Pre-overclocking RX 480 evaluation： almost overturned GTX 980

In the previous initial test of RX 480 graphics card, we received two evaluation graphics cards, one is Lanbao RX 480, and the other is XFX RX 480 OC graphics card. Although they look almost the same, XFX received a special blessing from AMD this time, because this graphics card has a backplane in the public RX 480 currently on the market, its frequency is higher than that in the public version, and it is also sent to DVI patch cord, and the price is the second most expensive in RX 480.

Xfxr480 graphics card

Considering that its frequency is 62MHz higher than the 1328MHz of the public RX 480, which is almost the level after overclocking of the public RX 480, this graphics card was not used for other graphics cards in the first test, otherwise it could rewrite the conclusion that the performance of RX 480 is slightly lower than that of GTX 980. But for players, this graphics card has several advantages over other public RX 480, and the slightly higher price is actually worthwhile.

Thanks to the higher frequency, the performance of XFX RX 480 OC graphics card is a little higher than that of standard RX 480, and it has more aluminum backplane. In addition, the DVI interface was cut off for the RX 480 graphics card, and XFX also gave a DP-to-DVI adapter cable. If you are still using the DVI interface, this graphics card is the best choice.

In addition, XFX also has a regular version of RX 480 graphics card with a frequency of 1288MHz, which is still slightly higher than the public version. It also has a metal backplane, but no patch cord is given, and the price is 1999 yuan.

XFX RX 480 Black OC Graphics Card Appreciation

Graphics card packaging

Xfxr480 graphics card

The radiator style of XFX RX 480 graphics card is similar to the previous Fury X public version. Radeon logo is placed on the left and top of the front of the graphics card. The surface is made of skin-like material, and the overall shape is relatively square, which is not as sharp as NVIDIA’s new generation public card. Personally, I prefer the design of AMD radiator.

XFX RX 480 graphics card is 24.2 cm long and weighs 680 grams. It takes up space in two slots, which is suitable for both length and weight, and does not require much space for the chassis.

Radeon logo on top and side

Although the length of RX 480 graphics card is 24 cm, its PCB is only 17.5 cm, so the radiator is longer than the PCB, which is easily reminiscent of NVIDIA’s design on GTX 670/760 public card, which is also a short PCB, and the radiator protrudes a certain distance.

The public GTX 760 graphics card is also designed with this short PCB.

However, AMD’s RX 480 is also different from GTX 760. The radiator at the tail has an opening, while the tail of GTX 760 is closed. When testing the heat dissipation efficiency, I tried to seal it with tape, and found that it had no effect on the heat dissipation efficiency, at least there was no difference in speed and temperature.

6pin power supply interface

The TDP of RX 480 graphics card is only 150W, so it doesn’t need too strong power supply, only 6pin is enough. However, it is conceivable that the manufacturers of non-public RX 480 graphics cards in the future will definitely strengthen the dual 6pin or even 6 8pin interface to enhance the overclocking potential.

Metal backboard

Public radiator

The RX 480 graphics card is not very hot, and the positioning of the graphics card is not expensive, so the design of the public radiator is not luxurious, and the ordinary aluminum extruded radiator is used.

The output interfaces are 3 DP 1.3/1.4 and 1 HDMI 2.0b

RX 480 graphics card provides four interfaces, three DP 1.3/1.4 and one HDMI 2.0b AMD gave up the DVI interface radically. Although it is technically feasible, this can only be left to the non-public version to fill the blank.

Graphics card PCB

Although the radiator is not YY enough, the PCB material of AMD public graphics card still maintains a certain level, and RX 480 is equipped with 6 1-phase power supply.

Back PCB

RX 480 GPU core

PWM power supply, 6 1 phase

The PWM master is IR3567B.

The PWM master chip of RX 480 graphics card is IR3567B, which has been used by AMD since RX 290X graphics card. It is a dual-channel 6 2-phase PWM master chip, which supports AMD’s SVI, SVI2 and Intel’s VR 12, 12.5 power supply specifications. The voltage conversion time is less than 10us, and it supports 255 levels of 0-1.55V voltage control.

Samsung 8GHz memory particles

In terms of memory, the RX 480 does not use GDDR5X, but continues to use GDDR5 particles, which is also a good thing to some extent. After all, although GDDR5X has higher frequency, its production capacity is insufficient.

GDDR5 particles used for RX 480 are from Samsung, numbered K4G80325FB HC25, with a single capacity of 8Gb(1GB) and a frequency of 8GHz, with a total capacity of 8GB.

XFX RX 480 OC performance: 7% higher than the public version, closer to GTX 980.

Although the frequency is only 5% higher than the public RX 480, in fact, the performance increase of XFX RX 480 OC graphics card is higher than the frequency increase, because the upper temperature limit of the graphics card is also higher, which increases the proportion of high frequency, and its actual performance is 5-10% ahead of the public RX 480, with an average of about 7%. Don’t underestimate this 7%, this improvement has made its performance reach the level of GTX 980, which is more cost-effective.

Comparison of public RX 480 graphics card

Comparison of GTX 980 graphics card

The whole power consumption of XFX RX 480 OC: a completely acceptable price.

For the same GPU, the higher the frequency, the higher the power consumption, mainly depending on how much power consumption is increased. For XFX RX 480 OC graphics card, when the frequency increases by 5%, the power consumption is not obvious. In Heaven 4.0, the power consumption of the whole machine increases from 213W to 226W, and the price of 13W is completely acceptable.

XFX RX 480 OC Thermal Test: The upper limit is relaxed to 86 degrees.

As mentioned in the previous performance test, although the frequency of XFX RX 480 OC graphics card is only 5% higher than that of the public version, the actual performance can be increased by 10%. One of the reasons is that the upper temperature limit of the card is also high, from about 80 C in the public version to 86 C. A higher upper temperature limit will help the graphics card to run at high frequencies, thus improving performance.

Of course, players who are sensitive to temperature can also adjust the upper temperature limit in Wattman according to their own needs.

Steam VR performance test

Thanks to the higher frequency, in the performance test of Steam VR, the XFX RX 480 OC graphics card has increased from 6.9 points in the previous public version to 7.3 points, which is the same as the R9 390 graphics card.

Overfrequency test

Xfxr480 graphics card overclocking result

The frequency of XFX R9 480 graphics card itself is relatively high, eventually exceeding 1355MHz, the memory frequency is 2095MHz, and the FireStrike score is 11538.

Summary:

To put it simply, among the 1999 RX 480 graphics cards, XFX RX 480 OC graphics cards have three important differences:

The frequency is increased to 1328MHz, and the performance is stronger.

More metal backboard.

The official gift of DP to DVI cable is beneficial to the compatibility of old platform users.

The addition of backplane and patch cord will definitely increase the cost, so the price of this graphics card is also more expensive than the standard version of RX 480. 100 yuan, the price is 2099 yuan, which is the second most expensive RX 480 graphics card at present — — The most expensive is the ASUS RX 480 graphics card, but 500 yuan, which has many graphics cards, has no practical value. It is an ASUS belief fee recharged by fans (a three-year warranty is good).

Considering that the price difference is only 100, Xiaobian still recommends that players directly start with XFX RX 480 OC graphics cards.