Why do you guys cut away so quickly from graphs while Tom speaks? We don't need to see Tom's face so much, you can keep the graphs up and let Tom talk for a while. I'm speaking about the instance at 12:19 in particular. You cut away from the graph too soon, and for what? So we can see Tom talk to us? I mean he even specifically says "as you can see here" but by then the graph is already gone. If he's going to verbally point out something on the graph, at least keep the graph up for that point. :)
my rx 480 nitro + oc takes about 130-140 watts in valley benchmark and holds its boost clock at 1342 all the time. fan were max on 43% and 1800rpm. temperatur was max 77°C and voltage was all the time at 1.150V
Based on how aerodynamics work I think that if you remove one of two fans and cover the hole with some sticky tape the cooler will be more effective and less noisy. Having two fans on a cooler like this causes no airflow on the middle of the card because the fans pushes air one against the other. A coolers like this sould have only one fan on the middle just like gtx 690.
I'm a real Silence freak and yet i brought this card before seeing your review.. and i'm glad i did.. At desktop it's silent as the fans don't spin, in games there's just a gentle woosh sound coming from the fans.. infact my 2x 140mm corsair fans running around 50% are nosier.. even with these fans turned off i could barley hear this card with the case closed.. I think they have either updated the drivers, you had a bad card or Your just insanely fussy about noise. Temps are about 69-75C at full load.. but my case temps haven't risen.. Love your reviews BTW.
after watching your review I purchased this card and it is really awesome and yes its loud noise is fixed , I can barely hear any fan voice on full load plus temp stays to 75c on oc to 1360 clocm and 2230 memory , ambient temperature is 30c.
Quite surprised by the heat and noise from a Sapphire card, always been the opposite from my personal experience. Hope they can work out the kinks by the time their Vega cards come out.
Extremely happy with mine and have overclocked to 1450MHz with 2150MHz ram speeds.All my games run on maximum settings, v-synce & Nvidia stuff off with no problems.I see no reason for me to get a AMD Vega card as my monitor's only 1080P.
Tom, look, once i get those xray vision bionic contact lenses implanted i won't mind your overlay being in the way of text but until then please make sure all text is above your overlay. (Just giving you a hard time I seriously have no idea what was said after the fan noise test).
I really hate one thing lately, the R9 390 is almost NEVER in the tests.. :( I got Sapphires's R9 390 8 Gb Nitro card, it makes less noise then the rest of my system, I cant hear it most of the time.. :D but it has a MASSIVE cooler and 3 fans so maybe they just doesnt have to work as hard, temsp are 65 - 76 degree's C depending on what I play. :) I had MASSIVE issues in Fallout 4 all year almost, but that got fixed now, I was starting to think my card was faulty just as my old 970 was, but it seems it was just fallout 4 or a driver problem because now its just fine, even managed to overclock it some without any issues. :) I got a Corsair 650D Chassi with the stock fan setup. :)
Without looking at any writing, for the longest time I thought his name was Tony Tom Logan. Until I realized his British accent caused tiny to sound like Tony.
I think when I get this card in October, the cooling won't be a issue at all in my NZXT Phantom 820 case at all. I'm upgrading it's case fans next week to Bitfenix Spectre Pro red led's. I'm gonna have a front 200mm. intake, 2 lower font bottom 140mm. intake, 1 140mm. pivot fan as intake blowing towards the video card, a 200mm. side panel intake, a 140mm. rear exhaust and my Arctic Liquid Freezer 240 at the top is in push/pull exhaust. The Arctic Liquid Freezer is going to be upgraded to a EKWB EK Predator XLC 140 QDC in push/pull exhaust in December or January.
Had some odd issues with my sapphire 470 with the fans ramping to full once it hits the target temp (75c in my case) but fiddling with the fan speeds in wattman and rebooting seems to fix it, at least for a while. Have been torture testing it now for 3 days straight and they haven't gone over 55% or so despite very hot weather. At 55% or so the fan noise is negligible.
which one did you had, i had the 280x toxic and the main little middle fan was shit the vapor x cooler was/is MUCH better it had 3 same size fans little better contact plate and it ran quieter and the temps were lower the only bad thing was it didnt had a back plate
wakesake I had a Tri-X one (same color as toxic but with less OC), the temperature went up to 80-ish during benchmarks for some reason but during gaming it never went over 70. The thing died on me last week and now I'm waiting for RX 470 replacement.
Warzey yeah i know which one you mean, and i think that when you used synthetic benchmarking the card knew that and just to get better scores it run hotter and louder while in gaming stayed very cool Mine did the same thing the toxic one here is a nice thread about it www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/zardon/sapphire-r9-280x-toxic-edition-oc-3gb-review/20/ i would recommend the 480 instead of the 470 if you would like a nice step up from your 280x/380x
It would be nice if I could find a EKWB block for this video card to add to my EKWB XLC Predator 240 1.1. You need to up the power clock and use a custom fan curve with this card for overclocking it further.
I live in a hot country (Indonesia). It was 34C outside my house when I first got this card, and my PC case is a compact one (Corsair 88R) with H100i v2 as front intake radiator. The temp of this card under full load was 89C. Then I tested the card in a cooler ambient temperature, and the lowest I could get was 82-83C. A bit disappointed temperature-wise, but satisfied in terms of performance and aesthetics.
The problem with the fans is that they will be replaced more than on older generations and that screw directly into plastic means it will eventually strip out/wear out. At least they could have inserted a metal piece there.
