# AMD Radeon RX 480 CrossFire



## W1zzard (Jun 29, 2016)

In their marketing leading up to the Polaris launch today, AMD showed two Radeon RX 480 cards running in CrossFire, beating NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 1080 - at a much lower price point. We have a review of two of these cards running 16 games at 4 resolutions in CrossFire.

*Show full review*


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## chinmi (Jun 29, 2016)

so it's actually still slower then a gtx 1080...


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## TheinsanegamerN (Jun 29, 2016)

chinmi said:


> so it's actually still slower then a gtx 1080...


yup. And way more power hungry as well.


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## Ubersonic (Jun 29, 2016)

Looks like a nice deal, GTX1080 4K performance for GTX1070 money.


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## UnversedXI (Jun 29, 2016)

Is this tested with a 4GB and an 8GB card? Or are both cards being used the 8GB variant? Im not sure if that was clarified or not in the article, i may have missed it


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## HD64G (Jun 29, 2016)

A great scaling when there is a CF profile! Much better than SLI at least...


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## GhostRyder (Jun 29, 2016)

Decent scaling, but still not the best solution.  This card is great as a stand alone card for a low price and while adding two gives you performance of cards costing almost as much as 3 of them, I still believe in single card performance.  Can't wait to see what aftermarket solutions do for this card.


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## the54thvoid (Jun 29, 2016)

Ubersonic said:


> Looks like a nice deal, GTX1080 4K performance for GTX1070 money.



In 6 out of 16 tested games.  That's not good value.  More and more times now we see poor dual gpu scaling for AMD and Nvidia.


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## dwade (Jun 29, 2016)

Power consumption must be so bad that there's no graph for it.


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## Kal_Skirata (Jun 29, 2016)

UnversedXI said:


> Is this tested with a 4GB and an 8GB card? Or are both cards being used the 8GB variant? Im not sure if that was clarified or not in the article, i may have missed it


I'm pretty sure that both are the 8GB version, 'cause the 4GB isn't available yet.


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## arbiter (Jun 29, 2016)

chinmi said:


> so it's actually still slower then a gtx 1080...


I think that was a given when AMD used AOTS for performance claims on the paper launch it was gonna be. 


HD64G said:


> A great scaling when there is a CF profile! Much better than SLI at least...


better to go with 1 faster card that will give the performance then 2 cards and hoping CF/SLI works like it should. Price wise it ends up around the same. 1 card you are fine but if you are gonna get a 2nd might well just find a gtx1070(since there is no amd option) and avoid the CF/SLI scaling question's.


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## HD64G (Jun 29, 2016)

arbiter said:


> I think that was a given when AMD used AOTS for performance claims on the paper launch it was gonna be.
> 
> better to go with 1 faster card that will give the performance then 2 cards and hoping CF/SLI works like it should. Price wise it ends up around the same. 1 card you are fine but if you are gonna get a 2nd might well just find a gtx1070(since there is no amd option) and avoid the CF/SLI scaling question's.


Except that 2 X RX480s are 1080 lvl of performance in games having a CF profile for 1070 price


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## Vicious2500 (Jun 29, 2016)

HD64G said:


> Except that 2 X RX480s are 1080 lvl of performance in games having a CF profile for 1070 price



The problem with this logic is that less than 1/2 of the games in the test bench support CF/SLI.


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## TheLaughingMan (Jun 29, 2016)

Vicious2500 said:


> The problem with this logic is that less than 1/2 of the games in the test bench support CF/SLI.



Hopefully a driver update will bring that list to over 50% in the near future.


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## Vicious2500 (Jun 29, 2016)

TheLaughingMan said:


> Hopefully a driver update will bring that list to over 50% in the near future.



History isn't on your side.


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## HD64G (Jun 29, 2016)

Vicious2500 said:


> The problem with this logic is that less than 1/2 of the games in the test bench support CF/SLI.



So, it will be just the preference of a gamer to which games he likes to play that will judge if he will go for the bargain or the 1080


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## UnversedXI (Jun 29, 2016)

Kal_Skirata said:


> I'm pretty sure that both are the 8GB version, 'cause the 4GB isn't available yet.



