Radeon RX 480 "Polaris" Launched at $199

[Scougar]

I just imagine Gibbo and others who actually have to card to play with, sitting there and laughing at all the pathetic bickering going on. There is no clear genuine result yet, yet people are fighting over it.

Like in baseball or hockey etc, fights actually get on the news, make waves and gets people engaged because they have an opinion. Same here.

 

[Feoilban]

So... er... every card AMD have released have been disruptive then?

Because if nV react to it's disruptive; if they don't react to it it's disruptive...

Clearly I have no idea what disruptive means. My bad!

FFS the card hasn't even be released yet .. Yet The price works disruptive already

You are saying that if Nv releases a 1060 with the same performance it would make the 480 look crap

Do you think a 1060 will be 199 dollar ? If not your point is mute

 

[andybird123]

your point is mute

Lmao

 

[Feoilban]

Lmao

I refer to your sig

 

[FoxEye]

FFS the card hasn't even be released yet .. Yet The price works disruptive already

You are saying that if Nv releases a 1060 with the same performance it would make the 480 look crap

Nah all I said to you was that AMD have called this card "disruptive", "transformational", etc. I don't recall them saying that, for example, about the 380 or 285.

Delivering +40% or so from a node-shrink and new arch would be normal, no? About what you'd expect?

If it launches at 380 prices I'll get one. There's not much room for prices to creep up, however, because the 390 is knocking on the door above £220.

I'm just curious whether you agree with the use of the words "disruptive" and "transformational", and if you think the 480 is going above and beyond previous releases with node-shrinks.

I didn't say the 1060 would make the 480 crap if it matched it. I said the whole "disruptive" aspect would be guff. It would be "business as normal".

So how is that wrong?

 

[Boomstick777]

Midrange card for midrange price, seems to have caused a massive stir up, especially with fanboys from the green side

There is more interest here than in the GTX 1080 threads. AMD are obviously hitting the right spot with this launch, because all eyes seem to be on the X480 even when Nvidia have launched their latest highest end offerings.

Hats off to AMD.

 

[Mr Latte]

If the chip runs cool and quiet, then a real plus for the 480 in my books. 390/X performance running cooler and quieter and for $200 is a good selling point to me. 3 days time will be the tell and hopefully it won't be a dog but more a wolf in sheep's clothing.

Scenario for your review to consider that may relate to lots of console gamers or low-mid budget PC builders. It seems this thread has many who have narrow vision regards this price sector of GPU and the current gaming situation we find ourselves entering.

Ive just come back to PC gaming having sold my consoles as seeking more.
Built a mid range PC system with decent board/ram/cooling on i7 6700K. I was very tempted to get the 970 as just built this approx 6 weeks ago but hadnt really the budget at the time with all the other stuff just purchased and thought it best to wait anyways. So like the average gamer/consumer have a reasonable budget limit of £250-£300 max.

1070 is overkill for my 1080p gaming requirements and approx £100 more than I want or really need to spend. It has come in too expensive. The Zotac 1070 Amp Extreme seems a much better buy than a price reduced 980Ti @ £400 and one of the better 1070 options I had my eye on (knowing their past performances). Also bringing all the new benefits and features of the 10 series. It could be late August or more before a 1060 is available and it may not be much better than the RX480 which by then could be reduced. Looking at Nvidia's current form it might cost more.

An RX480 AIB model for me currently represents getting the performance of a 980 but not only costing less than it was recently and even still currently with price reductions. Why would I buy the old tech that firstly will not support HDR gaming which clearly is going to become a big thing with DX12. It also gives 8GB even if currently limited titles that may need it.

From the perspective of a console gamer migrating to PC I could soon enjoy titles like Microsofts Horizon 3, GOW and upcoming Forza games running much better than the console in upto 4K and all with HDR support too. So quite frankly at this moment in time it seems the best option, is more future proof and having the latest DP with HDR is a feature none of the clearance cards will give me on a future 4K display purchase. Also it is possible that the RX480 is to have excellent VR performance and again likely better than current similar priced offerings if that appeals to some.

As for Wattman, I don't care what it is called but if it brings simple and easy to use interface with nice overclocking features then excellent.
Will look forward to your review and wanted to share this perspective as I think it is relevant when much of the brand favouritism and heckling in here isn't. The average consumer does not give a damn what make of card offers them good value & excellent performance but getting a new generation product seems more sensible than an outgoing one and HDR is only one example of this.

 

[Scougar]

I refer to your sig

He is referring to you using the wrong word. There is no such accepted phrase as '...point is mute'. Look up 'moot'.

I made the same mistake recently as well.

But moving on... you are merely speculating, and arguing over if, but's and maybe's. Stop it.

 

[spikerules]

Well at various times the 480 has been compared to a 280X, 290, 290X, 390, 390X, Nano, Fury, Fury X, 970, 980, 980Ti, Titan & a 1070. Have I missed any?

Oh I know and it's been comical and ridiculous!

 

[Feoilban]

Nah all I said to you was that AMD have called this card "disruptive", "transformational", etc. I don't recall them saying that, for example, about the 380 or 285.

Delivering +40% or so from a node-shrink and new arch would be normal, no? About what you'd expect?

If it launches at 380 prices I'll get one. There's not much room for prices to creep up, however, because the 390 is knocking on the door above £220.

I'm just curious whether you agree with the use of the words "disruptive" and "transformational", and if you think the 480 is going above and beyond previous releases with node-shrinks.

I didn't say the 1060 would make the 480 crap if it matched it. I said the whole "disruptive" aspect would be guff. It would be "business as normal".

