Official AMD Polaris Review Thread: Radeon RX 480, RX 470, and RX 460

[A_Skywalker]

Since both cards feature a single power plug, I'd say they both can be efficient. Just downclock/undervolt some. Been this way with AMD for as long as I can remember. If you want OOBE, buy Geforce. Simple as.

Great card otherwise :thumbsup:

how do I undervolt a card? MY 480 will arrive in few days.

 

[RussianSensation]

I was curious why they chose to use 3gb in the 1060. I also assume it won't be cheaper than a 8gb 480. I want to see the aib models for the 480 and I believe I'll go with an 8gb model. I would think more memory in some games would be useful if you want to turn settings up.

If the AIB 480's fall in the $300+ range I may just spend a bit more and go with the $399 gigabyte 1070.

8GB models cost 20% more for almost no performance increase. If there are $209-219 AIB RX 480 4GB cards, I'd pick that over a $259-269 AIB RX 480 8GB. Chances are if you are buying an RX 480 for 1080p, the 8GB is hardly going to matter and when it does, the card will be too slow. If you are gaming at 1440p 60Hz, RX 480 isn't even the card to go for. The other issue I have with $260-270 RX 480 8GB AIB cards is that at that point I'd rather recommend spending $90-100 more for a used GTX980Ti.

 

[sze5003]

Is there any actual indication of when the AIB boards will be available? The reference card may be cheap enough, but I like to run with three monitors. You basically have to get at least 2 DP monitors and one HDMI or a few active adapters to DVI to reuse older monitors and that adds $15 or so or you pay extra for DP. It is hard to find 23" DP monitors in the same price range as others.

My speculation is mid July as that is when powercooler will draw the winner for their devil 480.

 

[Keysplayr]

1: Kernel bugs are not always cut and dry, easy to find. Typically they are hard to find and test for. I know, because its part of my job.

2: nVidia has their own launch bugs with Pascal, so its not like AMD is alone in having a bug.

You are majorly missing the point that although things do happen, AMD cannot afford it. All companies should have certain quality standards in their testing methods, but AMD should have went for a perfect launch just this once.

 

[Faulkner]

You are majorly missing the point that although things do happen, AMD cannot afford it. All companies should have certain quality standards in their testing methods, but AMD should have went for a perfect launch just this once.

I agree with that, given the current market situation Nvidia has quite the headroom for hiccups unlike AMD.

 

[techne]

RX 480 with two nice fans and an 8-pin power connector, that's what I'm waiting for.

 

[Stuka87]

8GB models cost 20% more for almost no performance increase. If there are $209-219 AIB RX 480 4GB cards, I'd pick that over a $259-269 AIB RX 480 8GB. Chances are if you are buying an RX 480 for 1080p, the 8GB is hardly going to matter and when it does, the card will be too slow. If you are gaming at 1440p 60Hz, RX 480 isn't even the card to go for. The other issue I have with $260-270 RX 480 8GB AIB cards is that at that point I'd rather recommend spending $90-100 more for a used GTX980Ti.

The 8GB models have faster RAM, and that does result in a performance increase.

 

[Mopetar]

I think $199 RX 480 4GB is actually the one I am going to recommend for single GPU use in the mainstream category

Same. The 8 GB reference is too much of a crap shoot right now to justify the extra $40. I think that within six months the AIB cards with guaranteed OC will start to gravitate towards $250 which will provide enough value to justify the step up in cost.

I was curious why they chose to use 3gb in the 1060.

Same reason AMD did the 4/8 GB split. They don't really want to sell you a 3 GB 1060, but it let's them start at some price (say $199.99 for sake of argument) and then offer a 6 GB version for an extra $30 that nets some extra profit.

 

[AtenRa]

The fail from AMD once again is not the product but the inability to make reviewers understand where this product is positioned against the competition. We see review after review comparing the RX480 against R9 390/X and GTX 970/980. :sneaky:

But RX 480 at $199 and $239 is a direct (Tonga) R9 380/X and (GM106) GTX 960 competitor. So lets see how that translates.

This is the average from 16 games of which 10 are GameWorks titles.
https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/RX_480/24.html

Performance vs Tonga and GM106

Perf/watt vs Tonga and GM106

How about DX-12 ??

