AMD Radeon RX 480 Video Card Review @ [H]

Which is the rub for me. I really can't fathom why someone would purchase two of these for crossfire. You can pick up a 1070 for $450 it looks like, so in order to get a comparable card you'd need 2 of the 8GB models which is going to cost a minimum of $500. But if it's only going to trade blows with the 1070 in some games, and not work properly in others, what's the point?


It's a kind of strange application of sli/cfx. It doesn't make sense to start with two 480s when you should be getting the fastest single gpu you can for your money to start. Thus if one could a fford two 480s, you should have probably gotten a 500 card to start with instead.
 
This is all fine and good, but at the end of the day nvidia driver support is just hands down better.


Oh?


Meanwhile, Radeon drivers have been mostly stable since Crimson.

Just a really odd line in the sand to draw at this point in time.
 
Both sides have had driver issues. Claiming one company is the devil and one is jesus in the driver department ignores reality from day 1.
 
While I challenged, I don't know that I ripped you to shreds - just was concerned overall for the site. But I will say your article proved true and your sources correct. Does NostraBennett have any other sources to shed further light on AMD, now post Polaris launch?
Well "ripping to shreds" was not really aimed at you specifically. Some folks on here got pretty nasty however. I am working on three more editorials now that will have a desktop computer company focus. I have to see what information I can verify and what is rumor.
 
Much better card and resolution comparisons in this review.
As for the card itself, I think pricing will keep it from reaching it's true value. AMD needs the $200 480s on selves now, just like Nvidia needs $380 1070s on the shelves.

There are used 980s going for $250-300. I would go that route if power consumption isn't a concern.


the rx 480 is probably a still better buy at those prices if dx12 is factored in, but I had hoped for a bit more compared to the 970. I wanted the rx 480 to clean sweep that thing. It does trounce it in modern game engines that use dx12, but treads water against it in dx11 titles.


Still, sub 300 dollars this is the best overall game in town. I wonder what this suggests for vega? AMD does not have the luxury of going up against a terribly badly aging maxwell architecture there, and if nvidia scales just as well going to their larger chips it could mean trouble.
 
That very much depends on the type of journalism. If you choose to write exceptionally opinionated articles then you must also accept the slings and arrows as they are inevitable.

Well and he did, the best part about it, is he didn't fight back, cause when you know you are telling something real, you don't need to give explanations for it.
 
rx480 looks exactly as what I expected.. I picked one up and will be putting a custom cooler on it in a few day.

I wonder how this will turn out, I have a feeling the power circuit is the achilles heal with the stock version.
 
If you choose to write exceptionally opinionated articles then you must also accept the slings and arrows as they are inevitable.
Are you saying that I did not accept said slings and arrows? I have been waiting over here with bated breath for today because I knew I could bask in near total vindication. You have never heard me once get upset at peoples' opinions lately, I simply stayed on message that my editorial was sound and based on good sources. I have called no names.
 
I've done crossfire, and while I would do it again, if for the same price performance is within 5-10%, perhaps even a bit higher, I would always go with the single card as there is always going to be some type of issues with some game.
Well I have had good luck with my GTX 660 SLI, so I have been real curious about RX 480 crossfire to see if it is a viable upgrade. I like to change vendors on new purchases if the performance and price is right. It keeps competition alive and that is always a good thing. Never got to try crossfire before because by the time I got enough cash and need for a 2nd 5870, the GTX600 series was out and performed well.

Anxiously awaiting Brents' crossfire review!!
 
the rx 480 is probably a still better buy at those prices if dx12 is factored in, but I had hoped for a bit more compared to the 970. I wanted the rx 480 to clean sweep that thing. It does trounce it in modern game engines that use dx12, but treads water against it in dx11 titles.


Still, sub 300 dollars this is the best overall game in town. I wonder what this suggests for vega? AMD does not have the luxury of going up against a terribly badly aging maxwell architecture there, and if nvidia scales just as well going to their larger chips it could mean trouble.

Relax.. nvidia will launch the GTX 1060 next week with as good DX11 performance as DX12, instead of poor DX11 performance and good DX12 performance as AMD counterparts... so then the RX 480 will be a better buy for no one except brand loyalist.
 
