RX 480 from AliExpress (2 heat pipes only)

[Crocodil]

Hi

I'm a long time LTT follower and forums reader but this is only my first post  I'm thinking of building a simple PC mostly from "leftover" parts that I already have. I will using it for multimedia (Kodi) and maybe for occasional 1080p gaming or emulation. I'm still missing a graphics card and as the PC will be running Linux, AMD is my choice.

 

When looking for a cheap GPU, I have found this interesting RX 480 4GB offer on AliExpress: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000465620296.html Checking the 480P45IDT identifier shows it to be a Chinese only "XFX RX480 4GD5 Black Wolf Internet Cafe Edition": http://www.xfx.com.cn/graphic_cards/480-4gd5黑狼网吧版/ The card's parameters look like standard RX 480 but unfortunately it only has 2 heat pipes instead of 3. This exact cooling and similar ones with 2 heat pipes have been used by XFX for RX 570 and RX 470.

 

Will the heatsink be sufficient for RX 480 or will the temperatures be too high? Maybe I would be better off getting RX 570 / RX 470 or paying $20 extra for RX 480 8GB with all 3 heat pipes?

 

Best regards,

Crocodil

[martward]

Well I think the cooling solution will probably be sufficient, however I very strongly doubt that that is an rx480. You should probably look for Youtube videos on buying extremely cheap GPUs from Alibaba, Aliexpress and other such Chinese sites, there's a lot of scams going on there.

[Crocodil]

@martward  Thank you for your opinion. I do think that XFX wouldn't release a GPU with heatsink that cannot handle it. Though it probably might be a bit loud as the fans will kick in more... 

 

I'm also considering RX 570 4GB: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000380553288.html The performance is maybe 5% worse but from what I've read it's also a bit better with power and heat management. In the end, I guess that either RX 470, RX 570 and RX 480 would do just as good for my needs.

 

I know that I need to be cautious when shopping at AliExpress but up until now I've been rather satisfied. This is mostly a "for fun" project, so I'm not risking an awful lot

[martward]

3 minutes ago, Crocodil said:

@martward  Thank you for your opinion. I do think that XFX wouldn't release a GPU with heatsink that cannot handle it. Though it probably might be a bit loud as the fans will kick in more... 

 

I'm also considering RX 570 4GB: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000380553288.html The performance is maybe 5% worse but from what I've read it's also a bit better with power and heat management. In the end, I guess that either RX 470, RX 570 and RX 480 would do just as good for my needs.

 

I know that I need to be cautious when shopping at AliExpress but up until now I've been rather satisfied. This is mostly a "for fun" project, so I'm not risking an awful lot

Well as long as you really wouldn't miss that $65 there is no harm in it, but I'd fully expect to throw away whatever it is they'll send you. For light 1080p gaming it really doesn't matter that much which one you take I guess. Choose whichever one you find least dubious.

[EL02]

I cant seem to find any reviews on that. Also i wouldnt recommend buying from sellers with <98% rating. Maybe search for rx570 and sort by orders.

[Bcat00]

Ooh, what you likely found is a model that was specifically designed for internet cafes and wont be found in retail stores. What you need to know is that these sorts of models are on the cheap in every sense of the word and was intended to be sold in bulk and fast during launch.

[aisle9]

5 hours ago, Crocodil said:

Hi

I'm a long time LTT follower and forums reader but this is only my first post  I'm thinking of building a simple PC mostly from "leftover" parts that I already have. I will using it for multimedia (Kodi) and maybe for occasional 1080p gaming or emulation. I'm still missing a graphics card and as the PC will be running Linux, AMD is my choice.

 

When looking for a cheap GPU, I have found this interesting RX 480 4GB offer on AliExpress: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000465620296.html Checking the 480P45IDT identifier shows it to be a Chinese only "XFX RX480 4GD5 Black Wolf Internet Cafe Edition": http://www.xfx.com.cn/graphic_cards/480-4gd5黑狼网吧版/ The card's parameters look like standard RX 480 but unfortunately it only has 2 heat pipes instead of 3. This exact cooling and similar ones with 2 heat pipes have been used by XFX for RX 570 and RX 470.

 

Will the heatsink be sufficient for RX 480 or will the temperatures be too high? Maybe I would be better off getting RX 570 / RX 470 or paying $20 extra for RX 480 8GB with all 3 heat pipes?

 

Best regards,

Crocodil

Yes, the cooling solution should suffice.

5 hours ago, martward said:

Well I think the cooling solution will probably be sufficient, however I very strongly doubt that that is an rx480. You should probably look for Youtube videos on buying extremely cheap GPUs from Alibaba, Aliexpress and other such Chinese sites, there's a lot of scams going on there.

