Who bought/is buying a Radeon RX 480?

Page 14 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
110,820
29,571
146
hmm, I was waiting to see 490/some maturity, but if the rumors about it being 2x polaris are true, then I don't want it.

I may just jump on a Nitro if those become available soon...but I really don't need to upgrade.

This is why I tell myself to avoid this section of AT for several years at a time.

...maybe worth waiting for the 485?
 

sze5003

Lifer
Aug 18, 2012
14,184
626
126
hmm, I was waiting to see 490/some maturity, but if the rumors about it being 2x polaris are true, then I don't want it.

I may just jump on a Nitro if those become available soon...but I really don't need to upgrade.

This is why I tell myself to avoid this section of AT for several years at a time.

...maybe worth waiting for the 485?
I've been stalking Sapphire's Facebook page to see if they post anything about a release date. All they say is soon.
 

ScottAD

Senior member
Jan 10, 2007
735
77
91
I've been stalking Sapphire's Facebook page to see if they post anything about a release date. All they say is soon.

Some of these new cards are looking snazzy. I think I like the Nitro the best so far. May be the card for me since the 6870 is going out the door for me.
 

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
110,820
29,571
146
Hahah it's the worst isnt it. Once that bug bites...

Indeed, but I think I just need to get through summer. It's the heat being pumped out from my 280X that is killing me over the last 2-3 weeks of 90dg weather.
 

sze5003

Lifer
Aug 18, 2012
14,184
626
126
Some of these new cards are looking snazzy. I think I like the Nitro the best so far. May be the card for me since the 6870 is going out the door for me.
Have you also seen the xfx model? The nitro is probably the best looking and best optimized one in terms of performance. Too bad US stores aren't allowing preorders.
 

ScottAD

Senior member
Jan 10, 2007
735
77
91
Have you also seen the xfx model? The nitro is probably the best looking and best optimized one in terms of performance. Too bad US stores aren't allowing preorders.

I did, my 6870 is the XFX Double D which performed admirably but time for something new.
 

ScottAD

Senior member
Jan 10, 2007
735
77
91
Amazon usually does back orders so maybe we'll see it. I guess we need to wait until the 22nd.

ASUS STRIX doesn't look shabby either. I don't do crazy gaming so won't need the OC headroom it provides but thought worth mentioning.
 

sze5003

Lifer
Aug 18, 2012
14,184
626
126
ASUS STRIX doesn't look shabby either. I don't do crazy gaming so won't need the OC headroom it provides but thought worth mentioning.
The card on its own with whatever clocks the aib come with should be able to max 1080p in most games so I'm not worried about overclocking either. I never overclocked my currnet card.

Edit: The Asus Strix will be available mid August...way late if you ask me. I just hope powercolor and nitro are still here July 21 and 22nd otherwise if it's August, forget it.

http://videocardz.com/62280/asus-rog-announces-strix-radeon-rx-480-available-mid-august
 
Last edited:

Rifter

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
11,522
751
126
I am buying one, as soon as the sapphire Nitro lands in canada.

I have recently decided to upgrade, i was looking in the $600-700 GPU range but only Nvidia is selling in that range now and they lack future proofing features like good DX12 performance.

Leaving me in a bad situation as i cant get what i want which is a strong $500+ price point DX12 card.

So im going to buy a RX480 and wait till next year when Nvidia releases there next gen, hope they will have added good DX12 support and performance, hopefully AMD's big GPU is out by then also with strong DX12 performance, and at that time i can get what i want.
 

jhu

Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
11,918
9
81
I have recently decided to upgrade, i was looking in the $600-700 GPU range but only Nvidia is selling in that range now and they lack future proofing features like good DX12 performance.

Leaving me in a bad situation as i cant get what i want which is a strong $500+ price point DX12 card.

So im going to buy a RX480 and wait till next year when Nvidia releases there next gen, hope they will have added good DX12 support and performance, hopefully AMD's big GPU is out by then also with strong DX12 performance, and at that time i can get what i want.

I don't think that's really the issue. NVidia has had better drivers than AMD. It seems with DX12 the performance burden is on the app and not as much the drivers.
 

Rifter

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
11,522
751
126
I don't think that's really the issue. NVidia has had better drivers than AMD. It seems with DX12 the performance burden is on the app and not as much the drivers.

Whoever is writing the drivers, the devs or AMD/Nvidia, is irreverent. What matters is end to me is DX12 performance.