Really looking forward to that since it seems like the desktop and the video card sides are two separate entities of the company.

I am particularly interested in how Jim Keller was received as an engineer mercenary for hire with regards to Zen, given that after engineering was essentially complete he left AMD to go elsewhere. And given that, how AMD expect to compete once the Zen line is obsolete down the road.

Just like the original Athlon was a temporary bump with no follow-up after, I worry that Zen will be much the same even if it is a spectacular chip.

If they can't keep talented silicon engineers in house, how do they expect to have design wins in the long term?

Well to keep someone like Jim Keller on board will cost a lot of money and also the corporate direction has to be favorable to him. Another words he would have the final say of how things will be done, I don't think AMD's management would like that. But sometimes its good for people like that to be on top. No BS people that know exactly what they want and know how to get it done.
 
Not too bad at all, really.

If this thing could have been ~= to a 980 across the board, AMD would really have pulled a coup off.

I've seen in other reviews that people noticed good frame rate pacing - perhaps AMD sticks two of these things onto a single card and does indeed take out a 1080 for less?
 
I am particularly interested in how Jim Keller was received as an engineer mercenary for hire with regards to Zen, given that after engineering was essentially complete he left AMD to go elsewhere. And given that, how AMD expect to compete once the Zen line is obsolete down the road.

Jim Keller was originally with AMD back in the hey day after DEC, so it's not like he's a mercenary more like the traveling old senpai.
 
Well I have had good luck with my GTX 660 SLI, so I have been real curious about RX 480 crossfire to see if it is a viable upgrade. I like to change vendors on new purchases if the performance and price is right. It keeps competition alive and that is always a good thing. Never got to try crossfire before because by the time I got enough cash and need for a 2nd 5870, the GTX600 series was out and performed well.

Anxiously awaiting Brents' crossfire review!!

I'm did Crossfire once before, and I always got stuttering in what I played.

It was always a ridiculous, because it would be amazing, and then there wouldn't be a random microstutter. Eventually when I swapped out those cards before 760s in SLI, the microstutter went away, but SLI wasn't fully taken advantage of either.

At this point, I am not enamored with either company solution. EMA at least is something a little different, and I would love to see it start to be implemented in games to see whether or not it is worth the bother.

If EMA fails or is a non-starter, then frankly I don't see the point of a multi card solution.
 
Jim Keller was originally with AMD back in the hey day after DEC, so it's not like he's a mercenary more like the traveling old senpai.


He was, but look at him now. He came back only friend and left right after.

And all I can think about is that the engineers who came up with bulldozer are the ones who are left to be caretaker to what he left behind. Do you want to trust that?
 
Power consumption will go down with better cooling so the load will go down all things equal.

This is correct, cooler circuits use less power given the same conditions. This is because as temperatures rise so do the resistances and inefficiencies along with them.
 
He was, but look at him now. He came back only friend and left right after.

And all I can think about is that the engineers who came up with bulldozer are the ones who are left to be caretaker to what he left behind. Do you want to trust that?


BD was a product of poor management at AMD at the time. They threw out the old model of hand work and tried to adopt the more automated process used in GPU design. If you read the history of that era, they let a lot of engineers go because the dopes thought they didn't need them anymore lol. That's why they brought Jim back, he's the link to the old philosophy. And at the end like the senpai who has finished his job, he sets off again into the night on another adventure. They won't need Jim again for a few year until the next new silicon.
 
Power consumption will go down with better cooling so the load will go down all things equal.

Not that much to make a huge difference, no. In this regard it is miles worse than a 1070. Similar power consumption... but 35-40% less performance. Clearly not ideal.
 
What a horribly biased review! Everyone needs to skewer Kyle!!!!! (/end sarcasm)

Great review. And Brent, Thanks for sticking the The Witcher in the review!

I loved how at 1080p you compared it cards around the same price range, And 1440p you compared it to $300 cards. Bravo I liked that!
 
Thanks for a great review that answered a lot of questions.
I am tired of hearing how this is faster than a 980 and its just super and makes soup too.

