Some AMD RX 480 4 GB can get 8 GB of graphics memory via BIOS unlock

AMD’s launch of the mid-range Radeon RX 480 was in the form of two configurations – one with four gigabytes of graphics memory and one with eight gigabytes. The configuration with half the amount of memory costs a few hundred bucks less, but this configuration is not as common among retailers as the model with eight gigabytes of graphics memory.

Now a report from the technology site Wccftech shows that early copies of the Radeon RX 480 with four gigabytes of graphics memory are actually equipped with twice the amount of memory, but that the amount of memory is limited via BIOS settings. The site has performed tests on its own copy to come to this conclusion.

Equipping a cheaper circuit with more memory than it is sold for means reduced revenue per circuit sold for AMD, but the reason why the company chose to take this loss may be that the production of the smaller memory circuits has not yet reached the same volume as the larger variants.

AMD may therefore have chosen to accept lower revenues initially to achieve good availability for Radeon RX 480 products at launch. The graphics card that Wccftech has tested comes from XFX and is available at Swedish retailers at the time of writing. Whether these cards are actually equipped with twice the amount of memory or not is unclear.

Anyone who owns a copy of the XFX Radeon RX 480 with four gigabytes of graphics memory should not try a BIOS update as the card is not equipped with dual BIOS and an official BIOS version to unlock 8 GB of memory is missing. Updates that go wrong risk making the card unusable.

If the BIOS limitation of the amount of memory is due to lower volume of smaller memory circuits, all configurations should be equipped with specified amounts of graphics memory added in the coming weeks as the volume production of the memory circuits increases.