since I remember in the PC gaming industry. Some games work better on AMD, some on NVidia. And each company showcases titles that they dominate at their launches.
And at least in the AMD launch they did last month is understandable because of that.
But your comment make the assumption that reviewers include Ashes due to AMD demand, and that’s what I was trying to explain.
And that assumption has the same sense that the one about Marvel Studios buying all reviewers of the world.
You have to understand when cards are sent out by the likes of AMD or Nvidia to be reviewed, their PR departments DO often talk to said reviewers about what they might want to use as a benchmark!
They will exert any influence they can on sites to include a particular benchmark to favour their product. For as long as graphics cards have been about, it’s not a secret really.
Ashes of the Singularity is a fairly rubbish game with not that much notable about it besides being practically funded by AMD to be an asychronous compute benchmark. AMD PR have babbled on about this one bench for ages now, unsurprisingly.
This doesn’t bother me. Nvidia manage to pull all sorts of dirty tricks too, the list is long. We can’t stop it, so we just have to be cynical and aware about them.
Yeah i have a feeling if we give the Card maybe what…….4-5 months it can be the same or beat 980 just give the drivers time to mature its a new GCN architecture so im pretty sure the drivers still need tweeking
Apparently there is a rather alarming problem with the reference cards that has been picked up. It is capable of drawing much more than the maximum PCIe spec from the motherboard slot.
The power draw exceeds 150w even at stock (75w 6 pin, 75w board slot), but the excess is coming from the board and not the 6 pin. Some motherboards may not be able to deal with this, especially with multiple cards.
I wouldn’t rush out to buy reference versions of this board in other words. Partner boards may fix this with say an 8 pin connector, problem solved.
Meh disappointing performance for 2016 standards
The card has a serious flaw TDP of 164W from a 6 pin will seriously damage your motherboard
wrong , it is ahead on some titles cause those titles are amd exclusives , do your research first lmao.
Interesting card… It’s most interesting that the 480 seems to be full Polaris… That leaves a lot of room in terms of markets… If Vega is not due for 5 months, they will have no cards to compete with 10×0 until then…
I do think this is a perfect chip to become an X2… Using Nano-type power gating they can keep it under 300W easy with 250W possible…
We can almost predict Vega will be the FirePro cards and Opteron IGPs, but will it fill the gap between $300 and $600…? It could perhaps have GDDR variants that will slide in those price points… There was also a rumor that Vega was pushed forward to October so it’s interesting as I said…
But 480 will mean a higher TAM as near 980 perf for $200 will be irresistible for a lot of budget gamers…
It’s a great little card for the money you spend on it. I think performance would be more consistent if it had a few more ROP’s in it maybe 48 would be good & then they could also give it a 384 bit memory bus. This would make it a very solid card & actually be a 980 killer instead of just trading blows with it & the 970. The extra ROP’s would not have added to much to the card for price maybe 10-15 bucks for the end user even if they just left the memory bus at 256 bit. Point being it would be a more balanced card all around.
I am also sure they will figure out the power draw problem over the PCI-E bis as well and if they do not the board partners will just give it a 8 pin power plug and better cooling as well. I realize this card is supposed to be a mid tier card and it does very well for what it has under the hood but it could have been a lot better if they balanced it out like I stated above. Vega will not only have to deal with the 1080 & 1070 cards but also the 1080 Ti future release cards as well so here is hoping AMD has a really great chip about to be released.
Then again if AMD releases the Vega before Nvidia release the 1080 ti all Nvidia will do is just run the clocks up to the max the chip can handle so they can claim king of the Hill again like they will most likely do when they release the GTX 1060. I am not a fanboy of either camp I use which ever card makes sense to my pocket book because I have both Nvidia & AMD cards in my gaming & other game/home systems.
AIB’s have 8 pin and it would only damage shitty mobo’s.
Sapphire RX 480 OC here I come, it will beat the 1060 card, especially in newer games and I bet 50 dollar cheaper too. It also gives you the option of crossfire if you like down the road. which the 1060 will not give SLI.
You don’t understand what “exclusive” means. If it really was exclusive it litterally would not run at all on anything that isn’t amd…
This card is for guys like me, with next to no money and is upgrading from a 650TI boost…which is shit compared to RX480.
RX is for DX12 not for DX11, “think in future” amd allways the same.. xD but is worth
It would never damage your motherboard, even less so with the latest driver that keeps the PCIE specs within it’s 75W max.
But its incredible performance for 200-250 dollars…. Compared to the 200 dollar R9 280 i bought a few years back… Not that it matters anyway, im still going for the 1070 lol
yes sir the 1060 is 300 bucks for the founders, i didnt see a price for the non founders though? but if you cant get it for under 300 the 480 is a much better deal
The gtx1070/1080 crush it with sheer power, its the gtx 1060 that they need to worry about which will cost more be faster in DX11 games and have less RAM and will fall behind as time goes on.
Don’t kid yourself. The GTX1060 is going to cost more and be a bit faster. The games that the 480 out perform it rival are few in number but they will grow in number. If you want instant superior benchmarks in current the nvidia card is better. If you are keeping it for a few years the RX 480 is likely to be a better buy that gets better as more DX12 games get released.
But it was never made to compete with 1070/1080. This guy is right that RX is more future proof and i tell you why i think that way. Most of ppl don’t expect dx12 games comming soon. But in my opinion a lot of games supporting dx 12 will show up already in 2017. So having two non ref rx 480 is a better deal tahn bying one 1070. But it is onay what I will do. There are some games with non/bad scalling but only few and medicore. Appat of ROTTR ofc. Most of games will support CF. Now all depends on drivers and stabilisation of CF. But that’s only my opinion.