Catching up with the RX 480 4GB… Can it hold on any longer?

In today’s video we take a look at the AMD Radeon RX 480 4GB. A card that was extremely popular back when it was released due to its low retail price but how well does it hold up 8 years later with it’s limited 4GB of VRAM? Well, much better than you think, take a look.
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[@TechLabUK]

There's a silly little surprise in the video for anyone who watches to the end 😆

[@Mostly_Positive_Reviews]

Hahahahaha! It was really funny seeing the first game tested being Alan Wake 2!

[@TechLabUK]

“Tested” yeah lmao

[@Mostly_Positive_Reviews]

@@TechLabUK 🤣🤣🤣

[@lucashall8761]

Honestly these cards are/were a lot more powerful than people give them credit for. I was running an RX 560 since like 2016 and it still ran everything except Cyberpunk 2077 today.

[@TechLabUK]

I still think they are great tbh, you can pick them up so cheap and yeah drivers will become an issue but perfect for people wanting to get into PC gaming and try out all of those eSports and Indie games which PC gaming is all about.

[@jo-vrn]

I first replaced the thermal paste of my Msi RX 480 8gb in 2023. I have a 1080p monitor and did not buy a modern video card. My Msi RX 480 8gb works perfectly with my Ryzen 7 5700x, 32gb RAM, nvme 2 tb p41 skhynix. Debian 12 stable runs steam and Proton perfectly.

[@WnDTech]

Glad you can make good use out of it :) bring on the content.

[@TechLabUK]

The plans are forming lol

[@WTBMrGrey]

Opening it up and see if its got 8gb of ram. Then you can flash a 8gb bios to it and have a 8gb card. There was a shortage of 4gb cards so 8gb were sold as 4gb 👍

[@TechLabUK]

Good idea, thanks for that :)

[@WTBMrGrey]

@@TechLabUK make a good video 👍

[@25myma]

Went through a couple of 480s at the time for gpu rendering but recently couldn't skip one I found for just $30 to keep as a backup/test card. Was amazed at how strong and modern it still felt when I tested it.

[@TeamTheAces]

I grabbed an 8gb version for $25. For the price I thought it was an excellent little card. Ill be building a mini itx low power system for it and using it as my 2nd system. With a bit of tinkering on the settings of games, it can still do a great job at 1080p with the exception of a handful of games.

[@timsawyer9231]

Funny timing for this video. I just pulled out my old AMD build a couple days ago and got it running again. I still need to do quite a bit to it to get it running well, like I tried a simple online gpu benchmark and it resulted in a crash almost instantly haha But I'm looking forward to getting it running top notch again just for fun. I basically only want it as a Skyrim SE machine. Hoping it can handle the amount of mods I will be throwing at it. We'll see haha FX 8350, 16gb DDR3 and the old 4gb rx 480 (MSI). I honestly think it's going to do just fine as a Skyrim box, even with a pile of mods.

[@TechLabUK]

Would be interesting to see how well it does, keep us updated.

[@DiddyReviews]

The cyberpunk results are very impressive. Didn't expect that

[@TechLabUK]

FSR is breathing new life into these cards now which is awesome.

[@DiddyReviews]

@@TechLabUK it sure is. I may revisit my little 6500xt and see how that's doing these days.

[@TechLabUK]

@@DiddyReviews In the right board with some FSR it should do well. The issue with that card was those requirements lol

[@DiddyReviews]

@@TechLabUK defo think it's worth a return video

[@TechLabUK]

@@DiddyReviews Go for it, we don't have one anymore so would be good to see.

[@HM-rz8nv]

Thanks for doing this testing, revisiting these old cards is important work! It's honestly still very impressive how well even the RX 480 4GB is holding up, even though the 8GB variant is going to be quite a lot better for cranking up the settings a little more or even just running games that use more than 4GB no matter what. As long as someone is willing to compromise by using lower settings and FSR, they can achieve playable results in most modern games. Not everyone is an Ultra Setting 4K RT-ON/FPS-OFF fiend. I had the GTX 970 for years up until October 2022, when i was finally able to get an open box 6900 XT for $530. I've been very impressed with the 6900XT, and if the 6900XT can last atleast as long as an RX 480 8GB holds up, I'll be happy, but I'm pretty confident it will last even longer.

[@TechLabUK]

Thanks for watching :) I am sure your 6900xt will last just as long, they are insanely fast still and have been out a while now already.

[@damasterpiece08]

1080p + fsr = blurry mess

[@TechLabUK]

@@damasterpiece08 It's not that bad, well not that bad compared to the 2FPS you would be getting otherwise.

[@ashuradevilborngaming9924]

I just bought the same card with 8gb for 55 usd

[@TechLabUK]

A good buy IMO

[@mako6441]

This puppy can still go 4 more years with Lossless scaling and FG

[@TechLabUK]

FG is really keeping these things alive.

[@interstellartravel]

Holy shiet, my first gpu was an 8gb RX 580, it was a great starting point but now I have an RX 6800.

[@TechLabUK]

6800 is awesome tbh. Going to be running for years like your 580 was.

[@ruthlessedgeboy8591]

Good ol' Polaris.

[@drfrankenstein5414]

these sapphire cards are quite noisy, but good in temps.

[@TechLabUK]

I don't think I have had a card yet that isn't noisy when things are running full speed but it's about keep those temps down so thing don't have to run at full pelt all the time and these ones do that quite well.

[@drfrankenstein5414]

@@TechLabUK Yes, all fans are noisy when they run at full speed, but MSI Gaming X is much quieter compared to the rest of the brands. And Noctua when it comes to CPU coolers.

