Radeon RX 480 "Polaris" Launched at $199

[Gux]

We are potentially looking at gtx980 performance at sub £200 for the 4gb version. That's a major step up in performance for this price bracket.

Its pretty poor when compared to the old 290 and 390. Those were 28nm cards and now we get a new 14nm card that is about the same performance.

If I remember correctly, I remember both 290 and 390 both being close to £200+ price range for a few years now here on overclockers

Where is the raw performance improvement here? Its a new node process ffs. Even the same amount of VRAM as 390.

Junk

 

[faceman123]

That's not good enough, clearly.

"If you have a 290 or a 390, you won't be getting any upgrade from us for the next 20 years, because at the £200 price point, it will only *ever* be 290 performance. But we'll keep lowering the power. In 2030, you'll get 290 perf at 5W! At £200! What a bargain.

It'll be a great card for those who've never had a 290/390/480/580/680/780/880 or similar. For those who have never owned a GFX card it's perfect!"

Nope. Doesn't wash for me.

This

 

[TheRealDeal]

And what about the Firestrike and SteamVR scores saying it's less than that?

I'm not saying Nano performance is an impossibility, I just think maybe people should start tempering expectations some.

That benchmark definitely opened my eyes but i think it's more smoke and mirrors. That would make it around 290 performance and not even 390.

 

[itchy]

Before Gibbos comment.........



After Gibbos comment...........

 

[Mauller]

And what about the Firestrike and SteamVR scores saying it's less than that?

I'm not saying Nano performance is an impossibility, I just think maybe people should start tempering expectations some.

The steam VR one also has 'low power' in big letters above the graph, so without the presentation talk that goes with the slide we don't have a full understanding of what the slide is telling us. It could very well be the performance when its run at base clocks instead of boost clocks.

Also the firestrike benchmarks show it ahead of the 390x and just behind the 980 in all but performance settings. some newer leaked benchmarks which show similar performance were based on 16.5.2 drivers instead of the newer 16.6.1 drivers, so it can always point to a lack of proper drivers. the apparent Chinese leaks and wccftech leaks that show it on the level of the nano were using newer drivers than that.

 

[new boy]

This looks exactly the same as the 7850 launch to me.

It launched, there were many salty tears because performance was about the same as a 6960/6970 and the price was the same too! People raged about how the price to performance ratio had stayed the same (or got worse even, as many 6950s would unlock to full 6970s with a bios flash!)

A few months down the line, after some driver updates, voltage unlocking and the price coming down just a little, suddenly, the 7850 was a faster card for much less money and the 6950 was left for dust. I mean who here would rather a 6950 than a 7850 now? But we honestly believed we had been shafted at the time.

No idea what my point is though to be honest lol.

 

[Seanspeed]

To me its not unreasonable to say a card overclocked it might match a 980TI.

Especially if it already has 2304 Shaders and run at 1266Mhz

Gibbo basically had a go at me for hyping the card up at that, what he doesn't realise is 'if that' is over hyping the card? its junk, expensive junk.

You can't get away from it, he read what i said, and reacted like that.

No man, you completely misrepresented what he said by saying he was equating it to a low power 390, and my guess is that you did that quite intentionally. Dont act like this is the first time you've done something similar. I've seen you on multiple occasions react to a leak or performance figure for the card that didn't paint it in the best light that you'd been hyping, and then doing a total 180 and calling it worthless. Only to switch right back the next leak that was more in line with your optimistic estimates.

I feel like you are purposefully trying to always move with the tide in a way that will make the card seem good in the end, either by hyping it and being right, or by downplaying it to an extreme knowing it will at least be better than you're saying.

 

[FoxEye]

So if the card is only 970 performance levels then yes its a failure.

If it's 970 perf for £200+ it's an epic failure. Massive ship of fail, etc.

If it's 970 perf for <£150 it's OK, but nothing to get excited about. It's dull, in fact.

If it's 980 perf for £165 then I'd say it was worth the wait. But it won't be. It's going to be one of the above. It's going to be a massive anti-climax.

AMD, meanwhile, will say it's a triumph. Because frankly still being in business is a triumph for them.

 

[humbug]

Agree with that ^^^

That benchmark definitely opened my eyes but i think it's more smoke and mirrors. That would make it around 290 performance and not even 390.

And thats bad if you think about it, 2304 shaders at 1266Mhz, its like a 290 with MASSIVE overclock and the end result is a 290?

So thats AMD architectural improvement make the card slower core for core clock for clock then, eh?

You can't make this crap up, i suppose Zen will turn out to be slower than Bulldozer and AMD will call that "disruptive"

 

[Seanspeed]

The steam VR one also has 'low power' in big letters above the graph, so without the presentation that goes with the slide we don't have a full understanding of what it is talking about. It could very well be the performance when its run at base clocks instead of boost clocks.

Also the firestrike benchmarks show it ahead of the 390x and just behind the 980 in all but performance settings. some newer leaked benchmarks which show similar performance were based on 16.5.2 drivers instead of the newer 16.6.1 drivers, so it can always point to a lack of proper drivers. the apparent Chinese leaks and wccftech leaks were using newer drivers than that.

The fact that you have to lean on speculative excuses in both cases should at least throw up some warning signs, no?

I'm not saying you're wrong. I'm just saying that you're clearly going out of your way to dismiss anything 'not great' that you hear.

Not once have I ever seen you even entertain the idea that it's not going to be quite as good as you're predicting.

 

[TheRealDeal]

Agree with that ^^^




And thats bad if you think about it, 2304 shaders at 1266Mhz, its like a 290 with MASSIVE overclock and the end result is a 290?

