RX 460 - Unlocking Stream Processors

[Cela1]

Quote

The Radeon RX 460 is the only card available to desktop users that is based on the Polaris 11 GPU architecture. The card comprises 896 stream processors which deliver around 2 TFLOPs of compute performance. AMD has clocked this chip at 1090 MHz core and 1200 MHz boost clocks while the 2 GB GDDR5 model comes with a 128-but interface and clock speeds 7 GHz that deliver 112 GB/s bandwidth. The RX 460 will also be available in 4 GB variants which will feature a higher price point than the 2 GB.

 

With a simple firmware update, the card can be unlocked to gain more shaders. In the case of the RX 460, the stream processors jump from 896 to 1024. The Polaris 11 GPU actually comprises of 1024 stream processors arranged in 16 compute units. But the Radeon RX 460 had only 14 compute units enabled to allow for higher efficiency. Those who want higher performance would be delighted to hear this.

The unlocked card gains you 128 more stream processors and also 8 additional TMUs. This results in a total of 64 TMUs and 1024 stream processors. The performance results speak for themselves as we the site reports improvements up to 12.5% which is a great increase.

 

 

I don't know what to think of this, free performance for gamers on a budget? Sure, I'd personally take it any day of the week (unless it was for the fact that it could kill my card). I doubt there is anything AMD can do about this for existing cards, since it works using a BIOS flash. Do you have an RX 460 / were considering getting one? What do you guys think? 

 

Source: http://overclocking.guide/amd-radeon-rx-460-unlocking-1024-stream-processors/

Via: http://wccftech.com/amd-radeon-rx-460-polaris-11-unlock/

 

 

[Drak3]

The problem with mods like this (and flashing a reference 4GB 480 to use 8GB) is that there is a good chance that the disabled components are faulty. AMD and OEM partners salvage cards that have the resources of the next step down and take a small profit hit, as opposed to a large one by just not selling the card.

 

[themctipers]

If it wasn't fucking $200..

[Cela1]

2 minutes ago, Drak3 said:

The problem with mods like this (and flashing a reference 4GB 480 to use 8GB) is that there is a good chance that the disabled components are faulty. AMD and OEM partners salvage cards that have the resources of the next step down and take a small profit hit, as opposed to a large one by just not selling the card.

Yea, I guess that might be a risk that some people would want to take though

[DarkBlade2117]

You have the silicon lottery then you AMD, the lottery of having a completely different card to be unleased like R9 290 to 290x or 4GB 480 to 8GB 480.

[Cela1]

4 minutes ago, themctipers said:

If it wasn't fucking $200..

What?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125897

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202228

[2FA]

I actually own the Nitro 4G yasssssssss

[themctipers]

1 hour ago, Cela1 said:

What?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125897

Canada.

[Cela1]

Just now, themctipers said:

Canada.

Ah, ripperoni  :'(

 

[themctipers]

1 hour ago, Cela1 said:

Ah, ripperoni  :'(

 

RX 480

$400.

[AHaskin14]

I would imagine this only works on models with added power, and that you wouldn't want to try this through straight pcie power.

[vanished]

I could swear this is a repost...

[PCGuy_5960]

8 minutes ago, DarkBlade2117 said:

You have the silicon lottery then you AMD, the lottery of having a completely different card to be unleased like R9 290 to 290x or 4GB 480 to 8GB 480.

Fury to Fury X

[Drak3]

Just now, Ryan_Vickers said:

I could swear this is a repost...

 

[atrash]

And I just bought the RX 460 4gb model for my brother like 3 days ago.. But then I can't be bothered to flash the bios to a new card since there's the risk of bricking it.

[othertomperson]

13 minutes ago, Drak3 said:

The problem with mods like this (and flashing a reference 4GB 480 to use 8GB) is that there is a good chance that the disabled components are faulty. AMD and OEM partners salvage cards that have the resources of the next step down and take a small profit hit, as opposed to a large one by just not selling the card.

 

This is always true, binning is a thing. However, as there is no unlocked SKU it does mean that every single fully capable 460 has been locked down. It's always a gamble, but the odds are more in your favour than they were for those, for example, who were trying to turn their 290s into 290Xs or Furies into Fury Xs a year or so ago.

[vanished]

yup

 

[TheRandomness]

Eh. Not surprised tbh, with the 6850 (or was it 6950?) to 6x70, 290 to 290X and Fury to Fury X, this could almost have been expected.

[othertomperson]

1 minute ago, TheRandomness said:

Eh. Not surprised tbh, with the 6850 (or was it 6950?) to 6x70, 290 to 290X and Fury to Fury X, this could almost have been expected.

A better example is the R9 285. That was a cut down GPU that had no fully enabled SKU, at least before the 300 series was released.

[Cela1]

1 minute ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

yup

 

That'll be why, I only checked the news section. Sorry

[PCGuy_5960]

1 minute ago, TheRandomness said:

Eh. Not surprised tbh, with the 6850 (or was it 6950?) to 6x70, 290 to 290X and Fury to Fury X, this could almost have been expected.

Next up, RX 470 to RX 480

[Drak3]

1 minute ago, othertomperson said:

This is always true, binning is a thing. However, as there is no unlocked SKU it does mean that every single fully capable 460 has been locked down. It's always a gamble, but the odds are more in your favour than they were for those, for example, who were trying to turn their 290s into 290Xs or Furies into Fury Xs a year or so ago.

It's also entirely possible that desktop Polaris 11 is just a clusterfuck at this point, and perhaps the 460 is AMD salvaging it as best they can.

 

At the end of the day, I would not trust any card being upgraded to the next step up via vBIOS flash to be 100% stable.

[othertomperson]

Just now, Drak3 said:

It's also entirely possible that desktop Polaris 11 is just a clusterfuck at this point, and perhaps the 460 is AMD salvaging it as best they can.

 

At the end of the day, I would not trust any card being upgraded to the next step up via vBIOS flash to be 100% stable.

That is true. It could very much be the case that the yields on the 14nm Polaris 11 were so abysmally poor that a fully enabled chip was out of the question. I would expect this to be the main reason that the Titan X is a cut down GPU and the only card featuring a fully enabled GP 102 is a multi-thousand dollar Quadro. This isn't exactly a viable option on a low end card like Polaris 11.

[Prysin]

most likely they are disabled in order to actually meet TDP limits.

[ivan134]

8 minutes ago, Drak3 said:

It's also entirely possible that desktop Polaris 11 is just a clusterfuck at this point, and perhaps the 460 is AMD salvaging it as best they can.

 

At the end of the day, I would not trust any card being upgraded to the next step up via vBIOS flash to be 100% stable.

 

6 minutes ago, othertomperson said:

That is true. It could very much be the case that the yields on the 14nm Polaris 11 were so abysmally poor that a fully enabled chip was out of the question. I would expect this to be the main reason that the Titan X is a cut down GPU and the only card featuring a fully enabled GP 102 is a multi-thousand dollar Quadro. This isn't exactly a viable option on a low end card like Polaris 11.

Yields are usually better the smaller the chip is though. Such problems would have been more prominent with Polaris 10. I'm still thinking it's like Tonga XT and Apple has exclusive rights to the chip for a while or something.