First custom RX 480 card reviewed:

Sapphire Nitro+ RX 480 review: Polaris rethought and refined

http://www.pcworld.com/article/3098825/components-graphics/sapphire-nitro-rx-480-review-polaris-rethought-and-refined.html

Sapphire’s Nitro+ RX 480. It’s hitting online stores next week on an unspecified date at $219 for a 4GB model (which we tested) and $269 for an 8GB version.

The core clock speeds for the two models also differ. Both ship with a dual BIOS featuring both “Quiet” and “Boost” modes. The optional Quiet mode actually sticks to the same 1,266MHz boost clock as the reference RX 480. The default Boost mode comes enabled out of the box, hitting a modest 1,306MHz on the 4GB Nitro+ RX 480 and 1,342MHz on the 8GB version.

Sapphire redesigned the power system on the Nitro+ RX 480, swapping out the reference model’s 6-pin power connector for a beefier 8-pin and altering the power phase design so that no more than roughly 60 watts courses in via your motherboard’s PCI-E slot.

The card features Sapphire’s Dual-X cooling solution, a pair of fans over a beefy, high-density heat sink riddled with copper heat pipes of various sizes. The Nitro+ RX 480’s fans have been upgraded to 95mm, dual ball-bearing models. Sapphire claims the redesign results in a 10-percent noise reduction compared to the previous generation of Dual-X coolers. The fans actually won’t spin at all until the GPU temperature hits 52 degrees Celsius, making the card completely silent when you aren’t gaming or rendering videos.

Sapphire also tweaked the RX 480’s connectivity. While the reference board packs a single HDMI 2.0b and a trio of DisplayPort 1.4 connections, the Nitro+ RX 480 cuts the DisplayPorts back to two in order to squeeze in a second HDMI port as well as a DVI port. The latter will come in handy on lower-end monitors, while the extra HDMI port allows the Nitro+ RX 480 to output to both a monitor and a VR headset. Sapphire’s decision to swap out an extra DisplayPort in favor of those two connectors seems smart indeed considering the RX 480’s budget-friendly price and its position as the cheapest VR-ready graphics card around.

In summary, it's faster than a stock RX 480 (obviously) and slower than a reference GTX 1060. The 8GB version, with its faster memory and higher overclock should do better. It also uses less power than the reference card at idle but more at load and, while it can be overclocked past the 1,400MHz, it's not worth it.

*Edit* I found another review of the Nitro+, but this time it's the 8GB model: http://www.eteknix.com/sapphire-nitro-rx-480-oc-8gb-graphics-card-review/

TechPowerUp also reviewed tha ASUS Strix OC, and wasn't very favorable. Sapphire's looks better

https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/RX_480_STRIX_OC/

Seems like the only plus on the custom models is that have better coolers and power conections. A shame...

^The results are good, but the wording makes it look bad.

But yeah, the Nitro+ seems to be a better card.

And probably the price is another big difference... 270$ for the 8gb isn't o bad, hopefully for end year will be cheaper, as AMD isn't leading the mid range after the 1060 release, probably will have some nice price cut, to make it even more appealing on the Price/performance ratio :D So we still Win...

The 480 seems to be a dud. Many had hopes that custom cards might shine a bright spot on Polaris.

Seems to be a bit of a silicon/card lottery with the 480 as well... Some people can't push past 1.25ghz... Others are hitting 1.5-1.6ghz.

That's because the fan setting is wrong, It's set to keep the card at 65º C which is too low. They manually set the fan profile at 75º C and the card was much quieter and made 30 dBA.

They mention it in the conclusion.

The latest GCN architectures aren't known for being good overclockers, and the fourth installment seems to follow the same path.

That said, maybe the 14nm process still needs some tweaking and it's worth to wait until the hypothetical 485 card goes on sale.

Sapphire has shown its 470 & 460 cards.

Sapphire Radeon RX 470 and RX 460 pictured

http://videocardz.com/62511/sapphire-radeon-rx-470-and-rx-460-pictured

Sapphire Radeon RX 470 Platinum Edition

Sapphire Radeon RX 460

Two fans to cool a 75W GPU?

Both are reference models... but still is strange that uses dual fans on the cooler 460...

I think the idea there is more fans = lower overall RPM = less noise + fan life span.

If you read the article, that 470 by Sapphire is rumored to cost $179. With so little difference between that card and a 4GB 480, there's little room for fancy coolers from AIB partners. Specially after that Digital Foundry video you posted.