AMD Radeon RX 470 4GB Review

[InvalidError]

The PCI-SIG has to renew their standards, right. But it seems they will keep it as long as possible to be compatible with older hardware. We dicussed it with a PSU manufacturer and the engineer showed me a few PSUs for SI business with AWG20 cables (and bad cable quality) from as Chinese competitor. For this hardware - PCI compatible, is a 6-pin not the thing what I want to have in my PC

The ventilated chassis rating of real #20 copper wire is 11A, which is still higher than Molex's 9A/pin rating for standard MiniFitJr connectors and enough to deliver over 200W at 12V using only two pins.

If the PSU manufacturer is using copper-plated #20 aluminum for 6-pin PCIe, nothing is stopping it from doing the same for 8-pin PCIe. You can't really build meaningful standards based on the behavior of companies who ignore them.

 

[elbert]

After looking at a bunch of reviews the Sapphire nitro 470 OC to 1.4Ghz with 8 pin power even with AMD's limited 1.15 volatage. I can only guess the sapphire's max with moded voltage is like the 480's being between 1.48~1.6Ghz max on air. The ASUS 470 6 pin limits the max OC to 1.365Ghz. Both cards share the same 1800 max memory OC.

 

[RedJaron]

And as usual, Toms is being so very careful with their wording, cuz letz not piss off Nvidia. Man, everything that Tom swore the site would never become six or seven years ago has now become. Pop-ups galore and gettin kick-backs from the big boyz. Well, guess that Kool-Aid was just too damn refreshing.

If you want to complain about the reviewers' conclusion, testing methodology, etc, go ahead and lay out why you think it's bad. If you just want to throw baseless complaints out, that's poor form, makes you look like an idiot, and doesn't help anyone. However, we take very seriously threats and accusations of "kick-backs," paid-off review incentives, and other unethical practices. Anyone that accuses Chris, Igor, or anyone else of such things best have incriminating proof of it. Otherwise they'll find themselves thrown out the airlock.

 

[Zaxx420]

It's still not a bad price for a card of this caliber, but considering the big brother with 4GB sitting at $200 makes the comparable price-performance became redundant, so to speak.

That's only IF we see custom cooled 480s at $200 imo cuz I just can't bring myself to go with a louder blower style 6 pin ref card that runs hotter killing o/cing headroom at the same time. Also I wonder if the dialed back power config driver fix hurts ocing for 480s with 8 pins?

 

[littleleo]

Pricing just doesn't make any sense... here in Denmark the prices are (Sapphire Nitro+ cards, which are the cheapest atm):

470 4gb - $277
470 8gb - $322
480 4gb - $299
480 8gb - $367

Kinda makes the 470 pointless..

Are those price in USD?

 

[littleleo]

Well sold 10 of the RX 470s today and 5 of the RX 480s, so AMD seems to be doing better. Of course I also got and order for 20+ GTX 1080s, just trying to get the stock is tough. I also got and order for 4 of the GTX 1060s but only had 1 left in stock.

So the good news is the new cards for AMD & Nvidia are moving which is great! Really looking forward to when there are more models in stock for customers to choose from. Except for the GTX 1070 the Nvidia cards are still in very tight allocation.

 

[LookItsRain]

At this price the 470 is entirely pointless, i was hoping for maybe a 159 or 169 msrp.

 

[littleleo]

I think once supplies even out we will see all these prices come down the AMDs I expect more then Nvidia. I don't think Nvidia knows how to cut prices I think it's against their religion. Of course these higher then normal prices are due to shortages.

 

[InvalidError]

At this price the 470 is entirely pointless, i was hoping for maybe a 159 or 169 msrp.

I'll worry about how much it retails for once stores actually have 'em in stock. For now, I'm seeing them either out of stock or marked up by $50 if not more.

 

[BadActor]

Newegg had these today for $209.99 (4 GB). That's going to be a tough sell when you can get a GTX 1060 for $249.99.

 

[littleleo]

Newegg had these today for $209.99 (4 GB). That's going to be a tough sell when you can get a GTX 1060 for $249.99.

$40 price difference, no they will move just fine.

 

[Zalmoxe]

It is a great stupidity to pretend that 96 degrees Celsius exceeds the specifications in one point:the CPUs are guaranteed to work up to 100 degrees Celsius and video cards up to 150 degrees Celsius(or 125 for more conservative and safe norms)
Yes,the miniaturization process dirves the limits down but your GPU still works ....

 

[InvalidError]

$40 price difference, no they will move just fine.

Pretty much. Enthusiasts easily forget how cost-sensitive budget-minded non-enthusiasts can be.

And the RX-460 will likely sell just fine in the $130-150 range despite being half as fast as the RX480 simply because people who don't want to spend more than $150 on a GPU won't spend the extra $30 to get the much faster RX470. I may end up in this category or decide to wait for the RX560/GTX1150 next year.

 

[littleleo]

Extra $30 to $40 they can put towards an SSD and zip up their PC performance.

