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RX 480 memory lie!

Stingray-UK
By Stingray-UK
in Graphics Cards
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Ok so the title if a bit dramatic but... Ive read somewhere that to begin with reference 4GB models of the RX 480 with ship with 8GB physical memory but disabled in the vBios.

 

Does anyone know this to be total BS or is it true and if the latter can it be unlocked in the future?

 

In the UK i could of got a 4GB RX 480 for around £190 in the past few days but hesitated and now they seemed to to of vanished from most online retails except best buy who only have stock due at the end of July, id pull the trigger on that and wait but they might not have the 8GB chips installed. (Not that the card needs 8GB but i may want to crossfire in the future)

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This was only true for the review models, that obviously the reviewers received.

They could run 4GB VRAM and 8GB VRAM benchmarks of the RX 480, with just one card.

 

That is what I heard last week about it

"We're all in this together, might as well be friends" Tom, Toonami.

 

mini eLiXiVy: my open source 65% mechanical PCB, a build log, PCB anatomy and discussing open source licenses: https://linustechtips.com/topic/1366493-elixivy-a-65-mechanical-keyboard-build-log-pcb-anatomy-and-how-i-open-sourced-this-project/

 

mini_cardboard: a 4% keyboard build log and how keyboards work: https://linustechtips.com/topic/1328547-mini_cardboard-a-4-keyboard-build-log-and-how-keyboards-work/

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3 minutes ago, Stingray-UK said:

Ok so the title if a bit dramatic but... Ive read somewhere that to begin with reference 4GB models of the RX 480 with ship with 8GB physical memory but disabled in the vBios.

 

Does anyone know this to be total BS or is it true and if the latter can it be unlocked in the future?

 

In the UK i could of got a 4GB RX 480 for around £190 in the past few days but hesitated and now they seemed to to of vanished from most online retails except best buy who only have stock due at the end of July, id pull the trigger on that and wait but they might not have the 8GB chips installed. (Not that the card needs 8GB but i may want to crossfire in the future)

I guess technically its possible, but I have not seen anything on it personally. This would be the first I have seen on it. Do you have any reference to link so we can investigate it a bit?

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I'm calling total BS because the extra cost would bump up the prices of the 4GB  versions plus I don't think AMD wants to allow memory unlocks through a BIOS flash. 

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hmmmm interesting read, but no proof of it inside the article. I would take it with a grain of salt personally. 

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6 minutes ago, Stingray-UK said:

I wonder if there is confusion because Steve off of gamers Nexus said the review samples came with switchable 4GB and 8GB so the could test both versions with one card!

That was only for reviewers. The ones available to the public don't have such features

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12 minutes ago, Minibois said:

This was only true for the review models, that obviously the reviewers received.

They could run 4GB VRAM and 8GB VRAM benchmarks of the RX 480, with just one card.

 

That is what I heard last week about it

Didnt see this post in my browser... Yer maybe they got it wrong.

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2 minutes ago, Stingray-UK said:

Didnt see this post in my browser... Yer maybe they got it wrong.

They certainly did. Memory costs money - nobody gives it away

Archangel (Desktop) CPU: i5 4590 GPU:Asus R9 280  3GB RAM:HyperX Beast 2x4GBPSU:SeaSonic S12G 750W Mobo:GA-H97m-HD3 Case:CM Silencio 650 Storage:1 TB WD Red
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Windows 10 is now MSX! - http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/440190-can-we-start-calling-windows-10/page-6

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7 minutes ago, Stingray-UK said:

Didnt see this post in my browser... Yer maybe they got it wrong.

Wait, what?

 

15 minutes ago, Stingray-UK said:

I wonder if there is confusion because Steve off of gamers Nexus said the review samples came with switchable 4GB and 8GB so the could test both versions with one card!

This is exactly what I said

"We're all in this together, might as well be friends" Tom, Toonami.

 

mini eLiXiVy: my open source 65% mechanical PCB, a build log, PCB anatomy and discussing open source licenses: https://linustechtips.com/topic/1366493-elixivy-a-65-mechanical-keyboard-build-log-pcb-anatomy-and-how-i-open-sourced-this-project/

 

mini_cardboard: a 4% keyboard build log and how keyboards work: https://linustechtips.com/topic/1328547-mini_cardboard-a-4-keyboard-build-log-and-how-keyboards-work/

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1 minute ago, Stingray-UK said:

Does any think that 8GB is overkill for the RX 480? there is the 1000mgz boost though.

No. 8GB is what you want. 4GB is the absolute minimum nowadays.

Archangel (Desktop) CPU: i5 4590 GPU:Asus R9 280  3GB RAM:HyperX Beast 2x4GBPSU:SeaSonic S12G 750W Mobo:GA-H97m-HD3 Case:CM Silencio 650 Storage:1 TB WD Red
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Windows 10 is now MSX! - http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/440190-can-we-start-calling-windows-10/page-6

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6 minutes ago, Stingray-UK said:

Didnt see you posted that before me lol sorry to repeat

Oooh, okay :P I didn't really understand the previous post you made (the first time you quoted me).

