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AMD Radeon RX 470 Review Thread
- Thread starter Bl@de
- Start date
Cow Mengde
Banned
Oh crap, these are coming out already? Almost forgot about it.
Wouldn't be surprised if mining Ops are basically autobuying these cards also. Not even sure how possible it's gonna be to get one. Probably end up playing out like 270x/280 releases when prices spiked by 30-50% for a few months until supply stabilized.
Nikodemos
Member
Isn't most mining performed by ASICs nowadays?
I was under the impression that most non-game-purposed video cards are now bought by hacking groups trying to brute-force hashes on stolen user lists. They, unlike coin miners, can't go to some ASIC builder and say "yo, hook me up some hash cracker fam", what with that being ultra-illegal and all.
Think newer crypto algorithms tend to still favor gpus until larger operations move their focus. Ethereum in particular has an intended goal of avoiding ASIC viability. Otherwise seems spot on but even a moderate demand non gaming purpose with financial incentives will skew these supply limited card markets during early release, especially with how attractive the power efficiency of these cards are.
Really wanted a 470 as a stopgap till Vega/4k too.
DemonCleaner
Member
and it strangely has also 2000MHz VRAM vs the 1750MHz of the nitro+ 480 4GB
chaosblade
Unconfirmed Member
470s are available in NA. MSI card for $200 is the best bet right now, nice little OC and is one of the coolest and quietest models.
Newegg must have gotten quite a bit of stock because they have been up for a while.
Also, the XFX OC card ($220), and the two Sapphire Nitros (4GB and 8GB for $210 and $240 respectively).
Newegg must have gotten quite a bit of stock because they have been up for a while.
Also, the XFX OC card ($220), and the two Sapphire Nitros (4GB and 8GB for $210 and $240 respectively).
XANDER CAGE
Member
My GTX770 blew up this year and I've been limping along on a spare 570 for a month or so. I've been waiting for one of these budget cards to actually materialize so I bit the bullet on the RX470 (the XFX one; I didn't see the MSI one on Newegg when I was browsing. Ah well, only 20 bucks more I suppose).
Pretty curious/excited to give this a whirl.
Pretty curious/excited to give this a whirl.
XOMTOR
Member
What's the reason for this? What's the MSRP on these cards in Canada or is there even one published?
thelastword
Banned
MSRP should be $150 for the 4Gb and $180 for the 8GB.
Isn't the xfx version thermal limited to just 60c
XANDER CAGE
Member
VolticArchangel
Member
Aren't you guys better off with the reference 4 gig RX 480's? Given there's availability, of course. Heard Newegg's on & off with their stock for the past couple of days, so all you folks with your eagle eyes won't sweat much I reckon?
dynamitejim
Member
Reference 480 cooler is pretty bad and can't maintain stock boost clocks without undervolting. I got a custom MSI RX 470 4GB for $168 before tax and with free shipping on Jet.com. $32 cheaper than a Reference 480 and it will run cooler, quieter, and can maintain it's OC'ed boost clock.
In my area, we never even got them even once.
VolticArchangel
Member
Precisely my point. Isn't your Gaming X SKU, despite with an OC'd boost clock, still slower than a reference 4G 480? $180 after taxes is a good deal though.
This is understandable. Why not those Zotac mini / Gainward 1060's though? Must be hardly around a bump of 10 bucks from the MSRP, in your local pricing model.
Cheapest 1060 [basic Gainward] cost 55 more here, MSI gaming is 85e more [+5e for backplate model].
MSI Gaming X RX 470 is the best bang for the buck I can get, and since I am 1080p user, I will be fine with it. Guru3D says this model of 470 is one of the best and very close to 480.
dynamitejim
Member
From what I've seen in reviews, the difference seems negligible. Even if it could maintain it's boost clock it's not that much of a difference. But the stock 480 tends to run at a 9% lower clock rate while only having 12% more shaders. And again the difference in noise from the coolers can push you one way or the other. You might be fine if you always play with headphones, but I pretty much never do.
icecold1983
Member
Amd seems unable to scale up gcn clocks unfortunately
Popsickles
Member
Novatech in the UK has a pretty decent stock of 470s but the UK prices are high. I have the sapphire 4gig nitro coming next week cost £189 but has higher boost and thermal limit (75) than most so should perform.
DemonCleaner
Member
that Saphire nitro+ RX470 with ist 8GB of 2.000MHz VRAM is a beast.
-> deus ex mankind devided 1080p benchs:
http://www.pcgameshardware.de/Deus-.../Specials/Benchmarks-Test-DirectX-12-1204575/
also note, that you can clock from the 1200 MHz standard boost clock of my test sample well to the nitro+ rx480s boost clock of 1340 Mhz and over with no problems whatsoever. the 8GB version of this card is exactly the same pcb and cooling solution as its bigger brother.
