AMD Radeon RX 480 Graphics Card Roundup

[FormatC]

We've rounded-up all the AMD Radeon RX 480 graphics cards we could find. This first batch includes products from Asus, HIS, MSI, Sapphire, and AMD itself.

AMD Radeon RX 480 Graphics Card Roundup : Read more

 

[alchemy69]

Not sure where you found a reference card for $180 but it sure as Hell wasn't Amazon.

 

[artk2219]

You can find them on Newegg for around that much pretty often. Also the R9 Fury is a hell of a mixed bag, Some games its matching a 1070, others its below the 480. Weird.

 

[techy1966]

I only ask because I have 2 390x cards and I get way better results than yours does here and yes with crossfire off mine is getting better results granted it is overclocked @1236mhz. Heck I just played watch dog 2 single card mode and got always above 60 fps here that card is getting 45 fps..just saying is all. Nice write up though. Just noticed GTA numbers as well and was WTH why is their 390x card sucking so much must be old old drivers I 'm sorry but even with crossfire off my numbers at 1080p are way higher maxed out. I do know I can beat a 480 in everything and slaughter it in crossfire will Vega ever get here already or do I have to slide over to the green team lol.

 

[envy14tpe]

Hmmm. Is the 580 coming out soon?

 

[bakko88]

Realy? Where fuck is it the gtr?

 

[shrapnel_indie]

HIS has been missing from the U.S. Market for a few years now. As to noise, Yes we can measure it, and determine a loudness level, but tolerance is dependent on the individual as always. I still question the price links used as some are unrealistically high compared to the market Amazon competes in (Mail-Order.)

Was the latest driver used? Was the BIOS updated in every card?

 

[digitalgriffin]

I am a bit perplexed as to why you love the ASUS Strix so much with a 6 pin power connector. Either it's pulling too much power over the PEG, or pulling too much power over the 6 pin. It really needs an 8 pin connector to stay in spec.

 

[Nate_K]

WOW! HIS is making cards again?

 

[blppt]

"Also the R9 Fury is a hell of a mixed bag, Some games its matching a 1070, others its below the 480. Weird."

The newest generation AMD cards (Polaris) are apparently designed to handle heavy Tessellation better than previous gens, so my guess is that would be the circumstances in which the RX480 beats the Fury. I would say it was the extra 4GB of frame buffer space, but we've seen that the HBM often negates that RAM shortage in many benchmarks.

 

[NewbieGeek]

Hmm. Interesting article. Personally never had temperature issues with my Sapphire Nitro rx 480 8gb. Maybe Tom's is defective? Mine runs at 1330mhz core 2020mhz ram without drops, even during intense gaming... And I've got a custom fan curve making the card quieter than stock...

 

[chaosmassive]

I dont know how your Sapphire Nitro card achieve such ridiculous high temperature and fan speed, I own this card and its fan never reach 2000 RPM on Air Conditioned room, and lastly I always checked GPU load after gaming session, and its never throttled always stay on 1342 Mhz all the time..

Im so confused...

 

[chaosmassive]

@NewbieGeek, perhaps its not card defective, but one who tested it

 

[cinergy]

That reference card sounds like a bargain.

 

[kiniku]

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

 

[ykki]

Where are the GTR's?
Edit: Nvm, found it.

 

[JocPro]

How come time and time again there's mention of the HIS's 'six heatpipes', or 'the other three heatpipes' when it only has four heatpipes!?

 

[Gil_7_]

i had a XFX R9 480 Card until a few minutes ago. It kept causing random reboots and a mysterious grey screen and locks up my system when it isn't rebooting. Maybe that's why you didn't include one here.

 

[Susquehannock]

Thanks Tom's staff. Great review as always. I like the thermal images. No surprise MSI gaming X as power hog. Never found mine to be very noisy at full speed in this tank of a Dell T3500 case. And I have a very steep fan curve set up.

ASUS 6pin connector? This is the ROG card. The review clearly states "eight-pin connector" twice.

 

[The_King]

Interestingly I own 2 Powercolor RD 480's and 1 XFX RX 480 BE 1338Mhz version. The Powercolor benchmarks seem low in regards to its 1330Mhz boost clock and a reference RX 480 @ 1266Mhz. Here in South Africa without a doubt it is the best value being over 70 USD cheaper than all the other AIB cards you listed and extremely underrated by most review sites in the US.

 

[bluzbrother]

When you add up the power consumption, cooler performance, and the minimal variation in frame rates... I just didn't see the logic in paying the price premium for some of these cards. Even the variation between 4gb and 8gb models. I bought the MSI Reference RX 480 4GB for $145 after rebate... it looks average, but it performs amazing for the price. No heat issues, no annoying (headache inducing) fan noises, and no need for a 1000watt PSU. That they threw in a free copy of Doom, I felt down right guilty.

 

[FormatC]

The XFX card is more or less similar to the HIS because HIS is only a brand of Pine, the mother company of XFX. They are using the same PCB and made the same faults with the power balancing. HIS is using the same cooler, but different fans and a worse cover (themodynamics).

The Sapphire is so loud and hot because it is the Plus-version with higher clocks abd a stupid high power limit. The cooler is totally undersized.

 

[FormatC]

How come time and time again there's mention of the HIS's 'six heatpipes', or 'the other three heatpipes' when it only has four heatpipes!?

I wrote:

A plate on the back connects the sink to one part of the finned structure. It's supported by the heat pipe that's bent back. Meanwhile, the other three pipes transport thermal energy the other direction, into another array of aluminum fins.

This are four. 1 + 3. If there is a translation error, I can't found it.

The Powercolor and XFX were also tested. But it will be a follow-up.

 

[FrozenFlameMK]

1.The original. 6 pin power connector but its a reference so wwhat did you expect. Way too many people talk bad stuff about the reference but most of them dont have any experience with the card. Its time they give it a rest about the "power issue" because it was overblown. Its a very good card for the money when buying new and cheap. I never had any problem with my 6 rx 480s. Its a bit louder than the rest. Good vrm. Its very good with a water block

2.Asus Strix. No dual bios. Bad memory cooling and terrible thermal paste.Very quiet. Great pcb. Bet looks among the 480s. Too Expensive

3.MSI. Best pcb and memory cooling. I had problems with the software and the rgb thing. Average vrm. OK core cooler. It can get semi loud

4.Niitro. 2 revisions of the pcb and the second one is worse then the original. Very good quality components on the pcb. Much better fans then previous Nitro cards and they are removable fans. Average at best heatsink. Active memory cooling. Dual Bios. Ugly shroud and lovely backplate

 

[FrozenFlameMK]

1.The original. 6 pin power connector but its a reference so wwhat did you expect. Way too many people talk bad stuff about the reference but most of them dont have any experience with the card. Its time they give it a rest about the "power issue" because it was overblown. Its a very good card for the money when buying new and cheap. I never had any problem with my 6 rx 480s. Its a bit louder than the rest. Good vrm. Its very good with a water block

2.Asus Strix. No dual bios. Bad memory cooling and terrible thermal paste.Very quiet. Great pcb. Bet looks among the 480s. Too Expensive

3.MSI. Best pcb and memory cooling. I had problems with the software and the rgb thing. Average vrm. OK core cooler. It can get semi loud

4.Niitro. 2 revisions of the pcb and the second one is worse then the original. Very good quality components on the pcb. Much better fans then previous Nitro cards and they are removable fans. Bad to average at best heatsink. Active memory cooling. Dual Bios. Ugly shroud and lovely backplate