It's a fascinating time for PC gamers and just about anyone who happens to have a vested interest in graphics technology. Nvidia has cemented its place at the top of the single-GPU performance ladder with the introduction of the GTX 1080 and GTX 1070, yet premium pricing has forced mainstream gamers to keep on looking.
AMD has this week suggested that the search could soon be over with the arrival of the Radeon RX 480 later this month. The new card will be the first desktop solution to make use of AMD's latest generation 14nm Polaris architecture and, here's the best bit: RX 480 will hit stores priced from $199.
AMD Radeon RX 480 - where does it fit in? |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Radeon R9 390X |
Radeon R9 390 |
Radeon RX 480 |
Radeon R9 380X |
Radeon R9 380 |
|
| Launch Date | June 2015 |
June 2015 |
June 29, 2016 |
November 2015 |
June 2015 |
| Codename | Grenada XT |
Grenada Pro |
Polaris 10 |
Antigua XT |
Antigua Pro |
| Architecture | GCN 1.1 |
GCN 1.1 |
GCN 4.0 |
GCN 1.2 |
GCN 1.2 |
| Process (nm) | 28 |
28 |
14 |
28 |
28 |
| Transistors (mn) | 6,200 |
6,200 |
Unknown |
5,000 |
5,000 |
| Approx Die Size (mm²) | 438 |
438 |
Unknown |
359 |
359 |
| Full Implementation of Die | Yes |
No |
Unknown |
Yes |
No |
| Compute Units | 44 |
40 |
36 |
32 |
28 |
| Processors | 2,816 |
2,560 |
Unknown |
2,048 |
1,792 |
| Texture Units | 176 |
160 |
Unknown |
128 |
112 |
| ROP Units | 64 |
64 |
Unknown |
32 |
32 |
| Peak GPU Clock (MHz) | 1,050 |
1,000 |
Unknown |
970 |
970 |
| Peak GFLOPS | 5,914 |
5,120 |
> 5,000 |
3,973 |
3,476 |
| Memory Type | GDDR5 |
GDDR5 |
GDDR5 |
GDDR5 |
GDDR5 |
| Memory Size (MB) | 8,192 |
8,192 |
4,096 / 8,192 |
4,096 |
2,048 / 4,096 |
| Memory Bus (Bits) | 512 |
512 |
256 |
256 |
256 |
| Memory Clock (MHz) | 6,000 |
6,000 |
8,000 |
5,700 |
5,700 |
| Memory Bandwidth (GB/s) | 384 |
384 |
256 |
182 |
182 |
| Power Connector(s) | 8+6 |
8+6 |
6 |
6+6 |
6+6 |
| TDP (Watts) | 275 |
275 |
150 |
190 |
190 |
| GFLOPS per Watt | 21.5 |
18.6 |
> 33.3 |
20.9 |
18.3 |
| Launch MSRP | $429 |
$329 |
from $199 |
$229 |
$199 |
Mighty aggressive pricing and an intriguing introduction for a new architecture on which AMD has a lot riding. Helping build anticipation, the company's announcement has whet the appetite with just a few small nuggets of information. We know the RX 480 will ship with 36 compute units and either 4GB/8GB of GDDR5 memory operating at an effective 8,000MHz via a 256-bit bus.
We've compiled the info we have into the above table, and though we're missing the pertinent pieces, we do know that RX 480 will deliver more GFLOPS per Watt than any other listed card, making it a tantalising proposition at the $199 price point.
It's a case of hitting a sweet spot, much like the R9 380X, arguably our favourite Radeon from the previous generation. But this time around, what do you consider to be the target for a $199 GPU, and how fast will the RX 480 need to be in order for you to consider it good value?
The above graph highlights 3DMark Fire Strike scores from a wide range of current- and previous-generation cards with launch prices ranging from $329 to $999. Can the $199 RX 480 make a dent in this chart, and high how do you reckon it could go? Share your thoughts on the subject using the comments facility below.
