All the AMD Radeon RX 480 custom cards announced so far! (Updated)

Updated on 27 July 2016: Added details on the Sapphire Radeon RX 480 Nitro+ and MSI Radeon RX 480 Gaming and Gaming X cards.

Originally published on 22 July 2016:

If you’re looking to upgrade on a budget, you’ve probably got your eye on either the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060, or the AMD Radeon RX 480.

We’ve already rounded up the custom GeForce GTX 1060 cards here, but while AMD officially launched its top Polaris card just under a month ago, custom cards are only now beginning to trickle out (reference versions of the card are already out).

Whether you’re for the red or green camp, more choice is always a good thing for the consumer. Here’s a look at the selection that’s been announced (or teased) so far, although it should be noted that we’re still missing details like pricing information. And since some of these have yet to be officially announced, you should also take them with a pinch of salt.

ASUS

As expected, ASUS has prepared an ROG Strix model of the Radeon RX 480. The ROG Strix RX 480 looks much like ASUS’ other Strix cards, with the same DirectCU III cooler and triple-fan configuration.

The card is available in two flavors – an OC version and a regular one. The OC model comes overclocked out of the box, with a 1,310MHz boost clock in the default Gaming mode, and a 1,330MHz boost clock in OC mode. On the other hand, the regular card comes with a 1,266MHz boost clock – the same as the reference card – in Gaming mode, and a 1,286MHz boost clock in OC mode.

Like the NVIDIA cards, it also features ASUS’ FanConnect technology, so you can connect your case fans directly to 4-pin headers on the GPU and have them ramp up when the card is under load.

In addition, the card is looking to capitalize on AMD’s promises of providing an affordable VR experience as well. It comes with two HDMI ports on the rear, so you can connect both an HDMI display and VR headset at the same time.

Finally, there’s the usual support for all manner of fancy lighting effects in the form of ASUS’ Aura RGB lighting. You can choose from a variety of effects or even set the lights to pulse in time to your music.

Gigabyte

The Gigabyte Radeon RX 480 G1 Gaming comes in two variants, and both 4GB and 8GB versions will be available. Both cards feature two factory overclocked profiles in the form of a Gaming mode and OC mode, but Gigabyte has not yet announced details on the speeds at this point in time.

That aside, Gigabyte revealed that the cards will utilize a 6+2 power phase design to help regulate voltage for better stability. There’s also a smart power indicator, which will alert users to any power abnormalities. Gigabyte has replaced the 6-pin power connector on the reference card with an 8-pin one as well, the better to supply more power to the card and maximize the overclocking headroom available.

The G1 Gaming cards are cooled by a dual 90mm fan WindForce 2X cooler, which is actually similar to the one used on the GeForce GTX 1060 G1 Gaming. In addition, the cooling shroud features Gigabyte’s RGB Spectrum lighting and a Fan Stop indicator that lights up when the fans power down under low loads.

Finally, the card is equipped with a metal backplate that protects the PCB, another step up from the reference card which came with an exposed PCB.

MSI

MSI has announced a total of four different variants of the Radeon RX 480, as listed below: 

• MSI Radeon RX 480 Gaming X 8G
• MSI Radeon RX 480 Gaming 8G
• MSI Radeon RX 480 Gaming X 4G
• MSI Radeon RX 480 Gaming 4G

Other than the obvious differences between the 4GB and 8GB cards, the Gaming X and Gaming cards differ only in terms of clock speeds, where the Gaming X models are clocked more aggressively. Both Gaming X cards have a boost clock of 1,316MHz, while the Gaming cards feature a more modest 1,292MHz boost clock. 

All of them utilize MSI's excellent Twin Frozr VI cooler (complete with a matte black metal backplate), which includes features like double ball bearing fans, three thick 8mm heatpipes, and a nickel-plated copper baseplate. The 6-pin connector has also been replaced with an 8-pin one for greater overclocking headroom. Finally, there's the custom 8-phase PCB design that should deliver smoother and more stable voltage to the GPU. 

To cap things off, MSI has tweaked the selection of display connectors over the reference design. Instead of just three DisplayPort connectors and one HDMI port, you get two DisplayPort, two HDMI, and one DVI output. Dual HDMI ports are becoming more common these days, and they're done mainly so users can connect an HDMI display and VR headset to the card at the same time.

The cards are expected to go on sale worldwide in the middle of August.

PowerColor

PowerColor has announced the Radeon Red Devil RX 480, which just might be one of the fancier-looking custom RX 480s around.

It uses a triple-fan Double Blade III thermal solution, which comprises two 8mm and two 6mm nickel-plated heatpipes that are in contact with the copper baseplate. The fans themselves are 80mm affairs that utilize a double ball bearing design for greater reliability and longevity. As it turns out, the card is actually a good 55mm longer than the reference design which sports just a single blower fan, so that’s something to take note of if you’re looking to install it in a small form factor chassis.

Instead of a single 6-pin connector, PowerColor opted for an 8-pin power connector to supply additional power and help you to push the clock speeds further. However, PowerColor has retained the same 6+1 phase power design as the reference card, so it lags behind the other custom cards with additional power phases in this respect. Still, PowerColor may very well have used better quality power regulation components, and its more robust cooler could help it overcome these shortcomings.

Another nice touch is the built-in BIOS switch that makes it easier to recover from failed overclocks. The switch can also be used to toggle between two different clock speeds.

The card ships with a factory overclock to the tune of a 1,330MHz boost clock, up from 1,266MHz on the reference design.

Sapphire

Sapphire has stopped short of making an official announcement, but it has teased pictures of its upcoming Radeon RX 480 Nitro+. This will be the company’s top RX 480 card, featuring a custom PCB and a more powerful thermal solution.

In the images released by Sapphire, the cooler boasts a gunmetal finish and two 100mm fans that can power down when the card is idle. A dense aluminum fin-stack heatsink also helps to draw heat away from the GPU via copper heatpipes. As it turns out, the fans are easily detachable as well, which is a nice touch that will allow you to clean out the heatsink.

The 6-pin power connector has been replaced with an 8-pin one, which has been relocated onto the side of the card that’s facing the front panel of your case. This should make cable routing slightly easier as you don’t have to pull the cables round to the card’s longer side.

There’s an illuminated Sapphire logo on the card’s side, and there’s even a red button on the PCB, nestled at the edge of the metal backplate, that will let you change the lighting effects. The card comes with dual BIOS as well, to help you recover from failed GPU overclocks.

It features a 1,342MHz boost clock and is slated to be available from global retailers starting this month.

XFX

There’s little in the way of confirmed details from XFX as well, but the company has teased slides of its incoming Radeon RX 480 Black Edition card. The card reportedly has a boost clock of 1,338MHz, and will feature an upgraded 6+2 phase power design, an 8-pin power connector, and a metal backplate.

We’ll update when we have more details.

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