AMD Radeon RX 480 4GB cards reportedly have 8GB of RAM after BIOS upgrade
Reports have surfaced that certain early retail units of the 4GB version of the Radeon RX 480 actually come with 8GB of RAM. The hidden RAM can supposedly be unlocked by upgrading the BIOS.
Image Source: AMD
AMD’s new Radeon RX 480 is available in 4GB and 8GB versions, but if certain reports are to be believed, the 4GB models can actually be upgraded to 8GB through a BIOS upgrade.
This means that AMD is essentially shipping the 4GB cards with 8GB of RAM, and then hiding the extra 4GB with a BIOS downgrade of sorts. WCCFTech reportedly purchased an XFX Radeon RX 480 from retail channels, and flashed it with the vBIOS for the 8GB model, which then unlocked the hidden 4GB of RAM.
WCCFTech even took the card apart and found that it uses the same chips as those found in the 8GB Radeon RX 480 and GeForce GTX 1070.
A look at one of the 4GB cards with 8GB of actual RAM. (Image Source: WCCFTech)
Having said that, these reports only apply to early retail cards, so things might change further down the road. Production of the lower density memory chips could still be ramping up, and the BIOS downgrade might just be a stopgap measure to make the 4GB version available at launch.
But the fact remains that if these claims are true, AMD is actually losing money on selling the so-called 4GB version at US$199, down from US$239 for the 8GB model.
Source: WCCFTech
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