Radeon RX 480: AMD's $200 alternative to the Nvidia GTX 1070 also takes on VR
3.6.2016
Translation: machine translated
With its new Polaris graphics cards, AMD is targeting price-conscious gamers who want as much performance as possible for their money. Enthusiasts, on the other hand, are left out.
After Nvidia made a strong showing with the two Pascal graphics cards GTX 1080 and GTX 1070, it is now AMD's turn to present its new stars. However, anyone hoping to see a new performance king will be disappointed. Instead, AMD is trying to pick up gamers for whom a GTX 1070 is too expensive, but who don't want to sacrifice performance.
Radeon RX 480 is the name of the potential price-performance winner, which is based on the new Polaris 10/11 chipset. In a direct comparison with the existing range, it probably ranks slightly ahead of the R9 390. A theoretical computing power of 5 TFLOPS (the GTX 1070 has just under 7 TFLOPS) is assumed with a GPU clock of 1100MHz. However, clock rates of around 1300MHz have also been spotted in benchmark databases. This would bring the GPU to almost 6 TFLOPS, putting it on a par with the R9 390X.
Like Nvidia, AMD relies on GDDR5 memory for the GTX 1070. The entry-level model has 4GB RAM, but 8GB models will also be available. Displayport 1.4 HDR is to be enabled with a later firmware update. AMD also emphasises that the graphics card should enable a premium VR experience.
Faster than a GTX 1080 - with some support
Concrete performance will only be revealed in tests when the card is launched at the end of June. However, AMD has already shown an impressive DirectX 12 comparison at the presentation using the game "Ashes of Singularity". Two RX 480s were compared with a single GTX 1080 in Crossfire mode. With an average of 62.5 FPS compared to 58.7 FPS, the AMD cards performed slightly better and still cost less. However, such tests should be taken with a grain of salt.
For thrifty users with high demands
All in all, AMD delivers an extremely attractive overall package. The performance should be sufficient for the vast majority of gamers and should the price actually reach the end customer this low, it really would be a bargain. However, Swiss prices are not yet known and Nvidia has recently shown that announced prices usually deviate somewhat from the actual ones.
Philipp Rüegg
Senior Editor
Philipp.Rueegg@digitecgalaxus.chBeing the game and gadget geek that I am, working at digitec and Galaxus makes me feel like a kid in a candy shop – but it does take its toll on my wallet. I enjoy tinkering with my PC in Tim Taylor fashion and talking about games on my podcast http://www.onemorelevel.ch. To satisfy my need for speed, I get on my full suspension mountain bike and set out to find some nice trails. My thirst for culture is quenched by deep conversations over a couple of cold ones at the mostly frustrating games of FC Winterthur.
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