Amd radeon rx 460 review (analysis in Spanish)

After analyzing the AMD Radeon RX 470 today, Monday we launched the analysis of one of the graphics cards with the best quality / price range on the market: AMD Radeon RX 460 signed by Sapphire in its Nitro version with 4GB GDDR5, core Polaris 10 and that comes to replace the R7 260X.

Don't you want to leave a kidney on a graphics card and are looking for the best at the best price? Do not miss the most complete review in Spanish of the AMD RX 460.

We thank the AMD Spain team for the loan of this graphics card for analysis:

AMD Radeon RX 460 technical characteristics

The AMD Radeon RX 460 is based on the AMD Polaris (GCN 4.0) architecture manufactured by Global Foundries' new 14nm Fin-FET process. This new manufacturing process has already been released with the Radeon RX 480 and Radeon RX 470 (We saw your reviews a month ago and this past Thursday) and allows you to create a modest GPU with a really small chip. This new card is aimed at professional players and users looking to play classic games like World Of Warcraft, Dota 2, Counter Strike CS GO, Minecraft or League Of Legends for a very modest price.

Its Ellesmere GPU consists of a total of 14 Compute Units (CU) that total no less than 896 stream processors, 2.2 TFLOPS, 56 TMUs and 16 ROPs at a frequency of 1, 200 MHz. As you can imagine, this graphics card is not optimal for reality. virtual by not reaching the 5 TFLOPS recommended for use.

Unboxing and design

Sapphire shows us a compact package that meets what should be asked of it: arrive safe and sound at home. On the cover we can see that it is a customized model with the new Nitro dual-fan heatsink, compatible with HDR Ready, FreeSync and DirectX 12 .

On the back Sapphire shows us all the main specifications and a small introduction to the use of the graphics card.

Once we open the box we find:

• Sapphire RX 460 Nitro 4GB. Quick guide. Warranty book. CD with drivers for installation in Windows 7, Windows 8 or Windows 10 64 bit.

The Sapphire RX 460 Nitro uses GDDR5 memory at a frequency of 7, 000 MHz and with a 128-bit interface to achieve a bandwidth of 122 GB / s. A much lower figure than the present in the Radeon RX 470. This new generation Polaris 10 incorporates to guarantee excellent performance together with AMD's Delta Color Compression technology that compresses colors to reduce bandwidth consumption.

It comes with a PCB pulling ITX size with measurements of 22.1 x 11 x 3.4 cm which makes it one of the most compatible graphics cards in any box on the market. The design is simple but it does its job.

The great effort made by AMD to improve its GCN 4.0 architecture will allow the Radeon RX 460 to offer significantly higher performance than the Tahiti core (AMD Radeon R7 260X) once achieved with the same number of Compute Units.

Although initially the AMD Radeon RX 460 series would not incorporate an extra power supply, Sapphire for this version that has a twist incorporates a 6-pin power connection.

The new Nitro heatsink is designed with two 95mm fans that are in charge of generating the necessary air flow to cool the heatsink and thus keep the temperature of all the critical components on the board controlled. Although the casing is plastic, it is closed except for the right side, which will improve the air flow of the card.

Detail of the back of the graphics card for the most curious. We would have liked to have found a backplate but understanding that it is a low range pulling at the beginning of the middle, it is logical to save cost.

The "Nitro" logo is backlit once powered on.

Finally indicate that it has the following rear connections:

• 1 x DisplayPort 1.3 / 1.4 HDR 1 x DVI. 1x HDMI 2.0.

PCB and internal components

To open the graphics card we must remove all the screws on the back to access the PCB and heatsink of the graphics card.

Once opened we find an aluminum heatsink with nickel-plated copper heatpipes, a thermal pad in both the memories and a small heatsink in the power supply phases.

The heatsink is in charge of cooling both the RX 460 chip, as well as the power supply phases (VRM) and its memory chips, helping to dissipate the heat generated in its operation.

As it is a custom PCB, it has 4 + 1 supply phases, long-lasting Japanese capacitors and “ Black Diamond Chokes ” components that improve efficiency and temperatures compared to reference models.

Test bench and performance tests

TESTING BENCH
Processor:	i7-6700k @ 4200 Mhz..
Base plate:	Asus Maximus VIII Formula.
Memory:	32GB Kingston Fury DDR4 @ 3000 Mhz
Heatsink	Cryorig H7 heatsink
HDD	Samsung 850 EVO SSD.
Graphic card	Sapphire AMD Radeon RX 460 Nitro 4GB
Power supply	EVGA SuperNOVA 750 G2.