[@cgriggsiv]

Yeah I definitely think you're right the RX 480 4GB is definitely getting a little longer than tooth mainly because of the 4 gigs of RAM but they do have an 8 gig version of that card I have I also have the 590 8 gig fat boy

[@TechLabUK]

The 8GB seemed fine still the last time we tested it, it's just when games like Alan Wake 2 error due to driver versions not being the latest, when you do have the latest they make you have to worry.

[@punkbutler88]

rx480 8gb, RX5600x in my kiddo's computer. Runs just fine.

[@TechLabUK]

The 480 8GB holds up much better tbh. It's the lack of VRAM causing low performance in new games, well not low performance but low performance when trying to push up the settings.

[@DiddyReviews]

Backplates were not common back then so that's pretty cool. I remember my gtx 970 msi looker amazing from the front but then just an ugly pcb on the back let it down. Another great video.

[@TechLabUK]

I have quite a few cards even more newer than this one which dont have backplates or lighting etc. Was quite surprised to see it on this one tbh

[@DiddyReviews]

@TechLabUK it's not the most out there design but it does look classy. I like it.

[@TechLabUK]

@@DiddyReviews Timeless I think they call it, they could release a modern card looking like this and no one would know.

[@DiddyReviews]

@@TechLabUK bit like the xfx ones they are quite similar I think just a plain shroud, but look lovely

[@TechLabUK]

@@DiddyReviews I have a couple of older XFX models and they do seem quite good too.

[@retroreanimated4322]

If this GPU had 8gb and with Lossless Scaling, this graphics card could play every pc game fine including all modern titles except for Alan Wake 2 (not supported)

[@TechLabUK]

Yeah, we had an 8GB one which we gave away recently in a build for someone and it performed really well.

[@retroreanimated4322]

@@TechLabUK @TechLabUK True, it's so satisfying when an old card like this with the right tweaks and set-up can run all games even these demanding modern titles so well, they shouldn't but they do, and you don't expect much from them either. It's a fun challenge

[@MENACE3770]

Rx480 legend

[@psttech4290]

have a look at the nimez drivers for amd cards on legacy drivers

[@TechLabUK]

Will check them out, thanks for the recommendation :)

[@NemusDark]

The rx 480 is really a legendary GPU.

[@TechLabUK]

I actually like it, even though it’s really showing age now. Might use it in a retro build or something just to keep it around.

[@htxdb]

Have you ever tested/reviewed a vega 56?

[@TechLabUK]

No not yet, have been looking at them recently though so as soon as a good one comes up I will grab it.

[@htxdb]

@@TechLabUK You should get the ones that have 2 to 3 fans considering a lot of the models are reference design blower cards.

[@lanelesic]

Well now that FSR3.1 is released you should try that out.

[@TechLabUK]

Will definitely give it a go. FSR is giving these types of cards a whole new life.

[@korsakov319]

guys i need help with the drivers, i should not update them from the software anymore no? the releases are not compatible with my GPU, i dont remember which version im using, but if someone knows the current most stable version that works good with the rx 480 i would appreciate it

[@TechLabUK]

I used the latest from the AMD website on the one in the video: Adrenalin 24.3.1 (WHQL Recommended) Driver support isn't completely gone from them, they have just been slowed down so they are not so often.

[@korsakov319]

@@TechLabUK but the patch notes dont mention rx 400 series

[@TechLabUK]

@@korsakov319 I assume you mean under compatibility? It's there "Radeon™ RX 400 Series Graphics" bottom of the compatibility list in the release notes.

[@DaGaJbmKojJe]

Wait a minute, why does it look exactly like my Sapphire RX 470 8GB, like I've looked at many 470 pictures on the internet and they looked a bit different than mine and this one looks exactly like my 470, guess it was a 480 all along lol

[@TechLabUK]

It could be, sometimes I do have to check them because I get all sorts of coolers attached to them when buying pre-owned.

[@lagginswag]

There were two runs of nitro, plus and non plus. 470 shares same design, and for instance, my nitro 480 8gb non plus became pulse 580.

[@hamzahassan24]

Review rx 550 low profile version

[@zechristzechariah4288]

A good card for a hackintosh hehe

[@fuzzylumpkins6034]

On the headline alone I need to pop in. Okay I have been all about the 580 8gb for years as a backup for my highend cards should anything go wrong and I need to rma, etc. But the 480? Really? Are there budget pcs so dated that low setting 720 players still exist? This would be a great retro card but back then I was all team green blah blah 7 series.

[@TechLabUK]

There’s a lot of budget PC gamers out there who would love an RX 480 upgrade tbh.

[@fuzzylumpkins6034]

@@TechLabUK Then my new mission is to take every 580 I refurb and donate to local kids that need a better shot at pc master race. The 1060 is not cheaper than a 480 but a 580 8gb is cheaper than 1060s and 1660s. Well I suppose depending where 1 lives.

[@TechLabUK]

@@fuzzylumpkins6034 Sounds awesome but yeah, I thought the same as your original thought until running this channel and seeing how many 100s of comments I get, even now from people running older AMD HD cards and Nvidia 500 series cards. Just a part of the community that doesn't speak out much but it's out there.

[@Kholanee]

You would be surprised by how many people could do with an upgrade like that, people are either running intergrated graphics or have graphics cards that are really bad(like me😁 I use a quadro k2000 and would take a 480 any day)

[@TechLabUK]

@@Kholanee You are not alone, even when you may think you are. Running this channel and reading / replying to every comment I can I quickly learnt there is a huge audience out there using similar level hardware.