AMD Fires Back - Radeon RX 470 Review

[JimBoBarnes]

Ok, so the Titan X may be the lust item of my dreams, but there is no way i can afford it. Looks like the RX470 might be a bit more in my budget lol

We love to lust after the latest high-end hardware. It’s in our DNA. But just as most coffee enthusiasts can only dream of owning a $7000 La Marzocco, Titan X cards are simply beyond most gamers’ budgets. Architecturally, there’s nothing new to say about the “Ellesmere” GPU—it’s the same 5.7 billion transistor processor we introduced in our AMD Radeon RX 480 8GB Review, manufactured on GlobalFoundries’ 14nm FinFET process and occupying 232 square millimeters of die space.
On the topic of dollars, we’ve never seen AMD so reluctant to discuss pricing. Hours before the RX 470’s introduction, we were handed a suggested $179 figure. However, there is no “reference” design, so it’s unclear what you’ll find at that price. Asus passed along that the Strix RX 470 OC Edition we tested would sell for $200, with the non-overclocked model offered at $195.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/Radeon-RX-470-4GB-Review,4703.html

 

[littleg]

$200?

[facepalm]

 

[Bryf50]

$200?

[facepalm]

There's $179 models for sale on newegg already.

Edit: Yea, seems like everyone besides Powercooler is greedy.

 

[n0x1ous]

Whats with these prices? http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&IsNodeId=1&N=100007709%20601206485

Way too close and even more than 4gb RX480? this should be $149

 

[Insomniator]

If $20 is make or break your budget of $200, you probably shouldn't be buying a GPU in the first place. $180 makes no sense with a $200 480 available.

 

[Yakk]

They seem so close in performance, I guess price will be close too.

 

[Bryf50]

Sapphire is full retarded. They're selling what's basically a reference 4gb 470 for $199.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202230

 

[Face2Face]

Whats with these prices? http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&IsNodeId=1&N=100007709%20601206485

Way too close and even more than 4gb RX480? this should be $149

I was hoping $149, but for $179 it's still a pretty good performer. I think it still makes sense to grab a RX 480 4GB for a little more.

On another note, I have lot's of respect for Chris Angelini, but Tom's is so hard to read with Ads taking up nearly 50% of screen space... I'm gonna have nightmares about Viper Elite memory

 

[Mondozei]

Nice GPU but far too high MSRP.

Instead of $179, should have been priced at $149. At those levels, every $10 makes a difference for the people in that segment.

 

[Face2Face]

Sapphire is full retarded. They're selling what's basically a reference 4gb 470 for $199.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202230

Ummmm....

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202226&cm_re=RX_470-_-14-202-226-_-Product

 

[littleg]

Unless there's simply no intention of selling any more 4GB 480s (at least at $200). It makes sense that way. $179 - $200 470, $240 - $300 480. Bait and switch.

 

[Bryf50]

Ummmm....

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202226&cm_re=RX_470-_-14-202-226-_-Product

This one.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202230

 

[Mondozei]

On another note, I have lot's of respect for Chris Angelini, but Tom's is so hard to read with Ads taking up nearly 50% of screen space...

This is why Adblockers exist. I get none of that with Safari and adblock plus/ghostery.

 

[Meekers]

It seems that the only point of the reference 480 design was to get a card out as cheaply as possible. With the 470 so close to the 480 I cannot help but think it would have made more sense for the 470 to get the cheap reference treatment and leave the 480 with no reference. I think 480 reviews would have been more positive with a $220 Nitro card and then you can have a reference 470 at price point closer to $150.

 

[Face2Face]

This one.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202230

Yeah, it's insane. I was also pointing out the insane pricing of the 8GB model.

This is why Adblockers exist. I get none of that with Safari and adblock plus/ghostery.

Yeah, I don't have one installed on my work laptop, but now you know what you're missing... or not missing

 

[Mondozei]

From TPU's review. I think they are typically better/more thorough than Tom's Hardware.

And again: where is Anandtech?

 

[Sweepr]

>140W while gaming (4GB Strix model):

http://media.bestofmicro.com/B/Y/600478/original/20-Overview-Card-Different-Load-Levels.png

Power limited it seems:

As a follow-up to the 10-loop Metro: Last Light Redux chart on page two, let's have a look at the Boost clock rates achieved during a test run through Doom. There’s not a whole lot left of the 1270 MHz Asus' card is rated for. The average here was 1150 MHz, including some valleys that bottomed out at 1050 MHz. A very restrictive power limit is to blame, it appears, keeping the card well below a total power consumption of 150W, regardless of the test we ran.

Custom card equal (a tad worse) perf/watt than RX 480. Reference still can't match 28nm Maxwell GTX 980 perf/watt:

 

[Mondozei]

So the stock 480 does 21% better according to TPU's 1080p performance index than the stock 470. And the 480 only costs 11% more at MSRP prices.

The 470 is incredibly bad value for the money.

 

[obidamnkenobi]

And again: where is Anandtech?

If anything it makes a R9 380 at <$150 look good.

And anandtech.com does GPU reviews? Since when?

 

[Beer4Me]

470 launched at a horrible price point. There's absolutely no reason to buy it over a RX480. If you're considering the two, don't. Just get 480, and call it a day. As everyone else mentioned, MSRP should've been $149.99 on this thing. WTG AMD.

 

[Face2Face]

From TPU's review. I think they are typically better/more thorough than Tom's Hardware.

And again: where is Anandtech?

I don't know, I think Tom's review is a bit more in-depth when testing everything else, but games. TPU reviews are great because the number of games they test, but who knows how old those numbers really are...

 

[littleg]

So the stock 480 does 21% better according to TPU's 1080p performance index than the stock 470. And the 480 only costs 11% more at MSRP prices.

The 470 is incredibly bad value for the money.

It doesn't really cost $20 more though, does it? In reality it's $60 more because there's no 4GB 480s anywhere in stock ever at $200.

It's almost the same things as NV did with their MSRP shenanigans and it sucks.

 

[therealnickdanger]

Unless there's simply no intention of selling any more 4GB 480s (at least at $200). It makes sense that way. $179 - $200 470, $240 - $300 480. Bait and switch.

That's certainly how it looks. I wouldn't go as far as to claim bait and switch. Nothing prevents us from buying the RX480 4GB for $199 (except stock at the moment).

 

[Glo.]

So the stock 480 does 21% better according to TPU's 1080p performance index than the stock 470. And the 480 only costs 11% more at MSRP prices.

The 470 is incredibly bad value for the money.

Nope. https://www.computerbase.de/2016-08/radeon-rx-470-test/

Look at PowerColor Red Devil. 179$ at newegg. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131696&cm_re=RX_470-_-14-131-696-_-Product

RX 480 is 8% faster at 10% higher cost.

 

[Sonikku]

It's not $150!!!


Called it.