The Card

PowerColor has engineered a large cooler that uses different shades of gray, and the metal backplate has an RGB illuminated Red Devil logo and uses black as dominant color. Dimensions of the card are 30.0 x 13.5 cm.


Installation requires three slots.


Display connectivity options include three standard DisplayPort 1.4a and an HDMI 2.0b.

AMD took the opportunity to update the display controllers handling these outputs by leveraging DSC 1.2a (display stream compression), which unlocks very high resolution and refresh-rate combinations over a single cable. Among the single-cable display modes supported are 8K 60 Hz (which took two DP 1.3 cables until now), 4K 240 Hz, and 1080p as high as 360 Hz. On top of these, the outputs support HDR and 30 bpc color-depth for better color accuracy in creative applications.


The board uses two 8-pin power connectors. This input configuration is specified for up to 375 watts of power draw.


AMD's Navi generation of GPUs no longer supports CrossFire. DirectX 12 does include its own set of multi-GPU capabilities, but implementation requires game developers to put serious development time into a feature only a tiny fraction of their customers might ever use.

In this area, you'll also find a dual-BIOS switch, with the default setting being "OC" and the other "Silent". It not only runs a quieter fan curve, but also comes with slightly lower clocks and voltages, which helps the card stay cool at even reduced fan speeds.

Disassembly

PowerColor's cooler uses five heatpipes to keep the chip cool. This piece of the heatsink also provides cooling for the memory chips and VRM circuitry.


The backplate is made out of metal and protects the card against damage during installation and handling.

On the next page, we dive deep into the PCB layout and VRM configuration.