Buy a RX 480 4gb now or wait for aftermarket coolers?

[Cooneyboii]

Hey ,
So I've been doing some reading up on reddit and things like that and I'm wondering now wether i should wait for the aftermarket RX 480's to come out before buying or buy a 4gb one right now?

I live in Ireland so I'll probably be buying the card from the UK currently the 8 GB version on amazon is 260 euro https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01H01E4CQ/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

The 4gb version is on overclockers for 205 euro http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/xfx-amd-radeon-rx-480-4gb-173-99-ebuyer-2472558
and the aftermarket cooler from sapphire is 295 euro http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/sapphire-rx-480-nitro-now-available-for-pre-order-249-95-delivered-overclockers-2473830

So is it really worth waiting for the aftermarket coolers seen as they will cost me about 70-80 euro more? How much performance can reasonably be seen with an aftermarket cooler and more power?

 

[CBender]

With all the problems that the reference design has definitely wait for the after market cards. For the first time you are not only having the usual issues with blower style cards but also the added bonus of power problems. So wait for the after market cards that would at least have an 8pin if not more.

 

[Shaun o]

Just Like you I intend to buy a RX 480 graphics card.
But have chose to wait a few more weeks till the custom cooling solutions for the RX 480 cards start to become available
Mainly so it will give me a slightly better overclocking headroom of the RX 480 card and the GPU temps while under load bellow the 80c plus mark Cooneyboii.

Though the Amd stock cooling solution does a pretty good job I suspect the fan noise as well as better overclocking head room of the GPU will be much better with an after market cooling solution on the cards as well as lower temps.

And the power issue current stock RX 480 cards have.


For me that`s worth paying the extra few euros.

 

[Cooneyboii]

Just Like you I intend to buy a RX 480 graphics card.
But have chose to wait a few more weeks till the custom cooling solutions for the RX 480 cards start to become available
Mainly so it will give me a slightly better overclocking headroom of the RX 480 card and the GPU temps while under load bellow the 80c plus mark Cooneyboii.

Though the Amd stock cooling solution does a pretty good job I suspect the fan noise as well as better overclocking head room of the GPU will be much better with an after market cooling solution on the cards as well as lower temps.

And the power issue current stock RX 480 cards have.


For me that`s worth paying the extra few euros.

With regards to the power concerns aren't AMD bringing out a bios update within the next few days to fix that?
What I'm wondering though is will the aftermarket coolers have better or worse price/performance as I'm on a budget.

 

[Shaun o]

Well it`s always been the case you get better cooling of the GPU with an after market design, or custom cooling solution.
And often a lower noise level from the fans on the new cooling solution.
Plus a slightly better overclocking performance and stability of the card when the Gpu is overclocked.

I would wait a few more weeks if you can cope with the current graphics card you have to be totally honest Cooneyboii.

 

[Cooneyboii]

Well it`s always been the case you get better cooling of the GPU with an after market design, or custom cooling solution.
And often a lower noise level from the fans on the new cooling solution.
Plus a slightly better overclocking performance and stability of the card when the Gpu is overclocked.


I would wait a few more weeks if you can cope with the current graphics card you have to be totally honest Cooneyboii.

Update:
PC world just came out with a review of the sapphire aftermarket cooler http://www.pcworld.com/article/3098825/components-graphics/sapphire-nitro-rx-480-review-polaris-rethought-and-refined.html?page=10

Thermals are better but performance isn't that much better and there is little benefit seen from over clocking.

The only reasons I can see now to buying an aftermarket cooler are:

A:You have an older motherboard and you want that 8pin connector.

B:You want the satisfaction of having lower thermals.

C:If you have a window in your case the aesthetics are much better.

D:Noise levels will be lower at idle as the fans don't spin until 52°C(I think) and probably lower under load too as there is two fans rather than one in the blower style.

Thanks for the answers everyone!