I've had this card for about 2 weeks now and haven't noticed any fan noise except when I've messed with the rpms to see what it sounds like and find a custom rpm curve that I feel comfortable with. The "automatic" setting for the fans is pretty pathetic as the fans don't really start to do anything until about 60 degrees and then it ramps up pretty fast from there. As I mentioned, you can set a custom curve for it where the fan will be running at say 10% at 50c and then 20% at 60c and so on, so that's more helpful than just being locked in to the automatic settings. All of that being said, I have some loud, old case fans so this thing is pretty quiet in my setup. The newer drivers fixed a lot of issues this card was having and it's been running beautifully for me.
7:35 Exactly my thoughts, it's got what appears to be 2 92mm fans with wide high pitch blades - which means their static pressure while probably decent, is nowhere near as high as a blower's pressure. So WHY Sapphire? I look at the cooler on my Gigabyte G1 Gaming GTX 980 Ti (Bought for just $355 USD off eBay just a bit over a month ago, and runs PERFECTLY at 1503 in all games, 8 GHZ effective VRAM, NEVER gets hotter than 65 C!) - And I cannot get over how INCREDIBLY well engineered it is! And the FANS - sure they are "only" 80mm, 3 of them, well their blades are awesome, even at 100% they aren't as loud as the reference blower is at just 55% - and they REALLY move air, with 100% being around 3500 RPM. Even with my aggressive curve, they never get above 76% and my GPU never gets above 65, and that only happens after running Valley for a good 5 loops. In actual gaming, I RARELY see above 62 degrees! With all 6 heatpipes making direct contact with GPU and VRAM alike, and even the VRMs are connected to the cooler! And then there are the Fins - REALLY amazing design! An upper layer that has wider spaced double fins that are offset, and halfway down towards the PCB, the fins become tightly packed. And VERY UNLIKE This Sapphire card, the fins vent out the sides, which allows the PLENTY of airflow for dissipation, and with a case like my Corsair Carbide C200R with 8 case fans ( 5 blowing in 3 out) - all the GPU's hot air is quickly pushed out the top of my case. What surprised me a bit, was having gone from a GTX 770 with the Metal Titan Style reference cooler (which I have heard is hard to find on a 770) - which exhausts all GPU heat directly out the back of the case - is that even though - now my GPU dumps all its heat into my case, my CPU Temps have NOT Increased! And to be certain, I DO air cool, with a CM Hyper 212 EVO, which has 2x Corsair SP120 performance edition fans, with a high airflow 96 CFM Antec fan directly behind the heatsink, so my CPU ejects all of its heat directly out the back. When I am gaming, unlike with my old 770, I can now FEEL the hot air coming out of my top 2 140mm fans which blow out. But my CPU seems TOTALLY unaffected by this heat! I think that is because my case side has 2x Corsair AF140 fans blowing in one of which is positioned so that it blows fresh air RIGHT into the intake of my Hyper 212 EVO. Similarly I have another Corsair SP120 on the bottom of my case blowing directly up into my GPU, and the lower 140mm on my case side also blows directly onto my GPU, then I have 2x 120mm fans at the front of the case blowing in as well, the bottom of which blows a breeze, again, right into my GPU fans!
9:20 NO Gigabyte Cards?! It's funny, before my recent purchase (G1 Gaming GTX 980 Ti) I never really thought too highly of Gigabyte because I have had some shoddy Mobos from them in the (now distant, talking Phenom 2 era) past that had tons of issues. But when looking at reviewers such as yourselves at OC3D as well as MANY other similar sites, I have found that the Gigabyte G1 Gaming GTX 980 Ti tends to manually OC better than even the likes of Zotac's AMP! Extreme, MSI's Gaming 6G Golden, and even EVGA Classified! And by a good deal in many cases! Which is funny because the Zotac, and MSI both come faster out of the box, and in the case of the Zotac AMP Extreme, uses a MASSIVE 3 slot, 3x 92mm fans cooler, and the MSI uses 2x 100mm fans. Both have Memory OC out of the box, where the G1 Gaming does not. But when it comes down to MANUAL tweaking, the G1 Gaming wins out, ESPECIALLY in VRAM OC, and I think the reason for that is 2 fold, the really good cooling of the VRAM chips, as well as the EXCLUSIVE use of SK Hynix "Tier 1" GDDR5 memory. But then it ALSO tends to go farther on core clocks, especially with some over voltage - which it handles EASILY! Running +25mv on mine, and staying at 1503 core in all games at all times. Where the G1 Gaming's cooler is rated for "600 Watt thermal dissipation" Zotac's AMP Extreme cooler in what appears to be an attempt at oneupmanship, is rated for 750 watts of thermal dissipation. Well whatever the case the G1 Gaming is faster AND cooler for more people. Obviously Silicon Lottery has a bit to do with it of course, which is why I went to a good 15 reviews that did manual over clocking on all the Top Tier GTX 980 Ti's.
Dirt was spinning my fans up pretty high 6 months ago on a R9 280X crossfire build and running hot. I reinstalled and ran the bench again and now it runs beautifully. Ultra setting, 2560x1440, 74C #1, 65C #2, 76 FPS avg, 41 FPS min. They've clearly been optimizing this game (as they should for AMD) so I don't think you can blame the game for the fan issues.
I picked up the 4GB model for 200 pounds, for the money the performance is amazing the fans are the only weak point as it's abit loud at default settings but if you mess around with the power limit and cap the fan speeds it can be made to be reasonably quiet and still perform like a beast. The default 2300rpm fan limit will make your computer sound like an air conditioner unit under load but that's the compromise you pay for a cheaper card.
nice review here. Currently thinking of getting a 480 but unsure if I should get this one or the Xfx Oc one. Wondering after these few weeks have they managed to make the fans quieter now though an update or if it still running the same as in the video? heard that xfx/ Amd has address the problem with their own product but how about the one in the video? Also is it worth an extra £30 for the Sapphire one?