-> deus ex mankind devided 1080p benchs:
http://www.pcgameshardware.de/Deus-.../Specials/Benchmarks-Test-DirectX-12-1204575/
also note, that you can clock from the 1200 MHz standard boost clock of my test sample well to the nitro+ rx480s boost clock of 1340 Mhz and over with no problems whatsoever. the 8GB version of this card is exactly the same pcb and cooling solution as its bigger brother.
chaosblade
Unconfirmed Member
Not too surprising, Polaris is memory limited. Even on the 480 with 2000mhz, it sees bigger gains from memory overclocking than pushing the core. AMD really should have gone with GDDR5X, at least on 480. It would have had a direct performance benefit and create some much needed separation between it and the 470.
DemonCleaner
Member
is there any other source then computerbase that has tested that?
i think when it comes to the 480 the MSI gaming x is the best you can get. when it comes to 8GB 470ies i think when you can live with higher noise levels the sapphire nitro+ is the better buy because of the significally higher memory bandwith.
i think when it comes to the 480 the MSI gaming x is the best you can get. when it comes to 8GB 470ies i think when you can live with higher noise levels the sapphire nitro+ is the better buy because of the significally higher memory bandwith.
Woo-Fu
Banned
Ordered one of these today, got tired of trying to find a 480 in stock at a reasonable price. They show up and then sell out in minutes. Sticking to 1080p for the foreseeable future, this should be a nice upgrade over a 660 and with a nice price.
Most of the reviews that complain about pricing seem to have based their opinion on a universe in which 480s were readily available at MSRP, lol.
Most of the reviews that complain about pricing seem to have based their opinion on a universe in which 480s were readily available at MSRP, lol.
DemonCleaner
Member
which one did you buy?
Woo-Fu
Banned
Asus Strix OC, was/is $199 on amazon. I see some stuff about that particular card throttling itself aggressively in some cases but a firmware update or perhaps a custom fan profile can deal with that.
More importantly supposed to be very quiet.
I usually favor MSI boards but none on amazon at the time of purchase.
User123456
Member
I got an RX 470 8GB Nitro+ and it's a dang beast.
Not only is it nearly inaudible, but I was able to OC the memory to 2100MHz while undervolting from 1000mv to 850mv, and I was also able to boost the core clock by 5% while using the stock core voltage.
I don't have anything to measure power draw, but given the memory undervolt I would assume I got this performance either completely for free or with a marginal consumption increase.
The memory OC in particular gave me a pretty big performance boost. I come from a 970 (which I sold for the same price that I bought this one, nice side-grade for dat 8GB VRAM), and performance is AT LEAST equal (seems to be a bit faster though) while also solving my stuttering problem and allowing me to use far higher texture settings in recent games.
It feels pretty future proof with this level of performance and all this memory, and the price is super great.
Not only is it nearly inaudible, but I was able to OC the memory to 2100MHz while undervolting from 1000mv to 850mv, and I was also able to boost the core clock by 5% while using the stock core voltage.
I don't have anything to measure power draw, but given the memory undervolt I would assume I got this performance either completely for free or with a marginal consumption increase.
The memory OC in particular gave me a pretty big performance boost. I come from a 970 (which I sold for the same price that I bought this one, nice side-grade for dat 8GB VRAM), and performance is AT LEAST equal (seems to be a bit faster though) while also solving my stuttering problem and allowing me to use far higher texture settings in recent games.
It feels pretty future proof with this level of performance and all this memory, and the price is super great.
Elven_Star
Member
Ordered the Sapphire Nitro+ 4GB for $280 today! Last time 480s were in stock they were going for around $340. They're nowhere to be found now.
For some reason, 8GBs are not available here. Not sure I could go for one anyway, because I'm on a really really tight budget.
I'm coming from 2 years of console gaming and was on a 6870 before that so, this should be a nice upgrade for me
For some reason, 8GBs are not available here. Not sure I could go for one anyway, because I'm on a really really tight budget.
