AMD RX 480, 470, 460 UK release date, price, features and specification: The Radeon RX 480 is a VR-capable graphics card for under £200

The AMD RX 460, 470, 480 graphics cards have been launched and are set to ignite AMD's red army in the budget GPU market. The cards are extremely affordable, will suit most gamers and have impressive benchmark results. We detail the AMD RX 460, 470 and 480 UK release date, price and specifications.

The AMD RX 460, 470 and 480 cards are here: VR-capable graphics cards for less than £200. We detail the AMD RX 460, 470 and 480 UK release date, price and specifications.

The new AMD RX-series cards are aimed at gamers, from those who want to experience VR, to those who are playing on MOBA games like League of Legends and DOTA 2 and want a no-nonsense graphics card that doesn't require a lot of power to run. Here's everything you need to know about the new Polaris cards.

AMD RX 480 power draw concerns and disclaimer

It was recently discovered by Tom's Hardware and PC Perspective, that the RX 480 is drawing more power than its quoted 150W TDP. In certain games the card draws over 190W, which raises questions as to how it's drawing power. With further analysis, the sites both found that the card was drawing 95W through the PCIe slot, versus the standard maximum slot power allocation of 75W. This creates a lot of problems, as with prolonged use, could fry your motherboard's PCIe slot.

AMD have already released a statement and are planning a software/driver update, which will instruct the GPU to draw power from your PSU, or have the card slightly lower clocked to avoid it drawing as much power.

This means that its quoted 150W TDP in its specifications might rise or its benchmark results might drop as a result of the card being lower clocked and limited by its power draw.

AMD are planning a new driver update on 7 July, which is set to "address power distribution on the Radeon RX 480 – this change will lower current drawn from the PCIe bus." Also see ourGTX 1070 review and GTX 1080 review.

AMD RX 480 4GB BIOS flashing

A very intriguing find by TechPowerUp has revealed that you can unlock a RX 480 4GB to a 8GB version, by a simple BIOS flash.

This of course really depends on your card, but if your RX 480 has eight Samsung chips on its PCB, then you can theoretically unlock them by flashing a 8GB BIOS on your 4GB card. This will then enable you to utilise those extra, unused memory modules. Do be warned that this will void your warranty, as you'll be flashing non-certified BIOS, taking apart your GPU and potentially running into problems in the long run.

If done successfully, you'll then have a 8GB card for the price of a 4GB one!

AMD RX 460, 470, 480 UK release date: When is the RX 480, 470 and 480 coming out?

The AMD RX 480 is available now. The card might have limited availability initially from retailers in the UK, but AMD has already moved to reassure buyers and retailers that there won't be a shortage of stock. The RX 470 and 460, although announced, have not yet been released. An on-sale date is expected in the next few weeks.

The RX 480 and RX 470 are available in both 4GB and 8GB VRAM versions. The RX 460 comes in 2GB and 4GB VRAM models.

You'll be able to find Radeon RX 480 cards through a variety of UK retailers, such as Overclockers UK, eBuyer, Scan and Maplin.

You can buy the Sapphire RX 480 8GB for £219.99 from Amazon.

Other manufacturers offering RX 480 cards include: Asus, MSI, Gigabyte, HIS and PowerColor.

AMD RX 460, 470, 480 UK price: How much do the RX 460, 470 and 480 cost?

Due to the volatility in the market, especially with the announcement of Brexit and a drop in the value of the Pound against the Dollar, prices are currently unstable. However, in the UK you can find the RX 480 at £180, but sourcing it is proving to be a little tricky at the moment. If you want to buy an RX 480 right away, the 8GB version is readily available for around £220.

