Lastly, Watch_Dogs in UHD. We have found that most cards have issues with this game in this resolution. This is fully patched and unmodded, it’s vanilla Watch_Dogs.
Watch_Dogs in UHD is not a game for the RX 480. Giving the worst FPS performance this was a real struggle to test. Keep it 1080p and you shouldn’t have an issue, push it any further and it’s more like a slide show than a game!
Conclusion
The Sapphire AMD Radeon RX 480 8Gb graphics card is the card that should have been released last year. We would agree with the feedback that this is a last generation card but it’s not all that bad. Low power demands and a single PSU connector and almost a small form factor PCB lurking under the leaf blower, it’s got some benefits. It also has HDMI 2.0b, and with Vulkan making a splash at the same time as the RX 480, they are going to be forever linked.
The Sapphire AMD Radeon RX 480 has some performance, it’s there, but poor game engines or just complex graphics will trip it up, especially in UHD resolutions. In 1080p, this is a really good card, and we cannot forget the price. AMD are excellent at aggressive price campaigns in general and against Nvidia, and the RX 480 is no different. It is cheaper than the R9 390X when it launched by some margin. The question remains as it did when we reviewed the XFX Radeon R9 390X 8GB DD Black Edition, should you upgrade. The answer this time is yes, for the price point, the modern revisions including FinFET 14 process technology, it’s got potential, features and value. The Nvidia GTX 1080 is just over twice the price, the RX 480 isn’t always half as fast.
Sapphire AMD Radeon RX 480 8Gb
Sapphire AMD Radeon RX 480 8Gb Graphics Card Review
Package and Bundle - 7.5
Performance - 8
Price - 8.2
Consumer Experience - 7
7.7
AMD are excellent at aggressive price campaigns in general and against Nvidia, and the RX 480 is no different. It is cheaper than the R9 390X when it launched by some margin. The question remains as it did when we reviewed the XFX Radeon R9 390X 8GB DD Black Edition, should you upgrade. The answer this time is yes, for the price point, the modern revisions including FinFET 14 process technology, it’s got potential, features and value. The Nvidia GTX 1080 is just over twice the price, the RX 480 isn’t always half as fast.