Could it have been poor application of thermal paste from the factory I wonder? I have run into that issue personally from a few XFX cards I have used in the past.
though for the loudness? if u got an AMD CPU w/reference heatsink/fan I don't think you'd notice the fan noise off the GPU of that one or like if you got an older noisy power supply, some people have an older reliable PSU from before the 80+ days
Constant logos at the bottom right and bottom left really detract from the video when graphs/other text is up. Consider just having them up for the beginning and end of videos
Yeah, mine is getting up into the low 80s Not actually sure if it's in silent mode though. I haven't changed the switch. Not sure how it come from the factory. But It's a pretty good upgrade from my 7870 which was much louder at the same temps.
Hi Tom, really liked ur review vid. Especially abt the balls-fondling part. LOL. Just a question regarding the noise issue. There have been conflicting views on whether that, even a good case with proper noise dampening, would still be audible. I have an ongoing Fractual Design Node 804 gaming rig with quietness as one of the priorities. Also I have read on reddit that this Nitro card is the loudest of all Radeon cards. Is it really that bad? Here, in Japan, it cost ard USD 350 so I really need to get ur advice before I commit to purchasing one. Thx and keep up the good work!
DerisiveLaughter I heard that's because the Powercolor still has a bugged Bios which only lets you increase the Power Target by +5% which is basically nothing also the Devil is way quieter than the Nitro. It would be nice if OC3D would compare them ;)
ExtremeRampage idk at this point oc3d is a shril of a tech news channel the dude is obviously bought by nvidia. he has the rear fan set to intake...... zero companies suggest this and tell you to do the opposite he is the ONLY person doing reviews where his nitro rx480 is as high as the reference card for fuck sake. it doesn't take a genius to figure out he is choking the gpu with his shitty fan configuration.
Yeah, right now I'm thinking about either the PowerColour or MSI card. I actually think the MSI one might end up being the best from what I've heard. Pitty Sapphire messed up big time, I wanted to buy their card, but there's no way I'm buying this.
the devil bois bugg isn't a bug i guess they just did another bios that raises or eliminates the power regulator i think it raises it something to that effect.
when u set the Asus to the same power target as the Sapphire how is the sound of the fans and does it dissipate heat better or do you think a much more beefy card like Sapphire 390x nitro cards would take advantage of the power increase?
So I have a pair of Sapphire Dual-X Radeon 280x's. And the problem I have is that they are now obnoxiously loud under load. I have tried cleaning them and changing the thermal paste, this all helped quite a lot actually but not enough. Is there anything I can do or shall I just call it a day and buy a new, quieter card like this one? Well, not this one id choose the 1060 over this but you get my point.
I'm getting this card regardless, I have a freesync ultrawide monitor, and I need a card that can run any modern game at ultra settings at 2560^1080p. So this is obvious choice.
I did a bunch of research before I bought a card and ended up with this Sapphire card. The MSi card is supposed to have better cooling with less fan noise while the Powercolor Red Devil is supposed to have slightly better performance than this card. All of that taken into account, I liked the reputation of Sapphire with AMD cards and the performance the card offers.
Hi please help me; i like the card but just wanna know if i choose the quite bios setting will the temperature & power consumption will be noticeably lower; as there is a 50 watt different between this card and the reference hope for your help OC3D
Would sticking an aftermarket water cooler on this card to replace the fans solve all the problems and then you would have the presumably better binned GPU to overclock than the inferior ones on the non-OC card... any nice AIO cooler that fits this card?
What is the throttle temp for this card? I am experiencing some slight throttling when i hit 85c as i live in a hot climate country, so i just want to confirm if that's the throttle temp of this card.
Tom, to be honest with you!?!? Dirt Rally is the game that made me think that my 970 is having dust on the fins or something having the same problem, it was hitting 88-89 fps and the fans sounded wierd, enabling vsync and locking it to 60 fps the sound went considerably lower. and Dirt Rally is the only game that does this to my 970.
You missed the big intentional venting through the top of the back plate. That was something that Sapphire Ed made a big deal about as value add for cooling. But I guess it did not help much anyway :) Cheers, and LOL at the "massaged testicles" comment. Spot on.
In every review I saw or read, the OC version is louder and hotter. Every reviewer said that it's better to buy the non-OC 8 GB version, because it runs cooler and is just a teeny bit worse in performance. And if you want, you can OC it and get the same result for less money.
What would someone suggest for a solid RX480 card? I tend to look for acoustic performance and dual bios. I tend to go after Sapphire for AMD cards as they are often a notch above the rest but I am concerned with the sound levels for this card.
My NZXT Phantom case has good cooling, so heat isn't a issue. If I got a Asus Strixx RX 480, I would've lost room for my pivot fan that hits the video card and lower motherboard.
if you you can do a test noise for ASUS Strix rx 480 I know you're working with two test can with one to do the test and if you can test ASUS Strix rx 480 vs Sapphire nitro rx480
What about the MSI RX 480 Gaming? Also, how about using a 200mm Fan right over the graphics card to help cool it as well? Currently my MSI R9 280 Gaming runs at 58 C on Full load DOOM 1080p on High/ Ultra Graphics @ 60 fps. When I OC this to 1010 Mhz Core, 1350 Memory, it still sits at 58 C on Full load with DOOM. I'm currently looking for a good priced card that can do what my current card does, has better future compatibility, and runs at a lower temperature on games like DOOM on 1080p. I may however wait to buy a Vega 10 card. Any Suggestions?