Looking at the I/O on this card, it's almost certainly legit. The "fake GPU" thing was tied almost exclusively to NVIDIA because of the incredibly low cost of Fermi GPUs, the incredibly high number of old Fermi GPUs available secondhand, plus the (relative) ease of hacking its BIOS and the massive demand for GTX cards as compared to their RX/R9 counterparts. The profitability of AMD cards would be much lower, and the modern I/O on this board suggests it's too new a card for profit margins to work out anywhere near NVIDIA. It's a true 480.

[martward]

I would very much like to know how this turned out. @aisle9 post makes sense to me so maybe I'm wrong. 

 

[BLUEHEADPOT]

It has cooling  same as  rx 470D

[Sat1600]

Where are you located? I usually find Ebay to be a better bet

[Crocodil]

Thank you everybody for taking interest into my question  

 

@aisle9 I also think that the RX cards are most probably legit, though they might have been used for mining or heavy gaming... Some of them also might be Chinese specific, like the "internet cafe" one or the 470D and 570D ones. On youtube there are quite a few reviews of such cards, for example by Tech YES City, Iskandar Souza (Portuguese) and a few Russians

 

@martward It's not like I would normally throw away $65 but then again, I won't get poorer if it turns out to be a bad decision  I will certainly let you know if I decide to buy one of the cards, though the shipment might take up to a month...

 

@EL02 Yes, I might go with a more respectable seller, though they charge extra for basically the same thing... The same seller also has RX570 which has rather favorable reviews: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000380553288.html

 

@Sat1600 I'm from Poland. Ebay here is basically non-existent and on the local used market the same cards cost at least 35-50% more

 

Because of the strange cooling, currently I'm leaning more towards buying an RX 570, I'm not sure though if I should take:

• RX 570 4GB for around $68
• RX 580 4GB for around $88
• RX 570 8GB for around $92

Which one would you suggest.

 

Also, in a bit of time, my brother will be upgrading his PC and then I could try and use his GTX 970. I know that Kodi will probably dump NVidia support in version 19 but for now it should be fine. Also VDPAU on GTX 970 supports less formats for hw decoding than VAAPI on RX 570 but possibly the I7 3770K might be able to software decode those (like HEVC 4K 10bit)?

 

Best regards and a Happy New Year!

Crocodil

 

[xAcid9]

I think the card was used for internet cafe pc. Since internet cafe have air conditioning so they skimp out on the cooling. 

http://www.xfx.com.cn/graphic_cards/480-4gd5黑狼网吧版-2/

 

[aisle9]

2 hours ago, Crocodil said:

Because of the strange cooling, currently I'm leaning more towards buying an RX 570, I'm not sure though if I should take:

• RX 570 4GB for around $68
• RX 580 4GB for around $88
• RX 570 8GB for around $92

Which one would you suggest.

 

Also, in a bit of time, my brother will be upgrading his PC and then I could try and use his GTX 970. I know that Kodi will probably dump NVidia support in version 19 but for now it should be fine. Also VDPAU on GTX 970 supports less formats for hw decoding than VAAPI on RX 570 but possibly the I7 3770K might be able to software decode those (like HEVC 4K 10bit)?

 

Best regards and a Happy New Year!

Crocodil

 

I'm not a fan of the 8GB RX 570. Never have been. If a 4GB card will do you just fine, the 570 4GB is a pretty solid deal, even in the States. IMO, if 1080p is all you're after, I'd be fine with this option. If you want to expand into 1440p or go for high-refresh 1080p, the 8GB RX 480 you mentioned in your original post might be worthwhile depending on price. The 4GB 580 isn't a bad price, but the 570 4GB is much lower for a card that can be overclocked to not too far off of the 580's stock speeds. If it were me, I'd shake out as follows:

 

Simple 1080p: RX 570 4GB

1080p high-refresh or longer lifecycle before replacement: 580 8GB (mentioned in OP)

 

I'm just not a fan of the 4GB 580 or the 8GB 570, so I'd scratch both of those out as poor value. As far as the 970 goes, the 570, 580 and GTX 970 will all fall into a similar performance class, and it's really about milking the best value out of whichever you choose. Can't beat free on the 970 unless it's not going to be supported by the time you get it. I don't know enough about the 3770K's software decoding to help you out there, sorry.

 

Also, this has been in the back of my mind and I feel the need to ask: there's a big difference between crocodiles and Crocodil...why are you named after Crocodil?

[BLUEHEADPOT]

On 12/30/2019 at 10:05 AM, Crocodil said:

Hi

I'm a long time LTT follower and forums reader but this is only my first post  I'm thinking of building a simple PC mostly from "leftover" parts that I already have. I will using it for multimedia (Kodi) and maybe for occasional 1080p gaming or emulation. I'm still missing a graphics card and as the PC will be running Linux, AMD is my choice.

