Testing: Radeon RX 470 on ASUS ROG Strix video card – Overclocking | Benchmark

Testing the Radeon RX 470 on the example of the ASUS ROG Strix video card -In the line of new AMD video cards, we have not yet had time to consider only the Radeon RX 470. We will fix it in this article. Let’s study the capabilities of the younger model on Polaris 10 in nominal and overclocked terms using a video card from ASUS as an example.

Radeon RX 470

The Radeon RX 470 along with the Radeon RX 480 are based on a single Polaris 10 GPU that uses the latest fourth generation GCN architecture. But out of 36 Compute Units, the younger version has 32 active ones, i.e. instead of 2304 stream processors, the Radeon RX 470 operates with 2048 cores, 128 texture units out of 144 are active.

In the new generation, the Compute Unit performance has been increased compared to previous solutions, and the memory bandwidth efficiency has been increased due to data compression algorithms. Therefore, the Radeon RX 470/480 are content with a 256-bit memory bus, but work with it faster than previous models. Improved geometry processing blocks, Async Compute operation. The L2 cache has been increased to 2MB.

In addition to changes in the configuration of computing units, the Radeon RX 470 differs from the Radeon RX 480 also in operating frequencies. For the younger video card, the base GPU frequency is set at 926 MHz, and the Boost frequency is set to 1206 MHz. Relative to the frequencies of the Radeon RX 480, the difference in the maximum value is small, but at the base frequency it is almost 21%. GDDR5 memory operates at an effective frequency of 6600 MHz, which is also 21% lower than the memory frequencies of the older card.

In terms of the configuration of the computing units, the Radeon RX 470 is closest to the Radeon R9 380X. At the same time, the TDP of the novelty is only 120 W thanks to the new 14-nm process technology. For comparisons, it should be recalled that the Radeon RX 480 is claimed to be 150 watts.

Let’s summarize the characteristics of new and old AMD Radeon video cards in one table.

Video adapter	Radeon RX 480	Radeon RX 470	Radeon R9 390	Radeon R9 290	Radeon R9 380X	Radeon R9 280X
Core	Polaris 10	Polaris 10	Grenada	Hawaii	Antigua	Tahiti
Number of transistors, mln.pcs	5700	5700	6020	6020	5000	4313
Process technology, nm	14	14	28	28	28	28
Core area, sq. mm	232	232	438	438	366	352
Number of stream processors	2304	2048	2560	2560	2048	2048
Number of texture units	144	128	160	160	128	128
Number of rendering units	32	32	64	64	32	32
Core frequency, MHz	1120–1266	926–1206	Up to 1000	Until 947	to 970	1000
Memory bus, bit	256	256	512	512	256	384
Memory type	GDDR5	GDDR5	GDDR5	GDDR5	GDDR5	GDDR5
Memory frequency, MHz	8000	6600	6000	5000	5700	6000
Memory size, MB	8192/4096	4096	8192	4096	4096	3072
Supported DirectX Version	12	12	12	12	12	12
Interface	PCI-E 3.0	PCI-E 3.0	PCI-E 3.0	PCI-E 3.0	PCI-E 3.0	PCI-E 3.0
TDP level, W	150	120	275	275	190	250

The Radeon RX 470 was originally announced with 4GB of video memory, but some manufacturers have already introduced 8GB models. Also, AMD partners immediately got the freedom to modify the RX 470 series cards, thanks to which many non-reference versions went on sale. Using such a video card as an example, we will get acquainted with the new product.

ASUS ROG Strix Radeon RX 470 (ROG STRIX-RX470-O4G-GAMING)

The video card comes in a medium-sized box with a large, bright Strix lettering on the front.

Supplied with a CD with software and instructions. Among the pleasant bonuses, it is worth noting two Velcro cable ties and a code for 15 days of “Premium” in World of Warships.

ASUS is equipped with a large cooler with two large fans and heat pipes. Cooling is covered with a black plastic cover.

The video card looks more solid than the reference version Radeon RX 480, which inspires respect and hopes for excellent temperature and noise characteristics.

The austere appearance is complemented by an illuminated logo at the end.

The board is full-sized, and not shortened as in the reference senior card. One power connector is located in the corner with the latch facing up. Disassembly of the video card is prevented by a seal on one of the screws.

At the heart of the cooler are two thick 8-mm heat pipes that directly contact the surface of the graphics crystal.

The tubes fit tightly together in the grooves of the base.

The radiator is made up of a series of thin fins, which are pierced with heat pipes.

A casing with a pair of Everflow T129215SM fans of a standard size of 100 mm clings to the radiator using latches. There are soft pads under the fans to dampen vibration.

A separate heat sink is provided for the power supply transistors.

