AMD Radeon RX 480 4GB
WHY IS IT SO HARD to discern a winner with these supertests? As Maximum-PC has matured, we’ve realized there’s never going to be an absolute winner. There can’t be. As in real life, it all depends on your circumstances. For instance, if you already have a 4K gaming setup, upgrading to our recommended 4GB RX 480 isn’t going to cut it. You’re going to have to take that hit when it comes to value per frame. But you will, and rightly so, because the gaming experience beyond 1080p is exceptionally enjoyable, especially at higher refresh rates.
However, we have to look at the bigger picture. We have to ask, who would benefit the most from an upgrade, and what should that upgrade be? After all, fewer than five percent of PC gamers play above 1920x1080, which means it’s pretty simple to answer that question. The Radeon RX 480 4GB model is the best card that you can purchase today by far. Value for money, it’s second to none. Packing the potential for GTX 980 performance in a card that costs as little as $200 is insane. It doesn’t break the bank, but nor does it break frame rate limits or revolutionize the industry—but that doesn’t stop it from being an exceptional card. Although there were power draw issues at launch, they were mostly associated with the 8GB variant (and, as you can see from our tests, the 4GB draws far less from the wall, outside of compatibility mode), and they have been resolved for everyone still concerned about the longevity of their motherboards. The reference model does leave a little to be desired— aftermarket variants will most definitely perform better and be quieter at higher fan RPMs—but you’re still not going to be disappointed, even with the reference version.
That’s not to say Team Green should be left out in the cold, however. The continuous push for higher performance through the Pascal architecture is nothing short of incredible. What we can achieve today with the GTX 1080 GPU is astronomical—we’ve never seen frame rates or clock speeds higher. And although the price jump has been a little unwieldy, it’s an incredible leap in performance. With a little cautiousness over your ingame settings, it’s easy to achieve 60fps at 4K with this card (seriously, take a look at antialiasing settings at 4K—you’ll understand what we mean after you do a bit of experimenting).
THE 4K FUTURE
All in all, if this is any indication of what we can expect over the next few years, it’s a beautiful time to be alive for a gaming enthusiast. Both Pascal and Polaris are just the first steps in a rapid advancement toward increased frame rates and bringing the 4K dream to life, making it a reality on screen, at an affordable price point. Yes, there’s always going to be something better—no doubt we’ll start seeing 5K, even 8K, displays, with high refresh and HDR, coming down the pipeline for the super rich—but for the majority of us, it’s going to be an easy step up to the resolutions of the future, and a fond farewell to the HD screens that have brought us this far.
In short, if you’re after the best upgrade, and you haven’t bought a graphics card since the era of the GTX 680, AMD’s RX 480 4GB is the way to go. If you’re looking for the absolute top-end in performance, grab yourself a solid aftermarket GTX 1080, perhaps two (we wouldn’t recommend the new Titan X at this point, as it’s more of a developer card, and hammers that frame-per-dollar score into the ground). If you’re after a high-end upgrade, but you still want to hold on to the value aspect, the best card around today is MSI’s overclocked GTX 1070 Gaming X. Just remember, take into consideration your resolution, your refresh rates, and what games you play when making your decision, and you can’t go wrong.