When AMD announced the ability to run two Radeon RX Vega cards simultaneously, they conspicuously called it mGPU (short for multiple GPU) instead of the far more familiar CrossFire. That’s because they are retiring the CrossFire brand in favour of the generic mGPU moniker. They also limited the mGPU capability. Find out why!
In fact, the AMD Radeon RX Vega graphics cards was only capable of running as single cards until the release of Radeon Software 17.9.2. It also represented the end of the road for AMD CrossFire. With this release, AMD officially abandoned it for mGPU.
Why? Here is AMD’s response when they were asked that very question by Brad Chacos of PCWorld :
CrossFire isn’t mentioned because it technically refers to DX11 applications.
In DirectX 12, we reference multi-GPU as applications must support mGPU, whereas AMD has to create the profiles for DX11.
We’ve accordingly moved away from using the CrossFire tag for multi-GPU gaming.
This is a surprising turn of event because the CrossFire brand goes all the way back to 2005. Almost 12 years to the day, as a matter of fact. That’s a lot of marketing history for AMD to throw away. But throw it all away, they did.
Nothing has changed though. They just decided to call the ability to use multiple graphics cards as mGPU, instead of CrossFire. In other words – this is a branding decision.
AMD will continue to use CrossFire for current and future DirectX 11 profiles, but refer to mGPU for DirectX 12 titles.
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Limited mGPU Capability
AMD is also limiting the mGPU support to just two graphics cards. The 4-way mGPU capabilities that top-of-the-line Radeon cards used to support have been dropped. The AMD Radeon RX Vega family are therefore limited to two cards in mGPU mode :
Gamers can pair two Radeon RX Vega 56 GPUs or two Radeon RX Vega 64 GPUs
This move was not surprising. Even NVIDIA abandoned three or four card configurations with the GeForce GTX 10 series last year. With fewer games supporting multi GPUs and interest in power efficiency burgeoning, the days of 3-way or 4-way multi GPUs are over.
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The road to Vega has been a rather long one. We first saw the AMD Vega prototype running DOOM in December 2016. Not unlike a baby, it took AMD nine months to give birth to the AMD Radeon RX Vega. Today, we are going to take a close look at the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (Price Check) graphics card that is designed to take on the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070. Let’s see how it performs!
The AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Specification Comparison
This table compares the specifications of the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 against those of its rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070.
Specifications
AMD Radeon RX Vega 64
AMD Radeon RX Vega 56
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070
GPU
Vega 10
Vega 10
NVIDIA GP104
Stream Processors
4096
3584
1920
Textures Per Clock
256
224
120
Pixels Per Clock
64
64
64
Base Clock Speed
1247 MHz
1156 MHz
1506 MHz
Boost Clock Speed
1546 MHz
1471 MHz
1683 MHz
Texture Fillrate
319.2~395.8 GT/s
258.9~329.5 GT/s
180.7~202.0 GT/s
Pixel Fillrate
79.8~98.9 GP/s
74.0~94.1 GP/s
96.4~107.7 GP/s
Graphics Memory
8 GB HBM2
8 GB HBM2
8 GB GDDR5
Graphics Memory Bus Width
2048-bits
2048-bits
256-bits
Graphics Memory Speed
945 MHz
800 MHz
2000 MHz
Graphics Memory Bandwidth
483.8 GB/s
409.6 GB/s
256.0 GB/s
TDP
295 W
210 W
150 W
Retail Prices
$499
$399
$379
$449 (Founder's Edition)
The AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Up Close
The AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (Price Check) looks exactly like the AMD Radeon RX 480, just longer. It has the same black shroud design that debuted with that Polaris-based card.
The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 still offers a dual-linked DVI port, but the AMD Radeon RX Vega skips that for three DisplayPorts and a single HDMI 2.0b port.
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Power Consumption
The AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (Price Check) uses the Vega 10 GPU with 12.5 billion transistors fabricated using the 14 nm FinFET process technology. Even though it’s using a finer process technology than NVIDIA, the extra 5.3 billion transistors need more power.
Hence, the Radeon RX Vega 56 (Price Check) has a TDP of 210 W – 60 W (40%) more than the GeForce GTX 1070. On a watt per transistor basis, this makes the Radeon RX Vega 56 is 24% more efficient than the GeForce GTX 1070. Of course, what matters more is power efficiency on a watt / performance basis.
Curiously, AMD equipped the Radeon RX Vega 56 (Price Check) with not one, but two 8-pin PCI Express power connectors for a peak power draw of 375 W.
Incidentally, there is a GPUTach LED light strip right next to the two 8-pin PCI Express power connectors, which tells you the GPU load at a glance. There are two switches nearby that allows you to turn it on or off, and switch between the red and blue LED colours.
Note that these are not the recorded temperatures, but how much hotter the exhaust air is above ambient temperature.
Despite its much higher TDP, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56’s exhaust temperature is just slightly higher than that of the GeForce GTX 1070. That is likely because it uses a more powerful fan with a larger heatsink.
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The Noise Level
Needless to say, you will be wondering about the noise level of the more powerful cooler used to keep the Radeon RX Vega 56 (Price Check) cool. In this video, we recorded the Radeon RX Vega 56 running the Ashes of the Singularity benchmark at the 4K resolution.
Benchmarking Notes
Our graphics benchmarking test bed has the following specifications :
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3DMark DirectX 12 Benchmark (2560 x 1440)
3DMark Time Spy is the DirectX 12 benchmark in 3DMark. It supports new API features like asynchronous compute, explicit multi-adapter, and multi-threading.
For Direct 11 performance, we started testing the graphics cards using 3DMark at the entry-level gaming resolution – 1920 x 1080.
Due to the relatively low resolution, this is a CPU-limited test for many high-end graphics cards.
The AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (Price Check) did well in the two graphics tests, beating the GeForce GTX 1070 by 8-12%. Curiously, it ended up slower than the GeForce GTX 1070 in the combined test results.
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3DMark (2560 x 1440)
We then took 3DMark up a notch to the resolution of 2560 x 1440. Let’s take a look at the results!
At 1440p, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (Price Check) was about 10% faster in the graphics tests, and matched it in the overall score.
3DMark (3840 x 2160)
This is torture, even for high-end graphics cards.
At this resolution, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (Price Check) did even better, beating the GeForce GTX 1070 in the graphics tests. It still tied with the GeForce GTX 1070 in the overall scores though.
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Ashes of the Singularity (1920 x 1080)
We tested Ashes of the Singularity in the DirectX 12 mode, which supports the Asynchronous Compute feature. We started with the full HD resolution.
Finally, let’s see how the cards perform with Ashes of the Singularity running at the Ultra HD resolution of 3840 x 2160.
At this ultra high resolution, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (Price Check) did well, pulling away from the GeForce GTX 1070, with an 11% performance advantage. It was also 50% faster than the GeForce GTX 1060, and 52% faster than the Radeon RX 480.
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Warhammer (1920 x 1080)
This chart shows you the minimum and maximum frame rates, as well as the average frame rate, recorded by Total War : Warhammer‘s internal DirectX 12 benchmark.
At this resolution, most fast graphics cards are CPU-limited. Even so, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (Price Check) is able to beat the GeForce GTX 1070 by 9%. Not bad.
Warhammer (2560 x 1440)
This chart shows you the minimum and maximum frame rates, as well as the average frame rate, recorded by Total War : Warhammer‘s internal DirectX 12 benchmark.
The 1440p resolution appears to be the sweet spot for the GeForce GTX 1070, where it almost matches the Radeon RX Vega 56 (Price Check) in performance. Both graphics cards are about 33% faster than the other three cards.
Warhammer (3840 x 2160)
This chart shows you the minimum and maximum frame rates, as well as the average frame rate, recorded by Total War : Warhammer‘s internal DirectX 12 benchmark.
At the Ultra HD resolution, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (Price Check) widened its performance lead over the GeForce GTX 1070 to 3.4%. Both cards are now about 40% faster than the remaining three cards.
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The Witcher 3 (1920 x 1080)
This chart shows you the minimum and maximum frame rates, as well as the average frame rate, that FRAPS recorded in The Witcher 3.
At 1080p, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (Price Check) was about 4% faster than the GeForce GTX 1070. Both graphics cards were about 40% faster than the other three cards.
The Witcher 3 (2560 x 1440)
This chart shows you the minimum and maximum frame rates, as well as the average frame rate, that FRAPS recorded in The Witcher 3.
At 1440p, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (Price Check) maintained its 4% performance lead over the GeForce GTX 1070. Again, both graphics cards cards were about 40% faster than the remaining three cards in this comparison.
The Witcher 3 (3840 x 2160)
This chart shows you the minimum and maximum frame rates, as well as the average frame rate, that FRAPS recorded in The Witcher 3.
At this Ultra HD resolution, both the Radeon RX Vega 56 (Price Check) and the GeForce GTX 1070 were more or less equal in performance. They were also both about 42% faster than the remaining three cards.
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For Honor (1920 x 1080)
This chart shows you the minimum and maximum frame rates, as well as the average frame rate, recorded by For Honor‘s internal DirectX 12 benchmark.
Both the Radeon RX Vega 56 (Price Check) and the GeForce GTX 1070 tied for the top spot, and they were both 37-46% faster than the other three cards.
For Honor (2560 x 1440)
This chart shows you the minimum and maximum frame rates, as well as the average frame rate, recorded by For Honor‘s internal DirectX 12 benchmark.
