A few weeks ago we published our latest feature in the 'Then and Now' series, testing and comparing six generations of flagship GeForce graphics cards. Since then many of you have asked for an AMD version, however the wait for next-gen Vega parts could be longer than anticipated.
So we decided to ditch high-end GPUs and considering we do have AMD's latest $200-250 offering on hand -- the Radeon RX 480, that is -- run the same exercise for past mainstream Radeon GPU releases.
The RX 480 may not be as drool inducing as a Pascal Titan X or even the GeForce GTX 1070, but it doesn't cost nearly as much either, which means this is what most people will end up buying. Whereas the GTX 1070 will set you back some $400+, the 4GB RX 480 should eventually sell for just $200. As history has shown us, once supply improves you can expect the RX480 4GB models to hit and possibly even dip below that official $200 MSRP.
This got us thinking, what has $200 bought you previously from the red team? We're talking release day MSRPs here, so discounts applied over the lifetime of the product weren't considered, such as the Radeon R9 280 which launched at $250 but eventually sold for as little as $200.
Then and Now: Six Generations of $200 Mainstream Radeon GPUs Compared