And it looks to me like Nvidia is focusing on the past(DX11 performance) while AMD is focusing on the future(DX12 performance).

As time goes buy, and more and more DX12 titles hit the market, i believe you will get more value out of a well performing DX12 card vs a well performing DX11 card.

That said i fully think Nvidia will realize DX12 is a thing and will continue to be a thing, and next gen will shift to focusing on DX12 performance/features, hopefully the same time as AMD launches its big GPU and we get a price war in the $500 price point with 2 great DX12 cards next summer. This would be ideal situation, good cheap DX12 cards for all next year at all price points up to $500, lol.
 

RussianSensation

Elite Member
Sep 5, 2003
19,458
765
126
I don't think that's really the issue. NVidia has had better drivers than AMD. It seems with DX12 the performance burden is on the app and not as much the drivers.

You can't be serious. 7950-7970-7970Ghz-280X demolish 670-680-770 in modern DX11 titles. R9 290 is now beating 780Ti and 290X/390X destroy it once they are fully utilized under DX12/Vulkan.

Sure, NV had better multi-threaded drivers but 1070 losing by 26-27% under Vulkan vs. Fury X is like 670 losing by 26% to the HD6970. It should never happen. 1070 is a Vega not a Fury X competitor.

Clearly GCN was underutilized under DX11/OpenGL but it's somewhat understandable how someone spending $600-700 isn't happy knowing Pascal 1.0 is yet another stop-gap NV architecture that will be outdated again in 2 years. It means there is a lot of risk involved that it could bomb in resale value by the time Vega launches and more DX12/Vulkan games are out. 1070 is a safer bet in this case.

It's highly unlikely that GP102 will add hardware Async Compute. First, NV finalized the Pascal architecture a long time ago and this hardware is simply missing. Second, NV likes that their GPUs aren't meant to last 3-5 years because it forces upgrades due to quick obsolescence. The majority of the market likes this too since NV is dominating in market share. Anyone else who doesn't upgrade GPUs every 2 years is certainly worried after seeing Pascal showing very poor DX12/Vulkan performance so far against Fury X. 1080 is also a mid-range Pascal priced as a flagship which makes the long-term investment in it even more questionable. NV will get away with it just like they got away with Kepler and Maxwell unless most games are DX12/Vulkan over the next 2 years -- but it doesn't appear to be the case. Hopefully Volta will finally create a true next gen architecture. Pascal is basically Maxwell+ with larger L2 cache and 16nm TSMC + more optimized to hit high clocks. It's looking more and more like Pascal is just a stop-gap DX11 architecture that will use raw GPU horsepower and incredible efficiency to make up for lack of next gen DX12 hardware.

You can argue that those who buy $450-700 GPUs shouldn't hold onto them beyond 2 years but according to NV's Investor Day slides, 70% of their install base was on pre-Maxwell GPUs. This means in reality, most gamers keep their GPUs for 3-5 years, not 1-2.
 
Last edited:

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
110,820
29,571
146
I don't think that's really the issue. NVidia has had better drivers than AMD. It seems with DX12 the performance burden is on the app and not as much the drivers.

when? In 2009?

I think you need an update.


Also, DX12 shows without a doubt that the issue is the hardware. That has actually been known for 2+ years now (Mantle).

It is only going to get worse the next 2 or 3 years that NVidia sticks to their current nodes.
 

3DVagabond

Lifer
Aug 10, 2009
11,951
204
106
I don't think that's really the issue. NVidia has had better drivers than AMD. It seems with DX12 the performance burden is on the app and not as much the drivers.

Performance seems to be on the hardware. If the hardware doesn't support a particular feature there doesn't seem to be anything that can be done about it by either drivers or the app except to deactivate it for the hardware that doesn't support it.
 

codyray10

Senior member
Apr 14, 2008
854
4
81
So, all you 480 owners, how is the overclocking looking?

Not great, but not terrible either. From everything I've read you can get another 5% or so out of it. The reference units may be able to squeeze out another ~100mhz on the core. I have no issues OC'ing memory up to the Max allowed limit of 2250 (+250mhz over stock) with an undervolt. Hopefully the custom cards will do better.
 

jhu

Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
11,918
9
81
Also, DX12 shows without a doubt that the issue is the hardware. That has actually been known for 2+ years now (Mantle).

No. What it shows is that you can do neat things in hardware, but if the software doesn't support it then that hardware feature is moot until the software gets rewritten (eg my brand new Xeon Phi system supports AVX512, but my video encoder is still stuck with AVX2). But then you have a chicken/egg problem: software doesn't support feature X because there's no hardware that has feature X and vice versa.
 

