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Early Batches of Radeon RX 480 4GB cards actually do have 8GB memory
For reviewers AMD has been circulating a BIOS that would allow 8GB versions to be tested at 4 GB. However it was stated that all 4GB retail cards do physically have 4GB and not 8GB. That it seems was not true for some batches. Some users have reported purchasing a 4GB RX 480, that in fact physically holds 8GB of memory.
A user called bertieX over at Dutch website Tweakers.net reported that he purchased a 4GB PowerColor RX 480. The card has 8 memory chips and when he watched the GDDR5 ICs closely, he noticed Samsung K4G80325FBHC25 chips, these are confirmed 8Gbit. With eight of them that does make a total of 64 Gbit and thus indeed there is 8 GB of GDDR5 memory present on the PCB.
The card however is recognized and utilizing 4GB as model, this means that the remaining 4 GB is disabled in the BIOS. In theory it would be possible and very simple to activate the remaining 4GB to 8GB with an 8GB SKU BIOS update. It is very doubtful that AMD will keep delivering 4GB models with physical 8GB on the cards, likely this was a snap decision or quantity discount to get the cards out fast. At this time it is uncertain if all 4GB cards sold in fact carry 8 GB of memory, according to more rumors the XFX cards also have 8GB present on the 4GB models.
The 4GB Radeon RX 480 costs 219 euro whereas a 8GB model will cost 269 Euro. Currently you'll be hard-pressed to spot a store selling 4 GB models as they are out of stock everywhere.
vase
Senior Member
Posts: 1653
Joined: 2015-03-20
Senior Member
Posts: 1653
Joined: 2015-03-20
#5301282 Posted on: 07/06/2016 02:23 AM
new info about this, confirming two "rumours"
1) there are 4GB editions of AIBs that ship with physically 8GB memory - confirmed!
2) those can be flashed to 8GB - confirmed!
https://www.techpowerup.com/223913/amd-retail-radeon-rx-480-4gb-to-8gb-memory-unlock-mod-works-we-benchmarked
new info about this, confirming two "rumours"
1) there are 4GB editions of AIBs that ship with physically 8GB memory - confirmed!
2) those can be flashed to 8GB - confirmed!
https://www.techpowerup.com/223913/amd-retail-radeon-rx-480-4gb-to-8gb-memory-unlock-mod-works-we-benchmarked
vase
Senior Member
Posts: 1653
Joined: 2015-03-20
Senior Member
Posts: 1653
Joined: 2015-03-20
#5301284 Posted on: 07/06/2016 02:25 AM
Brings back memories of the days you could unlock the disabled shader cores on the old AMD cards to get a nice 40% performance increase.
That being said any idea if the CUDA cores between the 1070/1080 are disabled via hardware or the bios?
mhh back in the days i only had 3dfx and nvidia but those things are awesome tbh... because back then even manufacturers were of the opinion "oh we can do it like this, no one will find out to do that anyway"
Brings back memories of the days you could unlock the disabled shader cores on the old AMD cards to get a nice 40% performance increase.
That being said any idea if the CUDA cores between the 1070/1080 are disabled via hardware or the bios?
mhh back in the days i only had 3dfx and nvidia but those things are awesome tbh... because back then even manufacturers were of the opinion "oh we can do it like this, no one will find out to do that anyway"
chanw4
Senior Member
Posts: 2362
Joined: 2008-07-03
Senior Member
Posts: 2362
Joined: 2008-07-03
#5301342 Posted on: 07/06/2016 06:35 AM
I simply cannot understand how anyone could compare this to intentionally OC the card to get a better result in review.
If i understand correctly, the BIOS is for reviewers to test the card as it is sold at retail store, 4GB of soft locked RAM with 8GM of physical RAM. That is the opposite of what MSI and ASUS were doing. They are intentionally gimping the hardware to match what is actually sold and use in the retail market.
We don't know why and how much of the variant is on the retail. All we know is the first batch contain these variants and consider yourself lucky if you could unlock it to 8GB.
I simply cannot understand how anyone could compare this to intentionally OC the card to get a better result in review.
If i understand correctly, the BIOS is for reviewers to test the card as it is sold at retail store, 4GB of soft locked RAM with 8GM of physical RAM. That is the opposite of what MSI and ASUS were doing. They are intentionally gimping the hardware to match what is actually sold and use in the retail market.
We don't know why and how much of the variant is on the retail. All we know is the first batch contain these variants and consider yourself lucky if you could unlock it to 8GB.
MadGizmo
Senior Member
Posts: 1396
Joined: 2008-06-09
Senior Member
Posts: 1396
Joined: 2008-06-09
#5301534 Posted on: 07/06/2016 02:13 PM
I used to enjoy threads like these. Lately this place has become toxic.
I used to enjoy threads like these. Lately this place has become toxic.
Click here to post a comment for this news story on the message forum.
Senior Member
Posts: 8061
Joined: 2014-09-27
This is the kind of news that usually happens in the beginning of a product line. Honest to God I can't understand why ANYONE would complain about something like this (if it is actually happening). The companies involved know the costs better than any forum-theoriser, so what's the issue exactly.
And yes, this is different from cutting out parts of the memory controller of the GPU.