AMD Polaris Details Released: RX 480 $199USD!

c0balt on 01/06/2016 - 16:08
Last edited 01/06/2016 - 18:36

AMD just revealed their "lower end" new GPU, the RX 480 for $199 on sale at the end of this month.
http://www.engadget.com/2016/05/31/amds-radeon-rx480-gpu-is-…

The early figures show that Polaris may not be the "lower end" to Vega's release as most people speculated. The R9 480 doesn't appear significantly slower than the 1070, but yet it's half the price. This is a much, much greater divide in the past between the Green and Red team. As Vega is still in the pipeline, things might be looking very good for Team Red if the performance figures match and the price doesn't go up that much.

Yes the 1080/1070 are only available currently in their overpriced founder editions and will be cheaper for the 3rd party boards, but even once they come out there's still a big divide between price/performance or fps/dollar if AMDs figures are correct.

My last AMD GPU was a 6950 that I flashed to a 6970. I got GTX 580 level of performance for half the price, with less power usage and less heat created. I've been tempted by a few of their offerings since, but now I'm a lot more than tempted.

I'm itching now to see what happens with laptop GPUs. We could see desktop 970/980 power for 960m prices. My next gaming machine might actually be an AMD powered laptop.

Anyone else here pumped for 14/16nm!?

Computing

Comments

  • michaelTito on 01/06/2016 - 16:14

    2x 480 > 1080

    • c0balt on 01/06/2016 - 16:19
      +1

      On paper 2x 480 can compete with a 1080, but in practice there's always been issues with crossfire/sli which turn me off it.

      Unless something changes with this generation - I will always prefer a single card over 2.

      • iridiumstem on 01/06/2016 - 17:42

        Have they mentioned the performance of the single card?

        I've seen some rumours that were saying "5.5 TFLOPs", which doesn't sound that bad for its price (At least that's what people were saying).
        http://www.guru3d.com/news-story/leaked-slide-shows-amd-rade…

        • c0balt on 01/06/2016 - 18:38

          They have, but it's not an exact figure. As taken from the link there's a slide at the AMD reveal that states '>5 TFLOPS'.

          http://o.aolcdn.com/hss/storage/midas/c849b61fdd8698a9888ef5…

        • iridiumstem on 01/06/2016 - 18:40

          @c0balt: Ah, just noticed it. Hmmm, should definitely wait for 490 to see what to get then.

        • c0balt on 01/06/2016 - 18:45

          @Oversimplified:

          Of course, but that doesn't take away from if this card performs close to the level of a 1070 (as speculated) that for USD$199 it's an incredible fps/dollar card.

          I've always weighted the fps/dollar benchmark highly when it comes to purchasing a GPU, power draw is factored in to that equation also as I pay the electricity bill.

        • iridiumstem on 01/06/2016 - 18:49

          @c0balt: That's true. It seriously doesn't get rid of the fact that it's a good bang for the buck GPU (if the performance is as good as the announcement). That said, I do want to see what 490 offers, since I kinda have no intention of getting a SLI/Crossfire set up and I don't want to end up wishing for better performance in a near future.

  • pernunz on 01/06/2016 - 16:16
    +2

    Absolutely pumped for what 16nm can give.

    But I'm holding skeptical until units are reviewed by 3rd parties to ensure what the companies are promising holds true.

  • dy4me on 01/06/2016 - 17:19
    +1

    "AMD just revealed their "lower end" new GPU"

    Come on the RX 480 is by no means the low end. it more mid range or mainstream

    • c0balt on 01/06/2016 - 17:31

      Polaris is the low end to Vega.

      Also I put that term in quotations for a reason, its not really low end but it is the lower end of AMDs 14nm lineup this year, if speculation about Vega is correct.

  • scrimshaw on 01/06/2016 - 19:44
    +1

    Low end it may be, but $199 USD more than likely means $350~ AUD once it gets here.

    $350 is still quite a lot to pay for quote unquote 'low end' GPU.

    • tonyjzx on 02/06/2016 - 21:57

      This 'low end' gpu apparently benches between an Nvidia 970 and 980. Its a solid buy if it actually makes those benchmarks, even at aud $350.

  • iridiumstem on 01/06/2016 - 20:20

    This apparently is one of the leaked benchmarks
    http://videocardz.com/60253/amd-radeon-r9-480-3dmark11-bench…

    Apparently, the one in the middle, C7, is R9 480.
    https://www.techpowerup.com/223043/amd-radeon-rx-480-clock-s…

    Probably would wait for more benchmarks, from reliable sources, but that said, this is promising in my opinion.

    • WT on 02/06/2016 - 12:11

      according to this its only 10% behind a 980 ti which are still selling used for $6-700!

      • iridiumstem on 02/06/2016 - 21:42

        I have a doubt that it'd be applicable to every situations (i.e. some games just run horribly with AMD card, etc). That said, I am kinda excited, these are promising at least.

        Though I am not gonna go on the hype train yet, I am going to wait till the independent reviews and retailer pricing come out.

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