Yeahhh i found out after i made the post that the 4GB results i saw on other sites was simply a modified bios altering the memory to emulate the 4gb model. I was curious because of the negative scaling in Hitman and some other games, thought perhaps one card had less ram and that forcing the other to only use 4 which was creating a negative impact or something.

I didn't know the 4 gig models weren't available yet though? I ordered one from Overclockers UK earlier today and is due for tomorrow!


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## arbiter (Jun 30, 2016)

Vicious2500 said:


> The problem with this logic is that less than 1/2 of the games in the test bench support CF/SLI.





TheLaughingMan said:


> Hopefully a driver update will bring that list to over 50% in the near future.


Other side of that is DX12 and dev's being ones that have to support CF/SLI. Which is a whole new can of worms on how well that will work early on.


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## msimax (Jun 30, 2016)

any results on tomb raider in dx11 since dx12 has no multi gpu support


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## Makaveli (Jun 30, 2016)

chinmi said:


> so it's actually still slower then a gtx 1080...



I would always pick Single gpu over Multi wouldn't you?


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## nem.. (Jun 30, 2016)

What about Ashes of Singularity why not.?






And I've seen videos that differ greatly from TechPowerUp in some games, I do not understand what the cause, as I understand benchmarks of the games themselves are used or I'm wrong if wizzard we could clarify some possible causes or as measuring fps is done in TechPowerUp . please.

CF RX 480 > 1080
Witcher 3
far cry primal

CF RX 480 > 1070
Rise tomb raider
Grand theft Auto 5
Fallout 4
ARMA 3

min 1:41


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## FordGT90Concept (Jun 30, 2016)

Disappointed there aren't any DX12 (Hitman is a DX12 game but DX11 was used) nor Vulkan tests.


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## Melvis (Jun 30, 2016)

God damn consoles killing our PC experience.


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## Primalz (Jun 30, 2016)

the bang for buck is good, the price here in Australia starts at $320 for the 4GB & $379 for the 8GB, the gtx 1070 are going for $780 & the 1080's are $1200


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## Dethroy (Jun 30, 2016)

So basically a GTX 1070 faires better in all metrics - cherry picked situations aside. Still have some hope left for custom aftermarket solutions being good single card choices.


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## Dimi (Jun 30, 2016)

Why anyone with half a brain would pick 2 x RX480 over a single GTX 1070 is beyond me. 

The GTX 1070 is faster in MOST of the benchmarks, its cheaper, a lot less power draw, a lot less heat and noise and no CF issues or microstutter.

Pricing (newegg)

Gigabyte GTX 1070 G1 Gaming = $429.99
MSI RX 480 x 2 = $478.98

Thats $50 MORE expensive than a 1070. $80 if you pick the $399 gigabyte 1070.


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## RejZoR (Jun 30, 2016)

1x faster GPU > 2x slower GPU


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## nem.. (Jul 1, 2016)

Dethroy said:


> So basically a GTX 1070 faires better in all metrics - cherry picked situations aside. Still have some hope left for custom aftermarket solutions being good single card choices.



The % CF 480x exceeds to 1070


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## Vicious2500 (Jul 1, 2016)

nem.. said:


> The % CF 480x exceeds to 1070



How many of those games support CF?


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## Bluescreendeath (Jul 1, 2016)

CF is fine. The card gets enough fps in games that don't support crossfire so it doesn't really matter. The triple A titles that are graphically intensive and thus require more fps DO support CF and SLi. It works where it matters.

RX 480CF is basically a cheaper version of GTX970 SLi. Same power consumption but cheaper and slightly better performance (especially in dx12 and as drivers improve).


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## Spacegoast (Jul 1, 2016)

I wonder if better drivers will improve CF scaling...


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## Fragment (Jul 2, 2016)

Vicious2500 said:


> How many of those games support CF?



All of these games support CF, as the mentioned review only tested games that support CF in the first place. (You have to see that the percentages in this picture show how much faster 480CFX is than 1070, a single 480 wouldnt make that in any game-> so cfx has to work)


Also the list of games that support CF is higher than what many make you believe.