So how is that wrong?

Indeed you said AMD would look like clowns if the 1060 would match the 480 and I asked why

I also asked if you think the 1060 would be 199 dollar.

I think they have a really good card in regards to technology price and performance ..That combined could make it an disruptive product.

I put the point forward that pricing alone is already disruptive (in favor of us consumers)

What the card is capable of we will see in a couple of days so that is something you nor I can be very specific about

 

[Feoilban]

He is referring to you using the wrong word. There is no such accepted phrase as '...point is mute'. Look up 'moot'.

I made the same mistake recently as well.

But moving on... you are merely speculating, and arguing over if, but's and maybe's. Stop it.

Bloody foreigners and the english language ... ( Ill do my best though)

In regards to the speculating and arguing ... Its a forum, these things happen on a forum .... get over it

 

[old gamer]

Midrange card for midrange price, seems to have caused a massive stir up, especially with fanboys from the green side

There is more interest here than in the GTX 1080 threads. AMD are obviously hitting the right spot with this launch, because all eyes seem to be on the X480 even when Nvidia have launched their latest highest end offerings.

Hats off to AMD.

Thinking the same myself, it's all very odd

 

[FoxEye]

Indeed you said AMD would look like clowns if the 1060 would match the 480 and I asked why

Because of what they've said.

It is normal that a new gen with a node shrink gives mid-range cards that perform as last gen's upper/high end cards.

Nobody calls that "disruptive" or "transformational"...

Put it this way... if we get the 480 that we are expecting - ~390X perf - then when AMD calls the 580 "disruptive, transformational, a game changer"... then we all know what that means... business as usual.

The 480 isn't going to be any of those things, unless we say that all the mid-range cards of the past were *all* those things.

The 7850 was disruptive, transformational, a game changer. So was the 6870. The 5850. Nothing changed and we can ignore this kind of talk in future.

I put the point forward that pricing alone is already disruptive (in favor of us consumers)

Perf/$ can be disruptive. I don't see how price on its own can be disruptive.

How can this be true when the 380 was also launched at $199? Nobody call the 380 any of those things.

I can try to sell you a rock for $199 and you would laugh (not a precious rock, a normal rock ). So how can price alone be disruptive?

 

[Mr Latte]

@ Foxeye

Plenty of disruption in here and wish you'd give it a rest going on and on about a card that you can only speculate about being a better option or if even at similar price.

 

[Feoilban]

Because of what they've said.

It is normal that a new gen with a node shrink gives mid-range cards that perform as last gen's upper/high end cards.

Nobody calls that "disruptive" or "transformational"...

Put it this way... if we get the 480 that we are expecting - ~390X perf - then when AMD calls the 580 "disruptive, transformational, a game changer"... then we all know what that means... business as usual.

The 480 isn't going to be any of those things, unless we say that all the mid-range cards of the past were *all* those things.

The 7850 was disruptive, transformational, a game changer. So was the 6870. The 5850. Nothing changed and we can ignore this kind of talk in future.

You could be right ... I prefer to wait and see what this card is really capable of before making such statements.

I think you need to see the whole picture and not focus on performance alone

And didn't the disruptive comment referred to the VR part of the card ?

“VR is the most eagerly anticipated development in immersive computing ever, and is the realization of AMD’s Cinema 2.0 vision that predicted the convergence of immersive experiences and interactivity back in 2008,” said Raja Koduri, senior vice president and chief architect, Radeon Technologies Group, AMD. “As we look to fully connect and immerse humanity through VR, cost remains the daylight between VR being only for the select few, and universal access for everyone. The Radeon™ RX Series is a disruptive technology that adds rocket fuel to the VR inflection point, turning it into a technology with transformational relevance to consumers.”

http://www.amd.com/en-us/press-releases/Pages/radeon-rx-480-2016may31.aspx

 

[humbug]

AMD's own cited SteamVR performance was lower than a 970 ^^^^

AMD's own hype about Polaris and the RX series.

"Disruptive"
"rocket fuel"
"transformative"

Will the 480 live up to this hype of AMD's own making?

Its an 8GB 970 for 970 money, no.

 

[kalniel]

There is a reason the 480 is the 480, and not the 490. It's a midrange chip that addresses that market segment with low power, low prices and increased performance for that price segment. It is not meant to compete with high end cards, and is mostly a side grade from 290/390. It brings 390 levels of performance down to a lower price tier.

Vega is the high end that competes with other high end cards, and will carry the 490 moniker. There's no point looking at 480 as a disappointment compared to last gen's high end, because 480 is designed to take that last gen performance and push it down the product stack, for less money and less power. The new high end is yet to come in the form of Vega, and this will be what those of us with 290/390 should be looking at to get an upgrade in the top end performance segment.

I don't know how people keep wilfully misunderstanding this. Polaris is the first 14nm card from AMD this generation, not the only one that's ever coming.

Spot on.

 

[Feoilban]

Its an 8GB 970 for 970 money, no.

Ahh there you go contradicting yourself again

What happened your "wolf in sheep clothes statement" ?

Or the one stating that it would still be a great card if it performs at 390 levels ?

 

[Mr Latte]

The VR gaming performance will be interesting to see in how it performs. Looking forward to that in reviews as its such a growing platform.

Currently what are "premium" classed VR performing cards or how does that work?

 

[humbug]

Ahh there you go contradicting yourself again

What happened your "wolf in sheep clothes statement" ?

Or the one stating that it would still be a great card if it performs at 390 levels ?

Went out the window when the disapointing performance of these was revealed.