Get a 470 8GB, it's got good performance atm and will only get better with more DX12 and Vulcan. With 8 GB you can also keep it for a longer time than any 4 or 6GB card. ^^
pSyk I personally would prefer either this card reviewed, the MSI RX 480 Gaming, or EVGA SC Gaming ACX2.0 1060. Although i am most likely going to wait until the Vega 10&11 cards come out.
I got MSI RX 480 Gaming X, its quite cool, ive set the target temp at 60 with fans rpm at 2400 when it hits the target and the graphics card indeed dont go beyond 60 even at Shadow of Mordor (the game which makes every graphics card very hot). still, theres a lot of improvement needed on drivers to improve their low minimum fps
I have a GTX 660 Ti Oc and don't want something that is louder in terms of noise, you said that with the 470 Strix. You could increase the power draw and it matches the Sapphire but still stays cooler and silent is it the same with the 480? Thank you very much for your reply, I look forward to your next video. #FeeltheAster
That's going to be up to your system honestly. If you can spare the wattage and extra heat then the Sapphire Trixx software will allow you to set the clock from the program. It's also going to depend a lot on the performance you are getting. out of it with the OC where it is. If fps is fine in most games, I would personally leave it alone.
Appreciate it mate. I do have the wattage and cooling to handle more but I doubt I'm enough of an enthusiast to notice the extra couple of frames. Best to leave it it as is.
i have 8gb version nitro + oc edition and it is never get on 79 degree i see the most high degree is 68 on gta v 3 hour gaming and thats not bad at all and when i use headphone i cant hear the fan noise and it isnt so loud
I would never buy a Zotac product just because of the higher failure rates and bad RMA service. The only place you will notice a difference in performance is in games running DX11 or older where the 1060 eeks out slightly better performance. In almost everything DX12, this card wins out by about 15-20 fps. It's up to you in the end, but I don't like the repuation of Zotac and the performance is going to be about equal.
Why do you guys cut away so quickly from graphs while Tom speaks? We don't need to see Tom's face so much, you can keep the graphs up and let Tom talk for a while. I'm speaking about the instance at 12:19 in particular. You cut away from the graph too soon, and for what? So we can see Tom talk to us? I mean he even specifically says "as you can see here" but by then the graph is already gone. If he's going to verbally point out something on the graph, at least keep the graph up for that point. :)
You can PAUSE the vid you know.
There is a new feature on youtube where you can pause the video I think
Chur I said it was PAUSE but you said it's pause, is there a difference?
Did he hurt your man ego by posting the same thing?
***** WHAT? lmfao
my rx 480 nitro + oc takes about 130-140 watts in valley benchmark and holds its boost clock at 1342 all the time.
fan were max on 43% and 1800rpm.
temperatur was max 77°C
and voltage was all the time at 1.150V
i dont know what you are talking about...
Your lucky then, mine goes up to 1330Mhz and the fans at 2600rpm and sound like a pulsating lawnmover
Papa Bear ok
Based on how aerodynamics work I think that if you remove one of two fans and cover the hole with some sticky tape the cooler will be more effective and less noisy. Having two fans on a cooler like this causes no airflow on the middle of the card because the fans pushes air one against the other. A coolers like this sould have only one fan on the middle just like gtx 690.
I'm a real Silence freak and yet i brought this card before seeing your review.. and i'm glad i did.. At desktop it's silent as the fans don't spin, in games there's just a gentle woosh sound coming from the fans.. infact my 2x 140mm corsair fans running around 50% are nosier.. even with these fans turned off i could barley hear this card with the case closed.. I think they have either updated the drivers, you had a bad card or Your just insanely fussy about noise.
Temps are about 69-75C at full load.. but my case temps haven't risen.. Love your reviews BTW.
lfc1903 just ordered mine. Thank god the noise isn't on all of them.
after watching your review I purchased this card and it is really awesome and yes its loud noise is fixed , I can barely hear any fan voice on full load plus temp stays to 75c on oc to 1360 clocm and 2230 memory , ambient temperature is 30c.
Quite surprised by the heat and noise from a Sapphire card, always been the opposite from my personal experience. Hope they can work out the kinks by the time their Vega cards come out.
Extremely happy with mine and have overclocked to 1450MHz with 2150MHz ram speeds.All my games run on maximum settings, v-synce & Nvidia stuff off with no problems.I see no reason for me to get a AMD Vega card as my monitor's only 1080P.
Good review, especially the fan noise.
this is the most honest review since the release of the Sapphire RX480. I enjoy watching your videos... and please stop cutting out your cursing =)
Thanks for video Tom! I never would have guessed these cards would be so difficult to keep cool.
Tom, look, once i get those xray vision bionic contact lenses implanted i won't mind your overlay being in the way of text but until then please make sure all text is above your overlay. (Just giving you a hard time I seriously have no idea what was said after the fan noise test).
I really hate one thing lately, the R9 390 is almost NEVER in the tests.. :( I got Sapphires's R9 390 8 Gb Nitro card, it makes less noise then the rest of my system, I cant hear it most of the time.. :D but it has a MASSIVE cooler and 3 fans so maybe they just doesnt have to work as hard, temsp are 65 - 76 degree's C depending on what I play. :) I had MASSIVE issues in Fallout 4 all year almost, but that got fixed now, I was starting to think my card was faulty just as my old 970 was, but it seems it was just fallout 4 or a driver problem because now its just fine, even managed to overclock it some without any issues. :)
I got a Corsair 650D Chassi with the stock fan setup. :)
Isn't there a bug or something with the Sapphire cards that cause them to have a way too low target temperature, hence the loudness?