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Mass Effect: Andromeda (1920 x 1080)
This chart shows you the minimum and maximum frame rates, as well as the average frame rate, that FRAPS recorded in Mass Effect: Andromeda.
At this entry-level gaming resolution, all five cards did well, delivering average frame rates in excess of 60 fps. Both the Radeon RX Vega 56 (Price Check) and the GeForce GTX 1070 tied for the top spot, and they were both 24-40% faster than the other three cards.
Mass Effect: Andromeda (2560 x 1440)
This chart shows you the minimum and maximum frame rates, as well as the average frame rate, that FRAPS recorded in Mass Effect: Andromeda.
The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 endured the jump in resolution better than the Radeon RX Vega 56 (Price Check), with a 6.7% advantage. Still, the Radeon RX Vega 56 maintain an average frame rate in excess of 60 fps, and was 28% faster than the GeForce GTX 1060, and 42% faster than the Radeon RX 480.
Mass Effect: Andromeda (3840 x 2160)
This chart shows you the minimum and maximum frame rates, as well as the average frame rate, that FRAPS recorded in Mass Effect: Andromeda.
The resolution increase to 4K slightly levelled the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070‘s performance advantage over the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 to 6%. The AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (Price Check) was now 33% faster than the GeForce GTX 1060, and 47% faster than the Radeon RX 480.
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Our Verdict
Ever since we saw AMD Vega running DOOM, we had such high hopes for it. The success of the AMD Ryzen family of processors only buoyed that optimism. However, the AMD Vega turned out not to be the Pascal-killer we thought it would be.
On paper, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (Price Check) has considerable advantages over the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070. It has a 53% advantage in texture fill rate, and a 60% advantage in memory bandwidth. The GeForce GTX 1070 only beats it in pixel fill rate by 22%.
In real life though, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (Price Check) was virtually equal in performance to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070. In some games, the Radeon RX Vega 56 was slightly faster. In other games, the GeForce GTX 1070 was slightly faster.
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Hence, it’s no wonder AMD priced it at $399 – just $20 more than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070. It would be hard to justify a higher price, especially since the GeForce GTX 1070 is already a year old!
Even though the AMD Vega GPU was built using the smaller 14 nm process technology, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (Price Check) uses considerably more power because it has significantly more transistors. It has a maximum TDP of 210 W – 60 W (40%) higher than the GeForce GTX 1070.
Earlier, we pointed out that the Radeon RX Vega 56 is 24% more efficient than the GeForce GTX 1070 on a watt per transistor basis. However, the GeForce GTX 1070 is ultimately about 40% more efficient in terms of watt / performance, which is ultimately what really matters.
That said, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (Price Check) is a step in the right direction. It is almost 50% faster (on average) than the Radeon RX 480, which used the last generation AMD Polaris architecture. It may not have met our overly high expectations, but it is still a big improvement.
After all, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (Price Check finally offers AMD fans 1440p gaming at 60 fps at a sweet price point!
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Intel processors have always been the de facto CPUs for gaming desktops. But recently, AMD has been making real inroads with their new Ryzen processors. In fact, they just announced that HP and Acer have started shipping AMD Ryzen gaming desktops!
In this article, both HP and Acer will share with you the key features of their Ryzen gaming desktops – the HP OMEN and Acer Aspire GX-281. Don’t forget to catch Peter Chambers’ presentation on the AMD Ryzen family for the second half of 2017 and going forward!
The AMD Ryzen Update For 2H 2017
AMD Director of Consumer Sales for Asia Pacific and Japan, Peter Chambers, kicked off the event with an update on the AMD Ryzen family of processors, including Ryzen Threadripper and Ryzen Mobile.
OMEN by HP, Now Powered By AMD Ryzen 7
We shared details and videos of the new HP OMEN gaming desktops and laptops with you just two weeks ago. However, they were all powered by Intel Core processors.
Now, HP is introducing a new HP OMEN gaming desktop powered by the AMD Ryzen 7 processor. That’s not all – this Ryzen-powered HP OMEN gaming desktop will feature dual AMD Radeon RX 580 GPUs in CrossFire!
The Acer Aspire GX-281, Powered By AMD Ryzen 7
The Acer Aspire GX-281 is a gaming desktop that is exclusively powered by the AMD Ryzen processor. In some countries, it may use the AMD Ryzen 5, but here in Malaysia, it will be offered only with the AMD Ryzen 7 processor.
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The gaming enthusiast community may be eagerly waiting for AMD Vega to arrive, but AMD breathed life into the AMD Polaris microarchitecture with a refreshed line-up, which they called the AMD Radeon RX 500 Series. Headlined by the AMD Radeon RX 580 (Amazon), the Polaris Refined series is basically an overclocked version of the Radeon RX 400 series.
AMD is pitching the Radeon RX 500 Series as a great upgrade option for gamers with 3 years or older systems, with the introduction of 27 new graphics cards. But just how much faster is the new Radeon RX 580 (Amazon) compared to its predecessor, the Radeon RX 480, and the NVIDIA GeForce graphics cards? Let’s find out in this performance comparison!
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Benchmarking Notes
Our graphics benchmarking test bed has the following specifications :
We used the GeForce driver 382.05 for the NVIDIA graphics cards, and Radeon Software 17.5.1 for the AMD graphics cards.
Note that we do not actually have any Radeon RX 580 (Amazon) graphics card. We simulated the Radeon RX 580 by overclocking the Radeon RX 480 graphics card according to AMD’s specifications for the Radeon RX 580.
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3DMark DirectX 12 Benchmark (2560 x 1440)
3DMark Time Spy is the DirectX 12 benchmark in 3DMark. It supports new API features like asynchronous compute, explicit multi-adapter, and multi-threading.
For Direct 11 performance, we started testing the graphics cards using 3DMark at the entry-level gaming resolution – 1920 x 1080.
At this resolution, the AMD Radeon RX 580 (Amazon) was virtually neck-to-neck with the GeForce GTX 1060. It was 62% to 69% faster than the GeForce GTX 1050 Ti.
3DMark (2560 x 1440)
We then took 3DMark up a notch to the resolution of 2560 x 1440. Let’s take a look at the results!
At this higher resolution, the AMD Radeon RX 580 (Amazon) was about 1.5% faster than the Radeon RX 480. With its much higher pixel fillrate, the GeForce GTX 1060 pulled away with a 6% average performance advantage.
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Ashes of the Singularity (1920 x 1080)
We tested Ashes of the Singularity in the DirectX 12 mode, which supports the Asynchronous Compute feature. We started with the full HD resolution.
This chart shows you the minimum and maximum frame rates, as well as the average frame rate, recorded by Total War : Warhammer‘s internal DirectX 12 benchmark.
This chart shows you the minimum and maximum frame rates, as well as the average frame rate, recorded by Total War : Warhammer‘s internal DirectX 12 benchmark.
When the resolution increased to 1440p though, the GeForce GTX 1070 pulled away and was 24% faster than the Radeon RX 580. The average frame rate of the Radeon RX 580 (Amazon) was just 1.5% faster than the Radeon RX 480, but it also delivered a significantly higher minimum frame rate.
Warhammer (3840 x 2160)
This chart shows you the minimum and maximum frame rates, as well as the average frame rate, recorded by Total War : Warhammer‘s internal DirectX 12 benchmark.
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The Witcher 3 (1920 x 1080)
This chart shows you the minimum and maximum frame rates, as well as the average frame rate, that FRAPS recorded in The Witcher 3.
If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!
Mass Effect: Andromeda (1920 x 1080)
This chart shows you the minimum and maximum frame rates, as well as the average frame rate, that FRAPS recorded in Mass Effect: Andromeda.
It’s pretty obvious from our benchmark results that the AMD Radeon RX 580 (Amazon) is just a slightly faster version of its predecessor, the Radeon RX 480. That is no slight, as the Radeon RX 480 is a fast graphics card. In fact, it was so fast that NVIDIA was forced to introduce the GeForce GTX 1060 at a lower price point to compete.
The Radeon RX 580 (Amazon) reused the Polaris 10 GPU from the Radeon RX 480, running it and the GDDR5 memory at a 9% and 14% higher clock speeds respectively. However, it only delivered an performance boost of between 1.5% and 4%.
Obviously, you wouldn’t upgrade to the Radeon RX 580 (Amazon) if you already own the Radeon RX 480, or GeForce GTX 1060. But it would make for a great upgrade if you are using an older, slower graphics card. That is precisely why AMD is targeting the Radeon RX 500 Series at gamers with 3 years or older graphics cards.
Here is the key takeaway point from all these benchmarks. Like its predecessor, the Radeon RX 480, the AMD Radeon RX 580 (Amazon) is designed for 1440p gaming. With some tweaks to the graphics settings, you should have no problem achieving an average frame rate of 60 fps at that resolution.
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Don’t forget to check out our other articles on AMD Radeon graphics technologies :
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On 20 October 2016, NVIDIA officially launched the new GeForce GTX 1050 and GeForce GTX 1050 Ti graphics cards. Built around the new NVIDIA GP107 GPU, the two new GeForce cards are designed for entry-level and eSports gaming at very attractive price points of US$99 and US$139 respectively. But just how fast are they? Find out for yourself in our GeForce GTX 1050 & GTX 1050 Ti performance comparison!