9 minutes ago, Stingray-UK said:

Does any think that 8GB is overkill for the RX 480? there is the 1000mgz boost though.

Nah, it's not overkill. 

"We're all in this together, might as well be friends" Tom, Toonami.

 

mini eLiXiVy: my open source 65% mechanical PCB, a build log, PCB anatomy and discussing open source licenses: https://linustechtips.com/topic/1366493-elixivy-a-65-mechanical-keyboard-build-log-pcb-anatomy-and-how-i-open-sourced-this-project/

 

mini_cardboard: a 4% keyboard build log and how keyboards work: https://linustechtips.com/topic/1328547-mini_cardboard-a-4-keyboard-build-log-and-how-keyboards-work/

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2 minutes ago, don_svetlio said:

No. 8GB is what you want. 4GB is the absolute minimum nowadays.

Really? on Adored TV he said the only time the card filled its 8GB was a game at 4k and the card could only manage 10fps as the GPU lacked the power to use it, i was thinking it would be handy for crossfire situations but ive never used crossfire i always end up just upgrading the single card.

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4 minutes ago, Stingray-UK said:

Really? on Adored TV he said the only time the card filled its 8GB was a game at 4k and the card could only manage 10fps as the GPU lacked the power to use it, i was thinking it would be handy for crossfire situations but ive never used crossfire i always end up just upgrading the single card.

That is utterly incorrect. Video memory has no direct correlation to GPU power - you can have Skyrim mods fill up 12GBs on a Titan X while having the GPU output 200fps and then have Witcher 3 fill up 3GB when the GPU is pushing 70fps.

Memory is used mostly by textures, AA and such, Textures don't affect performance at all. There is a VERY comprehensive guide on the subject pinned in the GPU subform. I encourage you to read it. Bottom line - 4GB for a 390/970 class card is not enough. The 3.5GB of the 970 is already causing severe issues in 2016 games.

Archangel (Desktop) CPU: i5 4590 GPU:Asus R9 280  3GB RAM:HyperX Beast 2x4GBPSU:SeaSonic S12G 750W Mobo:GA-H97m-HD3 Case:CM Silencio 650 Storage:1 TB WD Red
Celestial (Laptop 1) CPU:i7 4720HQ GPU:GTX 860M 4GB RAM:2x4GB SK Hynix DDR3Storage: 250GB 850 EVO Model:Lenovo Y50-70
Seraph (Laptop 2) CPU:i7 6700HQ GPU:GTX 970M 3GB RAM:2x8GB DDR4Storage: 256GB Samsung 951 + 1TB Toshiba HDD Model:Asus GL502VT
Windows 10 is now MSX! - http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/440190-can-we-start-calling-windows-10/page-6

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2 minutes ago, don_svetlio said:

That is utterly incorrect. Video memory has no direct correlation to GPU power - you can have Skyrim mods fill up 12GBs on a Titan X while having the GPU output 200fps and then have Witcher 3 fill up 3GB when the GPU is pushing 70fps.

Memory is used mostly by textures, AA and such, Textures don't affect performance at all. There is a VERY comprehensive guide on the subject pinned in the GPU subform. I encourage you to read it. Bottom line - 4GB for a 390/970 class card is not enough. The 3.5GB of the 970 is already causing severe issues in 2016 games.

Ok cool, will take a look. At least my mind is at rest a little bit as i was thinking about buying the 4GB version but i guess i will get the 8GB. I did see in test that the 8GB was only out preforming the 4GB version by 2fps @ 1080p gaming not sure about 1440p though.  

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2 minutes ago, Stingray-UK said:

Ok cool, will take a look. At least my mind is at rest a little bit as i was thinking about buying the 4GB version but i guess i will get the 8GB. I did see in test that the 8GB was only out preforming the 4GB version by 2fps @ 1080p gaming not sure about 1440p though.  

Both have ample bandwidth but the extra memory is critical as if a game has too much VRAM available it will not impact performance but if you don't have enough VRAM it will stutter and drop to 2fps.

Archangel (Desktop) CPU: i5 4590 GPU:Asus R9 280  3GB RAM:HyperX Beast 2x4GBPSU:SeaSonic S12G 750W Mobo:GA-H97m-HD3 Case:CM Silencio 650 Storage:1 TB WD Red
Celestial (Laptop 1) CPU:i7 4720HQ GPU:GTX 860M 4GB RAM:2x4GB SK Hynix DDR3Storage: 250GB 850 EVO Model:Lenovo Y50-70
Seraph (Laptop 2) CPU:i7 6700HQ GPU:GTX 970M 3GB RAM:2x8GB DDR4Storage: 256GB Samsung 951 + 1TB Toshiba HDD Model:Asus GL502VT
Windows 10 is now MSX! - http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/440190-can-we-start-calling-windows-10/page-6

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1 hour ago, Stingray-UK said:

Does any think that 8GB is overkill for the RX 480? there is the 1000mgz boost though.

Yes. It was overkill on the 390X, and remember that was a card which had no form of compression whatsoever so needed more vram than cards like the 970, 980 and 380X by virtue of that alone.

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