Reference models of AMD's Radeon RX 480 graphics card from AIB partners have been pictured in detail. Since we are looking at reference models, the graphics cards look and perform same as the variant which was shown by AMD at Computex 2016. Featuring impressive performance and efficiency numbers, the RX 480 is expected to shake things up in the consumer market with its $199 US starting price.
XFX, Sapphire and PowerColor Radeon RX 480 Graphics Cards Revealed - Ready For Launch on 29th June
The models which have been pictured are all reference models so there isn't a whole lot of difference between them. The XFX model is the only one which is clocked at 1288 MHz while the reference variant comes at a clock speed of 1266 MHz. The Radeon RX 480 will be available at a starting price of $199 US for the 4 GB variants. The 8 GB variants will be available at prices close to $249 US while custom variants will be available at a price close to $299 US. Preliminary performance figures for all three Polaris graphics cards can be seen in the links below:
AMD Radeon RX 480 Specifications at a glance:
Talking about specifications, the Radeon RX 480 will feature the Polaris 10 GPU core. AMD has used the full P10 configuration on the Radeon RX 480 and the cut down design will be featured on the Radeon RX 470. The cards will be based on the new 14nm GCN 4.0 architecture which will compete in the mainstream market with better efficiency figures than all previous GCN products.
As stated before, the AMD Radeon RX 480 will have two variants, a 4 GB model and a 8 GB model. AMD will stick with GDDR5 memory as they want to optimize the cost of their solutions hence they will be using 8 GB/s memory chips which provide a total of 256 GB/s bandwidth on the graphics board along a 256-bit wide bus interface.
The card comes with a sweet 150W TDP while delivering high performance which is all due to the FinFET node. This allows the card to be powered by a single 6-Pin connector that keeps the card running cool and quiet. The new cooler design is same as the Radeon R9 380 along with some minor updates such as the glossy label while the logo itself is the latest Radeon version that AMD RTG has started using. Display connectors include three DP 1.4 and a single HDMI 2.0 port. Each AIB has their own stickers on the blower fan but most of the design has been retained from the reference models.
AMD Polaris GCN 4.0 GPU Lineup:
| Graphics Card Name | AMD Radeon RX 480 | AMD Radeon RX 470 | AMD Radeon RX 470D | AMD Radeon RX 460 1024 SPs | AMD Radeon RX 460 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Graphics Core | Polaris 10 | Polaris 10 | Polaris 10 | Polaris 11 | Polaris 11 |
| Process Node | 14nm FinFET | 14nm FinFET | 14nm FinFET | 14nm FinFET | 14nm FinFET |
| Die Size | 232mm2 | 232mm2 | 232mm2 | 123mm2 | 123mm2 |
| Transistors | 5.7 Billion | 5.7 Billion | 5.7 Billion | 3.0 Billion | 3.0 Billion |
| Stream Processors | 2304 SPs | 2048 SPs | 1792 SPs | 1024 SPs | 896 SPs |
| Clock Frequency | 1266 MHz | 1206 MHz | 1206 MHz | 1200 MHz | 1200 MHz |
| Compute Performance | 5.8 TFLOPs | 4.9 TFLOPs | 4.3 TFLOPs | 2.56 TFLOPs | 2.2 TFLOPs |
| VRAM | 4/8 GB GDDR5 | 4 GB GDDR5 | 4 GB GDDR5 | 4 GB GDDR5 | 2/4 GB GDDR5 |
| Bus Interface | 256-bit | 256-bit | 256-bit | 128-bit | 128-bit |
| Memory Speed | 8 GHz | 6.6 GHz | 6.6 GHz | 7 GHz | 7 GHz |
| Memory Bandwidth | 256 GB/s | 211 GB/s | 211 GB/s | 112 GB/s | 112 GB/s |
| TDP | 150W | 120W | 110W | 75W | 75W |
| Launch Date | 29th June | 4th August | 20th October | TBD | 8th August |
| Launch Price | $199 US (4 GB) $239 US (8 GB) | $179 US (4 GB) | $149 US (4 GB) | TBD | $99 US (2 GB) $119 US (4 GB) |
| New Price | $199 US (4 GB) $239 US (8 GB) | $169 US (4 GB) | $149 US (4 GB) | TBD | $99 US (4 GB) $89 US (2 GB) |
XFX Radeon RX 480 Graphics Card (Link):
Sapphire Radeon RX 480 Graphics Card (Link):
Powercolor Radeon RX 480 Graphics Card (Link):
Since we are talking about reference models, we should also mention the first shot at the Radeon RX 480 and Radeon RX 470 PCBs which were posted by Newegg. The detailed shots reveal the entire PCB that we will be looking at on the Radeon RX 480 and Radeon RX 470 series cards. Featuring the Polaris 10 GPU, the Radeon RX 480 board comes with a really short PCB. It almost feels like we are looking at the GeForce GTX 960 PCB which also has a similar length. The graphics card features a 6+1 phase PWM design and 8 GDDR5 memory chips that are configured on the front of the PCB. The graphics board is powered by a single 6-Pin connector.
The other board we are looking at is the Radeon RX 460. Now most people in the PC gaming or enthusiast community don't care for such low end cards but I personally like cards around the $100 to $150 US price. These cards are small and cheap solutions for a very wide audience such as eSports and online gaming communities who play games such as CS:GO or DOTA 2.
The Radeon RX 460 has a really tiny PCB that measures the length of a PCI-Express slot. The card requires no additional 6-Pin connector as it has a TDP below 75W. It uses a dual slot design and comes with a small spiral GPU cooler which is enough to keep it cool and operational. We expect to see more detailed information on this tiny graphics cards in a few days. Overall, the Radeon RX series is definitely a lineup for the masses as AMD focuses on the mainstream market while leaving their high-end products aligned for 2017.