Without looking at any writing, for the longest time I thought his name was Tony Tom Logan.
Until I realized his British accent caused tiny to sound like Tony.
I think when I get this card in October, the cooling won't be a issue at all in my NZXT Phantom 820 case at all.
I'm upgrading it's case fans next week to Bitfenix Spectre Pro red led's. I'm gonna have a front 200mm. intake, 2 lower font bottom 140mm. intake, 1 140mm. pivot fan as intake blowing towards the video card, a 200mm. side panel intake, a 140mm. rear exhaust and my Arctic Liquid Freezer 240 at the top is in push/pull exhaust.
The Arctic Liquid Freezer is going to be upgraded to a EKWB EK Predator XLC 140 QDC in push/pull exhaust in December or January.
That just sounds really over the top and noisey. The card should be able to cool its self.
I'm interested on if EK Water Blocks is going to come out with custom waterblocks for this card.
I am getting this one in less than a month, then 2-3 months later another one. Crossfire
I'm getting one for christmas and I am looking forward to using in. Can you chuck any games at it?
I am getting mine within a couple of days, let me know ha?
Me to!
***** Yeah the for 4gb model is enough for 1080p and some games at 1440p, I'm going to buy mine this Tuesday.
*****
It should be since the textures on the ps2 games aren't that big, I can't see that taking more than 2.5gb of vram at 4k.
Had some odd issues with my sapphire 470 with the fans ramping to full once it hits the target temp (75c in my case) but fiddling with the fan speeds in wattman and rebooting seems to fix it, at least for a while. Have been torture testing it now for 3 days straight and they haven't gone over 55% or so despite very hot weather.
At 55% or so the fan noise is negligible.
I don't know why they didn't you the tri x cooler but maybe with a 2 slot profile. That cooler was a beast.
I don't know mate, the tri-x cooler on my r9 280x was really annoyingly noisy at full load.
which one did you had, i had the 280x toxic and the main little middle fan was shit
the vapor x cooler was/is MUCH better it had 3 same size fans little better contact plate and it ran quieter and the temps were lower the only bad thing was it didnt had a back plate
Warzey a 280x uses way way more power than an rx480.
wakesake I had a Tri-X one (same color as toxic but with less OC), the temperature went up to 80-ish during benchmarks for some reason but during gaming it never went over 70. The thing died on me last week and now I'm waiting for RX 470 replacement.
Warzey yeah i know which one you mean, and i think that when you used synthetic benchmarking the card knew that and just to get better scores it run hotter and louder while in gaming stayed very cool
Mine did the same thing the toxic one
here is a nice thread about it
www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/zardon/sapphire-r9-280x-toxic-edition-oc-3gb-review/20/
i would recommend the 480 instead of the 470 if you would like a nice step up from your 280x/380x
It would be nice if I could find a EKWB block for this video card to add to my EKWB XLC Predator 240 1.1. You need to up the power clock and use a custom fan curve with this card for overclocking it further.
You missed the backplate where there is an area for the air to escape, it is not just the two sides of the card.
The very top shelf is the best. absolutely LOVE that Vulcan :) Keep the good gen coming mate.
I live in a hot country (Indonesia). It was 34C outside my house when I first got this card, and my PC case is a compact one (Corsair 88R) with H100i v2 as front intake radiator. The temp of this card under full load was 89C.
Then I tested the card in a cooler ambient temperature, and the lowest I could get was 82-83C. A bit disappointed temperature-wise, but satisfied in terms of performance and aesthetics.
The problem with the fans is that they will be replaced more than on older generations and that screw directly into plastic means it will eventually strip out/wear out. At least they could have inserted a metal piece there.
Has the loud noise been fixed?
I've had this card for about 2 weeks now and haven't noticed any fan noise except when I've messed with the rpms to see what it sounds like and find a custom rpm curve that I feel comfortable with. The "automatic" setting for the fans is pretty pathetic as the fans don't really start to do anything until about 60 degrees and then it ramps up pretty fast from there. As I mentioned, you can set a custom curve for it where the fan will be running at say 10% at 50c and then 20% at 60c and so on, so that's more helpful than just being locked in to the automatic settings. All of that being said, I have some loud, old case fans so this thing is pretty quiet in my setup. The newer drivers fixed a lot of issues this card was having and it's been running beautifully for me.
Teemo4Life mine is super quiet. even on full blast they are not loud
Teemo4Life I have two of these cards and I don't know what he is talking about.
7:35 Exactly my thoughts, it's got what appears to be 2 92mm fans with wide high pitch blades - which means their static pressure while probably decent, is nowhere near as high as a blower's pressure.
So WHY Sapphire?
I look at the cooler on my Gigabyte G1 Gaming GTX 980 Ti (Bought for just $355 USD off eBay just a bit over a month ago, and runs PERFECTLY at 1503 in all games, 8 GHZ effective VRAM, NEVER gets hotter than 65 C!) - And I cannot get over how INCREDIBLY well engineered it is! And the FANS - sure they are "only" 80mm, 3 of them, well their blades are awesome, even at 100% they aren't as loud as the reference blower is at just 55% - and they REALLY move air, with 100% being around 3500 RPM. Even with my aggressive curve, they never get above 76% and my GPU never gets above 65, and that only happens after running Valley for a good 5 loops. In actual gaming, I RARELY see above 62 degrees!