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
110,820
29,571
146
No. What it shows is that you can do neat things in hardware, but if the software doesn't support it then that hardware feature is moot until the software gets rewritten (eg my brand new Xeon Phi system supports AVX512, but my video encoder is still stuck with AVX2). But then you have a chicken/egg problem: software doesn't support feature X because there's no hardware that has feature X and vice versa.

Aren't you saying what I'm saying? nVidia can't do this in software because it isn't in their hardware. That's what I'm saying. I don't doubt they will be able to push out a few more FPS with DX12 over then next ~1year that they actually support these brand new cards, but there is only so much that can do for them when the hardware simply isn't there to support the new DX12 features. This has been AMD's weakness through the last ~3 years of DX11, but now devs are writing for DX12 using the features that AMD designed, e.g. Mantle. So now Nvidia is the one that is gimped on every single Pascal release: hardware that can't support the features of contemporary and future games.

They really need Volta ASAP (assuming it isn't gimped like Pascal).

....but as for the thread title, with the data from 1060 today, I can't in good faith consider nVidia this generation and I will probably look into getting a Nitro 480 if it releases, and especially if I can find a 4gb Unicorn Nitro @ ~$200-220 (the 1 minute such a mythical thing would actually be available).
Of course after that fails to happen, I will be aiming for a 485/490/495....depends on what 485 looks like.
 
Last edited:

hellfire88

Diamond Member
Nov 29, 2003
7,797
3
81
I'm running a reference RX480 4GB with an i7-6700K in a Dell Precision desktop with stock 365W power supply. I'm worried 365W is not enough, where is that Kill-A-Watt meter when I need it! Anyone else running theirs on a lower wattage power supply?
 

jhu

Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
11,918
9
81
I'm running a reference RX480 4GB with an i7-6700K in a Dell Precision desktop with stock 365W power supply. I'm worried 365W is not enough, where is that Kill-A-Watt meter when I need it! Anyone else running theirs on a lower wattage power supply?

I have my FX8350 and RX480 running off a 400W power supply.
 
sale-70-410-exam    | Exam-200-125-pdf    | we-sale-70-410-exam    | hot-sale-70-410-exam    | Latest-exam-700-603-Dumps    | Dumps-98-363-exams-date    | Certs-200-125-date    | Dumps-300-075-exams-date    | hot-sale-book-C8010-726-book    | Hot-Sale-200-310-Exam    | Exam-Description-200-310-dumps?    | hot-sale-book-200-125-book    | Latest-Updated-300-209-Exam    | Dumps-210-260-exams-date    | Download-200-125-Exam-PDF    | Exam-Description-300-101-dumps    | Certs-300-101-date    | Hot-Sale-300-075-Exam    | Latest-exam-200-125-Dumps    | Exam-Description-200-125-dumps    | Latest-Updated-300-075-Exam    | hot-sale-book-210-260-book    | Dumps-200-901-exams-date    | Certs-200-901-date    | Latest-exam-1Z0-062-Dumps    | Hot-Sale-1Z0-062-Exam    | Certs-CSSLP-date    | 100%-Pass-70-383-Exams    | Latest-JN0-360-real-exam-questions    | 100%-Pass-4A0-100-Real-Exam-Questions    | Dumps-300-135-exams-date    | Passed-200-105-Tech-Exams    | Latest-Updated-200-310-Exam    | Download-300-070-Exam-PDF    | Hot-Sale-JN0-360-Exam    | 100%-Pass-JN0-360-Exams    | 100%-Pass-JN0-360-Real-Exam-Questions    | Dumps-JN0-360-exams-date    | Exam-Description-1Z0-876-dumps    | Latest-exam-1Z0-876-Dumps    | Dumps-HPE0-Y53-exams-date    | 2017-Latest-HPE0-Y53-Exam    | 100%-Pass-HPE0-Y53-Real-Exam-Questions    | Pass-4A0-100-Exam    | Latest-4A0-100-Questions    | Dumps-98-365-exams-date    | 2017-Latest-98-365-Exam    | 100%-Pass-VCS-254-Exams    | 2017-Latest-VCS-273-Exam    | Dumps-200-355-exams-date    | 2017-Latest-300-320-Exam    | Pass-300-101-Exam    | 100%-Pass-300-115-Exams    |
http://www.portvapes.co.uk/    | http://www.portvapes.co.uk/    |