When comparing AMD Radeon RX 460 vs AMD Radeon RX 470, the Slant community recommends AMD Radeon RX 470 for most people. In the question“What are the best GPUs for gaming?” AMD Radeon RX 470 is ranked 6th while AMD Radeon RX 460 is ranked 7th. The most important reason people chose AMD Radeon RX 470 is:
The RX 470 performs extremely well in recent games when played in Full HD resolution and with the highest possible graphical settings. For example, the RX 470 is able to achieve an [average framerate of 117 fps in DOOM](http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/graphics/95275-asus-radeon-rx-470-strix-gaming-oc-4gb/?page=8). The card also manages to get a very [fluid 68 fps](http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/graphics/95275-asus-radeon-rx-470-strix-gaming-oc-4gb/?page=9) in Fallout 4 and even more intensive games such as Hitman perform well with the RX 470, averaging at [67 frames per second](http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/graphics/95275-asus-radeon-rx-470-strix-gaming-oc-4gb/?page=10). In short, the RX 470 is ideal for playing games with a fluent framerate in 1080p. When gaming on a higher resolution of 1440p (2560 x 1440 pixels), performance on the RX 470 is often a hit or miss. Some more optimized games such as Dirt Rally ([52 fps](http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/graphics/95275-asus-radeon-rx-470-strix-gaming-oc-4gb/?page=6)) or DOOM ([77 fps](http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/graphics/95275-asus-radeon-rx-470-strix-gaming-oc-4gb/?page=8)). However, some other games will struggle to deliver a fluent gameplay experience. The average 1440p framerate in both The Division and Rise of The Tomb Raider for example hovers [around the 45 fps mark](http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/graphics/95275-asus-radeon-rx-470-strix-gaming-oc-4gb/?page=11), although a higher framerate can be achieved if graphical settings are toned down.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Good entry-level card for 1080p gaming
The RX 460 offers a very decent performance in recent video games with a 1080p resolution, although the card may struggle with maximum settings. Anno 2205 manages to squeeze an average framerate of 45 fps out of the RX 460 in 1080p and medium graphical settings. Similar results can be seen for Far Cry Primal at 49 fps and 47 frames per second for The Witcher 3. In Grand Theft Auto V, the RX 460 manages to achieve an average framerate of 100 fps.
In short, the AMD Radeon RX 460 is perfectly capable of playing games at a 1080p resolution, albeit not on high or ultra settings.
Pro Offers great value
The 2 GB version of the RX 460 retails for a bit over $100, which is an extremely competitive price tag in the entry-level segment. Performance-wise, the RX 460 is a bit faster than a 750 Ti but costs about $30 less.
Pro Asynchronous shaders improve performance in recent games
The RX 470 offers concurrent/parallel CPU to GPU communication in DirectX 12, Mantle and Vulkan with asynchronous shaders for the stream processors. Asynchronous shaders allow the developers of games to maximize the potential of AMD's new Polaris architecture and this technology is used to optimize DX12, Mantle and Vulkan performance in recently released compatible games. In short, developers can now use multiple task queues and split up GPU power across multiple tasks at the same time.
Pro Cheapest card that supports H.265 decoding and HDMI 2.0
The RX 460 is currently the cheapest graphics card on the market with support for H.265/HEVC decoding (and thus Ultra HD resolutions with a high 10-bit color spectrum) and a HDMI 2.0 port. Next to gaming, this makes the RX 460 very suitable for playing Ultra HD video content.
Pro Ideal for 1080p gaming
The RX 470 performs extremely well in recent games when played in Full HD resolution and with the highest possible graphical settings. For example, the RX 470 is able to achieve an average framerate of 117 fps in DOOM. The card also manages to get a very fluid 68 fps in Fallout 4 and even more intensive games such as Hitman perform well with the RX 470, averaging at 67 frames per second. In short, the RX 470 is ideal for playing games with a fluent framerate in 1080p.
When gaming on a higher resolution of 1440p (2560 x 1440 pixels), performance on the RX 470 is often a hit or miss. Some more optimized games such as Dirt Rally (52 fps) or DOOM (77 fps). However, some other games will struggle to deliver a fluent gameplay experience. The average 1440p framerate in both The Division and Rise of The Tomb Raider for example hovers around the 45 fps mark, although a higher framerate can be achieved if graphical settings are toned down.
