AMD's new RX 480 graphics card will let you VR for just $199
AMD's finally ready to take on Nvidia's new GeForce GTX 1080, with the company not pulling any punches with its latest graphic card. The Radeon RX 480, which made its debut here atComputex in Taipei, isn't as powerful as the GTX 1080, but it has one thing Nvidia is hard-pressed to match: price. The RX 480 will hit stores for a mere starting price of $199 (£140, AU$275).
The chip and graphics card manufacturer has always offered quality GPUs for lower prices than Nvidia's premium products, but what's impressive is that the new RX 480 has performance to match the discontinued Nvidia GeForce GTX 980 -- while being much cheaper.
Even better, AMD says if you decide to hook up two higher-specced RX 480's together using AMD's Crossfire technology, the performance you'll get will be superior to that of the GTX 1080, but much cheaper. The GTX 1080 retails for around $700, while that higher-specced dual-RX 480 setup will cost under $500.
There is, however, a drawback. AMD's RX 480, thanks to its new Polaris architecture and 14nm process, uses the same 150W power draw as the GTX 1080, so having two RX 480's together means you'll need a bigger power supply unit to support two cards.
Meet the new VR-ready AMD RX 480.
Seamus Byrne/CNET
But as AMD pointed out during a demo on stage at its press conference, two RX 480's only utilised 51 percent of its GPU compared to the 98 percent the GTX 1080 used when tested on real-time strategy game Ashes of the Singularity.
Best of all, the card meets the requirements of VR headsets, such as the HTC Vive and the Oculus Rift, so you don't need to spend an excessive amount to hop on the upcoming VR train. The RX 480 is set to launch on June 29.
AMD's finally ready to take on Nvidia's new GeForce GTX 1080, with the company not pulling any punches with its latest graphic card. The Radeon RX 480, which made its debut here atComputex in Taipei, isn't as powerful as the GTX 1080, but it has one thing Nvidia is hard-pressed to match: price. The RX 480 will hit stores for a mere starting price of $199 (£140, AU$275).
The chip and graphics card manufacturer has always offered quality GPUs for lower prices than Nvidia's premium products, but what's impressive is that the new RX 480 has performance to match the discontinued Nvidia GeForce GTX 980 -- while being much cheaper.
Even better, AMD says if you decide to hook up two higher-specced RX 480's together using AMD's Crossfire technology, the performance you'll get will be superior to that of the GTX 1080, but much cheaper. The GTX 1080 retails for around $700, while that higher-specced dual-RX 480 setup will cost under $500.
There is, however, a drawback. AMD's RX 480, thanks to its new Polaris architecture and 14nm process, uses the same 150W power draw as the GTX 1080, so having two RX 480's together means you'll need a bigger power supply unit to support two cards.
Meet the new VR-ready AMD RX 480.
Seamus Byrne/CNET
But as AMD pointed out during a demo on stage at its press conference, two RX 480's only utilised 51 percent of its GPU compared to the 98 percent the GTX 1080 used when tested on real-time strategy game Ashes of the Singularity.
Best of all, the card meets the requirements of VR headsets, such as the HTC Vive and the Oculus Rift, so you don't need to spend an excessive amount to hop on the upcoming VR train. The RX 480 is set to launch on June 29.