So thats AMD architectural improvement make the card slower core for core clock for clock then, eh?

You can't make this crap up, i suppose Zen will turn out to be slower than Bulldozer and AMD will call that "disruptive"

I still think it will be around 390x. It's all about the games as well and it has been reported that's where it will be strong. Who cares about Firestrike and the likes. When the AdoredTV guy crunched the numbers with the improvements it came out around 390x if not a bit faster so lets hope he is correct. In Gflops alone at the rumored 1266 core it is above everything bar the 390x and Fury's. He reckoned with the improvements it could push past 390x.

 

[humbug]

No man, you completely misrepresented what he said by saying he was equating it to a low power 390, and my guess is that you did that quite intentionally. Dont act like this is the first time you've done something similar. I've seen you on multiple occasions react to a leak or performance figure for the card that didn't paint it in the best light that you'd been hyping, and then doing a total 180 and calling it worthless. Only to switch right back the next leak that was more in line with your optimistic estimates.

I feel like you are purposefully trying to always move with the tide in a way that will make the card seem good in the end, either by hyping it and being right, or by downplaying it to an extreme knowing it will at least be better than you're saying.

Wait to see how the whole PC enthusiast internet reacts when AMD release another 290 for the same money again and call it a good'n.

£150 absolute max and call it what it is, entry level VR

 

[FoxEye]

Its nothing like a decent card at 390 performance.

Guys come on get real, the 390 is over 3 years old and was the same price as the 480 is alleged to be 3 years ago.

Its absolutely atrocious.

I would simply boycott AMD, tbh. And celebrate if they get bought out.

If they release a 14nm card that is the same price/perf as a 290/390, after going on and on about the improvements they've made...

...then they deserve a boycott more than nVidia do. At least they managed to make some progress from 28nm to 16nm. Sure you'll be selling a kidney or two, but at least they aren't offering 2012 perf 4 years later.

 

[AlamoX]

Before Gibbos comment.........

Spoiler

After Gibbos comment...........

Spoiler

Before Gibbo

Spoiler

After Gibbo

Spoiler

 

[Mauller]

The fact that you have to lean on speculative excuses in both cases should at least throw up some warning signs, no?

I'm not saying you're wrong. I'm just saying that you're clearly going out of your way to dismiss anything 'not great' that you hear.

Not once have I ever seen you even entertain the idea that it's not going to be quite as good as you're predicting.

i am still saying that it is more than likely 390x/980 - nano performance in the end, just based on clock and core count before hardware improvements would put it in the 390x ballpark anyway. beyond that it is a bonus.

Plus as with any presentation slide, they are only there to help the person giving the presentation. To help give a little more info to the viewer. The presentation talk is what contains all of the information. The slides only ever contain queues and small snippets of information.

 

[Seanspeed]

It's all about the games as well and it has been reported that's where it will be strong.

By one random person who was going round multiple forums posting the same thing wherever he could to promote the card.

But yes, obviously that is clearly what we should be relying on.

 

[Supernova]

That's not good enough, clearly.

"If you have a 290 or a 390, you won't be getting any upgrade from us for the next 20 years, because at the £200 price point, it will only *ever* be 290 performance. But we'll keep lowering the power. In 2030, you'll get 290 perf at 5W! At £200! What a bargain.

It'll be a great card for those who've never had a 290/390/480/580/680/780/880 or similar. For those who have never owned a GFX card it's perfect!"

Nope. Doesn't wash for me.

I said 390X, and a 390X is still £280 on OCUK.

A 390X puts out around about 15-20% higher frame rates over a 290. I also said faster than a 390X, so another 15-20% on top of a 390X is what I'm saying is a reasonable expectation. That equates to 25-30% higher frame rates than a 290.

Get real. 390Xs were over £300 3 weeks ago. If this comes in under £250 and puts out 15-20% more frames than a 390X it's a decent buy.

Edit: I'm not saying I'm going to rush straight out and buy one - I'm not saying it's worth it for people who have a 290 or 390 to immediately run out for one. But it would be a reasonable performance/price based on the outgoing 390X (which by the way are almost impossible to buy now. What does that tell you?) You can't expect AMD to just give them away, and it's a price point nVidia aren't covering yet with Pascal.

 

[shankly1985]

What have I missed? lol

 

[melmac]

Not true and dont mis quote me..

I didn't misquote, you convinced yourself of the other extreme, that it's a rubbish card just because of what Gibbo said. You called it a doorstop and might as well get a 980.

And Humbug is calling it a rebadged 390.

Can you both stop overreacting to every piece of news? A rumour comes out about it been as fast as a 1070 comes out ye are like, oh wow, best card ever. More news comes out from Gibbo that it won't be as fast as a 980ti, you both go the complete opposite, it's going to be rubbish, slow as a 970.

Believing one is just as bad as believing the other. Remember Gibbo is under NDA and can't give any info about performance. He is a salesman he could be saying this so people buy 980ti's now instead of waiting for the 480 to come out.

He might be telling the truth, or something close to the truth, we won't know until the 29th. The only thing we do know is that we don't know anything for definite and the AMD ashes benchmark is the only solid info we have.

Surely there is a middle ground you could take until real information comes out? Just because it's not quite 980ti performance doesn't mean it's 970 performance either.

 

[TheRealDeal]

By one random person who was going round multiple forums posting the same thing wherever he could to promote the card.

But yes, obviously that is clearly what we should be relying on.

The improvements in the architecture are aimed at improving games or so i thought.