 

When looking for a cheap GPU, I have found this interesting RX 480 4GB offer on AliExpress: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000465620296.html Checking the 480P45IDT identifier shows it to be a Chinese only "XFX RX480 4GD5 Black Wolf Internet Cafe Edition": http://www.xfx.com.cn/graphic_cards/480-4gd5黑狼网吧版/ The card's parameters look like standard RX 480 but unfortunately it only has 2 heat pipes instead of 3. This exact cooling and similar ones with 2 heat pipes have been used by XFX for RX 570 and RX 470.

 

Will the heatsink be sufficient for RX 480 or will the temperatures be too high? Maybe I would be better off getting RX 570 / RX 470 or paying $20 extra for RX 480 8GB with all 3 heat pipes?

 

Best regards,

Crocodil

Seller confirmed this is 6pin RX470D

 

 

[Crocodil]

@aisle9 For now, I think I will try to get the GTX 970 from my brother and if that doesn't work or in some time, I'll look for something for AMD.

 

As for "Crocodil" there's no big story behind that  Long time ago one lady started calling me "Krokodyl" (which is in fact "Crocodile" in Polish), she never told me why  But I liked it so when it came to choosing a nickname for the Internet (it was maybe in 2001), I wanted to use "Crocodile" and it was obviously already taken...

 

@xAcid9 That's good thinking, you're most probably right. As I don't have Air Conditioning and temperatures in Poland in the summer can easily reach 35C / 95F, the card is certainly not a good choice for me.

 

@BLUEHEADPOT Which offer and which seller do you mean? If you mean my original one (XFX RX 480 4GB), then more things point to an RX 480 - there's 8 pin connection (RX470/RX470D either had none or a 6 pin) and the sticker shows 480P45IDT which is the "RX 480 Internet Cafe Edition". I do agree that the very same cooling (2 out of 3 heat pipes the same fans) has been used for Radeons 470D, 470, 570D and 570.

[BLUEHEADPOT]

11 hours ago, Crocodil said:

@aisle9 For now, I think I will try to get the GTX 970 from my brother and if that doesn't work or in some time, I'll look for something for AMD.

 

As for "Crocodil" there's no big story behind that  Long time ago one lady started calling me "Krokodyl" (which is in fact "Crocodile" in Polish), she never told me why  But I liked it so when it came to choosing a nickname for the Internet (it was maybe in 2001), I wanted to use "Crocodile" and it was obviously already taken...

 

@xAcid9 That's good thinking, you're most probably right. As I don't have Air Conditioning and temperatures in Poland in the summer can easily reach 35C / 95F, the card is certainly not a good choice for me.

 

@BLUEHEADPOT Which offer and which seller do you mean? If you mean my original one (XFX RX 480 4GB), then more things point to an RX 480 - there's 8 pin connection (RX470/RX470D either had none or a 6 pin) and the sticker shows 480P45IDT which is the "RX 480 Internet Cafe Edition". I do agree that the very same cooling (2 out of 3 heat pipes the same fans) has been used for Radeons 470D, 470, 570D and 570.

Yes , picture shows 8pin connector and looks legit but after nagging seller with questions he finally admits its RX470D with 6pin connector

[xxzefgh]

I bought the same card from taobao for 50$ + 7$ for agent. It was too dirty (as I should've expected), after cleaning and replacing thermal paste it still throttles in furmark, but for gaming its fine I guess. Biggest downside for me is that it has a horrible coil whine and I can't stand it. My suggestion is that you should contact seller before buying and asking for item in good condition, they are nice in most cases.

[FivePointOh]

If the MSI RX570 Armor Mk1 cooler will fit it, I can send mine to you for free. Just let me know if you want it, and I can send it via COD so you just pay the shipping when you pick it up.

[Crocodil]

@xxzefgh Buying an used Radeon on AliExpress looks less and less like a good deal...

 

@FivePointOh Thank you very much for your offer but for now I have decided to go with my brother's GTX970 and if that doesn't work, I'll figure something out

[mimon]

Hello everyone. 

I have bought the card. The price I paid was low and I did it intentionally. If it breaks after 3 months I won't regret it. Theoretically there is a warranty from the seller for 6 months so I need to keep it high

Here is my experience:

0. First thing I have done was undervolting. It makes even more sense due to lack of one heat pipe.

1. Card came very clean and in good overall condition. 

2. Second thing I've done was replacing the thermal compound to Thermal Grizzly Kyro. 

Thermo pad on power section was missing so added one. It's at least 1,5mm thick. 

3. I have the 2 heat pipes model and the temps under heavy load stay stable at 80C- below 90C even after hours of testing. I consider it to be ok. Not great though. 

GPU fan @2100rpm. I have small case - Brutus M10, with 2 120mm fans on front running  @1100rpm and 1 exhaust 92mm at the same speed so not very "windy" case. 

4. Runs just fine RDR2 or GTA V at very high graphic settings @50fps average. 

I'm quite happy with the deal, we will see for how long it's gonna last.