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/amd_radeon_r9_rx_480_8gb_review,13.html

So now things are looking differently when we directly see each tree alone inside the forest.

 

[Janooo]

8GB models cost 20% more for almost no performance increase. If there are $209-219 AIB RX 480 4GB cards, I'd pick that over a $259-269 AIB RX 480 8GB. Chances are if you are buying an RX 480 for 1080p, the 8GB is hardly going to matter and when it does, the card will be too slow. If you are gaming at 1440p 60Hz, RX 480 isn't even the card to go for. The other issue I have with $260-270 RX 480 8GB AIB cards is that at that point I'd rather recommend spending $90-100 more for a used GTX980Ti.

It appears you are overreacting here.
We do not know how AIB cards will perform yet. They might be better than 390X and getting close to 980Ti in DX12 games. The time will tell.

 

[LTC8K6]

Not sure if it was mentioned. If you read the Computerbase.de article carefully they say:

AMD hatte ursprünglich den Crimson 16.6.2 zum Testen zur Verfügung gestellt. Wie ComputerBase jedoch an diesem Montag erfahren hat, hat dieser mit einem Bug zu kämpfen, der die PCIe-Bandbreite limitiert. AMD hat ComputerBase daraufhin den Crimson 16.20.1035.1001-RC1 zur Verfügung gestellt, der das Problem behebt. Alle Werte wurden daraufhin noch einmal erhoben, denn je nach Spiel steigt die Performance durch den neuen Treiber um bis zu fünf Prozent an. Im Durchschnitt ist die Radeon RX 480 etwa 1,5 Prozent schneller.

They got informed by AMD on Monday, that the 16.6.2 driver has a bug with limits PCIe bandwidth. Therefore they got Crimson 16.20.1035.1001-RC1 which solved the problem and noticed a performance increase of up to 5% compared to 16.6.2.
From what i read, most other reviews just used the buggy 16.6.2 driver.

"about 1.5 percent faster" seems to be what it says.

Where did "up to 5%" come from?

 

[Azix]

something to consider is that the API has a major impact on how this card looks. Unfortunately for AMD the launch is still in the period where dx11 games are in benchmarks.

in dx11 it's what we see. in dx12 its much better on perf/watt etc. vs a 970 and vs a 980.

 

[sze5003]

8GB models cost 20% more for almost no performance increase. If there are $209-219 AIB RX 480 4GB cards, I'd pick that over a $259-269 AIB RX 480 8GB. Chances are if you are buying an RX 480 for 1080p, the 8GB is hardly going to matter and when it does, the card will be too slow. If you are gaming at 1440p 60Hz, RX 480 isn't even the card to go for. The other issue I have with $260-270 RX 480 8GB AIB cards is that at that point I'd rather recommend spending $90-100 more for a used GTX980Ti.

Yea I notice the reviews doesn't state much vs the 8gb model but some recommend it over the 4. I will get an AIB anyway so if they can come out with a cooler, and quite card that can perform well above reference then I wouldn't mind paying more for an 8gb as that could help it.

Of course this all depends on prices too. Too bad amd doesn't have a flagship top end this time around because I would probably get that. I remember when the 680 came out and my choice was pay $600+ for it or get the 7970ghz in the $500 range and that was an easy choice.

 

[railven]

The fail from AMD once again is not the product but the inability to make reviewers understand where this product is positioned against the competition. We see review after review comparing the RX480 against R9 390/X and GTX 970/980. :sneaky:

Probably AMD's fault for saying you are getting a $500 card's performance for $200.

Also your post is odd considering you started the 90% of GTX 1080 @ DX12 claim. You were quick to throw it against this gens $700 card but now reviewers are wrong because they are comparing it to last gen's >$400 cards?

 

[Ares202]

The fail from AMD once again is not the product but the inability to make reviewers understand where this product is positioned against the competition. We see review after review comparing the RX480 against R9 390/X and GTX 970/980. :sneaky:

Yep so the GTX 1060 should also be shown against the 1080/1070, 390X and Fury. Otherwise the site has bias towards Nvidia, that much is quite clear.

Of course this all depends on prices too. Too bad amd doesn't have a flagship top end this time around because I would probably get that.

What are you going to do? Seems like you are in a similar position as me....wait for Vega or get a 1070/1080???



Also why can't AMD get stock cooling right?

