The AMD Radeon RX 580 & RX 570 Review: A Second Path to Polaris
by Ryan Smith on April 18, 2017 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
- AMD
- Radeon
- Polaris
- Radeon RX 500
Meet the Cards: PowerColor & Sapphire
For today's launch, AMD sampled us a pair of partner cards: PowerColor's Red Devil Radeon RX 580 8GB, and Sapphire's Nitro+ RX 570. The Red Devil RX 580 sports a modest factory overclock, while the Nitro+ 570 takes comes with a more aggressive factory overclock.
| Radeon RX 500 Series Cards | ||||||
| PowerColor Red Devil RX 580 | Radeon RX 580 (Reference) |
Sapphire Nitro+ RX 570 | Radeon RX 570 (Reference) |
|||
| Boost Clock | 1380MHz | 1340MHz | 1340MHz | 1244MHz | ||
| Memory Clock | 8Gbps | 8Gbps | 7Gbps | 7Gbps | ||
| VRAM | 8GB | 8GB | 4GB | 4GB | ||
| TBP | 220W? | 185W | 195W | 150W | ||
| Length | 9.5" | N/A | 10.5" | N/A | ||
| Width | Double Slot | N/A | Double Slot | N/A | ||
| Cooler Type | Open Air | N/A | Open Air | N/A | ||
| Price | $249 | $229 | $199 | $169 | ||
Both of the cards are relatively typical for a custom, factory overclocked design. Along with their overclocks, they feature a dual fan open air cooler. PowerColor is charging a $20 premium on their card, while Sapphire makes that $30 for the Nitro+ RX 570.
PowerColor Red Devil Radeon RX 580
Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX 570
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Ryan Smith - Tuesday, April 18, 2017 - link
While 1680MHz would be fantastic, in this case it's meant to be 1360MHz. Thanks for the heads up.Shadowmaster625 - Tuesday, April 18, 2017 - link
The powercolor card pulls 100 watts more than the 1060 yet gets totally destroyed by the 1060 in BF4 and GTA V. AMD is a shakespearean tragedy.docbones - Tuesday, April 18, 2017 - link
So wait for Vega then.HomeworldFound - Tuesday, April 18, 2017 - link
"So wait for Vega then." Who says they're going to execute Vega any better than their recent history.MajGenRelativity - Tuesday, April 18, 2017 - link
I think AMD committed two blunders here.1. These should have been called 485/475/465/450, and not in the 500 series. OEM's still get their shiny new cards for consumers, but it doesn't look as bad to people expecting something more different from an entirely new series number.
2. AMD completely threw out power efficiency, and their partners seem to be taking that even further. I understand that Polaris wasn't as power efficient as Pascal, but it did come fairly close. This refresh seems to completely abandon AMD's previous message of power efficiency.
That being said, I will definitely put these cards in people's computers because of price/performance. I just feel like AMD could have done a bit better.
Drumsticks - Tuesday, April 18, 2017 - link
As somebody who has a 480 in their PC right now, I'm not sure. I was looking at a build for a friend last night, and was surprised to learn you can pick up a 6GB 1060 Zotac Mini for about $219. It's not going to win any 1060 performance awards, but it has performance in the realm of the FE (probably not lower), which makes it an impressive play from Nvidia in price/$. It looks like a good deal compared to what you see here.I really hope Vega pans out. I don't see any reason for it to be as disappointing as the 500 series; I think it has a chance. At possibly 225W and on a new Arch, it should eclipse the 1080 easily (remember it's on HBM2 with the noted power savings), and maybe be at the least a value spoiler for the 1080 Ti.
MajGenRelativity - Tuesday, April 18, 2017 - link
I'll definitely be keeping an eye on the market as I hold no allegiance to either side. I do share your hopes for Vega :)sonicmerlin - Sunday, May 7, 2017 - link
They were close? The 1070 uses less power than the 480 and is 50% faster.theangryintern - Tuesday, April 18, 2017 - link
Anyone know the feasibility of doing CrossFire with a 480 and a 580?Flunk - Tuesday, April 18, 2017 - link
Just buy a 480 when they fire-sale them and spare yourself the hassle.