With all 6 heatpipes making direct contact with GPU and VRAM alike, and even the VRMs are connected to the cooler! And then there are the Fins - REALLY amazing design! An upper layer that has wider spaced double fins that are offset, and halfway down towards the PCB, the fins become tightly packed.
And VERY UNLIKE This Sapphire card, the fins vent out the sides, which allows the PLENTY of airflow for dissipation, and with a case like my Corsair Carbide C200R with 8 case fans ( 5 blowing in 3 out) - all the GPU's hot air is quickly pushed out the top of my case.
What surprised me a bit, was having gone from a GTX 770 with the Metal Titan Style reference cooler (which I have heard is hard to find on a 770) - which exhausts all GPU heat directly out the back of the case - is that even though - now my GPU dumps all its heat into my case, my CPU Temps have NOT Increased!
And to be certain, I DO air cool, with a CM Hyper 212 EVO, which has 2x Corsair SP120 performance edition fans, with a high airflow 96 CFM Antec fan directly behind the heatsink, so my CPU ejects all of its heat directly out the back.
When I am gaming, unlike with my old 770, I can now FEEL the hot air coming out of my top 2 140mm fans which blow out. But my CPU seems TOTALLY unaffected by this heat! I think that is because my case side has 2x Corsair AF140 fans blowing in one of which is positioned so that it blows fresh air RIGHT into the intake of my Hyper 212 EVO.
Similarly I have another Corsair SP120 on the bottom of my case blowing directly up into my GPU, and the lower 140mm on my case side also blows directly onto my GPU, then I have 2x 120mm fans at the front of the case blowing in as well, the bottom of which blows a breeze, again, right into my GPU fans!
9:20 NO Gigabyte Cards?!
It's funny, before my recent purchase (G1 Gaming GTX 980 Ti) I never really thought too highly of Gigabyte because I have had some shoddy Mobos from them in the (now distant, talking Phenom 2 era) past that had tons of issues.
But when looking at reviewers such as yourselves at OC3D as well as MANY other similar sites, I have found that the Gigabyte G1 Gaming GTX 980 Ti tends to manually OC better than even the likes of Zotac's AMP! Extreme, MSI's Gaming 6G Golden, and even EVGA Classified! And by a good deal in many cases!
Which is funny because the Zotac, and MSI both come faster out of the box, and in the case of the Zotac AMP Extreme, uses a MASSIVE 3 slot, 3x 92mm fans cooler, and the MSI uses 2x 100mm fans. Both have Memory OC out of the box, where the G1 Gaming does not.
But when it comes down to MANUAL tweaking, the G1 Gaming wins out, ESPECIALLY in VRAM OC, and I think the reason for that is 2 fold, the really good cooling of the VRAM chips, as well as the EXCLUSIVE use of SK Hynix "Tier 1" GDDR5 memory.
But then it ALSO tends to go farther on core clocks, especially with some over voltage - which it handles EASILY! Running +25mv on mine, and staying at 1503 core in all games at all times.
Where the G1 Gaming's cooler is rated for "600 Watt thermal dissipation" Zotac's AMP Extreme cooler in what appears to be an attempt at oneupmanship, is rated for 750 watts of thermal dissipation. Well whatever the case the G1 Gaming is faster AND cooler for more people. Obviously Silicon Lottery has a bit to do with it of course, which is why I went to a good 15 reviews that did manual over clocking on all the Top Tier GTX 980 Ti's.
Why do you have the mic in the case with the door closed, shouldn't it be hung outside the door for real world results? Doesn't make sense to me.
Dirt was spinning my fans up pretty high 6 months ago on a R9 280X crossfire build and running hot. I reinstalled and ran the bench again and now it runs beautifully. Ultra setting, 2560x1440, 74C #1, 65C #2, 76 FPS avg, 41 FPS min. They've clearly been optimizing this game (as they should for AMD) so I don't think you can blame the game for the fan issues.
I picked up the 4GB model for 200 pounds, for the money the performance is amazing the fans are the only weak point as it's abit loud at default settings but if you mess around with the power limit and cap the fan speeds it can be made to be reasonably quiet and still perform like a beast. The default 2300rpm fan limit will make your computer sound like an air conditioner unit under load but that's the compromise you pay for a cheaper card.
why does I see other sapphire rx480 4gb with different box.?
The picture is the same but its in a Portrait orientation..
nice review here. Currently thinking of getting a 480 but unsure if I should get this one or the Xfx Oc one. Wondering after these few weeks have they managed to make the fans quieter now though an update or if it still running the same as in the video?
heard that xfx/ Amd has address the problem with their own product but how about the one in the video?
Also is it worth an extra £30 for the Sapphire one?
Could it have been poor application of thermal paste from the factory I wonder? I have run into that issue personally from a few XFX cards I have used in the past.
"massaging the testicles of amd fans" dude that was epic !! lmao
Once again a great video, are you going to be reviewing any of the newer 1080s maybe the evga hybrid?
though for the loudness? if u got an AMD CPU w/reference heatsink/fan I don't think you'd notice the fan noise off the GPU of that one or like if you got an older noisy power supply, some people have an older reliable PSU from before the 80+ days
Constant logos at the bottom right and bottom left really detract from the video when graphs/other text is up. Consider just having them up for the beginning and end of videos
maybe that s why you can screw out the fans to changing them later for less noise
Yeah, mine is getting up into the low 80s Not actually sure if it's in silent mode though. I haven't changed the switch. Not sure how it come from the factory. But It's a pretty good upgrade from my 7870 which was much louder at the same temps.