 

[Aspiring techie]

Man, thought this would be around $150. Ah well, I can't complain.

 

[dragonopolis]

Thanks RedJaron.... I tried to give you a point to show appreciation but it said I already voted .... sorry about that..... Virtual Point here lol!!!!

 

[Friti]

RX480's are available, you just have to catch them. I see them pop up daily and acquired mine by watching for when they do become available. http://www.nowinstock.net/computers/videocards/amd/rx480/ was key in catching such.

 

[turkey3_scratch]

Good readup on the 8-pin PCIe for anybody who is interested http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13418

You know when AMD first introduced the 470 and 460 they claimed $150 and $100 respectively. I guess that is not the case unfortunately. However, the 470 does do surprisingly close to the 480, so the price can be justified. I see what the people on Jonnyguru mean now about the Asus coolers not being good. According to one member, sometimes the heat pipes don't even make proper contact.

This generation of GPUs has been a most interesting one.

 

[3ogdy]

Good readup on the 8-pin PCIe for anybody who is interested http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13418

You know when AMD first introduced the 470 and 460 they claimed $150 and $100 respectively. I guess that is not the case unfortunately. However, the 470 does do surprisingly close to the 480, so the price can be justified. I see what the people on Jonnyguru mean now about the Asus coolers not being good. According to one member, sometimes the heat pipes don't even make proper contact.

This generation of GPUs has been a most interesting one.

We also know when AMD first introduced the 480 they claimed $200. Turns out that was half true, too.
Tomorrow's announcement, Tom's Hardware - PAY ATTENTION:

AMD releases the RX 479, priced at $198. It features 4095 MB of VRAM, 255-bit clocked at 1999MHz.
Base clock 1119MHz, boost clock 1265MHz, 31ROPs...
TDP 149W, PCIExpress 2.9 (!!!)

You get the point - the RX-470 priced as it is right now, is a pointless card.

 

[Zaxx420]

Good readup on the 8-pin PCIe for anybody who is interested http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13418

My PSU (PC Power n Cooling Silencer MkII 610w) only has 2 x 6 pins for pcie power. Already have a 6 pin to 8 pin adapter that just uses jumpers to populate the extra 2 pins on the 8 pin plug. That should suffice since my psu has a 49 amp single 12v rail...correct? No need for a 2x6 to 8 pin or molex to 8 pin adapter?...that would be annoying lol

 

[turkey3_scratch]

Good readup on the 8-pin PCIe for anybody who is interested http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13418

My PSU (PC Power n Cooling Silencer MkII 610w) only has 2 x 6 pins for pcie power. Already have a 6 pin to 8 pin adapter that just uses jumpers to populate the extra 2 pins on the 8 pin plug. That should suffice since my psu has a 49 amp single 12v rail...correct? No need for a 2x6 to 8 pin or molex to 8 pin adapter?...that would be annoying lol

Yeah that should suffice.

 

[FormatC]

It is a great stupidity to pretend that 96 degrees Celsius exceeds the specifications in one point:the CPUs are guaranteed to work up to 100 degrees Celsius and video cards up to 150 degrees Celsius(or 125 for more conservative and safe norms)
Yes,the miniaturization process dirves the limits down but your GPU still works ....

Please read the review again and pay more attention to the content:

Unfortunately, that turns out badly for one of the memory modules sitting right between the voltage converters and GPU. Temperatures hit 96°C right there, which we have to imagine exceeds the component's specified limits.

This memory module is specified to 95°C as an absolute maximum. In a closed case you will reach the 100°C mark without any problems. And then the ppl are surprised when they get artefacts or black screens after a while... Nobody wrote about CPU or GPU. And BTW: the damage of memory modules is one of the most occurring RMA issues.

 

[Cloudybay]

there is no amd RX480/70 card available and at local asia market rx480 price is same as nvidia 1060.

 

[bramahon]

Great review! Tom's dynamic duo has been prolific covering this finFET era, thanks guys. Just give us some more partner cards - ones that run at their stated clock speed and care less about AMD's stated power-limit.

 

[turkey3_scratch]

It is a great stupidity to pretend that 96 degrees Celsius exceeds the specifications in one point:the CPUs are guaranteed to work up to 100 degrees Celsius and video cards up to 150 degrees Celsius(or 125 for more conservative and safe norms)
Yes,the miniaturization process dirves the limits down but your GPU still works ....

Please read the review again and pay more attention to the content:

Unfortunately, that turns out badly for one of the memory modules sitting right between the voltage converters and GPU. Temperatures hit 96°C right there, which we have to imagine exceeds the component's specified limits.

This memory module is specified to 95°C as an absolute maximum. In a closed case you will reach the 100°C mark without any problems. And then the ppl are surprised when they get artefacts or black screens after a while... Nobody wrote about CPU or GPU. And BTW: the damage of memory modules is one of the most occurring RMA issues.

This is most likely an issue just with the Strix cooler, correct?