Does the RX 480 have vapor chamber cooling?

[hsjj3]

But guys, what did he mean when he said this?

Hear here: https://youtu.be/0gN7oIubcVk?t=10m32s

He mentions "built like a $500 premium card...the thermal solution of it, the airflow of it...designed like a really really expensive high end card"

Edit: Btw, that Nano cooler looks so sleek. I wish more ITX cards will have such a cooler design.

 

[Yakk]

Looks like AMD kept the reference Fury type look and materials with the FX480 (less the water cooling). So yes, we can say the RX480 is built like the more expensive cards. Also sounded to like a slight gibe at nvidia charging an extra $100 for their reference cards.

As for the Nano cooler, yeah I like it also, I'm sure AMD will use it also in future HBM cards.

 

[maddie]

while the ref in this case I think will be fine for normal use, if you want to do any over clocking at all you will want an aftermarket design. Maybe with a 8 pin power connector

Why do you say 8 pin is needed? I hope you're not thinking this card needs 150W at stock.

 

[MrTeal]

while the ref in this case I think will be fine for normal use, if you want to do any over clocking at all you will want an aftermarket design. Maybe with a 8 pin power connector

An 8-pin connector can carry pretty much exactly the same amount of current as a 6-pin connector. The need for the 8-pin is purely a standards thing; when they first added PCIe power it was 6-pin with three positive pins, the center +12V line was optional, and it was specified for 75W. When they quickly realized that 75W wasn't enough they bumped it to 150W and made the center pin mandatory so you had the full 3 positive conductors, which is still way under the actual connector spec (@12V most 6-pin Minifit Jr connectors are rated for 288W @ 125C). The problem was you couldn't guarantee that all the PSUs out there at the time could provide 150W out of their PCIe power connectors. That's especially true of old marginal OEM PSUs. So the updated spec introduced the 8-pin connector, which is just a 6-pin connector with an extra ground and a sense line on the extra two pins. All it does is short the extra ground and sense line together to let the card know it's attached to a power supply that can provide 150W on the plug. It's kind of useless, since no half decent PSU made in the last decade couldn't provide 150W on their 6 pin.

tl;dr, 6-pin vs 8-pin is purely an ATX spec thing. There's no real electrical difference between them that would limit overclocking.

 

[boozzer]

An 8-pin connector can carry pretty much exactly the same amount of current as a 6-pin connector. The need for the 8-pin is purely a standards thing; when they first added PCIe power it was 6-pin with three positive pins, the center +12V line was optional, and it was specified for 75W. When they quickly realized that 75W wasn't enough they bumped it to 150W and made the center pin mandatory so you had the full 3 positive conductors, which is still way under the actual connector spec (@12V most 6-pin Minifit Jr connectors are rated for 288W @ 125C). The problem was you couldn't guarantee that all the PSUs out there at the time could provide 150W out of their PCIe power connectors. That's especially true of old marginal OEM PSUs. So the updated spec introduced the 8-pin connector, which is just a 6-pin connector with an extra ground and a sense line on the extra two pins. All it does is short the extra ground and sense line together to let the card know it's attached to a power supply that can provide 150W on the plug. It's kind of useless, since no half decent PSU made in the last decade couldn't provide 150W on their 6 pin.

tl;dr, 6-pin vs 8-pin is purely an ATX spec thing. There's no real electrical difference between them that would limit overclocking.

that is a very informed post. :thumbsup:

 

[lehtv]

that is a very informed post. :thumbsup:

Agreed, very good info. :thumbsup:

 

[Azix]

Unfortunately, almost everyone. If you send a crappy reference card to all the review sites, that becomes the defining image of the series. Just take a look at the Hawaii launch.

if they make that mistake again. I am expecting they launch partner cards at the same time. Leave reference to oems. If they dont do that, they learned nothing.

Nothing beats having multiple partner cards reviewed over and over near launch. Maximum reach. People are probably still putting out 1080 reviews one day with asus, another with msi, another day with evga.

I would say I dont expect it to run hot with reference cooler, but its a smaller chip so that <150W can still be hot. But the vapor chamber clearly did not do much for the 1080.

 

[Sonikku]

Why are reference coolers usually equipped with tiny fans that are loud as hell? I remember getting a x1950xt back in the day and good god I had to slap a Zalman on that PRONTO.

 

[Mopetar]

Why are reference coolers usually equipped with tiny fans that are loud as hell? I remember getting a x1950xt back in the day and good god I had to slap a Zalman on that PRONTO.

Because using cheaper parts means more money.

You'd almost think that AMD and NV should just contract out their reference designs to one of the third party manufacturers so they at least get some better cooling designs.

 

[ElFenix]

AMD's blowers didn't get noisy until the 7970 Ghz Ed onwards.

i dunno, my 1900xt's blower was pretty darn loud. hard to imagine that *not* being considered noisy. the 4870's blower was much better.

 

[MrTeal]

i dunno, my 1900xt's blower was pretty darn loud. hard to imagine that *not* being considered noisy. the 4870's blower was much better.

My 5970's weren't exactly silent either.