CF RX 480

[guskline]

Just picked up a second Sapphire RX 480 reference to run in CF in my 6700k rig below. So far nice and fast.

Vega appears a long way off.

 

[tential]

Just picked up a second Sapphire RX 480 reference to run in CF in my 6700k rig below. So far nice and fast.

Vega appears a long way off.

Want to give some examples of games your playing, resolution, improvement, etc.?

 

[Valantar]

Want to give some examples of games your playing, resolution, improvement, etc.?

Yeah, other than that you're just saying "hey guys, FYI, I just bought a new GPU." Want to share some insights, experience, something we might actually gain something from reading?

 

[Gikaseixas]

Hey Gus how's the CF gaming system compares to your GTX 1080??? Can you do some benches?

 

[guskline]

tential: Right now I'm slogging my way through BF1 multiplayer. I'm a lousy gamer but at my age (65), it's fun.

 

[guskline]

Gikaseixas:
Timespy:
RX 480 CF Overall 7231; Graphics 7518: CPU (6700k @4.6) 5946
GTX 1080 Overall 7639; Graphics 7361: CPU (5960x @ 4.4) 9714

Firestrike:
RX 480 CF Overall 18267; Graphics 24594; Physics 14532; Combined 7181
GTX 1080 Overall 19918; Graphics 23185; Physics 21152; Combined 9290

More to follow. Just got back from a Thanksgiving trip and installed the second 480 today. They are identical reference Sapphire RX480 8g cards.

I measure total system draw with both gpus in my 6700k rig OC'd to 4.6Ghz at 1.33v with a Corsair H110i GT cooler, 16g DDR4 etc and the total draw using my Kill A Watt measuring device while running Aida64 stress test, stressing ALL component was as high as 480W with the majority of the time at 467W.

I will be glad to run as many tests as possible.

I thought I had sworn off of CF/SLI but the "curiosity" bug bit me last week when I was able to pick up a slightly used exact gpu as my second card.

In addition, Vega looks like it might not surface until mid 2017, so I thought, what the heck, let's see how 2 of these 480's run in CF.

 

[guskline]

Yeah, other than that you're just saying "hey guys, FYI, I just bought a new GPU." Want to share some insights, experience, something we might actually gain something from reading?

I'll try but I just put the 2nd 480 in @ 6 hours ago so I'll keep posting insights as I go along.

I had experience with 2 290s in CF which were in my 4790k rig below but sold them when I moved the GTX980TI into the 4790k rig and bought the GTX 1080 for the 5960x rig. Within the last few months I built a 6700k rig and decided to go with a single RX480 and a LG 29" ultrawide freesync monitor with 2560 x 1080 resolution.

Recently an identical Sapphire reference RX480 popped up on ebay and I decided to jump on it and try these in CF. There are not many article on RX 480 CF. Probably due to Nvidia's GTX 1070. However, since I already have a GTX 1080 AND a GTX 980 TI going with an AMD gpu for the third rig was my choice. Fury and FuryX were out and since I was able to snag a reference RX 480 near launch day for retail I jumped on it.

I was going to wait for Vega to upgrade but the "vibes" I get are a summer 2017 release.

 

[SlickR12345]

Good choice, from the very few benchmarks(Nvidia probably put money/pressure not to have CF benches)two RX480 perform quite better than 1080 in most games!

 

[guskline]

Having a BLAST playing BF1 in CF.

 

[happy medium]

Good choice, from the very few benchmarks(Nvidia probably put money/pressure not to have CF benches)two RX480 perform quite better than 1080 in most games!

I think 480's in crossfire would have trouble beating a gtx1070. It would also use 100 watts more heat.
It would be much more cost effective to buy a $360 gtx1070 and overclock it.
If your a AMD user , it seems to be as fast as a gtx 295 and a good stop gap solution while waiting for a Vega card.

 

[guskline]

Already own a GTX1080 and GTX 980 TI SC so I decided AMD for the third rig.

 

[tential]

Already own a GTX1080 and GTX 980 TI SC so I decided AMD for the third rig.

How does it compare to the 1080 rig?

 

[stahlhart]

Good choice, from the very few benchmarks(Nvidia probably put money/pressure not to have CF benches)two RX480 perform quite better than 1080 in most games!

Start including citations to support this wingnut crap, Sparky.
-- stahlhart

 

[Arachnotronic]

Good choice, from the very few benchmarks(Nvidia probably put money/pressure not to have CF benches)two RX480 perform quite better than 1080 in most games!

Even in the best case (TPU excluding games that don't scale with CrossFireX), two RX 480s get beaten by a stock 1080:

https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/RX_480_CrossFire/19.html

Guskline is clearly a hardware enthusiast who wanted to play with new hardware, absolutely no need to make a performance-based argument for/against two RX 480s vs GTX 1080. He has both and wants to have them both, and that's awesome

Playing with new gear is fun.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Sounds like fun. I've entertained the idea of RX 460 4GB Nitro CF. Can you even CF the RX 460? Would you even want to? (Probably better off getting an RX 480 8GB. Been looking at those too.)

 

[Shmee]

It doesnt make sense to cf low end cards, even if possible, which I am not sure it is.

 

[Arachnotronic]

Sounds like fun. I've entertained the idea of RX 460 4GB Nitro CF. Can you even CF the RX 460? Would you even want to? (Probably better off getting an RX 480 8GB. Been looking at those too.)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150778

Spec page on Newegg says this 460 supports XFire.

 

[Seba]

If your a AMD user , it seems to be as fast as a gtx 295 and a good stop gap solution while waiting for a Vega card.

That was confusing, until I realized you meant R9 295X2, not GTX 295 (Tesla).