The Graphics Cards Compared
In this comparison, we will take a look at six different graphics cards launched in 2016 – 3 from AMD, and 3 from NVIDIA. We will pit the GeForce GTX 1050 against the Radeon RX 460, and the GeForce GTX 1050 Ti against the Radeon RX 470 (Review). We also included the higher-end Radeon RX 480 (Review) and GeForce GTX 1060 (Review) in this comparison.
Specifications
Radeon RX 460
GeForce GTX 1050
GeForce GTX 1050 Ti
Radeon RX 470
Radeon RX 480
GeForce GTX 1060
Texture Units
56
40
48
128
144
80
ROPs
16
32
32
32
32
48
Core Speed
1090 MHz
1354 MHz
1290 MHz
926 MHz
1120 MHz
1506 MHz
Boost Speed
1200 MHz
1455 MHz
1392 MHz
1206 MHz
1266 MHz
1708 MHz
Texture Fill Rate (Max)
67.2 GT/s
54.2 GT/s
61.9 GT/s
154.4 GT/s
182.3 GT/s
136.6 GT/s
Pixel Fill Rate (Max)
19.2 GP/s
46.6 GP/s
44.5 GP/s
38.6 GP/s
40.5 GP/s
82.0 GP/s
Memory Bus Width
128-bits
128-bits
128-bits
256-bits
256-bits
192-bits
Graphics Memory
4 GB GDDR5
2 GB GDDR5
4 GB GDDR5
4 GB GDDR5
8 GB GDDR5
6 GB GDDR5
Memory Speed
1750 MHz
1752 MHz
1752 MHz
1650 MHz
1750 MHz
2000 MHz
Memory Bandwidth
112 GB/s
112 GB/s
112 GB/s
211 GB/s
224 GB/s
192 GB/s
TDP
75 W
75 W
75 W
120 W
150 W
120 W
Current Price
US$ 99
US$ 99
US$ 139
US$ 169
US$ 239 (8 GB)
US$ 249
Benchmarking Notes
Our graphics benchmarking test bed has the following specifications :
We used the GeForce driver version 375.63 for the three NVIDIA graphics cards, and the Radeon Software 16.9.2 driver for the three AMD graphics cards used in our tests.
Okay, let’s get on with the GeForce GTX 1050 & 1050 Ti performance comparison!
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3DMark DirectX 12 Benchmark (2560 x 1440)
3DMark Time Spy is a new DirectX 12 benchmark that supports new API features like asynchronous compute, explicit multi-adapter, and multi-threading.
The GeForce GTX 1050 is virtually equivalent to the Radeon RX 460 in performance, with the GeForce GTX 1050 Ti delivering 23% better performance. The Radeon RX 470 was 60% faster than the GeForce GTX 1050 Ti, and twice as fast as the GeForce GTX 1050.
3DMark (1920 x 1080)
For Direct 11 performance, we started testing the graphics cards using 3DMark at the most common gaming resolution – 1920 x 1080.
The GeForce GTX 1050 and 1050 Ti did better in DirectX 11. In this test, they were 17.6% and 27.4% faster than the Radeon RX 460 respectively.
The Radeon RX 470, on the other hand, was now 48% faster than the GeForce GTX 1050 Ti, and 67% faster than the GeForce GTX 1050.
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3DMark (2560 x 1440)
Then we took 3DMark up a notch to the resolution of 2560 x 1440. Let’s take a look!
Surprisingly, the GeForce GTX 1050 and 1050 Ti did even better at this resolution. Despite having only 2 GB of GDDR5 memory, the GeForce GTX 1050 was 24% faster than the Radeon RX 460. The GeForce GTX 1050 Ti was now 34% faster than the Radeon RX 460.
They also edged a little closer in performance to the Radeon RX 470, which was now 47% faster than the GeForce GTX 1050 Ti, and 60% faster than the GeForce GTX 1050.
It is definitely a very, very bad idea to play any game at this resolution on the GeForce GTX 1050 and 1050 Ti. Especially the GeForce GTX 1050, which only has 2 GB of memory. In this resolution, the Radeon RX 460 (which has 4 GB of memory) was actually 7% faster! The GeForce GTX 1050 Ti was now 33% faster than the Radeon RX 460.
The Radeon RX 470 was now 49% faster than the GeForce GTX 1050 Ti, and twice as fast as the GeForce GTX 1050.
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Ashes of the Singularity (1920 x 1080)
We tested Ashes of the Singularity in the DirectX 12 mode, which supports the new Asynchronous Compute feature. We started with the full HD resolution.
The GeForce GTX 1050 and 1050 Ti were 6% and 17% faster than the Radeon RX 460 respectively. All three delivered playable frame rates of over 30 fps at this resolution.
Ashes of the Singularity (2560 x 1440)
We then took Ashes of the Singularity up a notch to the resolution of 2560 x 1440. Let’s see how the cards fare…
Only the GeForce GTX 1050 Ti was fast enough to deliver a playable frame rate above 30 fps at this resolution. The Radeon RX 460 was actually slightly (2%) faster than the GeForce GTX 1050, probably due to its larger memory size.
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Warhammer (1920 x 1080)
This chart shows you the minimum and maximum frame rates, as well as the average frame rate, recorded by Total War : Warhammer‘s internal DirectX 12 benchmark.
The GeForce GTX 1050 and 1050 Ti were 2% and 15% faster than the Radeon RX 460 respectively. All three delivered playable frame rates of about 40 fps at this resolution.
Warhammer (2560 x 1440)
This chart shows you the minimum and maximum frame rates, as well as the average frame rate, recorded by Total War : Warhammer‘s internal DirectX 12 benchmark.
The GeForce GTX 1050 and 1050 Ti did better at this resolution, coming in 9% and 20% faster than the Radeon RX 460 respectively. Only the GeForce GTX 1050 Ti delivered (barely) playable frame rates at this resolution.
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The Witcher 3 (1920 x 1080)
This chart shows you the minimum and maximum frame rates, as well as the average frame rate, that FRAPS recorded in The Witcher 3.
The GeForce GTX 1050 and GeForce GTX 1050 Ti did well in this game, coming in 17% and 32% faster than the Radeon RX 460 respectively. The two new GeForce cards delivered reasonably playable frame rates.
The Witcher 3 (2560 x 1440)
This chart shows you the minimum and maximum frame rates, as well as the average frame rate, that FRAPS recorded in The Witcher 3.
The GeForce GTX 1050 and GeForce GTX 1050 Ti maintained their performance advantage over the Radeon RX 460, but their frame rates were poor. Definitely not a good idea to play The Witcher 3 at 1440p with these cards.
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Fallout 4 (1920 x 1080)
This chart shows you the minimum and maximum frame rates, as well as the average frame rate, that FRAPS recorded in Fallout 4.
The GeForce GTX 1050 and GeForce GTX 1050 Ti performed very well in Fallout 4, both delivering 20%better performance than the Radeon RX 460. This is the perfect resolution for all three cards.
Fallout 4 (2560 x 1440)
This chart shows you the minimum and maximum frame rates, as well as the average frame rate, that FRAPS recorded in Fallout 4.
Surprisingly, the GeForce GTX 1050 and GeForce GTX 1050 Ti extended their lead over the Radeon RX 460, with 22% and 24% better performance respectively. Both new GeForce cards actually delivered playable frame rates at this resolution.
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Our Verdict
Hitherto, AMD had a real advantage in the entry-level and eSports gaming market with their Radeon RX 460 and Radeon RX 470 graphics cards. Priced at US$109 and US$179 respectively (at launch), they were much more affordable options for gaming at 1080p or lower resolutions.
That changed with the launch of the GeForce GTX 1050 and GeForce GTX 1050 Ti graphics cards.
The GeForce GTX 1050 was targeted squarely at the Radeon RX 460, with the GeForce GTX 1050 Ti offering slightly better performance and more graphics memory for those who can afford an extra US$40.
AMD is cognisant of the danger the new GeForce cards pose. So they preemptively slashed the prices of their Radeon RX 460 and Radeon RX 470 cards to make them more competitive. Did they succeed?
GeForce GTX 1050
Both the GeForce GTX 1050 and the Radeon RX 460 are priced at US$99. However, the GeForce GTX 1050 either matches the Radeon RX 460 in performance, or outperforms it by up to 22%. It does this despite having only 2 GB of memory.
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So if you are looking for a graphics card at the US$99 price point, the obvious choice is the GeForce GTX 1050.
GeForce GTX 1050 Ti
The GeForce GTX 1050 Ti is roughly 10-15% faster than the GeForce GTX 1050, and has twice as much graphics memory. However, that is a limited advantage since it is still best used for 1080p gaming.
If you can cough up the extra US$40, you might as well cough up an extra US$30 to get the newly-repriced Radeon RX 470. That will buy you 45-70% better performance, enough for 1440p gaming.
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Adding to Radeon Software Crimson Edition’s enhancements for DirectX 9, DirectX 10, and DirectX 11, Radeon Software 16.9.1 enables multi-GPU frame pacing support to DirectX12 on all GCN-enabled GPUs and AMD A8 APUs or higher with GCN.
Frame pacing delivers consistency by increasing smoothness in gameplay. In multi-GPU (mGPU) configurations, GPUs render alternating frames and push each frame to your screen. Each render can be created at various speeds causing differences in frame time. With frame pacing enabled, frames are distributed evenly, i.e. with less variance between frames, creating liquid smooth gameplay. For more details, please watch the following video:
Radeon Tech Talk: DirectX 12 mGPU Frame Pacing
A number of games currently take advantage of frame pacing in DirectX 12. Total War – Warhammer, Rise of the Tomb Raider™ and the 3DMark Time Spy benchmark also show smoother run-throughs.