It's been the same for 10 years, since the 2900 series was released. The last good cooler they had was on the X1950XTX !!!

 

[agfkfhahddhdn]

.

 

[zinfamous]

Looks like AMD is finally adopting a logical naming scheme.

RX 1st number = 4 = generation
RX 2nd number = x60, x70, x80, x90 = performance tier
RX 3rd number = revision (we could see refreshes called RX 465, 475, 485, 495, etc.)

I like this, and will probably be waiting for news of the 490 and either jump on that some time after release or at least take that info to inform me whether or not to wait again for a 495.

Most people here assume that will be a small/cut Vega, right? Is there any reason to assume that this can still be a "full Polaris" and hover somewhere around the $300+ cost? Even if it's $350-400 I might consider it.

 

[Glo.]

https://techaltar.com/amd-rx-480-gpu-review/4/

110W consumed?

 

[TeknoBug]

Also, I hate blower cards. It's smart to wait for AIB RX 480s.

Those blowers can be replaced with an aftermarket cooler right? I know those R9 390 reference cards had them available shortly after they were released.

 

[AtenRa]

Probably AMD's fault for saying you are getting a $500 card's performance for $200.

That doesnt mean it is a $500 Card competitor, NVIDIA also said the GTX 1070 also brings performance of $650 cards at $379 but everyone was also comparing them to GTX 970 and how awesome performance increased they got.

Also your post is odd considering you started the 90% of GTX 1080 @ DX12 claim. You were quick to throw it against this gens $700 card but now reviewers are wrong because they are comparing it to last gen's >$400 cards?

What my speculations were about the RX 480 performance has nothing to do with professional reviews who got an AMD sample and were also informed by AMD via a conference call about the RX 480 positioning prior to the official launch.

 

[zinfamous]

Yep so the GTX 1060 should also be shown against the 1080/1070, 390X and Fury. Otherwise the site has bias towards Nvidia, that much is quite clear.



What are you going to do? Seems like you are in a similar position as me....wait for Vega or get a 1070/1080???



Also why can't AMD get stock cooling right?

It's been the same for 10 years, since the 2900 series was released. The last good cooler they had was on the X1950XTX !!!

seems to me that no one can get stock cooling right these days. it's not like nVid is fairing will with the 1080, either. I think this just has to do with the demands getting heavier and heavier with greater complexity so with reference cards, the manufacturers are going to opt for the good-enough option that's cheapest to get a bunch of cards out the door fast. Let the other manufacturers put their fancy stuff on and sell for a slight premium. I think nVidia/AMD R&D is much better spent on the chips and selling the chips and board specs to others that can spend their time tweaking.

You haven't seen good cooling since the X1950XTX because simple reference cooling was all that was ever needed then. If you want to criticize someone for it, I think you'd be better off directing that towards nVidia, who offers you the privilege of spending an extra $100 on the same crappy cooler.

 

[sze5003]

Yep so the GTX 1060 should also be shown against the 1080/1070, 390X and Fury. Otherwise the site has bias towards Nvidia, that much is quite clear.



What are you going to do? Seems like you are in a similar position as me....wait for Vega or get a 1070/1080???



Also why can't AMD get stock cooling right?

It's been the same for 10 years, since the 2900 series was released. The last good cooler they had was on the X1950XTX !!!

Im really unsure. For now waiting for AIB 480 models. Then seeing the prices and either getting one if they are not above $300+ or if they are more I may go for a 1070. My plan is to stick with a 480 until Vega.

 

[Glo.]

https://techaltar.com/amd-rx-480-gpu-review/4/

110W consumed?

Guys, looks at this O_O

Power consumption is one of the most improved areas of Polaris and especially in the RX 480. AMD has been very much aware of the high power consumption of cards past, and wanted to correct that. They’ve done precisely that, though keep in mind that this is not the flagship card, but still a very powerful mainstream card. To test we ran the Ashes of the Singularity benchmark at the Extreme preset at 2160P. We measured PCIe power using leads connected to the slot itself, as well as the power connector. These are are the peak numbers that were seen.

 

[Zstream]

https://techaltar.com/amd-rx-480-gpu-review/4/

110W consumed?

Interesting..

 

[Tweak155]

^ Yeah I noticed that, but it's confusing because it says Temps in Celsius. Probably just a goof, but Is there some hidden metric in there?