I'm coming from 2 years of console gaming and was on a 6870 before that so, this should be a nice upgrade for me
DemonCleaner
Member
it's really no wonder that you can undervolt the hell out of this. because to boost clock is kept artificially low on the 470ies to get a better market serperation between it and the 480. if energy consumption while gaming is not an issue for you, i would suggest you overclock to 480 partner board's boost clock levels instead. my sapphire nitro+ 470 got to 1370 MHz boost without problems (and without overvolting). in theory that's roughly a 15% performance plus from the standard 1200MHz boost clock.
can't call my sapphire quite though.
how did you clock your memory to 2100MHz? my wattman let's me juts clock to 2050Mhz?
edit: nwm newest driver let me clock to 2100Mhz also
this should'nt be throtteling at all at those clock speeds. you can check that with amd's wattman graphs. if it in fact throttels, just put the power limit to +50%.
bump
I'm not that deep into PC hardware and all that anymore, but my pretty old PC died and a new one/upgrade is needed for Civ VI in October.
I currently have an AMD 7950 and think about upgrading it too. I'll most likely get an i5 6600 and will play at 1920x1200.
Is the RX 470 a noticeable upgrade worth the >200?
I'm not that deep into PC hardware and all that anymore, but my pretty old PC died and a new one/upgrade is needed for Civ VI in October.
I currently have an AMD 7950 and think about upgrading it too. I'll most likely get an i5 6600 and will play at 1920x1200.
Is the RX 470 a noticeable upgrade worth the >200?
Elven_Star
Member
I would appreciate some safe overclocking numbers for a 4GB Nitro+ (no voltage changes please). Trying to hit stable 60 fps on Obduction (2560x1080). Is this game generally considered well-optimized? Framerate is all over the place for me.
Elven_Star
Member
Some games I've tried on my Sapphire RX 470 Nitro+ 4GB at 2560x1080:
Dark Souls III: stable 60
Inside: stable 60
Obduction: mostly 50+, but can go as low as 30-something
Ori and the Blind Forest: stable 60
Pillars of Eternity: stable 60
SOMA: stable 60
The Witcher 3: 50+
I'm on an i3 6100. Unless there are some major technical issues in Civilization VI, you should hit a stable 60 easily.
DemonCleaner
Member
hello,
done lots of testing on the 8GB variant of this card. that one has not just more, but also faster memory. but the overclocking should generally work the same.
so go to wattman and change power target to +50% and try 1360 or 1370 MHz (just on the highest boost state). this should work for 90% of chips. it should give you roughly a +10% boost, which should put this card into the reference 480 performance range. in the following graph i benched witcher 3 with said changes:
you should also try to overclock the ram in a second step, as the slower VRAM of the 470 will lead to bandwidth bottleneck scenarios in some games (witcher swamp/forest). first find a stable GPU clock though. if you are unlucky and cant hit a stable 1360, 1340 (nitro+480 OC's boost clock) should be doable on every card.
when you have found your stable gpu and mem clocks you should try to lower the power limit from +50 till your card won't hold it's boostclock under load anymore. if you can reach +40 for example this will reduce heat output of the card.
last step would be to limit the fans as low as possible as this sapphire nitro cards will get kinda loud. GPU temps up to 85° shouldn't be a problem. so define your temp limit accordingly to limit the necessary fans speeds.
Elven_Star
Member
Wow. Thank you very much. I didn't expect so much detail! I'll try these and see how it goes.hello,
done lots of testing on the 8GB variant of this card. that one has not just more, but also faster memory. but the overclocking should generally work the same.
so go to wattman and change power target to +50% and try 1360 or 1370 MHz (just on the highest boost state). this should work for 90% of chips. it should give you roughly a +10% boost, which should put this card into the reference 480 performance range. in the following graph i benched witcher 3 with said changes:
you should also try to overclock the ram in a second step, as the slower VRAM of the 470 will lead to bandwidth bottleneck scenarios in some games (witcher swamp/forest). first find a stable GPU clock though. if you are unlucky and cant hit a stable 1360, 1340 (nitro+480 OC's boost clock) should be doable on every card.
when you have found your stable gpu and mem clocks you should try to lower the power limit from +50 till your card won't hold it's boostclock under load anymore. if you can reach +40 for example this will reduce heat output of the card.
last step would be to limit the fans as low as possible as this sapphire nitro cards will get kinda loud. GPU temps up to 85° shouldn't be a problem. so define your temp limit accordingly to limit the necessary fans speeds.
DemonCleaner
Member
no problem. just tell us how it went.
Elven_Star
Member
My card was stable at 1370/1900, but there was a complete lockup at 1370/2000. Not sure if it's relevant at all, but my ASIC score is 89.8%.
The performance gain, in Obduction at least, was negligible. The massive framerate dips were still there at 1370/1900, but I think that game is just not well-optimized.
chaosblade
Unconfirmed Member
Makes me wonder if GCN4's improvements aren't being utilized yet or if they don't actually exist.
icecold1983
Member
Only substantial improvement was for geometry processing and youre only ever likely to see devs using wastful amts of geometry in nvidia gameworks effects.