Where is the review of how this is the greatest VR card of all time? :rolleyes:

Now you can go get your check ROFL ;);)
 
Good review guys, I was wondering if ya guys have time later, can ya do the Witcher 3 test again with and without hairworks? I just want to see if there is a substantial difference in the polygon throughput of the rx 480.

NM,

b3d-poly.png
 
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I loved how at 1080p you compared it cards around the same price range, And 1440p you compared it to $300 cards. Bravo I liked that!

I think they had to. The 390 and 970 are about the bottom of the 1440 barrel.

Honestly, I was hoping for 390x level performance with less power and heat.
 
I think they had to. The 390 and 970 are about the bottom of the 1440 barrel.

Honestly, I was hoping for 390x level performance with less power and heat.

Maybe from the XFX version that comes stock at 1328mhz? Might touch around that level of performance.

It still is only a $229 card. And you want it to be as fast as a $450 card...It comes close.
 
Have to say I am dissapointed. 390x speed at $200 is compelling, 970/290x not so much despite DX12 and some encoding features etc, but it's essentially a $40 discount on 970 level performance with DX12. having said that it is a compelling upgradequate for me as I have a 460 and it could bridge to Vega. A strix 1070 at $449 seems a lititle more tempting today
 
I am glad to see it doing well at the level it is aimed at. I hope AMD release a more powerful Polaris card, we need competition.
 
Not that much to make a huge difference, no. In this regard it is miles worse than a 1070. Similar power consumption... but 35-40% less performance. Clearly not ideal.


Yea, it's not going to make a huge difference but it would be enough so ppl won't have to whine about a $200-240 card while comparing it to a $400-$700 card. Clearly it is no 1070 or 1080 so it is a fail, am I right?
 
I am glad to see it doing well at the level it is aimed at. I hope AMD release a more powerful Polaris card, we need competition.

I am having doubt we will see a more powerful Polaris card outside of AIB until Vega.
 
Thanks for a great review that answered a lot of questions.
I am tired of hearing how this is faster than a 980 and its just super and makes soup too.

Where is the review of how this is the greatest VR card of all time? :rolleyes:

Now you can go get your check ROFL ;);)

Who the hell said anything remotely like that? A lot of us were hoping it would compete with the 980/390X? I think we need to stop the hyperbole a little don't ya.
 
Yea, it's not going to make a huge difference but it would be enough so ppl won't have to whine about a $200-240 card while comparing it to a $400-$700 card. Clearly it is no 1070 or 1080 so it is a fail, am I right?

People here are not saying it is a fail because it is not a 1070 performance at 200 buck pricing. It is a failure that is uses a lot of power to achieve the performance they are getting.
 
Ok, let's see if this is the great red hope.
The PRICE certainly paints it as the Great Red Hope ($249 @ the Egg from everybody) - which certainly raised MY eyebrows (and pretty much forced me to drop the 4GB model from personal consideration - for the straightforward reason that the 8 GB model is not enough pricier for it to be seen as *too expensive" by comparison; which I did not expect at all). Going by the performance numbers, I also have to agree with Kyle - the competition to the RX480 hasn't been built yet.
 
Seeing as the RX 480 is (at this moment) 1/3 the price of a GTX 1080 that you can actually find/buy ... I ponder what 3-way CF 480's would look like vs 1 GTX 1080.
 
Seeing as the RX 480 is (at this moment) 1/3 the price of a GTX 1080 that you can actually find/buy ... I ponder what 3-way CF 480's would look like vs 1 GTX 1080.

Probably look like a 1000 watts if you OC them...:LOL::(
 
Seeing as the RX 480 is (at this moment) 1/3 the price of a GTX 1080 that you can actually find/buy ... I ponder what 3-way CF 480's would look like vs 1 GTX 1080.
My guess would be that 3-Way CF RX 480s would look like three doorstops mounted to a motherboard with a smoked PCI-E power delivery system.
 
Kyle,

I love the new format. It puts a tight focus on the item being reviewed. How does this card perform and how does it compare to other cards at the same settings in ONE chart.
 
Seeing as the RX 480 is (at this moment) 1/3 the price of a GTX 1080 that you can actually find/buy ... I ponder what 3-way CF 480's would look like vs 1 GTX 1080.
Because that would be a well thought out purchasing decision. o_O
 
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