Hi Tom, really liked ur review vid. Especially abt the balls-fondling part. LOL. Just a question regarding the noise issue. There have been conflicting views on whether that, even a good case with proper noise dampening, would still be audible. I have an ongoing Fractual Design Node 804 gaming rig with quietness as one of the priorities. Also I have read on reddit that this Nitro card is the loudest of all Radeon cards. Is it really that bad? Here, in Japan, it cost ard USD 350 so I really need to get ur advice before I commit to purchasing one. Thx and keep up the good work!
Once again Tom you hit the nail on the head! So my question for you is if this card was water cooled it would be awesome about $100.00 US right?
love the fan noise test major selling point for me
Can you make a Review of the Powercolor Red Devil RX 480 please, i think it's one of the best if not the best RX 480.
i've seen better overclocks(higher and more stable) with the nitro than i have with the power devil, the nitro also has better components.
DerisiveLaughter I heard that's because the Powercolor still has a bugged Bios which only lets you increase the Power Target by +5% which is basically nothing also the Devil is way quieter than the Nitro.
It would be nice if OC3D would compare them ;)
ExtremeRampage
idk at this point oc3d is a shril of a tech news channel the dude is obviously bought by nvidia. he has the rear fan set to intake...... zero companies suggest this and tell you to do the opposite he is the ONLY person doing reviews where his nitro rx480 is as high as the reference card for fuck sake. it doesn't take a genius to figure out he is choking the gpu with his shitty fan configuration.
Yeah, right now I'm thinking about either the PowerColour or MSI card. I actually think the MSI one might end up being the best from what I've heard. Pitty Sapphire messed up big time, I wanted to buy their card, but there's no way I'm buying this.
the devil bois bugg isn't a bug i guess they just did another bios that raises or eliminates the power regulator i think it raises it something to that effect.
when u set the Asus to the same power target as the Sapphire how is the sound of the fans and does it dissipate heat better or do you think a much more beefy card like Sapphire 390x nitro cards would take advantage of the power increase?
So I have a pair of Sapphire Dual-X Radeon 280x's. And the problem I have is that they are now obnoxiously loud under load. I have tried cleaning them and changing the thermal paste, this all helped quite a lot actually but not enough. Is there anything I can do or shall I just call it a day and buy a new, quieter card like this one? Well, not this one id choose the 1060 over this but you get my point.
The heatsink isn't big enough and it's shroud also isn't open enough.
Can you please do a noise comparison between the MSI Gaming X and the Nitro???
I'm getting this card regardless, I have a freesync ultrawide monitor, and I need a card that can run any modern game at ultra settings at 2560^1080p. So this is obvious choice.
The MSI version was £300 and i ordered this one for £225. I think a bit of noise hardly cancels out the price difference.
i just got a club 3d hd7870 and its loud but fast at 1050p.. good vid as always..
making a rx480 aftermarket roundup? in benchmarks so we know what the best rx480 is?
+M this looks like the best 480 card on the market.
The Powercolor Red Devil to date is the best RX 480.
I did a bunch of research before I bought a card and ended up with this Sapphire card. The MSi card is supposed to have better cooling with less fan noise while the Powercolor Red Devil is supposed to have slightly better performance than this card. All of that taken into account, I liked the reputation of Sapphire with AMD cards and the performance the card offers.
I have a blower-style GTX 670. I bet this is quieter and I know it's more powerful. Might end up gettin it.
Hi thanks for this review will order one of these been looking for a upgrade from my 960. What is that case ? would love one of them thanks
Hi
please help me; i like the card but just wanna know
if i choose the quite bios setting will the temperature & power consumption will be noticeably lower; as there is a 50 watt different between this card and the reference
hope for your help OC3D
Would sticking an aftermarket water cooler on this card to replace the fans solve all the problems and then you would have the presumably better binned GPU to overclock than the inferior ones on the non-OC card... any nice AIO cooler that fits this card?
No AIO mounts yet. And with the money it would cost surely youd be better off just buying a better GPU?
Maybe you're right. I guess €285 + €150 for AIO = price of cheaper GTX 1070 model which probably beats the pants off it.
I want some Ryzen cpu reviews with this video card. Especially the R5 1600X, as that's what I'll probably get with a Asus Crosshair VI Hero.
What is the throttle temp for this card? I am experiencing some slight throttling when i hit 85c as i live in a hot climate country, so i just want to confirm if that's the throttle temp of this card.
Tom, to be honest with you!?!? Dirt Rally is the game that made me think that my 970 is having dust on the fins or something having the same problem, it was hitting 88-89 fps and the fans sounded wierd, enabling vsync and locking it to 60 fps the sound went considerably lower. and Dirt Rally is the only game that does this to my 970.
Great video, this is the card I want once it's in stock!
You missed the big intentional venting through the top of the back plate. That was something that Sapphire Ed made a big deal about as value add for cooling. But I guess it did not help much anyway :) Cheers, and LOL at the "massaged testicles" comment. Spot on.
do the fans have LEDS too or are they just on that little logo?
In every review I saw or read, the OC version is louder and hotter. Every reviewer said that it's better to buy the non-OC 8 GB version, because it runs cooler and is just a teeny bit worse in performance. And if you want, you can OC it and get the same result for less money.
Would have been nice to make those logo/bugs smaller, or have them fade away so one could see the graph legends all the way.