Let’s take a look at the board. A stiffener is screwed on the side to avoid deformation of the PCB. The GPU power system is located on the right side, has four phases. The memory power supply subsystem is two-phase.

The Polaris 10 chip is surrounded by a massive frame, the crystal itself is unmarked on the surface. Four gigabytes of memory are recruited with SKhynix H5GC4H24AJR R0C microcircuits.

ASUS STRIX-RX470-O4G-GAMING operates at higher frequencies. Initially, the core frequency was increased to 1270 MHz, which is the maximum value. The base frequency is not indicated in official sources, but it can be assumed that it is at 990 MHz or even higher. Memory without factory overclocking.

For monitoring and overclocking, we used the ASUS GPU Tweak II application, which provides maximum control and management of the operating parameters of the new Radeon graphics cards from ASUS. Note that many of the features are available in the standard WattMan application from AMD Radeon Settings.

Video cards with GAMING attachment support several operating modes. In this case, 1270 MHz corresponds to the most productive OC Mode. When you select the Gaming Mode settings profile, the frequency is reduced to 1250 MHz, in Silent Mode to 1230 MHz.

We limited ourselves to the initial settings during testing. And even in this mode, the real GPU frequency varied greatly in the load and was noticeably below 1270 MHz. When loaded with the Metro: Last Light benchmark at 2K at maximum quality (bottom left screenshot), the frequencies were not just below 1200 MHz, but with drawdowns almost up to 1100 MHz. About the same picture was observed in Tom Clancy’s The Division, although there were already peak values ​​at 1270 MHz.

On the reference video card Radeon RX 480, the frequency spread was less, although the standard version does not have good cooling. Here, the heating is no more than 60 ° C at 25 ° C indoors. This value is used in AMD WattMan as a temperature limiter, but the video card barely comes close to it, so the main role in lowering frequencies is played by a severe power limitation.

Note also that apart from weak heating, ASUS also pleased with the minimum noise, which is not surprising at a fan speed of less than 1400 rpm.

The ASUS graphics card will also replace the regular version of the Radeon RX 470 by simply reducing the core frequency to 1206 MHz.

How are things going with overclocking? Initially, ASUS managed to reach frequencies close to 1.4 GHz, but with a significant increase in operating voltage. By increasing the power limit to the limit (150% of the initial level), it was possible to obtain an almost stable frequency with minimal deviations below the maximum level. But after trying hard games, problems began. At very high voltages, the frequency could go down even at low temperatures, or periodic “freezes” appeared. There were freezes and other crashes. As a result, I had to stop at 1350 MHz with a minimum voltage increase of 12 mV in the ASUS GPU Tweak II utility. In this configuration, the only problem was the rare freezes, which appeared only in a couple of applications, but we simply did not take such results into account when calculating the average data. The memory was overclocked to 7556 MHz. The fan speed was forcibly increased to approximately 1900 rpm. A certain noise in this mode was noticeable, but without any serious discomfort.

As you can see from the screenshots, the core frequency was kept at the maximum of 1350 MHz, the deviations were minimal. Moreover, this time the drawdowns are more pronounced in The Division, but still not lower than 1335 MHz. So the real gain in frequencies should be pretty good. As for heating, at the selected fan speed, the peak core temperature did not exceed 71 ° C.

Characteristics of the tested video cards

The performance of the Radeon RX 470 will be compared to the older Radeon RX 480, Radeon R9 290, GeForce GTX 1070 and GeForce GTX 970 graphics cards from the recent Radeon RX 480 benchmark.

The technical characteristics of all participants are described in the table.

Video adapter	Radeon RX 480	Radeon R9 290	ASUS ROG Strix RX 470	Radeon RX 470	GeForce GTX 1060	GeForce GTX 970
Core	Polaris 10	Hawaii	Polaris 10	Polaris 10	GP106	GM204
Number of transistors, mln.pcs	n / a	6020	5700	5700	4400	5200
Process technology, nm	14	28	14	14	16	28
Core area, sq. mm	232	438	232	232	n / a	398
Number of stream processors	2304	2560	2048	2048	1280	1664
Number of texture units	144	160	128	128	80	104
Number of rendering units	32	64	32	32	48	56
Core frequency, MHz	1120–1266	Until 947	990–1270	926–1206	1506–1708	1051–1178
Memory bus, bit	256	512	256	256	192	256
Memory type	GDDR5	GDDR5	GDDR5	GDDR5	GDDR5	GDDR5
Memory frequency, MHz	8000	5000	6600	6600	8000	7010
Memory size, MB	8192	4096	4096	4096	6144	3584 + 512
Supported DirectX Version	12	12	12	12	12	12
Interface	PCI-E 3.0	PCI-E 3.0	PCI-E 3.0	PCI-E 3.0	PCI-E 3.0	PCI-E 3.0
Power, W	150	275	120	120	120	145

