MSI RX 480 Gaming X Review & Benchmark P2: GPU Test Methodology P3: MSI 480 X Thermals & Endurance P4: Dx12, Vulkan, OpenGL Benchmarks vs. Dx11 P5: MSI RX 480 X Benchmark: GTA V, Mirror's Edge, More P6: MSI RX 480 Gaming X Overclocking P7: MSI RX 480 Gaming X Conclusion

AMD's RX 480 Reference received our recommendation as a go-to for the $200-$300 market, but was immediately challenged by the release of the GTX 1060; the choice isn't so clear now, but both cards have appropriate use cases. Still, as with the Founders Edition card reviews, we recommended that our readers wait until AIB partner models of the RX 480 begin shipping, as the cooling performance will improve clock-rate stability on the Polaris 10 chip. We finally received one of those AIB partner models. The MSI RX 480 Gaming X uses the Twin Frozr VI cooling solution – described in our Computex exclusive – and ships pre-overclocked to 1303MHz from ~1266MHz. The 8GB card's price should rest at $265, or $15 more than the reference RX 480 8GB ($250), and MSI will also be selling 4GB variants of the Gaming X. Our previous coverage of the RX 480 4GB vs. 8GB will help answer questions as to whether the lower capacity card is worth it.

Here's the specs listing of the RX 480, including reference clock-rate:

AMD RX 460, RX 470, & RX 480 Specs

AMD RX 480 AMD RX 470 AMD RX 460 Architecture Polaris 10 Polaris 10 Polaris 11 Compute Units (CUs) 36 32 14 Stream Processors 2304 2048 864 Base / Boost Clock 1120MHz / 1266MHz 926MHz / 1206MHz 1090MHz / 1200MHz COMPUTE Performance >5 TFLOPS Up to 4.9TFLOPs Up to 2.2TFLOPs Graphics Command Processor (GCP) 1 1 1 ACEs 4 4 (?) 2 HWS 2 2 (?) 2 TMUs 144 128 56 ROPs 32 32 16 Geometry Processors 4 4 (?) 2 Peak Texture Filter Rate 182.3GT/s 154.4GT/s 57.6GT/s Peak Pixel Filter Rate 40.5GP/s 38.6GP/s 19.2GP/s L2 Cache 2MB ? 1MB LSU 576x32b ? 256x32b VRAM Capacity 4GB GDDR5 @ 7Gbps

8GB GDDR5 @ 8Gbps 4GB GDDR5 2GB GDDR5 Memory Interface 256-bit 256-bit 128-bit Memory Speed 7Gbps (4GB model)

8Gbps (8GB model) 6.6Gbps 7Gbps Memory Bandwidth 224GB/s (4GB model)

256GB/s (8GB model) 211GB/s 112GB/s TDP 150W 120W* 75W Power Connectors 6-pin 6-pin None

(Slot only) Display Port 1.3 HBR / 1.4 HDR 1.3/1.4 HDR 1.3/1.4 HDR Release Date June 29 August 4 August 8

Polaris 10 vs. Polaris 11 Specs & Architecture

Polaris 10 Polaris 11 Compute Units (CUs) 36 16 COMPUTE Performance “>5 TFLOPS” “>2 TFLOPS” Memory Interface 256-bit 128-bit Architecture Gen 4 GCN Gen 4 GCN Playback Support 4K encode/decode 4K encode/decode Output Standard DP1.3/1.4 HDR DP1.3/1.4 HDR

MSI makes a few changes to this:

MSI RX 480 Gaming X Specs

MSI RX 480 Gaming X AMD RX 480 Reference Architecture Polaris 10 Polaris 10 GPU Ellesmere Ellesmere Fab Process 14nm FinFET 14nm FinFET Stream Processors 2304 2304 Core / Boost Clock 1303MHz 1120 / 1266MHz Memory Capacity 4GB or 8GB 4GB or 8GB Memory Interface 256-bit 256-bit Memory Clock 8Gbps 8Gbps Release Date Mid August June 29 Price $265 $250

MSI advertises the core clock as reaching up to 1316MHz, though we measured output around 1303MHz on average. The pre-overclocked card includes MSI's Twin Frozr VI cooler, using a dual-push fan cooling solution and large aluminum heatsink for passive dissipation. As with every other Twin Frozr VI cooler we've recently looked at, the RX 480 Gaming X's implementation allows the card to operate at 0RPM fan speeds for temperatures lower than 60C. This operation prioritizes silence, an effective 0dB output, and allows the heatsink to perform its duties of sinking the lower heat generation.

Aiding that conduction are the three heatpipes routed through the copper coldplate, measured at 8mm, 6mm, and 6mm. MSI's newest version (VI) of the Twin Frozr cooler uses a squared-out heatpipe toward the coldplate, which helps ensure maximum surface area contact between the coldplate, aluminum fins, and the heatpipe itself. The rest of the pipes are the usual rounded design, but the tapered/squaring design is new with this generation.

MSI's custom PCB is flanked by a thick baseplate and backplate – one on either side – used for structural and thermal advantages. The structural impact is likely obvious: The card won't experience sag in the same fashion that an unsupported card with a large heatsink might. Thermally, the baseplate is outfitted with thermal pads that make direct contact to the VRAM modules and MOSFETs. This sinks heat across the surface of the baseplate, which is then cooled actively by air intake from the axial fans. The PWM is also engaged by the baseplate.

New alternating dispersion / traditional fan blades ensure that air gets trapped and propelled into the fins. The PCB is also larger than reference (in width and height), allowing for the large fans mounted to the card.

The MSI card we received was shipped at its maximum clock-rate setting, though users of the MSI software will be able to switch between different “modes;” these modes allow prioritization of silence, performance, or a mix between the two. The software further enables RGB LED light management, found embedded within the nametag of the card.

Looking down the right side of the cooler, we're able to see the chokes, capacitors, and fan cables. MSI's fan cables are easily accessible in the lower-right of the card – though not quite as well designed as Sapphire's Nitro – and can be swapped by the user if necessary for RMA.

Continue to page 2 for testing methodology.