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Let’s look at the some real-life scenarios:
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You have seen our Radeon RX 480 review, so today, we are going to take a look at its CrossFire performance. For the uninitiated, that’s two Radeon RX 480 graphics cards running together.
You may recall that when Chief Architect of the Radeon Technologies Group, Raja Koduri, first revealed the Radeon RX 480, he made a startling claim that two Radeon RX 480 cards only utilized 51% of their processing capabilities to beat the GeForce GTX 1080 graphics card.
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3DMark DirectX 12 Benchmark (2560 x 1440)
3DMark Time Spy is a new DirectX 12 benchmark that was released just days ago, just in time for this review. It supports new API features like asynchronous compute, explicit multi-adapter, and multi-threading.
In this DirectX 12 benchmark, the Radeon RX 480 CrossFire was 93% faster than the single Radeon RX 480. Very impressive. This allows the Radeon RX 480 CrossFire to beat the GeForce GTX 1070 by 33%. This gives the Radeon RX 480 CrossFire a slight (5.7%) price-performance advantage over the GeForce GTX 1070, albeit at twice the power consumption.
3DMark (1920 x 1080)
For Direct 11 performance, we started testing the graphics cards using 3DMark at the most common gaming resolution – 1920 x 1080.
At this relatively CPU-limited test, the Radeon RX 480 CrossFire was 95% faster than the single Radeon RX 480. It was also 31%-35% faster than the GeForce GTX 1070, 79-86% faster than the GeForce GTX 1060.
Note that the Radeon RX 480 CrossFire ended up about 12% slower than both the GeForce GTX 1070 and the GeForce GTX 980 Ti in the Combined Test, probably because it was CPU-limited.
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3DMark (2560 x 1440)
Then we took 3DMark up a notch to the resolution of 2560 x 1440. Let’s take a look!
As the higher 1440p resolution, the Radeon RX 480 CrossFire was 96% faster than the single Radeon RX 480. However, its performance advantage over the GeForce GTX 1070 and GeForce GTX 1060 dropped to 27% and 74% respectively.
At this point, the Radeon RX 480 CrossFire loses its price-performance advantage over the GeForce GTX 1070. However, it still maintains a comfortable price-performance advantage over the GeForce GTX 1080.
3DMark (3840 x 2160)
This is a torture test, perfect for comparing the GeForce GTX 1070 and the Radeon RX 480 CrossFire.
At the 4K resolution, the Radeon RX 480 CrossFire was 23% faster than the GeForce GTX 1070, and 73% faster than the GeForce GTX 1060. If we had a GeForce GTX 1080, the Radeon RX 480 CrossFire would likely be slightly faster, with a significant price-performance advantage, albeit with significantly higher power consumption.
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Ashes of the Singularity FAILED!
We tested Ashes of the Singularity in the DirectX 12 mode, which not only supports the new Asynchronous Compute feature, but is necessary to support the CrossFire mode for the two Radeon RX 480 cards.
Unfortunately, Ashes of the Singularity kept crashing whenever multi-GPU mode was enabled. There was simply no way to get it to run reliably, even though we tried 3 different driver versions.
As our GeForce GTX 1070 review shows, we have no issues running it with single graphics cards from both AMD and NVIDIA. It only failed when multi-GPU support was enabled. We will update this section when we finally get CrossFire mode running on Ashes of the Singularity.
Warhammer (1920 x 1080)
This chart shows you the minimum and maximum frame rates, as well as the average frame rate, recorded by Total War : Warhammer‘s internal DirectX 12 benchmark.
Looks like CrossFire isn’t working in Total War : Warhammer. The Radeon RX 480 CrossFire was actually 6.5% slower than the single Radeon RX 480 graphics card. It was just slightly faster than the GeForce GTX 1060.
Warhammer (2560 x 1440)
This chart shows you the minimum and maximum frame rates, as well as the average frame rate, recorded by Total War : Warhammer‘s internal DirectX 12 benchmark.
At the higher 1440p resolution, the Radeon RX 480 CrossFire was 7.7% slower than the single Radeon RX 480 graphics card, and 3.7% slower than the GeForce GTX 1060.
Warhammer (3840 x 2160)
This chart shows you the minimum and maximum frame rates, as well as the average frame rate, recorded by Total War : Warhammer‘s internal DirectX 12 benchmark.
At the 4K resolution, the Radeon RX 480 CrossFire was 4.9% slower than the single Radeon RX 480 graphics card, and 6.9% slower than the GeForce GTX 1060. It would definitely be a good idea to disable CrossFire mode when you play Total War : Warhammer.
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The Witcher 3 (1920 x 1080)
This chart shows you the minimum and maximum frame rates, as well as the average frame rate, that FRAPS recorded in The Witcher 3.
The CrossFire mode worked in The Witcher 3 though. The Radeon RX 480 CrossFire achieved an average frame rate in excess of 100 fps. That makes its 59% faster than the single Radeon RX 480 graphics card, 49.6% faster than the GeForce GTX 1060, and 5% faster than the GeForce GTX 1070.
The Witcher 3 (2560 x 1440)
This chart shows you the minimum and maximum frame rates, as well as the average frame rate, that FRAPS recorded in The Witcher 3.
The Radeon RX 480 CrossFire maintained its performance lead at the 1440p resolution. It was 59% faster than the single Radeon RX 480 graphics card, 47.8% faster than the GeForce GTX 1060, and 5.6% faster than the GeForce GTX 1070.
The Witcher 3 (3840 x 2160)
This chart shows you the minimum and maximum frame rates, as well as the average frame rate, that FRAPS recorded in The Witcher 3.
The Radeon RX 480 CrossFire increased its performance lead at the 4K resolution. It was now 64.4% faster than the single Radeon RX 480 graphics card, 52.3% faster than the GeForce GTX 1060, and 8.9% faster than the GeForce GTX 1070.
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Fallout 4 (1920 x 1080)
This chart shows you the minimum and maximum frame rates, as well as the average frame rate, that FRAPS recorded in Fallout 4.
CrossFire did not work in Fallout 4, at least not in 1080p. The Radeon RX 480 CrossFire was actually 2.7% slower than the single Radeon RX 480 graphics card, and 16% slower than the GeForce GTX 1060.
Fallout 4 (2560 x 1440)
This chart shows you the minimum and maximum frame rates, as well as the average frame rate, that FRAPS recorded in Fallout 4.
At the higher 1440p resolution, the CrossFire mode finally kicked in. The Radeon RX 480 CrossFire actually became 24% faster than the single Radeon RX 480 graphics card, and 9.6% faster than the GeForce GTX 1060.
Fallout 4 (3840 x 2160)
This chart shows you the minimum and maximum frame rates, as well as the average frame rate, that FRAPS recorded in Fallout 4.
Amazingly, when we hit 4K, the CrossFire mode really showed its mettle. The Radeon RX 480 CrossFire was now 62% faster than the single Radeon RX 480 graphics card, and 43.2% faster than the GeForce GTX 1060.
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Performance Summary
Here is a summary of our benchmark results. We highlighted the benchmarks in which the CrossFire mode worked (in green), and when it didn’t work (in red).
Benchmarks
Radeon R9 380
Radeon RX 480
GeForce GTX 1060
GeForce GTX 980 Ti
GeForce GTX 1070
Radeon RX 480 CrossFire
Time Spy (1440p)
Slower by 65.1%
Slower by 48.2%
Slower by 45.8%
Slower by 36.5%
Slower by 24.8%
Baseline
Fire Strike (1080p)
Slower by 64.0%
Slower by 48.8%
Slower by 45.2%
Slower by 28.7%
Slower by 25.1%
Baseline
Fire Strike Extreme (1440p)
Slower by 63.4%
Slower by 49.0%
Slower by 42.4%
Slower by 25.1%
Slower by 21.2%
Baseline
Fire Strike Ultra (2160p)
Slower by 61.2%
Slower by 48.3%
Slower by 42.1%
Slower by 22.5%
Slower by 18.8%
Baseline
Ashes of the Singularity
–
–
–
–
–
Failed
Total War: Warhammer (1080p)
Slower by 26.1%
Faster by 7.0%
Slower by 0.5%
Faster by 30.7%
Faster by 36.1%
Baseline
Total War: Warhammer (1440p)
Slower by 26.4%
Faster by 8.4%
Faster by 3.9%
Faster by 40.3%
Faster by 43.8%
Baseline
Total War: Warhammer (2160p)
Slower by 29.4%
Faster by 5.1%
Faster by 7.5%
Faster by 48.6%
Faster by 51.0%
Baseline
The Witcher 3 (1080p)
Slower by 57.6%
Slower by 37.2%
Slower by 33.1%
Slower by 8.0%
Slower by 4.8%
Baseline
The Witcher 3 (1440p)
Slower by 57.0%
Slower by 37.2%
Slower by 33.1%
Slower by 7.8%
Slower by 5.3%
Baseline
The Witcher 3 (2160p)
Slower by 57.5%
Slower by 39.2%
Slower by 34.4%
Slower by 10.2%
Slower by 8.1%
Baseline
Fallout 4 (1080p)
Slower by 20.5%
Faster by 2.8%
Faster by 19.1%
Faster by 27.8%
Faster by 29.6%
Baseline
Fallout 4 (1440p)
Slower by 41.7%
Slower by 19.6%
Slower by 8.7%
Faster by 16.7%
Faster by 22.6%
Baseline
Fallout 4 (2160p)
Slower by 54.3%
Slower by 38.1%
Slower by 30.2%
Slower by 8.0%
Slower by 1.1%
Baseline
Our Opinion
The Radeon RX 480 CrossFire showed great promise in the 3DMark benchmarks. It was able to deliver 93% to 96% better performance than a single Radeon RX 480 graphics card.