Just orderd my MSI RX 480 from Newegg, would be great if you review that card. They just went in atock yesterday and I bought it instantly lol.
hey man, i see you got loads of decorative nvidia cards laying around, im sure you dont mind if i would borrow one, right?
I want the Toxic, Vapor X and Dual X cards back
What would someone suggest for a solid RX480 card? I tend to look for acoustic performance and dual bios. I tend to go after Sapphire for AMD cards as they are often a notch above the rest but I am concerned with the sound levels for this card.
My NZXT Phantom case has good cooling, so heat isn't a issue. If I got a Asus Strixx RX 480, I would've lost room for my pivot fan that hits the video card and lower motherboard.
79 degrees... wow, I really miss their vapor x coolers.
Want to see review with msi rx 480 gaming .
I don't get why they didn't let it go up to about 85C.
if you you can do a test noise for ASUS Strix rx 480 I know you're working with two test can with one to do the test and if you can test ASUS Strix rx 480 vs Sapphire nitro rx480
can you tidy up your set a little bit and maybe a bit close to the camera, there are too many things so huge distraction and color is also something.
Do you find 300 dollars for this card much? I live in Norway btw. 6gb 1060 is like 370 dollars
Whats a good psu ANSWER PLS
The one's that complained about the editing of this video are correct. I also notice spots where he's talking, but it's barely audible.
You must have an issue your end if you cant hear
I have an old assed card and I really want a new card almost tempted to buy a 480 but I really need to just save and get a 1070
What about the MSI RX 480 Gaming? Also, how about using a 200mm Fan right over the graphics card to help cool it as well? Currently my MSI R9 280 Gaming runs at 58 C on Full load DOOM 1080p on High/ Ultra Graphics @ 60 fps. When I OC this to 1010 Mhz Core, 1350 Memory, it still sits at 58 C on Full load with DOOM. I'm currently looking for a good priced card that can do what my current card does, has better future compatibility, and runs at a lower temperature on games like DOOM on 1080p. I may however wait to buy a Vega 10 card. Any Suggestions?
Get a 470 8GB, it's got good performance atm and will only get better with more DX12 and Vulcan. With 8 GB you can also keep it for a longer time than any 4 or 6GB card. ^^
pSyk
I personally would prefer either this card reviewed, the MSI RX 480 Gaming, or EVGA SC Gaming ACX2.0 1060. Although i am most likely going to wait until the Vega 10&11 cards come out.
I got MSI RX 480 Gaming X, its quite cool, ive set the target temp at 60 with fans rpm at 2400 when it hits the target and the graphics card indeed dont go beyond 60 even at Shadow of Mordor (the game which makes every graphics card very hot). still, theres a lot of improvement needed on drivers to improve their low minimum fps
iwant a card to play ultra/high 1080P should i get the saphire rx 470 4gb or i wait for this one
Ok, now I know why Strix has 3 fans! Good review, thanks.
Good lord that's a nice case! What make?
CAN YOU DO Fractal Design Define Nano S REVIEW PLEASE?
Already have if you look
I noticed Corsair's two ML Fans, any chance you're reviewing that?
Already have......
Quick, delete the comment.
where do I find the graphs on the website?
do they work with standard 480 water blocks ?
is this nitro+ better or the asus trix? or the red devil? which rx 480 is the best?
Would you recommend the MSI over this? Based on cooling, thanks.
Not tested msi yet
I have a GTX 660 Ti Oc and don't want something that is louder in terms of noise, you said that with the 470 Strix. You could increase the power draw and it matches the Sapphire but still stays cooler and silent is it the same with the 480?
Thank you very much for your reply, I look forward to your next video.
#FeeltheAster
"Headphone volume warning" covered by two logos. Oh, Tom. Also, why?
I currently have a SeaSonic M12II 620 Bronze 620W PSU, Do I need to change my PSU for this card?
no
TTL man... The back plate has gaps for the fan exhausted air to get out! Didn't you noticed?
It's not enough
is a 200w with peak 300 watt powerful enough for it? (with i7 that takes 95wat)
Is the Rs 480 overclocked enough for latest aaa titles on high-ultra settings no aa with a fx 8320 4.8 ghz
u will be fine :)
How would this card run dayz, rust and bf1?
Just got the 4GB version, is there more headroom to overclock even more or is it best to leave it as is?
That's going to be up to your system honestly. If you can spare the wattage and extra heat then the Sapphire Trixx software will allow you to set the clock from the program. It's also going to depend a lot on the performance you are getting. out of it with the OC where it is. If fps is fine in most games, I would personally leave it alone.
Appreciate it mate. I do have the wattage and cooling to handle more but I doubt I'm enough of an enthusiast to notice the extra couple of frames. Best to leave it it as is.
how does it stack up against the xfx xxx 8g gtr
On the bright side - your mum will think you're vacuuming your room
This one or the MSI gaming x version?
Is this compatible with a msi z170a pro mobo and a Intel core i3 6320 cpu???
got this card... it is really good for 1080 and just right for me.
i have 8gb version nitro + oc edition and it is never get on 79 degree i see the most high degree is 68 on gta v 3 hour gaming and thats not bad at all and when i use headphone i cant hear the fan noise and it isnt so loud
Should i buy this or a zotac 1060 amp! ? They are the same price here.
I would never buy a Zotac product just because of the higher failure rates and bad RMA service. The only place you will notice a difference in performance is in games running DX11 or older where the 1060 eeks out slightly better performance. In almost everything DX12, this card wins out by about 15-20 fps. It's up to you in the end, but I don't like the repuation of Zotac and the performance is going to be about equal.