Here's a tidbit of info that I've come to realize and I feel like absolutely needs to be shared, people are worried that this graphics cards is going to fry their motherboards because of all the reports that sprung up after the NDA was lifted on the 29th. Well I have news for you, the card only draws 16-50W at the PCIe slot while at idle and under light loads i.e. web surfing, which should be mentioned is well within PCI-SIG specs. So the notion that this particular card is going to fry your motherboard upon installation and first boot up is ridiculous!
Secondly, this quote direct from Tom's Hardware (the culprit of this whole powergate fiasco): "AMD's Radeon RX 480 draws 90W through the motherboard’s PCIe slot during our stress test. This is a full 20 percent above the limit. To be clear, your motherboard isn't going to catch fire."
I have a really big problem with this because the game they tested was Metro Last Light at 4K resolution and it's very vague because they didn't specify at what settings (to really stress the card to its max I'm sure it was Ultra). Now, people are saying the target audience for the RX 480 is very cheap and will throw this card in a $50 motherboard and burn their house down (lmao)! Now comes the kicker! This cheap class of PC gamers (referring to us), know that this particular card is NOT a 4k playable GPU! So why on earth would we buy a $200 GPU and a $50 motherboard to try and game in 4K??? SERIOUSLY???
I, for one, would have loved to see what the 480 pulled from the PCIe slot on any given game at 1080p in ultra settings in Tom's findings, I guarantee it's not 90W! The vast majority of the people who are buying this card do not even own the hardware capable of displaying 4k resolution (4k monitor)! I feel like they set out to kill this card well before it got to the hands of the consumers because they were worried about how blown away we all would be by the fps per dollar value in this "cheap segment"! Also, if you are like me, and have lots of experience with system building, you won't even hesitate to get a 480, but if you are new to all this, you shouldn't worry about killing off any hardware that you don't even have the capability to destroy for lack of high end equipment (again, 4k monitor).
The problem lies with gaming at 4K under heavy settings. Seeing that the 4K spectrum exists, AMD has to address it. They've already stated that they are providing a fix via bios in the coming days. Anyone gaming at 1440p and lower are not going to experience the heavy watt pulls from the PCIe slot that would destroy a motherboard! MOST people aren't going to be stress testing their card at 4K, they are going to be casually gaming at 1080p and the occasional 1440p if they have the monitor to support it! The problem doesn't lie within these confines so those of you raising pitch forks need to STOP with the notion that this card is a constant power hog that will unleash the gates of Hades on your motherboard!
I continue to debunk the claims that this card is going to cause a motherboard failure because it just isn't going to happen under normal circumstances. I've purchased 3 cards from three different manufacturers, and will be concluding my own testing in the coming days with various system designs and benchmarks! Every claim that I have made has a basis of truth from research and testing and YEARS of system building!
Before anyone comments saying that these remarks are coming from a fanboy, please be advised that I advocate for ALL GPUs by both Nvidia and AMD, it just so happens that AMD is under current scrutiny. If you want a 1070 or 1080 FE, I'm all for it! You want a Maxwell or Grenada GPU because of the price reductions? I'm all for that as well, there is still lots of value in the previous generation! I say Go Red or Go Green, we should all reap the benefits of competition for years to come!
Secondly, this quote direct from Tom's Hardware (the culprit of this whole powergate fiasco): "AMD's Radeon RX 480 draws 90W through the motherboard’s PCIe slot during our stress test. This is a full 20 percent above the limit. To be clear, your motherboard isn't going to catch fire."
I have a really big problem with this because the game they tested was Metro Last Light at 4K resolution and it's very vague because they didn't specify at what settings (to really stress the card to its max I'm sure it was Ultra). Now, people are saying the target audience for the RX 480 is very cheap and will throw this card in a $50 motherboard and burn their house down (lmao)! Now comes the kicker! This cheap class of PC gamers (referring to us), know that this particular card is NOT a 4k playable GPU! So why on earth would we buy a $200 GPU and a $50 motherboard to try and game in 4K??? SERIOUSLY???
I, for one, would have loved to see what the 480 pulled from the PCIe slot on any given game at 1080p in ultra settings in Tom's findings, I guarantee it's not 90W! The vast majority of the people who are buying this card do not even own the hardware capable of displaying 4k resolution (4k monitor)! I feel like they set out to kill this card well before it got to the hands of the consumers because they were worried about how blown away we all would be by the fps per dollar value in this "cheap segment"! Also, if you are like me, and have lots of experience with system building, you won't even hesitate to get a 480, but if you are new to all this, you shouldn't worry about killing off any hardware that you don't even have the capability to destroy for lack of high end equipment (again, 4k monitor).
The problem lies with gaming at 4K under heavy settings. Seeing that the 4K spectrum exists, AMD has to address it. They've already stated that they are providing a fix via bios in the coming days. Anyone gaming at 1440p and lower are not going to experience the heavy watt pulls from the PCIe slot that would destroy a motherboard! MOST people aren't going to be stress testing their card at 4K, they are going to be casually gaming at 1080p and the occasional 1440p if they have the monitor to support it! The problem doesn't lie within these confines so those of you raising pitch forks need to STOP with the notion that this card is a constant power hog that will unleash the gates of Hades on your motherboard!
I continue to debunk the claims that this card is going to cause a motherboard failure because it just isn't going to happen under normal circumstances. I've purchased 3 cards from three different manufacturers, and will be concluding my own testing in the coming days with various system designs and benchmarks! Every claim that I have made has a basis of truth from research and testing and YEARS of system building!
Before anyone comments saying that these remarks are coming from a fanboy, please be advised that I advocate for ALL GPUs by both Nvidia and AMD, it just so happens that AMD is under current scrutiny. If you want a 1070 or 1080 FE, I'm all for it! You want a Maxwell or Grenada GPU because of the price reductions? I'm all for that as well, there is still lots of value in the previous generation! I say Go Red or Go Green, we should all reap the benefits of competition for years to come!