Pro Great performance improvements in Vulkan-compatible games
When using Vulkan, a graphical API that allows developers to better communicate with the GPU, the RX 470 can achieve great performance improvements compared to the more standard DirectX 12 or OpenGL API's. Some recent games offer support for Vulkan, such as Doom, Dota 2 and Ashes of The Singularity. When playing Doom under the standard OpenGL in Ultra Settings and 1080p resolution, the RX470 is able to achieve an average framerate of 84.2 FPS. When using Vulkan however, the same RX 470 performs significantly better with an average result of 101.5 frames per second, a 20.5% performance increase.
While NVIDIA's new Pascal architecture is also compatible with the Vulkan API, the AMD RX series benefit more greatly from it. In the same benchmarks, results for the competing GTX 1060 were also provided, where the performance improvement under Vulkan was only 6%.
Pro Asynchronous shaders improve performance in recent games
The RX 470 offers concurrent/parallel CPU to GPU communication in DirectX 12, Mantle and Vulkan with asynchronous shaders for the stream processors. Asynchronous shaders allow the developers of games to maximize the potential of AMD's new Polaris architecture and this technology is used to optimize DX12, Mantle and Vulkan performance in recently released compatible games. In short, developers can now use multiple task queues and split up GPU power across multiple tasks at the same time.
This also works well in virtual reality situations, where head tracking is required. Latency (delay between the images that appear on the display) and stuttering can be reduced by using asynchronous shading. Although the RX 470 lacks the overall computing power to render VR games comfortably, the card has been given the 'VR Capable' rating by SteamVR, which implies a stable framerate of over 90 frames per second but not at the level that's recommended for smooth VR experiences.
Cons
Con Disappointing Vulkan performance
Vulkan is a graphical API that allows developers to better communicate with the GPU, which generally results in performance improvements compared to the more standard DirectX 12 or OpenGL API's. Some recent games offer support for Vulkan, such as Doom, Dota 2 and Ashes of the Singularity.
The RX 460 is considered to be a low-end graphics card and doesn't perform noticeably better in Vulkan. In Doom with Ultra Settings and 1080p resolution, the RX 460 is able to achieve an average framerate of 33 FPS, with a minimum of 19 and a maximum of 76. When using Vulkan in the exact same situation, the RX 460 has an average framerate of 35 fps which is an improvement that not noticeable in-game, and a lower minimum of 10.5 fps and a higher maximum of 174 frames per second. This very small difference is quite surprising, as the stronger RX 470 and RX 480 siblings of the RX 460 do perform significantly better under Vulkan.
Con 4 GB version adds little value
The AMD RX 460 is available in both a 2 GB and 4 GB version, but the latter version adds little value to this graphics card. Despite doubling the available video memory, performance differences in games at a 1080p resolution are very minimal. Compared to the 2 GB version, RX 460 cards with 4 gigabytes of memory retail for about $40 more and have a slightly higher power consumption due to the extra memory chips as well.
Con Disappointing performance-per-watt ratio
The RX 460 uses AMD's new Polaris 11 architecture and while this new generation of chips is more energy-efficient than previous-generation GPU's, the overall performance-per-watt ratio disappoints. The TDP (thermal design point and maximum power consumption) of the RX 460 is measured at 75 watts. In terms of gaming performance, the RX 460 offers similar results to the previous-generation R7 370 chip but unfortunately, power consumption is roughly the same.
Con Very minimal price difference with RX 480
The RX 470 is positioned slightly under the RX 480 by AMD, but the price difference between these two GPU's is very minimal. Both GPU's hover slightly above the $200 mark, which gives users little reason to purchase a RX 470 instead of a faster RX 480.
Con Limited overclocking potential
The RX 470 has limited overclocking potential as AMD has decided to cap the maximum memory bandwidth at 1850 MHz. Although GPU clockspeed increases of 10 - 15% aren't uncommon up to 1355 MHz, differences in games are less noticeable because the card tends to struggle with this maximum speed. If AMD had allowed further clockspeed increases of the memory, the RX 470 would be better suited for overclocking.
Con Mediocre performance-per-watt ratio
The RX 470 uses AMD's new Polaris 10 architecture and is more efficient than previous-generation GPU's, but the performance-per-watt ratio remains somewhat mediocre. The TDP (thermal design point and maximum power consumption) of the RX 470 chip is measured at 125W. The more expensive GTX 1060 by NVIDIA heavily outperforms the RX 470 but still manages to achieve the same levels of power consumption. Efficiency-wise, the Radeon RX 470 doesn't impress.