AMD Radeon RX 480 review

AMD claims the middle ground once again, but for how long?

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If 14nm and 16nm FinFET have shown us anything, it's that this generation of GPUs from both AMD and Nvidia provide an exceptional leap in graphical grunt compared to the last series. The Radeon RX 480 certainly hasn't disappointed, providing gaming bang for your buck.

We liked

When it comes to price to performance here, the Radeon RX 480 is astronomical. On top of that this card runs smooth and quiet and decimates at 1080p. With aftermarket cards coming featuring more intuitive power designs, we'll be highly surprised if we don't see 3DMark Firestrike figures well into the 12,000s during benchmarks.

We disliked

Honestly, it's quite hard to pick flaws here. Our biggest gripe would be the potential for movement in the RX 480's price. Although the tech market is in particular flux right now, we'd be surprised if this card didn't drop in price should Nvidia's GTX 1060 race out of the traps soon. While useful, WattMan is a little rough around the edges at this moment in time.

Final verdict

AMD, the kings of value, have returned with a killer card. The Radeon RX 480 holds 60 fps at 1080p with ease, and is a comfortable and fun experience at 1440p. Couple this with a 120 fps FreeSync monitor, and you'll be well on the way to an absolutely fluid gaming experience. There's lots to like here for anybody who isn't looking to game in resolutions higher than 1440p.

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Zak Storey
Zak Storey
Freelance contributor

Zak is one of TechRadar's multi-faceted freelance tech journalists. He's written for an absolute plethora of tech publications over the years and has worked for Techradar on and off since 2015. Most famously, Zak led Maximum PC as its Editor-in-Chief from 2020 through to the end of 2021, having worked his way up from Staff Writer. Zak currently writes for Maximum PC, TechRadar, PCGamesN, and Trusted Reviews. He also had a stint working as Corsair's Public Relations Specialist in the UK, which has given him a particularly good insight into the inner workings of larger companies in the industry. He left in 2023, coming back to journalism once more. When he's not building PCs, reviewing hardware, or gaming, you can often find Zak working at his local coffee shop as First Barista, or out in the Wye Valley shooting American Flat Bows.