 

[guskline]

Correct about me being a hardware enthusiast Arachnotronic. Comparing it to the GTX 1080 is difficult to say since I have different cpus, monitors and resolutions, etc. It's definitely faster than a single RX480!

As it pertains to the GTX 1080, a single fast card is the way to go. Schmee, our moderator, has experience with CF also. I will say that compared to the 2 R9 290s in CF which I previously had, this combo is quieter and uses a lot less power. If you are seeking a single "faster" card, bang for the buck, right now the GTX 1070 appears the way to go. I was just giving some hope, and hopefully information to those RX480/470 owners who might have budget constraints or want to stay with AMD.

One of the driving forces here was whether to jump to a Fury/FuryX - 28nm technology - or CF the RX480. I opted to stay with the newer card.

AMD's "high end" new card, the Vega seems further and further away (mid 2017????). Perhaps all the focus, now at AMD is on getting ZEN out the door as it most likely will affect the financial bottom line MUCH more than Vega.

My tests so far with this rig have been limited. Are there any other tests you wish me to run?

 

[guskline]

I have more test info for you to "chew over" comparing my CF RX 480 rig to my GTX1080 rig. Please remember the GTX1080 has a 8c/16t 5960x cpu at 4.4 vs the RX480CF having a 4c/8t 6700k at 4.6.

OK first Firestrike Extreme. The number sequence is RX480/RX480 CF/GTX1080

Overall 5398/9477/10162
Graphics 5664/11007/10703
Physics 15077/21194/13796
Combined 2332/3773/4709

Firestrike Ultra with the same numbering sequence

Overall 2707/5131/5608
Graphics 2663/5327/5512
Physics 14004/13933/21360
Combined 1298/2309/2840

Now on to PC Mark 8 Home Accelerated. Unfortunately, I failed to test RX480 on a single card so this sequence will only be RX480CF followed by GTX1080.

Overall 4999/5078
Time to run 35m51s/32m06s
Writing 3.00928s/4.08806s
Video chat enc v2 Acc 33ms/33ms
Web Browse Jungle .30121s/.30402s
Casual Gaming 136.76fps/124.43fps
Adv Photo Editing .20678s/.125s
Web Browse Amazonia .13309s/.13305s
Video Playback 29.99fps/30.02 fps

Finally Timespy 1.0 Sequence is RX480/RX480CF/GTX1080

Overall 4140/7231/7639
Graphics 3922/7518/7362
CPU 6053/5946/9714

Enjoy!

 

[SlickR12345]

I have more test info for you to "chew over" comparing my CF RX 480 rig to my GTX1080 rig. Please remember the GTX1080 has a 8c/16t 5960x cpu at 4.4 vs the RX480CF having a 4c/8t 6700k at 4.6.

OK first Firestrike Extreme. The number sequence is RX480/RX480 CF/GTX1080

Overall 5398/9477/10162
Graphics 5664/11007/10703
Physics 15077/21194/13796
Combined 2332/3773/4709

Firestrike Ultra with the same numbering sequence

Overall 2707/5131/5608
Graphics 2663/5327/5512
Physics 14004/13933/21360
Combined 1298/2309/2840

Now on to PC Mark 8 Home Accelerated. Unfortunately, I failed to test RX480 on a single card so this sequence will only be RX480CF followed by GTX1080.

Overall 4999/5078
Time to run 35m51s/32m06s
Writing 3.00928s/4.08806s
Video chat enc v2 Acc 33ms/33ms
Web Browse Jungle .30121s/.30402s
Casual Gaming 136.76fps/124.43fps
Adv Photo Editing .20678s/.125s
Web Browse Amazonia .13309s/.13305s
Video Playback 29.99fps/30.02 fps

Finally Timespy 1.0 Sequence is RX480/RX480CF/GTX1080

Overall 4140/7231/7639
Graphics 3922/7518/7362
CPU 6053/5946/9714

Enjoy!

As expected from the few benchmarks that tested 480 in CF the 2x480 easily beat the 1080.

 

[Thinker_145]

lmao people are actually comparing 2x480 with a 1080? And using synthetic benchmarks on top of that?

I mean you wanted to do it is fine and all but let's not pretend that it's actually a logical configuration in any conceivable way. Wanting to "stick with a certain company" is not a legitimate reason.

 

[amenx]

I think 480's in crossfire would have trouble beating a gtx1070. It would also use 100 watts more heat.
It would be much more cost effective to buy a $360 gtx1070 and overclock it.
If your a AMD user , it seems to be as fast as a gtx 295 and a good stop gap solution while waiting for a Vega card.

But those benches are from June. If scaling improved since then and on par with the other games it does well in (as per TPU charts), it looks very close the 1080. And at a far more agreeable cost. Though many potential buyers might not want multi-GPU solutions. Still, I wonder if AMD might have a dual GPU 480 based card out in a few weeks. If only to have something red in the bench charts that breaks the 4 top green slots.

 

[happy medium]

But those benches are from June. If scaling improved since then and on par with the other games it does well in (as per TPU charts), it looks very close the 1080. And at a far more agreeable cost. Though many potential buyers might not want multi-GPU solutions. Still, I wonder if AMD might have a dual GPU 480 based card out in a few weeks. If only to have something red in the bench charts that breaks the 4 top green slots.

Actually I would think scaling has gotten worse.
Not many new games support crossfire/sli out of the box.
It sometimes takes months to get proper support.

 

[poofyhairguy]

This is awesome OP.

I have to decide myself when I stop mining if I will game with my 390X or two 4GB 470s.

I was leaning 390X but I am watching this thread closely.