The problem with many of crossfire/SLI reviews is improper setup, because mostly crossfire and SLI
need some extra fixing/tweaking to work with good scaling. But as long as there is a Crossfire support or profile for it
the game will scale well.

http://amdcrossfire.wikia.com/wiki/Crossfire_Game_Compatibility_List

+ all source and goldsrc games
+ all dx9 games
other games that just arent in that list

most triple A titles definitely support CFX.

the only ones i know of that dont support it are (most are also in the list from above)

hearthstone
starcraft 2
titanfall
the crew
cities skylines
rainbow six the division
killer instinct
need for speed 2016
quantum break
rainbow six siege
just cause 3


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## nem.. (Jul 2, 2016)

*AMD RX 480 PCB & VRM Design Beefier Than GTX 1080 Founder’s Edition – PCIe Power Issue Detailed*

Read more: http://wccftech.com/amd-rx-480-pcie-power-issue-detailed-overclocking-investigated/#ixzz4DDxltUVA


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## arbiter (Jul 2, 2016)

nem.. said:


> The % CF 480x exceeds to 1070


Funny i said it would be probably 10-15% faster then single 1070. Looks like i was right on the nose on that one.



nem.. said:


> *AMD RX 480 PCB & VRM Design Beefier Than GTX 1080 Founder’s Edition – PCIe Power Issue Detailed*
> 
> Read more: http://wccftech.com/amd-rx-480-pcie-power-issue-detailed-overclocking-investigated/#ixzz4DDxltUVA
> 
> ...


http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Graphics-Cards/Power-Consumption-Concerns-Radeon-RX-480  Direct link to the PCper write with an explanation on what they seen how how they did the testing


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## nem.. (Jul 3, 2016)

CF 480 > 1080


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## Fragment (Jul 3, 2016)

nem.. said:


> CF 480 > 1080



The moment they solve the "power-draw" thing is when this card is gonna be the absolute go to card.
-> When AIB cards release this in Crossfire is probably the best price/perf ratio that could happen to AMD.


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## RealNeil (Jul 3, 2016)

I think that the 480 from AMD is a spike in the side of NVIDIA at its price point.
This is predicated on them fixing the power draw issues that it has, without hobbling the card's performance.
The price is right.

Honestly, I'm much more interested in the 490X cards when they arrive. Unless they are an epic fail, I'll get a pair of them.

BTW: I'm glad to read the reviews on everything new here at TPU. Review sites help me to not waste my money on crappy tech.


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## oblivionlord (Jul 4, 2016)

nem.. said:


> The % CF 480x exceeds to 1070



How about we not use that horroble biased site for any fair comparison. First off they are extremly vague with how they even perform their tests within each game and their results dont even correlate with techpowerup. You simply have to wonder exactly how they are coming up with their results. Another thing... who is hothardware? Some hole in the wall site in comparison to techpowerup thats been present for years and has a firm reputation amongst the enthusiasts. 

Im going to use techpowerups results and say that a 1070 is faster than 2 480s simply based on the results techpowerup has given. Until guru3d, tomshardware, hardwarecanucks, hardocp, pcperspective, bittech, etc etc come out with their results and even then ill base my final conclusion on the avg amongst results on all those sites. 

Also if youre going to suggest that just because cfx works with the aaa games tested then you should also mention the issues that are also present which is the readon why people dont prefer multigpu over single gpu. Scaling is 1 portion but the flaws may exceed the scaling benefit which then makes it a pointless solution. Its bad enough as it is that alot of aaa games are poorly ported and ran on a single gpu let alone consider adding more frustratiin to the mix using multigpu.


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## RealNeil (Jul 4, 2016)

oblivionlord said:


> Another thing... who is hothardware? Some hole in the wall site in comparison to techpowerup thats been present for years and has a firm reputation amongst the enthusiasts..



HotHardware has been around for years and years. Their testing is methodical and usually spot-on. They are one of the few sites that I trust.
Just because ~you~ don't know of them doesn't make them a hole in the wall organization. 

Manufacturers trust them to publish fair reviews too. They always have the very latest samples on hand when they are brand new. Not bad for a hole in the wall site.


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## yotano211 (Jul 5, 2016)

Can the power draw be published for the crossfire cards. I really want to see that chart.