The actual boost in frame rate was smaller, of course, due to CPU limits. But it proved to be faster than the GeForce GTX 1070 by 15% to 18% in DirectX 11, and 26% in DirectX 12. Very impressive.
Unfortunately, we do not have an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 in our benchmark suite, but we know that it is roughly 20%-25% faster than the GeForce GTX 1070. So we can guesstimate that the Radeon RX 480 CrossFire will be slightly faster than the GeForce GTX 1080 in DirectX 12, and slightly slower in DirectX 11.
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From a price-performance perspective, the Radeon RX 480 CrossFire ties with the GeForce GTX 1070, if we only take into account the 3DMark results. It loses out to the GeForce GTX 1070 when it comes to actual games, particularly in games that don’t work well or at all with CrossFire.
As you can tell from the table above, the reliability of the CrossFire mode is still quite iffy. That is really too bad, because the 3DMark results show that the Radeon RX 480 CrossFire has great potential, particularly in DirectX 12.
If AMD can get the CrossFire mode to work in all games, the Radeon RX 480 CrossFire is a great alternative to the GeForce GTX 1080. It offers equivalent performance at a 20% discount (US$478 vs. US$599), albeit with much higher power consumption (300W vs. 180W).
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On September 9, 2015, AMD spliced off their Radeon graphics team into a separate Radeon Technologies Group. They also promoted Raja Koduri to Senior Vice President and Chief Architect of the new Radeon Technologies Group, reporting directly to AMD President and CEO Dr. Lisa Su.
It has now been a year since Raja Koduri took the helm of the newly-formed Radeon Technologies Group. Chris Hook, Senior Director of Global Marketing and Public Relations, Radeon Technologies Group, gave us a run-down of what the Radeon Technologies Group accomplished in just 12 months.
Then Raja Koduri, Senior Vice President and Chief Architect, Radeon Technologies Group, gave us a 40 minute Q&A session – a rare opportunity as you can imagine. Check out the full Q&A session below!
Now, join us for a quick tour of their achievements in the first year! If you would like to peruse the slides from the presentation, you can check them out here.
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The First Year Of The Radeon Technologies Group
Right after its formation, the Radeon Technologies Group dove straight into the melee, delivering the Radeon Software Crimson Edition in November 2015, and then launching GPUOpen in December 2015.
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Here are the presentation slides used by Chris Hook, Senior Director of Global Marketing and Public Relations, Radeon Technologies Group, during his presentation :
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AMD was using it to power a virtual reality demo of a space turret shooting game on an Oculus Rift VR headset. That was our first encounter with the Radeon RX 460, so we took off the perspex cover to take a closer look.
Updated @ 2016-07-30 : Added details of the virtual reality demo the Radeon RX 460 was powering, as well as a slide with its key specifications.
AMD Radeon RX 460 In Action
As AMD revealed earlier, the Radeon RX 460 is powered by the AMD Polaris 11 GPU, which has 14 Compute Units. It comes with 2 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit memory bus. For display output, this reference card has a DisplayPort, a HDMI port and a DVI port.
The Radeon RX 480, and the upcoming Radeon RX 470, on the other hand, are powered by the larger Polaris 10 GPU with 36 Compute Units, and 32 Compute Units respectively. They also have a much wider 256-bit memory bus with either 4 GB or 8 GB of GDDR5 memory.
We also took a video of the Radeon RX 460 in action. Check it out!
The Radeon RX 460 is designed to use very little power. It is powered entirely by the PCI Express bus and does not require an additional power connector. AMD has just revealed its official TDP as less than 75 W (see below).
With its low power requirement, the Radeon RX 460 is targeted at eSports gamers. It also makes for a great HTPC graphics card, as it supports hardware encoding and decoding of H.264 and HEVC (H.265) videos at 4K resolution.
AMD Radeon RX 460 Specifications
AMD just revealed some details of the Radeon RX 460’s key specifications, including the official design. Check it out!
As you can see, the final Radeon RX 460 card will have a slab-sided shroud that is similar to the one used in the Radeon RX 480. The Radeon RX 460 will be officially released on August 8, 2016. There is no official price indication, but we expect it to cost less than US$99.
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More AMD Polaris Information
Get more details or information on the new AMD Polaris graphics cards and architecture here :
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Taipei, 19 July 2016 – GIGABYTE, the world’s leading gaming hardware brand, today announced the launch of Radeon RX 480 G1 GAMING graphics cards that come in variants of 4GB (RX480G1 GAMING-4GD) and 8GB (RX480G1 GAMING-8GD) of GDDR5 memory.
Based on the latest Polaris architecture with groundbreaking 14nm FinFET technology, the power-efficient GIGABYTE RX 480 G1 GAMING cards up the ante with the cherry-picked GPU core, WINDFORCE dual-fan cooler and RGB illumination, delivering exceptional performance and value with style to gamers looking for smooth gameplay at superior frame rates, as well as those wishing to enter the world of VR for the first time.
GIGABYTE RX 480 G1 GAMING
Taking advantage of the renowned WINDFORCE 2X cooling system, the GIGABYTE RX 480 G1 GAMING ensures cool and quietness when taking on the most graphics-intensive game titles. Two 90mm fans paired with three composite copper heat pipes which directly touch the GPU keep the card cool for extra overclocking headroom. The airflow is enhanced by the unique blade fan design to increase the cooling capacity by 23% while reducing turbulence to a minimum.
The cards also feature silent semi-passive cooling as the fans remain off at idle or low loads, offering a complete silent, interruption-free experience during light gaming. The Fan Stop indicator provides a user-friendly, instant display of the fan status.
Forged with top-notch GPU cores through the very own GPU Gauntlet Sorting technology, the GIGABYTE RX 480 G1 GAMING provide excellent power switching and thermal efficiency. The cards are further backed by a 6+2 power phase design for load balance that effectively extends the stability and longevity with lower component temperature. It ultimately allows greater overclocking capability, reinforcing higher, stable boost clocks at heavy load. In case of any power abnormality, the smart power indicator could immediately bring the issue to the gamer’s attention.
The outlook of the GIGABYTE RX 480 G1 GAMING follows the latest G1 GAMING aesthetics with the angular shroud design highlighted by orange accents. The cards bring life to PC builds with their full-spectrum RGB lighting. Gamers could enjoy maximum freedom to choose the right scheme for their gaming rigs with 16.8M customizable color options and numerous lighting effects with the software. The graphics cards also come with a metal back plate, keeping a clean look, whilst adding rigidity to the structure and protection of delicate PCB components.
Complementing the GIGABYTE RX 480 G1 GAMING series is XTREME Engine, the newly developed utility software. Via its redesigned, intuitive interface, clock speeds, voltage, fan profiles, power target, and RGB illumination could be easily managed and customized. With a simple click of the OC Mode button built in the XTREME Engine, gamers can easily overclock the card for an instant gaming performance boost.
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As part of their aggressive push to promote both the Radeon RX 480, and 7th Generation AMD APUs; David Nalasco and Peter Amos flew all the way from AMD Markham in Canada to give a thorough tech briefing on the new AMD technologies in those products.
Ryan Sim, Channel Sales Director of AMD ASEAN & India, started the event with a short welcome speech. He pointed out how the new AMD Radeon RX 480 offers unrivalled power efficiency, and brings virtual reality to the mainstream with a shockingly affordable price.
Then AMD officially launched the AMD Radeon RX 480 here in Malaysia, with this launch gambit. Check it out!
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AMD Polaris GPU Tech Briefing
In this video, David Nalasco, Senior Technology Manager for Graphics in the Radeon Technology Group, gives a thorough tech briefing on the new AMD Polaris architecture, and the first three graphics cards based on the Polaris 10 and Polaris 11 GPUs.
AMD 7th Generation APU Tech Briefing
Then Peter Amos, APU Product Marketing Manager, AMD Client Business Unit, gave a tech briefing on the new 7th Generation AMD APUs, as well as upcoming desktop processors based on the new AMD Zen architecture. Check it out!
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Today, id Software announced the availability for the Vulkan version of DOOM that relies on innovative features to deliver incredible performance.
As many of you already know, the Vulkan API is a descendant of AMD’s Mantle that supports close-to-metal control across Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows 10, and Linux. Compared to OpenGL, Vulkan substantially reduces “API overhead” – the background work a CPU does to interpret what a game asks of the hardware – to deliver meaningful features, performance, and image quality and expose GPU hardware features that wouldn’t ordinarily be accessible through OpenGL
DOOM
DOOM benefits from Vulkan support by using several great features:
Asynchronous Shaders: Using multiple command processors — the Asynchronous Compute Engines in AMD’s Graphics Core Next and Polaris GPU architectures — each queue can submit commands without waiting for other tasks to complete.
