RX 480 Question

[SilentGameTestR]

Hello,

So i picked up an rx 480 4gb a few weeks ago which seems to do a decent job for its age etc, however its an HP branded one which i discovered last night is quite rare as they only ever came with certain pre-builts and as such im having difficulty finding information.

I was wondering if anyone has any know how of the power requirements because while its a 480, it does only have a single 6 pin which from my current game tests doesnt seem to show too big of a difference between that and my palit gtx 970 that has 2 x 6 pins. 30-40 minutes is probably the longest ive ran a single game for which probably isnt long enough for full power?

Ive been using it with 65w processors and over 600w psu's, but now i want to put it in an older amd system with a 95-105w processor and a 450w psu. the psu is a corsair cv450 which i dont plan to change. took me awhile to source the old tech at an acceptable price, so dont want to risk it with trial & error which is why im asking beforehand.

I dont know if theirs more than one version from HP, but its the single fan itx style.

Thank you.

 

[SilentGameTestR]

The easiest way to tell is to download a program like hwinfo and expand the sensors, which hopefully can pull enough information to tell you. You can also compare the specs (shaders and what not) to a normal card, by loading GPU-Z.

You can tell what the power usage is within just 10 seconds, assuming that the game is demanding enough to push the card and the CPU can keep up. 100% GPU utilisation would suggest that it is using full power.


The actual power usage isn't really a problem with modern cards, since it is rare that a PC (even a fairly high-end one) uses more than say... 500 watts. It is the power spikes that some PSUs can't handle.

Ah yes i forgot about GPU-Z . i do have the Power usage show in afterburner which is what im basing things off, but just having a look at GPU-Z it mentions for board draw power as 110w which i know in games has been higher, so im going to take from that its a lowly 110w graphics card then?

Cyberpunk 2077, Starfield and Still wakes the deep seem to be the only games that i get working which pushes the hardware. Going to test BO6 shortly. i tested those 4 games yesterday with my 970 and it was showing like 125w-140w in the usage, but i never thought to check GPUZ-Z for clarification.

As for the power supply, yeah i didnt think so either, but when i couldnt find the info i was looking for and all the results talk about the wrong pcie connectors and needing a 500w psu despite Tech power up says 450w i starting thinking more cautiously. The most my testing and with long hours have been put through has been from using a 700w integrator 80 bronze which i hadnt noticed spikes, but i do know these arent great quality though never had issues with any i had before, but Corsair also makes bad ones and im not too familiar with the CV450. someone was selling it for 15, so i grabbed it ha. does work fine, but only has a GT 710 installed when i built that system.

The reference model RX480's only used a single 6 pin connector. AMD's official specs put them at 150W power use with a 500W PSU Recommendation.

https://www.amd.com/en/support/downloads/drivers.html/graphics/radeon-600-500-400/radeon-rx-400-series/radeon-rx-480.html

In theory it should be fine, but the CV450 isn't that great of a PSU (being a budget model), so if you do experience any issues e.g. crashes whilst gaming, then that would be my first suspect.

One thing i hate is all the conflicting information when googling stuff. Tech power up says 450w, others say 500w and the same has been said about my 970, oh and the 1070ti. I must choose unpopular hardware as despite my palit 970 having 2 x 6 pins, all info i find says 6 + 8 as though the 6 + 6 never existed.

I did think it was a budget model from Corsair, doesnt even say 80 rating although apparently it is? i got it off someone for 15 as it wasnt meant to power anything too hungry, i just havent got anything other than a GT 710 thats not power hungry, but it has been working without issue i was looking at getting a 1050ti as it seems to be a suitable match as its for an fm2+ build, but im keeping the 480, so wanted to know if i could use it without damaging.

 

[SilentGameTestR]

Is that from the sensor tab, or the total board power? The latter is a fixed figure and not something being measured.


With cheap/low-end PSUs it is really just down to luck if they work (regardless of the wattage on the label), but the RX 480 isn't that demanding. You wouldn't normally notice GPU power spikes with measuring software, they're very fast.

thats from the advance tab or whatever its called, im not at home, so i cant double check, it was basically an information tab. the sensors wasnt even showing 100w. pretty sure all the power sensors didnt touch 100w even in gaming, but i only quickly looked as i dont like windowed screens plus i was recording game footage(well screen recording). but as i have said, on msi afterburner i dont think it ever touched 130w. i do have my recordings on an external, so i can check the stats when i come to edit.

mean ive had low/lowish end corsairs before, just not a cv model. i have however decided to put the power supply in test bench 2 as ive relocated that to a new case so i can sell it, but i havent figured a gpu to go with the 450w plus ryzen 2600 yet. the 1070ti is listed for sale, so that wont go in a system, however i am looking out for a decent psu upgrade at a good price(used) or maybe 2, so i might just save the cv for a potential ryzen APU i might make.

the fm2+ cpu is the athlon 860k which while might have mix reviews, was a chip i really liked in a system i had years ago and so for nostalgia purpose and old games im building another. the 480 might be a bad match regardless of version, so i might have to just put it in storage.