Test stand

The test bench configuration is as follows:

• processor: Intel Core i7-6950X (3.0 @ 4.1 GHz);
• cooler: Noctua NH-D15 (two NF-A15 PWM fans, 140 mm, 1300 rpm);
• motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X99P-SLI;
• memory: G.Skill F4-3200C14Q-32GTZ (4×8 GB, DDR4-3200, CL14-14-14-35);
• system drive: Intel SSD 520 Series 240GB (240 GB, SATA 6Gb / s);
• additional disk: Hitachi HDS721010CLA332 (1 TB, SATA 3Gb / s, 7200 rpm);
• power supply unit: Seasonic SS-750KM (750 W);
• monitor: ASUS PB278Q (2560×1440, 27 ″);

• operating system: Windows 10 Pro x64;
• Radeon RX 470 driver: AMD Grimson 16.7.3;
• driver Radeon RX 480 and R9 290: AMD Grimson 16.6.2;
• GeForce GTX 1060 driver: NVIDIA GeForce 368.64;
• GeForce GTX 970 driver: NVIDIA GeForce 368.39.

The test methodology described in one of the previous articles is taken as a basis. But since there was used a configuration of settings for top-end video cards, then in this comparison for some applications simpler parameters are used in accordance with the configuration of settings that were used in testing the Radeon RX 480.

Test results

Batman: Arkham Knight

In Arkham Knight, the difference between Radeon RX 470 and Radeon RX 480 is about 10% in average frame rate and more than 20% in minimum fps. Initially, the junior card is slightly weaker than the Radeon R9 290 and GeForce GTX 970, but this is easily overclocked. At maximum frequencies, it is possible to overtake the GeForce GTX 1060 in the nominal value.

Battlefield 4

The new Radeon is inferior to the old man R9 290 in the game Battlefield 4, losing along the way to the GeForce GTX 970. After overclocking, the Radeon RX 470 reaches the performance level of the Radeon RX 480. The increase from increasing frequencies is 15%.

DiRT Rally

Another test, where the old Radeon R9 290 prevails over the novelties based on Polaris 10. There is a 13% difference between the Radeon RX 470 and the Radeon RX 480, and the younger participant just compensates for the gap due to his overclocking.

DOOM

In the DOOM shooter, the Radeon RX 470 has a minimal lag behind the Radeon R9 290. In overclocking, all three AMD demonstrate similar results.

As a supplement, we present the test data of the Radeon RX 470 in the Vulkan API. You can measure fps in this mode only with the Action! And only in windowed mode. The latter may somehow affect the accuracy of measurements, but the general trend can be seen.

The transition to Vulkan speeds up the beginner by 30%, which is an impressive result.

Fallout 4

The Radeon RX 470 is inferior to less than 9% of the GeForce GTX 970 and up to 14% of the Radeon RX 470 in Fallout 4. The gain from overclocking makes it possible to compensate for the lag behind its older comrade.

Far Cry Primal

Radeon RX 470 is inferior to Radeon RX 480 by about 13-15%. The lag behind the GeForce GTX 970 in Far Cry Primal is minimal. Overclocking provides ASUS acceleration by 16%.

Gears of War: Ultimate Edition

The game uses the heaviest graphics settings with 4K textures

And even with this mode, the Radeon RX 470 copes very well, overtaking the GeForce GTX 970. The newcomer has less drawdown in fps, and the minimum parameter is equal to the GeForce GTX 1060. Although in this particular case, these readings should be treated with caution, not forgetting to focus on average indicators.

Grand Theft Auto 5

The same minimum fps for Polaris models in GTA 5, which can be explained by the newer driver for the younger card. In terms of the average frame rate, the new product hardly differs from the Radeon R9 290 and GeForce GTX 970. Overclocking allows you to bypass the Radeon RX 480.

Just Cause 3

Radeon RX 470 in Just Cause 3 is minimally inferior to its closest rivals – Radeon R9 290 and GeForce GTX 970. The lag from the older model of the new series is less than 15%, this is compensated by overclocking. Moreover, the increased frequencies allow you to slightly bypass the Radeon RX 480 in the nominal value.

Metro: Last Light

Although the Radeon RX 470 loses to the GeForce GTX 970 in Last Ligh, it demonstrates good fps in high resolution, which is nice in itself. The difference with the Radeon RX 480 is almost 17%, but the gap is compensated for after increasing the frequencies of the Radeon RX 470.