For benchmarks we will use the following titles:

• 3DMark Fire Strike normal.3DMark Fire Strike version 4K.3DMark Time Spy in DirectX 12.Heaven 4.0.Doom 4.Overwatch.Tomb Raider.Battlefield 4.

All tests have been passed with the filters to the maximum unless we indicate otherwise. To have adequate performance, we have carried out three types of tests: the first is the most common at Full HD 1920 x 1080, the second resolution is making the leap to 2K or 1440 gamers (2560 x 1440) and the most enthusiastic with 4K (3840 x 2160). The operating system we have used has been Windows 10 Pro 64 bit and the latest drivers available from the AMD website.

What are we looking for in the tests?

First, the best possible image quality. The most important value for us is the average FPS (Frames per second), the higher the number of FPS the more fluid the game will go. To differentiate the quality a bit, we leave you a table to assess the quality in FPS, but we will also have the minimum Fps in the tests that were thus possible:

FRAMES BY SECONDS
Frames for Seconds. (FPS)	Gameplay
Less than 30 FPS	Limited
30 - 40 FPS	Playable
40 - 60 FPS	Good
Greater than 60 FPS	Fairly Good or Excellent

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Synthetic benchmarks

As we have been doing in our analysis of graphics cards we have reduced to three synthetic tests, since what really matters is the performance in games. The chosen tests are 3DMARK FireStrike Normal (1080p), 3DMARK FireStrike in 4K quality and Heaven 4.0. As we can see it has a superior performance to the AMD Radeon R7 260X and Nvidia GTX 750 Ti. Which falls somewhere in the middle between the R9 380 and the 2GB GTX 950.

Game Testing

We have decided to make the leap to checking various games manually. The reason? Very simple, we want to give a much more realistic vision and cover tests with current games. Since we make an effort, it is consistent with the level of the website and that of our readers.

Testing in Full HD games

Testing in 2K games

Testing in 4K games

Temperature and consumption

The temperatures of the AMD Radeon RX 460 are really good as it is a customized model, so we are talking about a 100% Premium product. At rest we have obtained 51º C (fan stopped, that is, 0dB) and a maximum of 75º C playing.

Regarding consumption, we achieved 68 W at rest, a total of 165 W, playing with the entire team. We have not been able to do overclocking tests since the card has not allowed us to upload anything to its core, so we have chosen in this analysis to delete this data.

Final words and conclusion about the AMD Radeon RX 460

The 4GB AMD Radeon RX 460 is a very good graphics card with a Polaris 10 processor, GDDR5 memory, a custom PCB (at least the Sapphire with 4 + 1 phases) and a really good cooling system.

We recommend reading the best graphics cards on the market.

We already knew that in games like LOL, Counter Strike CS: GO, World Of Warcraft was going to give a good result (+70 FPS) and we wanted to give a more realistic vision with leading games. We have obtained in BF4 in FHD resolution an average of 40 FPS or in Overwatch 70 FPS. We have also been able to verify that at resolutions higher than Full HD (2K and 4K) it will not offer us the best experience. So we should think about moving to an RX 470 or RX 480.

In short, it is a very good alternative for users who play eSports games, occasionally overwatch games like Doom 4 on a really tight budget. Today it is positioned in one of the best options over 120 euros.

ADVANTAGE	DISADVANTAGES
+ ENOUGH POWER FOR FULL HD.	- WE HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO MAKE OVERCLOCK ON THE CARD.
+ SAPPHIRE HAS ASSEMBLED A VERY GOOD PCB FOR AN ESPORT CARD.
+ POSSIBILITY TO CHOOSE BETWEEN 2GB AND 4GB.
+ IMPROVED DISSIPATION WITH 0DB.
+ SOBER DESIGN.

And after carefully evaluating both the evidence and the product, Professional Review awards you the Silver Medal and Recommended Product Badge:

AMD Radeon RX 460

COMPONENT QUALITY

DISSIPATION

GAMING EXPERIENCE

SONORITY

PRICE

7.9 / 10

SECURELY THE BEST QUALITY / PRICE GRAPHICS CARD ON THE MARKET