Tests
position test:
- CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K @ 4.5GHz
- CPU cooler: Corsair H75
- Motherboard: MSI Z97 MPOWER
- Storage device: SSD Patriot Blast 480GB
- RAM: DDR3-2400, 2 x 8 GB
- PSU: Corsair HX850i 850W
- Peripherals: LG 31MU97 شاشة Monitor
- Operating System: Windows 10 x64
- Driver: Hotfix 16.8.3
Cooling efficiency and noise
As you can see, all four companies have their own idea of what a gaming graphics card should look like. But without standardization, nowhere. Cooling systems “roam” from one model to another. The situation is the same with printed circuit boards.
Left to Right: ASUS, PowerColor, MSI, Reference, SAPPHIRE
Let’s start with the GPU temperature. The chip is cooled more efficiently by MSI. 62 degrees Celsius for a Polaris 10 is too low. Do not forget that all four cards are additionally overclocked at the factory, and a slight increase in megahertz leads to a dangerous increase in power consumption. So, the reference processor heats up to 83 ° C.
The coldest is MSI, the hottest is PowerColor
Only the work of “Red Devil” by PowerColor is frustrating. The cooler seems to be powerful: three fans, heat pipes, and all that. But the temperature of the chip rose to 80 degrees Celsius.
If it seems to someone that 76 ° C is a lot for SAPPHIRE NITRO +, then you can safely increase the impeller speed from 1000 rpm to 1200 rpm. The sound will rise a little, but the temperature will drop below 70 degrees Celsius.
Max Graphic Temperature Processor ASUS ROG Strix RX 480, MSI Radeon RX 480 GAMING X 8G, PowerColor Red Devil Radeon RX 480 8GB GDDR5, SAPPHIRE NITRO + Radeon RX 480 8GB
All four video cards have backplates on the back. It not only increases the rigidity of the structure, but also retains heat. ASUS ROG Strix RX 480 turned out to be the coldest, but in general, all video cards have temperatures within normal limits.
ASUS ROG Strix RX 480 Heating
The reference turned out to be very noisy. At a distance of a meter, the “turbine” was howling at 45 decibels, spinning up to 2,200 revolutions per minute. In general, I did everything to preserve the cherished 1266 MHz of the chip. Tested models are noticeably quieter. The sound pressure is acceptable. The results are similar, but the ASUS ROG Strix RX 480 is the quietest, with three dedicated fans spinning at 1,600 rpm. Everything is logical, because this non-reference is perhaps the most impressive cooling system. Unfortunately, the throttle whistles under a certain type of load (for example, in the third “Witcher” menu, when the FRAPS counter gives less than 3000 fps) for all models. Familiar picture, however. I didn’t notice anything critical.
The quietest is SAPPHIRE, MSI is the loudest
All video cards work completely silently in 2D. The fans do not rotate. Only when 59 ° C is reached, the dedicated thrusters begin their activity.
ASUS ROG Strix RX 480 ، MSI Radeon RX 480 GAMING X 8G ، PowerColor Red Devil Radeon RX 480 8GB GDDR5 و SAPPHIRE NITRO + Radeon RX 480 8 GB
gaming performance
You can see the results of the Radeon RX 480 test in 20 games and a direct comparison with the GeForce GTX 1060 6 GB. It is clear that the difference in performance between the reference version and the custom version is determined by the frequencies of the GPU and the memory that the video cards are running in. Therefore, I will first tell you about the stability of the frequency characteristics of the tested graphics adapters.
Nerefs MSI and SAPPHIRE work well with the declared indicators. Transformers of any type of load maintain 1303MHz and 1306MHz, respectively. ASUS keeps the declared 1330MHz in OC mode in FurMark and GTA V, but in the third Witcher, which seems to load the 3D accelerator more, the GPU frequency jumps and u200bu200 periodically drops to 1230MHz. Such delta megahertz has a significant impact on performance. In the same “Witcher” ASUS and MSI show a similar result, although the Radeon RX 480 GAMING X 8G operates at a lower frequency. Do not forget about the measurement error.
PowerColor started working normally only after flashing BIOS
With PowerColor, the situation is much more interesting. BIOS 1330MHz is enabled by default. Like the same ASUS. But under load, the chip speed drops to 1207MHz. Even the reference holds frequency better. The reason for this throttling is the low power limit. In the driver, we can only increase it by 5%. In other custom – by 50%. The manufacturer has released an updated BIOS with the unlocked Power Limit parameter. After flashing the “red devil” keeps the chip frequency constant at the declared 1330MHz. This video card is listed as PowerColor Red Devil 2 in the charts.