Here are the prices in the US and UK:

AMD RX 480 UK price

4GB VRAM: $199 / £180 inc VAT
8GB VRAM: $239 / £220 inc VAT

The following prices are rumoured (no official prices have been announced yet):

AMD RX 470 UK price

4GB VRAM: $149 / £140 inc VAT
8GB VRAM: $179 / £165 inc VAT

AMD RX 460 UK price

2GB VRAM: $99 / £90 inc VAT
4GB VRAM: $129 / £120 inc VAT

The prices are extremely attractive, with the RX 480 aimed at those wanting to game on VR or on 2K (2560x1440) screens. In CrossFire (where two or more cards are used together), the RX 480s beats a single GTX 1070. AMD had made us believe that it could beat a single GTX 1080, but as Ars Technica pointed out, a single GTX 1080 or 1070 is better than having to deal with a CrossFire setup, especially with its increased power draw consumption.

The RX 470 is aimed at those who want a smooth 1080P at 60fps experience, allowing gamers to play their favourite games in full-HD without worrying about the framerate dropping under 60fps.

Meanwhile, the RX 460 is aimed at MOBA gamers. In other words, those who don't need a super powerful graphics card, but still want to play their favourite games in full-HD or at a high framerate.

AMD RX 460, 470, 480 specification and features: What to expect from Polaris cards?

The new Polaris cards run on a 14nm FinFET manufacturing method, allowing the cards to run much more efficiently and produce a better output. The new cards also run on higher clock rates versus the older generation cards.

AMD RX 480 specs

Stream Processors: 2304
AMD CUs: 36
Core clock: 1120MHz
Boost clock: 1266MHz
VRAM: 4 & 8GB GDDR5
TFLOP: 5.8
Memory clock: 7Gbps (4GB) & 8Gbps (8GB)
Memory bus width: 256-bit
Memory bandwidth (GB/s): 224 (4GB) & 256 (8GB)
TDP: 150W
Transistors: 5.7b
Manufacturing process: 14nm FinFET
Power: 1x 6-pin
Standard card length: 243mm

AMD RX 470 specs (rumoured)

Stream Processors: 2048
AMD CUs: 32
Core clock: 980MHz
Boost clock: 1050MHz
VRAM: 4/8GB GDDR5
TFLOP: 5.1
Memory clock: 7Gbps
Memory bus width: 256-bit
Memory bandwidth (GB/s) 224
TDP: 110W
Transistors: 5.1b
Manufacturing process: 14nm FinFET
Power: 1x 6-pin

AMD RX 460 specs (rumoured)

Stream Processors: 1024
AMD CUs: 14
Core clock: 800MHz
Boost clock: 900MHz
VRAM: 2 & 4GB GDDR5
TFLOP: 2
Memory clock: 5.5Gbps
Memory bus width: 128-bit
Memory bandwidth (GB/s): 112
TDP: 75W
Transistors: 3.5b
Manufacturing process: 14nm FinFET
Power: None

Looking at the specs above, the cards are aimed at those who aren't going to be running a single card playing games in 4K, rather those who want a good full-HD experience.

Note: depending on the configuration of the cards by third-party manufacturers and the VRAM version you select, the card's specs will vary. For example, Sapphire are set to release a 8GB OC version with a 8-pin power connector, allowing you to draw more power from your PSU for greater overclocking headroom.

Looking more closely at the RX 480, we can see that it sits somewhat in-between the R9 390 and R9 390X in terms of its on-paper specs.

The RX 470 has sufficient firepower for those wanting to game at full-HD while also enjoying a solid 60fps experience.

The RX 460 on the other hand is really aimed at those who want a very cheap graphics card for eSports. The card has a very low power draw (<75W), meaning it doesn't need an additional power supply: it takes power from the PCIe slot.

The RX 470 and 480 on the other hand needs a 6-pin PCIe connector from the PSU to work. The low-power consumprion of the RX 460 mean it's perfect to simply plug and play into any computer. The card will also run on Polaris 11, a cut down version of the full Polaris 10.

For those who are into eSports, resolution is often not important, whereby most play on a lower resolution in order to achieve the highest possible framerates. For example, playing at 300fps with a black border 4:3 resolution on CS:GO.

All three new Polaris RX cards include support for HDR (high-dynamic-range) rendering, which allows better lighting scenarios in games - making games more visually accurate and appealing.

The cards also support HDMI 2.0b, DisplayPort 1.3/1.4, Direct X12 and Vulkan, and have H.265, HEVC encoding and decoding capabilities.