Radeon RX 480 Performance Benchmarks with 16.7.1 driver




With the new AMD Radeon 16.7.1 driver freshly released I understand that there is concern among you guys that the power distribution fix might have done something that makes the Radeon RX 480 throttle or downclock e.g. have a negative effect on performance. Hence I ran some benchmarks.
So as it stands right now, the effect on the power distribution fix is not measurable. By saying that I mean the performance is has remained the same. There are 1 FPS differences here and there, but overall it's all similar and here and there the performance even increased a little, 3DMark FireStrike is such an example.
I ran 3DMark FireStrike, Hitman 2016, Rise of the Tom Raider, Total War: Warhammer and Far Cry Primal. You can check out the benchmarks inbetween the AMD Radeon Software Crimson Driver 16.6.2 without power fix and the new AMD Radeon Software Crimson Driver 16.7.1 below. I've made a full spread in resolution, meaning Full HD (1920x1080), WQHD (2560x1440) and Ultra HD (3840x2160). I've also added a core clock recording of the card in a 3DMark FireStrike loop. Though there is less varying throttling, the card runs below 1200 MHz with that benchmark (which is normal behaviour). I verified and compared this with against Unigine Heaven (also included), which runs steady at 1240~1250 MHz in an Extreme mode. So the card does still reach its maximum boost frequency.
Now in the driver you'll notice a new 'Compatibility mode' as well as a new 'Power Efficiency mode'. These modes are irrelevant in the sense that you do not have to change them. Compatibility mode” toggle will further reduce overall board power. All modes have the new power distribution applied, we confirmed this with AMD moments ago, so you do not have to switch or alter anything in the drivers.
Click the thumbnails to watch the benchmarks, and obviously the benchmarks themselves don't confirm if the power distribution actually was fixed and within normal parameters.
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Senior Member
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Actually no

I would expect that clocks are more stable now.
Due to how PCI-E power specification works, ie forcefully lowering voltage when the current goes over the maximum threshold(7.14A) and this does happen with the old RX 480.
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Good to see the performance was not effected.
Undying
Nvidia cards historically weaker in 3DMark than GCN cards.
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The article says 16.7.1 but the benchmarks say 17.6.1
Don Vito Corleone
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Ahw sjeesh ... back to the excel sheet

Update: right let's pretend nobody noticed that - fixed.
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Too bad AMD did not foresee the backlash to the PCI-E voltage issue and just released this fix as standard to begin with.
Anyhow glad that AMD solved this quickly. And thank you HH for posting this so quickly.
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that was fast. this is why i love guru3d...

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People blow it out of proportion. So much debate and arguing but nothing AMD cant fix, such a easy and quickly fix i should add.
Now enjoy your RX480's!

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So the only realistic concern with the rx480 is that overclocking is highly not recommended which is fine for 90% of people out there. AMD really needed to have an 8 pin connector for this card and everything would have been fine to begin, I'd still recommend this gpu to most gamers

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People blow it out of proportion. So much debate and arguing but nothing AMD cant fix, such a easy and quickly fix i should add.
Now enjoy your RX480's!

Funny because reviewers and "bashers" helped drive AMD into finding a solution and making better GPU in the end.
And we've seen the exact same thing with the same result with frame-pacing - well placed critique driving AMD into building better products.
If it was up to your AMD-can-do-no-wrong crowd, AMD would be in a worse position than it is now. Think about it...
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The Sapphire Nitro and MSI Gaming versions have an 8 pin connector and better cooling than the reference card so should expect some decent overclocks on those cards.
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Yes, that's what I'm waiting for, closer to what the card should have been from the beginning.
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Funny because reviewers and "bashers" helped drive AMD into finding a solution and making better GPU in the end.
And we've seen the exact same thing with the same result with frame-pacing - well placed critique driving AMD into building better products.
If it was up to your AMD-can-do-no-wrong crowd, AMD would be in a worse position than it is now. Think about it...
I think AMD's response was pretty spot on. I do think the whole issue was over"blown". still waiting on seeing these phantom blown motherboards that were supposedly reported...
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well, then it wouldn't really be a reference card then. still great performance for $199 especially if you got one those early ones with 8GB VRAM!
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Prices is in Finland are not that great really, I might even try to buy from some other EU country. 8pin should allow for more overclocking fun so I don't really mind if the power usage goes up quite a bit, it will still be far more efficient than 280x.
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Stock gtx980 score in FS.
Seems like on pair with upcoming gtx1060.