Shader Intrinsics or Shader Intrinsic Functions, also called built-in functions, provide a way for game developers to directly access graphics hardware instructions in situations where those instructions would normally be abstracted by an API. This approach has been used successfully on gaming consoles to extract more performance from the GPU — and now AMD is enabling PCs with the same capability.
Frame Flip Optimizations which basically pass the frame directly to the display once it’s ready, i.e. skips the copy and save.
As Robert Duffy, Chief Technical Officer of id software pointed out at the AMD event at Computex 2016, “Vulkan is a modern API, with roots to AMD’s Mantle technology, and it provides real benefits to both us as developers and the large community of gamers using a wide range of hardware. When you factor in additional AMD features, like true Asynchronous Compute, custom intrinsic instructions, and combine those with a raw speed of idTech 6, we believe the experience on AMD will be hard to beat.”
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Faster Performance
Performance numbers produced by AMD internal testing show the performance benefits of Vulkan versus OpenGL implementation:
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The reduction in power consumption is not enabled by default though, because it reduces performance. Instead, AMD will add a Compatibility Mode option in Radeon Settings, which you must manually toggle. Check out what the new Radeon Software 16.7.1 driver offers :
The Radeon RX 480’s power distribution has been improved for AMD reference boards, lowering the current drawn from the PCIe bus.
A new “compatibility mode” UI toggle has been made available in the Global Settings menu of Radeon Settings. This option is designed to reduce total power with minimal performance impact if end users experience any further issues. This toggle is “off” by default.
Performance improvements for the Polaris architecture that yield performance uplifts in popular game titles of up to 3%. These optimizations are designed to improve the performance of the Radeon RX 480, and should substantially offset the performance impact for users who choose to activate the “compatibility” toggle.
In this article, we will examine the drop in performance caused by the reduced power consumption. Then we will compare it to the boost in performance from the Radeon Software 16.7.1 driver. Check it out!
3DMark (1920 x 1080)
We started testing the graphics cards using 3DMark at the most common gaming resolution – 1920 x 1080.
In the lower resolution of 1920 x 1080, the Radeon RX 480[Amazon] received a performance boost of 3% to 3.8%. That was sufficient to completely erase the 2.4% to 3% drop in performance due to the reduced power consumption.
3DMark (2560 x 1440)
Then we took 3DMark up a notch to the resolution of 2560 x 1440. According to AMD, this is the sweet spot for the Radeon RX 480[Amazon]. Let’s take a look!
When we increased the resolution to 2560 x 1440 though, the performance boost from the Radeon Software 16.7.1 driver dropped to just 2.3% to 2.9%. It just about erased the drop in performance from the reduced power consumption.
At the 4K resolution, the 2.3% to 2.85% boost in from the Radeon Software 16.7.1 driver was not enough to offset the 3.7% to 4% drop in performance from the lower TDP. The Radeon RX 480[Amazon] ended up 1% to 1.8% slower.
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Fallout 4 (1920 x 1080)
This chart shows you the minimum and maximum frame rates, as well as the average frame rate, FRAPS recorded in Fallout 4.
In Fallout 4, the new Radeon Software 16.7.1 driver boosted the average frame rate enough to make up for the drop in performance from the reduced power consumption.
The Witcher 3 (1920 x 1080)
This chart shows you the minimum and maximum frame rates, as well as the average frame rate, FRAPS recorded in The Witcher 3.
In The Witcher 3, the performance boost was substantial enough to give the Radeon RX 480[Amazon] a small 1.3% boost in average frame rate, even with the Compatibility Mode triggered.
Total War : Warhammer (1920 x 1080)
This chart shows you the minimum and maximum frame rates, as well as the average frame rate, recorded by the Total War : Warhammer benchmark.
The Radeon Software 16.7.1 driver does two things – reprogram the Radeon RX 480‘s power controller so it will pull more current from the 6-pin PCI Express power cable, and less from the PCI Express bus. This fix does not reduce performance. However, it still means that the Radeon RX 480[Amazon] will exceed its rated 150 W TDP.
The higher TDP should not cause any concerns normally. However, those want their Radeon RX 480[Amazon] to adhere to the rated 150 W TDP can enable the new Compatibility Mode switch in Radeon Settings. This reduces the Radeon RX 480‘s TDP to 150 W.
The reduction in power consumption reduces performance, of course. But for all of the furore over the Radeon RX 480 power draw controversy, it looks like the performance boost that the Radeon RX 480[Amazon] received from the higher-than-rated TDP was less than 4%.
We will be correcting our AMD Radeon RX 480 Review to reflect this change. Yes, 4% may be small, but it is still a significant change, and we have to be accurate.
The good news though is that the small drop in performance is virtually offset by performance optimisations for the AMD Polaris architecture in the new Radeon Software 16.7.1 driver. So if you are a Radeon RX 480 user, go get it now!
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Sunnyvale, 7 July 2016 — AMD today announced the acquisition of software company HiAlgo Inc., a developer of unique PC gaming technologies designed to help Radeon RX Series GPUs transform gaming experience, increase GPU efficiency and improve the overall consistency of gaming experiences. The acquisition lays the groundwork for future gaming innovation in Radeon Software that will benefit owners of Radeon RX Series GPUs.
“Software is an integral part of advancing the science of graphics, enabling us to best harness the silicon of the GPU to maximize performance and deliver outstanding experiences in games and applications,” said Raja Koduri, senior vice president and chief architect, Radeon Technologies Group, AMD. “HiAlgo embodies our spirit of passion, persistence and play by delivering a number of creative approaches to software that improve gamers’ experiences, and helps future-proof the GPU.”
Radeon Software enables the ultimate in performance, features and stability of Radeon graphics to ensure an exceptional user experience. Today, launching alongside the Radeon RX 480 graphics card are nine new features of Radeon Software Crimson Edition designed to give users more control over their computing experience, including multi-GPU, display, and power efficiency settings, and a redefined overclocking tool in Radeon WattMan.
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Following the Radeon RX 480 power draw controversy, AMD released the Radeon Software 16.7.1 driver. This is a non-WHQL driver that was pushed out quickly to fix the Radeon RX 480‘s excessive power draw from the PCI Express bus. However, it also comes with a 3% boost in performance for the Polaris architecture.
Finally, we’ve implemented a collection of performance improvements for the Polaris architecture that yield performance uplifts in popular game titles of up to 3%1.These optimizations are designed to improve the performance of the Radeon RX 480, and should substantially offset the performance impact for users who choose to activate the “compatibility” toggle.
So we decided to take a look at the performance improvements it delivers in the Radeon RX 480[Amazon]. We also took a look at how it affects the AMD Radeon R9 380 graphics card, which is based on the previous-generation Fiji architecture. Check it out!
3DMark (1920 x 1080)
We started testing the graphics cards using 3DMark at the most common gaming resolution – 1920 x 1080.
The Radeon RX 480[Amazon] received a 3.15% boost in the Overall Score, a 3.77% boost in the Graphics Score and a 3% boost in the Combined Score. Very nice! The Radeon R9 380, however, did not benefit from the newer Radeon Software 16.7.1 driver at all.
The frame rate breakdown shows the Radeon RX 480[Amazon] edging even further away from its predecessor, the Radeon R9 380. It is now 44-48% faster than the Radeon R9 380, thanks to the Radeon Software 16.7.1 driver.
3DMark (2560 x 1440)
Then we took 3DMark up a notch to the resolution of 2560 x 1440. According to AMD, this is the sweet spot for the Radeon RX 480[Amazon]. Let’s take a look!
At this higher resolution, the Radeon RX 480[Amazon] received a smaller performance boost of 2.6% in the Overall Score, 2.9% in the Graphics Score and 2.3% in the Combined Score. The Radeon R9 380‘s performance actually suffered slightly (by 1%) with the Radeon Software 16.7.1 driver.
The small boost in performance from the Radeon Software 16.7.1 driver only gave the Radeon RX 480[Amazon] a small 0.5-1 fps boost in frame rate. Coupled with the slight drop in the Radeon R9 380‘s performance, the Radeon RX 480 is now 40-50% faster than the Radeon R9 380.
3DMark (3840 x 2160)
This is torture, even for the 8 GB version of the Radeon RX 480[Amazon]. The Radeon R9 380 would do even worse, with just 4 GB of GDDR5 memory.
For some reason, the Radeon Software 16.7.1 driver caused the benchmark to fail while running on the Radeon R9 380. However, we can see that it gives the Radeon RX 480[Amazon] is a small 2.4% boost in the Overall Score, a 2.3% boost in the Graphics Score and a 2.85% boost in the Combined Score.
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Fallout 4 (1920 x 1080)
This chart shows you the minimum and maximum frame rates, as well as the average frame rate, FRAPS recorded in Fallout 4.
The new Radeon Software 16.7.1 driver seems to greatly increase the frame rate range for the Radeon RX 480, and slightly in the Radeon R9 380. However, only the Radeon RX 480[Amazon] saw a small 1.9% boost in the average frame rate.
The Witcher 3 (1920 x 1080)
This chart shows you the minimum and maximum frame rates, as well as the average frame rate, FRAPS recorded in The Witcher 3.
The Radeon Software 16.7.1 driver gave both the Radeon RX 480[Amazon] and the Radeon R9 380 a small boost in frame rate of 3% and 1% respectively.
Total War : Warhammer (1920 x 1080)
This chart shows you the minimum and maximum frame rates, as well as the average frame rate, recorded by the Total War : Warhammer benchmark.
