With specifications that peg it as comparable in power, but far more efficient than the R9 390, AMD also twinned up two of the $200 (£140) cards against a Nvidia GTX 1080 and by all accounts they did rather well.
Advertisement
The new Radeon runs on AMD’s Polaris architecture, which features a new, smaller process that produces less heat.
Ahead of the AMD’s Computex 2016 keynote event that has scheduled multiple announcements, the company sent out an e-mail to the press, teasing its first graphics card based on the Polaris architecture. Or, at least that was the case until today, when AMD unveiled its new $199 RX 480, Polaris-based GPU, created to bring virtual reality to the masses. The RX 480’s extraordinarily low retail price for its performance and low power draw are likely to turn it into one of the most popular cards on the market. The device will be available in two SKUs depending on memory capacity either 4GB or 8GB that eventually has a bus width of 256-bit. The incredible bit is that it does this powered by only a single six-pin power connector for a great deal less money. With high-end virtual reality headsets like Oculus Rift and HTC Vive already costing $599 and $799, respectively, the price of the new RX 480 may be enticing to more budget-conscious users.
These entry-level CPUs now use the same mobile-optimized “Excavator” cores that AMD’s higher end CPUs use, including the new Bristol Ridge ones.
The AMD Radeon RX 480 will sport 36 Compute Units which makes it 2304 streaming processors.
In a notable market survey, price was a leading barrier to adoption of VR.2 The $199 starting SEP for select Radeon RX Series GPUs is an integral part of AMD’s strategy to dramatically accelerate VR adoption and unleash the VR software ecosystem. AMD may finally show computer enthusiasts the new GPUs that are Polaris 10 and Polaris 11. According to AMD, the RX 480 will be able to deliver a virtual reality gaming experience comparable to that offered by $500 rivals.
Advertisement
If anything, AMD have now completely lowered the bar for entering into VR from scratch. By leading with a 480 that doesn’t match the 1080 or even AMD’s own 390X, the company is emphasizing the power-per-dollar ratio of its technology compared to the competition.