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## ERazer (Jul 6, 2016)

nem.. said:


> The % CF 480x exceeds to 1070



what about upcoming games? are they gonna be xfire/sli supported out of the box? thats why single powerfull GPU>2 slow ones.


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## nem.. (Jul 7, 2016)




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## oblivionlord (Jul 7, 2016)

RealNeil said:


> HotHardware has been around for years and years. Their testing is methodical and usually spot-on. They are one of the few sites that I trust.
> Just because ~you~ don't know of them doesn't make them a hole in the wall organization.
> 
> Manufacturers trust them to publish fair reviews too. They always have the very latest samples on hand when they are brand new. Not bad for a hole in the wall site.



Their forum is virtually inactive. Although their older posting date back to 2000, they hardly have had any activity from then and now. In the General pc section and mobo section there are only a handfull of recent poats untill u start seeing posting dating to a year and beyond. Their general disscusion section is the primary section with activity and its roughly just 1 page and its alot to do with free giveaways from a mod called Blackhawk 8100. 

You compare them with this site and youll see a night and day difference in popularity especially with the abundance of net traffic this site gets vs that site. So i hope you can see where im coming from when saying how unpopular that site is especially since they date back to 2000.

If its been that long and they still dont have as good as a foothold as the more popular sites then they need to change their methods.


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## illli (Jul 11, 2016)

I dunno, nothing against the review process, but it seems apparent that some of these games are not very optimized for crossfire. take Anno 2205 for example, there is hardly any difference between a 480 and 480 cf setup.  who is to blame? the video card? or the lazy developers?


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## Athlonite (Oct 3, 2016)

illli said:


> I dunno, nothing against the review process, but it seems apparent that some of these games are not very optimized for crossfire. take Anno 2205 for example, there is hardly any difference between a 480 and 480 cf setup.  who is to blame? the video card? or the lazy developers?



The lazy dev's for not implementing CF properly when it's done right it's bloody good but when it's half arsed as an after thought then no amount of tom foolery from AMD with the drivers is going to make much of a difference


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## arbiter (Oct 3, 2016)

Depends on game, DX12 its on the dev's to make it work, DX11 is still on in this case AMD to add CF support in the drivers.


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## RealNeil (Oct 3, 2016)

oblivionlord said:


> Their forum is virtually inactive. Although their older posting date back to 2000, they hardly have had any activity from then and now. In the General pc section and mobo section there are only a handfull of recent poats untill u start seeing posting dating to a year and beyond. Their general disscusion section is the primary section with activity and its roughly just 1 page and its alot to do with free giveaways from a mod called Blackhawk 8100.
> 
> You compare them with this site and youll see a night and day difference in popularity especially with the abundance of net traffic this site gets vs that site. So i hope you can see where im coming from when saying how unpopular that site is especially since they date back to 2000.
> 
> If its been that long and they still dont have as good as a foothold as the more popular sites then they need to change their methods.



They changed their forum software about a year ago and it affected their traffic. (quite a lot)

But, I was talking about their reviews. 

Those are good to go, and they always seem to have the latest gear reviewed _on_ its release day.
They have a good relationship with most of the major manufacturers.

As for TPU, I really like this site. It ~is~ very active and the mods run a tight ship.
The forum members here are experienced and willing to help others.


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## Ungari (Nov 15, 2016)

FordGT90Concept said:


> Disappointed there aren't any DX12 (Hitman is a DX12 game but DX11 was used) nor Vulkan tests.



That is because AMD usually performs much better with the new APIs.


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## Ungari (Nov 15, 2016)

Dimi said:


> Why anyone with half a brain would pick 2 x RX480 over a single GTX 1070 is beyond me.
> 
> The GTX 1070 is faster in MOST of the benchmarks, its cheaper, a lot less power draw, a lot less heat and noise and no CF issues or microstutter.
> 
> ...



The beauty is that if a prospective GFX card buyer is in the market but does not have the money a higher tier single GPU solution, they can go out and buy a RX 480 that they can play on now , while saving for that second card.
This is why Nvidia disabled the SLI bridging on the 1060, because it would have killed 1080 sales.


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