Surprisingly, the Radeon R9 380 saw an appreciable boost in the frame rate range, although the average frame rate only creeped slightly higher. The Radeon RX 480[Amazon], though, received a more substantial 2.8% boost in average frame rate.
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Conclusion & Downloads
If you are using the new AMD Radeon RX 480[Amazon] graphics card, you should download and use the new Radeon Software 16.7.1, even if you don’t care about its excessive power draw from the PCI Express bus.
In the 3 games we tested, the Radeon RX 480[Amazon] enjoyed a small boost of 2-3% in frame rate. Not earth-shattering, to be sure, but still a nice boost. The performance boost alone is worth upgrading to Radeon Software 16.7.1, even though it’s not WHQL-certified. You can download them here :
However, if you are using a Fiji-based graphics card like the Radeon R9 380 we tested, you should not waste your time with the new Radeon Software 16.7.1. You will not see any improvement in performance. In fact, it may even deteriorate a little, or worse, fail to run properly when rendering in 4K.
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After the AMD Radeon RX 480 was officially launched, several websites reported that their cards were drawing substantially more power from the PCI Express bus than the 75 W allowed by the PCI Express specifications. AMD has now come up with responses to this developing controversy.
2016-07-06 : Added a new page on the AMD driver solution, and our take on it.
2016-07-09 : Added a new section on the Radeon Software Crimson Edition 16.7.1 driver.
Excessive RX 480 Power Draw
The PCI Express specification allows for up to 66 W of power to be supplied by the 12 V line (12 V x 5.5 A) of the PCI Express bus. However, reviewers who have the necessary equipment to measure the power draw from the PCI Express slot have noted that the Radeon RX 480 draws 78-88 W of power from that 12 V line.
If their measurements are correct, the Radeon RX 480 exceeds the PCI Express power draw specification by a minimum of 18% and up to 33%. It also means that the Radeon RX 480 is exceeding its thermal design power (TDP) of 150 watts.
The Implications
The AMD Radeon RX 480 has to be certified to meet the PCI Express specifications to qualify the card as a PCI Express card, for branding and legal purposes. If the Radeon RX 480 does not fulfil its certification requirements, AMD has to fix the issue within 3 months. Failure to do so will result in the Radeon RX 480 being denied the right to be branded and sold as a PCI Express card.
For certain, AMD would certified the Radeon RX 480 to be PCI Express-compliant before the launch. However, independent testing has revealed that the Radeon RX 480 can and do exceed the power draw specifications. Why there is a discrepancy pre- and post-launch is yet unknown.
AMD Responds
Initially, Raja Koduri, Senior Vice President and Chief Architect, Radeon Technologies Group, responded on Reddit that :
Great question and I am really glad you asked.
We have extensive testing internally on our PCIE compliance and RX480 passed our testing. However we have received feedback from some of the reviewers on high current observed on PCIE in some cases.
We are looking into these scenarios as we speak and reproduce these scenarios internally. Our engineering team is fully engaged.
Just two days ago, AMD’s Communications Lead, Garrath Johnson, issued an update on their ongoing investigation of the issue :
As you know, we continuously tune our GPUs in order to maximize their performance within their given power envelopes and the speed of the memory interface, which in this case is an unprecedented 8Gbps for GDDR5.
Recently, we identified select scenarios where the tuning of some RX 480 boards was not optimal. Fortunately, we can adjust the GPU’s tuning via software in order to resolve this issue.
We are already testing a driver that implements a fix, and we will provide an update to the community on our progress on Tuesday (July 5, 2016).
We will keep you updated on this developing Radeon RX 480 power draw story, so stay tuned!
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New Driver To Correct RX 480 Power Draw
At 3:14 PM on July 6 (GMT+8), AMD’s Communications Lead, Garrath Johnson, emailed us the solution that AMD has developed – a new driver to correct the excessive Radeon RX 480 power draw from the PCI Express bus. Check it out :
We promised an update today (July 5, 2016) following concerns around the Radeon RX 480 drawing excess current from the PCIe bus. Although we are confident that the levels of reported power draws by the Radeon RX 480 do not pose a risk of damage to motherboards or other PC components based on expected usage, we are serious about addressing this topic and allaying outstanding concerns. Towards that end, we assembled a worldwide team this past weekend to investigate and develop a driver update to improve the power draw. We’re pleased to report that this driver—Radeon Software 16.7.1—is now undergoing final testing and will be released to the public in the next 48 hours.
In this driver we’ve implemented a change to address power distribution on the Radeon RX 480 – this change will lower current drawn from the PCIe bus.
Separately, we’ve also included an option to reduce total power with minimal performance impact. Users will find this as the “compatibility” UI toggle in the Global Settings menu of Radeon Settings. This toggle is “off” by default.
Finally, we’ve implemented a collection of performance improvements for the Polaris architecture that yield performance uplifts in popular game titles of up to 3%1. These optimizations are designed to improve the performance of the Radeon RX 480, and should substantially offset the performance impact for users who choose to activate the “compatibility” toggle.
AMD is committed to delivering high quality and high performance products, and we’ll continue to provide users with more control over their product’s performance and efficiency. We appreciate all the feedback so far, and we’ll continue to bring further performance and performance/W optimizations to the Radeon RX 480.
1: Based on data running ’Total War: Warhammer’, ultra settings, 1080p resolution. Radeon Software 16.6.2 74.2FPS vs Radeon Software 16.7.1 78.3FPS; Metro Last Light, very high settings, 1080p resolution, 80.9FPS vs 82.7 FPS. Witcher 3, Ultra settings, 1440p, 31.5FPS vs 32.5, Far Cry 4, ultra settings, 1440p, 54.65FPS vs 56.38FPS, 3DMark11 Extreme, 22.8 vs 23.7 System config: Core i7-5960X, 16GB DDR4-2666MHz, Gigabyte X99-UD4, Windows 10 64-bit. Performance figures are not average, may vary from run-to-run.
The Radeon RX 480’s power distribution has been improved for AMD reference boards, lowering the current drawn from the PCIe bus.
A new “compatibility mode” UI toggle has been made available in the Global Settings menu of Radeon Settings. This option is designed to reduce total power with minimal performance impact if end users experience any further issues. This toggle is “off” by default.
Performance improvements for the Polaris architecture that yield performance uplifts in popular game titles of up to 3%. These optimizations are designed to improve the performance of the Radeon RX 480, and should substantially offset the performance impact for users who choose to activate the “compatibility” toggle.
AMD has basically acknowledged that the Radeon RX 480 does indeed draw more power over the PCI Express bus than is allowed by the PCI Express specifications. That is also a tacit acknowledgement that the Radeon RX 480 has a thermal design power (TDP) in excess of 150 W.
They claim that the excessive Radeon RX 480 power draw will not damage the motherboard or related components. However, they also qualify that as limited to “expected usage” – that means using the Radeon RX 480 as is, and not overclocking it.
Although AMD implied that the performance impact of the “compatibility” toggle is substantially less than 3%, we examined its real impact and how much the Radeon Software 16.7.1 driver’s performance offset it. Check it out in our article – True Performance of the Radeon RX 480 Examined.
Going forward, we expect the Radeon RX 480 cards to eventually ship with an 8-pin PCI Express power connector for “compatibility” reasons.
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When AMD first revealed the Radeon RX 480 during Computex 2016, they announced that it will come with 4GB or 8GB of GDDR5 memory. They also revealed that the 4GB Radeon RX 480 will cost US$199, while the 8GB model will cost US$229.
Yesterday, AMD officially launched the Radeon RX 480, but they increased the price of the 8GB model from US$229 to US$239. That’s a hike of US$10 over the original price, and a US$40 (20%) premium over the 4GB model.
4GB Radeon RX 480 A Better Deal
Of course, the original $229 price of the 8GB Radeon RX 480 was not set in stone, like the $199 price for the 4GB Radeon RX 480. It was an indicative price at that point. However, the higher price will make the 4GB Radeon RX 480 a more enticing proposition than the 8GB model.
After all, our AMD Radeon RX 480 review showed that it was best used for 1080p gaming. If that is what you are using it for, then there is not much need for additional 4GB of GDDR5 memory. Sure, having 8GB of RAM may improve benchmark scores a little, but it won’t be as much as the 20% price premium it demands.
This means the 4GB Radeon RX 480 will offer the best bang for your buck, and is therefore, the best choice for 1080p gaming from AMD. Unfortunately, there seems to be a dearth of 4GB Radeon RX 480 cards in the market. Obviously, we are not the only ones to come to the same conclusion…
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Local tech retailer, TECH Armory, just revealed the local pricing for the new AMD Radeon RX 480 graphics card. They brought in the 8 GB model of the Radeon RX 480 from Sapphire and XFX. Unfortunately, the 4 GB model is currently not available.
Both the Sapphire Radeon RX 480, and the XFX Radeon RX 480 are being sold at RM 1,299 (~US$ 325), inclusive of the 6% GST. This is a 36% premium over the official price of the Radeon RX 480 (8 GB) graphics card of US$ 239.
Of course, the prices in Malaysia are always significantly higher than the official prices in the United States. The Palit GeForce GTX 1080 and 1070, for example, cost RM 3,099 (~US$ 775) and RM 1,999 (~US$ 500) – a premium of 29% and 32% respectively.
So is it worth getting the Radeon RX 480 (8 GB)? Or is it better to top up and get the GeForce GTX 1070? You decide.