Quantum Break

Excellent performance for the Radeon RX 470 in Quantum Break. At the initial frequencies, the video adapter takes an average position between the GeForce GTX 970 and the GeForce GTX 1060. The gap from the Radeon RX 480 is at the level of 16-17%. With overclocking, the younger comrade compensates for this gap, at the same time it is possible to slightly bypass the GeForce GTX 1060 in nominal value.

Rise of the Tomb Raider

The Radeon RX 470 struggles to deliver barely acceptable fps in Rise of the Tomb Raider at very high quality in Full HD, but overclocking allows you to bring the performance to a more comfortable level. It’s nice that the newcomer is faster than the Radeon R9 290. The difference with the Radeon RX 480 is at the level of 23–32%, which is also due to the high memory capacity of the older friend.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

The hero of the review in The Witcher 3 loses to the GeForce GTX 970 only in average frame rate. Lagging behind Radeon R9 290 at 6%, lagging behind Radeon RX 480 at 15-17%. Overclocking provides over 20% acceleration, allowing you to get as close as possible to the performance of the GeForce GTX 1060

Tom Clancy’s The Division

The outsider in The Division is the Radeon R9 290. The newcomer is a little faster. ASUS at factory frequencies is on a par with GeForce GTX 970. The difference between Radeon RX 470 and Radeon RX 480 is up to 15%, overclocking accelerates the former by 17–19%.

Additionally, testing was carried out at a higher resolution as a stress mode.

The general alignment of forces changes little, except that the Radeon R9 290 gains an advantage over the Radeon RX 470. The ratio with the older Polaris remains at the same level.

Total War: Warhammer

New test in a new game. A special benchmark with DirectX 12 support was used.

Here the Radeon RX 470 is on a par with the Radeon R9 290 and confidently bypasses all competitors from NVIDIA.

XCOM 2

At the initial frequencies, the Radeon RX 470 is inferior to a few percent of the GeForce GTX 970. The difference with the Radeon RX 480 in XCOM 2 is up to 17%, but the younger video adapter fully compensates for it after its overclocking.

3DMark 11

The new Radeon is noticeably inferior to the GeForce GTX 970 in this test, but overclocking minimizes the gap. The difference between Radeon RX 470 and Radeon RX 480 is almost 19%.

3DMark Fire Strike

In this test, the lag behind the GeForce GTX 970 is less, so the increase in frequencies makes it easy to overtake the competitor. The difference with the Radeon RX 480 is about 15%.

Energy consumption

The measurements were made according to the previously described method, but without taking into account the data of the older video cards in Total War: Attila.

At par, the Radeon RX 470 has extremely low performance against the background of its comrades from the AMD camp. The difference with the Radeon R9 290 is especially impressive. The newcomer wins the GeForce GTX 970 by this criterion. But the first place in terms of economy remains with the GeForce GTX 1060. It is also worth noting that the situation changes dramatically during overclocking, the power consumed by the Radeon RX 470 increases.

conclusions

AMD strengthens its position in the middle class with the release of the Radeon RX 470 graphics card. The novelty, which in all respects should replace the Radeon R9 380X, is closer in performance to the Radeon R9 290, yielding only a few percent to the old model. The lag behind the Radeon RX 480 is on average 15%, but it happens even more. A higher memory capacity can be an important factor in the advantage of an older video card based on GPU Polaris 10. At the same time, the potential of the Radeon RX 470 with 4 GB is not only enough for Full HD, in some games the video card can handle 2K resolution. In new demanding games, especially under DirectX 12, the Radeon RX 470 is a direct competitor to the GeForce GTX 970, although in slightly earlier projects the new product is weaker. All this is combined with low energy consumption and a low suggested price,

It should be noted that the low level of power consumption in the nominal is associated with severe restrictions. For this reason, the Radeon RX 470 has a floating core frequency, which can be noticeably lower than the declared 1206 MHz. In this regard, the new Radeon are beginning to resemble the GeForce. And, as you may have noticed, we even began to indicate on the performance graphs the full frequency range of the Radeon core instead of one final value.

The reviewed ASUS ROG STRIX-RX470-O4G-GAMING video card pleased with low heating and minimal noise. A high-quality cooling system copes well with its tasks during factory overclocking, which, however, provides minimal acceleration. To squeeze the most out of the video card, you need to increase the power and temperature limit along with the frequencies. The final overclocking by ASUS can be safely called successful, because our sample managed to pass the tests at a stable core frequency of 1350 MHz, although it felt like the limit of possibilities. With overclocking, ASUS managed to catch up (and sometimes overtake) the Radeon RX 480. This acceleration is associated with a sharp increase in heat dissipation, but the cooler can cool the card without serious noise even in this mode. So we can safely recommend ASUS ROG Strix Radeon RX 470 for purchase!