Disclosure: This review unit is provided by Gigabyte VGA.
A little refresher…
The AMD Radeon RX 480 uses Ellesmere Polaris 10 core based on the 14nm FinFET process. Both the 4GB and 8GB variants use 256-bit GDDR5 memory at 8Gbps. With a total of 2304 shader processors and 150w TDP for its reference variant and power draw from a six-pin cable, it looks to be a decent option to enable gamers for good performance. Contrary to the RX 480 leaks, this card goes head-to-head with the GTX 1060 (which Nvidia says it matches GTX 980). As you’ll expect, this is aimed towards 1080p and 1440p display users. While the RX 480 also has a 4GB variant, choosing 8GB GDDR5 makes sense for that future proofing. I am not sure why AMD decided to have a 4GB variant. I am also not sure why Nvidia decided to have a 3GB GDDR5 GTX 1060 as well.
The Gigabyte RX 480 G1 Gaming uses a WindForce 2x cooling system with three copper heatpipes directly touching the core. The extra power draw is via its eight-pin PCIe power port. While the reference edition does not have the DVI-D (strange) by default, there is a provision for its AIB manufacturers. Yes, DVI is old and HDMI/Display Port is convenient. But many users still have DVI-I only 1080p panels, including those running gaming cafes. The graphic card is reasonably sized for its class. It does have a minor factory overclock. Gigabyte VGA made a good impression with its GeForce lineup. So let’s see how their Radeon lineups are.
Packaging Impressions
The packaging should do a good job of protecting the graphic card, typically with Gigabyte graphic cards. There are no accessories or add-ons included. None of those Molex adapters. No display driver too. It makes sense as you should download the latest drivers instead. All Gigabyte VGA needs to do is provide a good case badge just like with its motherboards.
Gigabyte also has RGB lighting for its logo on the card, and also chooses the best core on the card to ensure better overclocking (Hence “GPU Gauntlet”). No different from what Gigabyte would offer with its GeForce lineups. The card is adequately protected.
The RX 480 G1 Gaming’s specs are as follows:
| Chipset | Radeon RX480 |
| Core Clock | 1290 MHz |
| Process Technology | 14 nm |
| Memory Clock | 8,000 MHz |
| Memory Size | 8 GB |
| Memory Type | GDDR5 |
| Memory Bus | 256 bit |
| Card Bus | PCI-E 3.0 x 16 |
| Output |
|
| Digital max resolution | 7680×4320 |
| Multi-view | 5 |
| Card size | H=40 L=232 W=116 mm |
| PCB Form | ATX |
| DirectX | 12 |
| OpenGL | 4.5 |
| Power requirement | 500W |
| Power Connectors | 8 pin*1 |
Just like Pascal cards, RX 480 supports DX12 and OpenGL 4.5. The card is 9.13” long and a dual-slot configuration. This will go nicely with many older miniITX cases with lesser length provided for the GPU.
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