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On the 23rd of June 2016, we received a surprise delivered by a special courier – the AMD Radeon RX 480 graphics card! This is one of the first few samples in the country. W00t!
Due to our existing commitments, we didn’t have all that much time to do a more thorough test, but here is a quick review for now. We will update the review with more benchmarks and details later.
The AMD Radeon RX 480 Hands-On Preview
Here is the hands-on preview video we created on the same day we received the Radeon RX 480, so please forgive the unpolished effort. Basically, it gives you an overview of how the card looks like, and what connectivity options it comes with.
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The AMD Radeon RX 480 Up Close
The next best thing we can do right now is take photos of the card to show you. Enjoy!
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How Big Is It?
For those already measuring their cases to see if the AMD Radeon RX 480 will fit, we measured the card and added the measurements for your convenience.
As you can see, the Radeon RX 480 is “technically” a 7″ long card, but its cooler extends 6.7 cm or 2.65″ beyond the card.
The AMD Radeon RX 480 Thermal Output
The AMD Radeon RX 480 uses the new AMD Polaris 10 GPU, which is fabricated on the latest 14 nm FinFET process. This not only means AMD can stuff more transistors into a smaller chip, it also means lower power consumption and thermal output.
We tested this out by recording the peak exhaust temperature of the Radeon RX 480, its predecessor – the Radeon R9 380, as well as two NVIDIA graphics cards – the GeForce GTX 980 Ti and the new GeForce GTX 1070. Check out the results!
Note that these are not the recorded temperatures but how much hotter the exhaust air is above ambient temperature.
As you can see, it is a relatively cool-running card, producing significantly cooler (8 °C) exhaust air than the Radeon R9 380 graphics card.
But you might wonder – is this because it has a more powerful, and therefore, noisier, fan? Let’s take a look…
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The AMD Radeon RX 480 Noise Levels
AMD put a lot of work into reducing the noise levels for the Radeon RX 480. According to them, it is comparable to the noise levels of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 graphics card. Take a look at the table and graph comparing the noise levels of the Radeon RX 480 against the GeForce GTX 970.
But nothing beats hearing it for yourself. So we recorded the sound of the cooler’s blower fan while it’s running the 3D Mark Fire Strike Ultra benchmark.
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Our Test Bed
Our graphics benchmarking test bed has the following specifications :
We started testing the graphics cards using 3DMark at the most common gaming resolution – 1920 x 1080.
The AMD Radeon RX 480‘s 3DMark score for full HD gaming was very impressive. It was, on average, about 38% faster than the Radeon R9 380! In fact, the Radeon RX 480’s pure graphics score was 41% higher than the Radeon R9 380.
The frame rate breakdown shows just how much more superior the Radeon RX 480 is to its predecessor, the Radeon R9 380. It is 40-42% faster than the Radeon R9 380.
3DMark (2560 x 1440)
Then we took 3DMark up a notch to the resolution of 2560 x 1440. According to AMD, this is the sweet spot for the Radeon RX 480. Let’s take a look!
The Radeon RX 480 continued to maintain its performance lead of about 38% over the Radeon R9 380.
These are hardly playable frame rates but it is impressive to note how much the Radeon RX 480 is trouncing the Radeon R9 380.
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3DMark (3840 x 2160)
Okay, this is torture, even for the 8 GB version of the Radeon RX 480. Even the GeForce GTX 980 Ti and the new GeForce GTX 1070 have trouble handling the 3DMark 4K torture test. 😀
In the 4K graphics test, the Radeon RX 480’s performance lead over the Radeon R9 380 slipped a little to about 34%.
There is no doubt that the Radeon RX 480 is ill-suited for 4K gaming. Still, this is VERY impressive performance, considering the fact that it consumes 20% less power than the Radeon R9 380!
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Full HD Gaming
We had some problem with the BenQ XR3501 gaming monitor, which prevented us from using virtual resolution to test the four graphics cards. So we benchmarked The Witcher 3 : Wild Hunt and Fallout 4 in full HD resolution – 1920 x 1080. Here are their average frame rates :
The AMD Radeon RX 480 is perfect for full HD gaming. It is fast enough in both games to deliver frame rates in excess of 60 fps… most of the time. In The Witcher 3, it was actually 47% faster than the Radeon R9 380. Very impressive.
Of course, these are average frame rates. Let’s take a closer look at both games…
Fallout 4 (1920 x 1080)
This chart shows you the minimum and maximum frame rates, as well as the average frame rate, FRAPS recorded in Fallout 4.
The Radeon RX 480 shows a much wider range of frame rates, matching the Radeon R9 380 in the most difficult scenes but beating it as much as 28% in less arduous scenes.
The Witcher 3 (1920 x 1080)
This chart shows you the minimum and maximum frame rates, as well as the average frame rate, FRAPS recorded in The Witcher 3.
The new Polaris architecture is certainly giving the RX 480 a big boost in The Witcher 3. It is roughly 50% faster than the Radeon R9 380. Very impressive!
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Our Initial Verdict
The AMD Radeon RX 480 is no beauty, with its slab-sided cooler. Neither is it the fastest kid on the block. But if you are a gamer on a budget, you are going to thank AMD for creating the Radeon RX 480.
For one thing, the Radeon RX 480 is 38% faster than its predecessor, the Radeon R9 380… while producing roughly 20% less heat.
While it is about 1/3 slower than the new NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070, the Radeon RX 480 sells for 40% less. That means it offers better value for money, IF you only want to game in full HD resolution.
Yes, while AMD may tout 1440p gaming as the Radeon RX 480’s sweet spot, our preliminary results show that it is best used for 1080p gaming. You can use it for 1440p gaming if you are not fussy about achieving 60 fps.
Based on current results, we feel confident enough to award AMD our Reviewer’s Choice Award for this job well-done. It’s not the fastest kid on the block, but it sure offers a lot of bang for the buck… with low power consumption to boot! Congratulations, AMD!
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More Radeon RX 480 Information
For more information on the AMD Radeon RX 480, take a look at our previous articles :
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During Computex 2016, AMD revealed the AMD Radeon RX 480 – the first graphics card powered by the new AMD Polaris 10 GPU. Today, AMD officially reveals the full details and specifications of the new AMD Radeon RX 400 series of graphics processors, including the Radeon RX 470 and the Radeon RX 460.
AMD also revealed the Radeon R5, R7 and R9 nomenclature will be replaced by the Radeon RX nomenclature for cards that are designed for gaming, while those not targeted at gamers will just use the Radeon moniker.
AMD Radeon RX 400 Series Video Presentation
AMD invited us to an exclusive media conference call yesterday. We recorded it for you and compiled it into a video presentation so you can better understand what the new AMD Radeon RX 400 series brings to the gaming and VR scene. Check it out!
AMD Radeon RX 400 Series Presentation Slides
For those who prefer to check out the slides, there are 25 of them. So we have to divide them into 3 pages for your convenience. Enjoy!
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If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participate in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donate to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!
Support Tech ARP!
If you like our work, you can help support our work by visiting our sponsors, participate in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donate to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!
Yesterday, we received a surprise delivered by a special courier – the upcoming AMD Radeon RX 480 graphics card! This is one of the first few Radeon RX 480 graphics cards in the country. W00t!
The detailed information on this card is under embargo, as are any benchmark results that we may get. But we were told that it’s okay to post pictures. After all, Raja Koduri, Senior Vice President and Chief Architect of the Radeon Technologies Group, publicly revealed the AMD Radeon RX 480 earlier this month!
So this is our hands-on preview of the actual working card. The real deal. The genuine muffin. Yes, for all of you to drool over until launch day. 😀
ALERT : We will have more on the AMD Radeon RX 480 at 9 PM tonight (June 29, GMT+8).
AMD Radeon RX 480 Hands-On Preview Video
Right after we received permission to post pictures of the Radeon RX 480, we created a hands-on preview video. Basically, a quick look of the card with our narration of its key features.
We didn’t think it would be a problem since a video offers (arguably) lower resolution views of the card than actual pictures, and the details we revealed had already been posted earlier.
Unfortunately, we received a request to take off the video, “because they are not pictures“. So while we technically did not break the NDA, we unlisted the video pending a request to reinstate it. It will be up as and when we get AMD’s go-ahead.
Updated : The video is now available for viewing!
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AMD Radeon RX 480 Up Close
The next best thing we can do right now is take photos of the card to show you. Enjoy!
AMD Radeon RX 480 Size
For those already measuring their cases to see if the AMD Radeon RX 480 will fit, we measured the card and added the measurements for your convenience.
As you can see, the Radeon RX 480 is “technically” a 7″ long card, but its cooler extends 6.7 cm or 2.65″ beyond the card.
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More Radeon RX 480 Information
For more information on the AMD Radeon RX 480, take a look at our previous articles :
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Los Angeles, California, 13 June 2016 — Today at Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) AMD CEO Lisa Su delivered a pre-launch showcase of the full line of forthcoming Radeon RX Series graphics cards set to transform PC gaming this summer by delivering enthusiast class performance and features for gamers at mainstream price points.
AMD previously showcased the Radeon RX 480 graphics card, designed for incredibly smooth AAA gaming at 1440p resolution and set to be the most affordable solution for premium VR experiences starting at just $199 SEP for the 4GB version.
Joining the Radeon RX family are the newly announced Radeon RX 470 graphics card delivering refined, power-efficient HD gaming, and the Radeon RX 460, a cool and efficient solution for the ultimate e-sports gaming experience.
