I own a reference rx480.
Bought it out of curiosity rather than need, after running Tahiti GPUs for over four years.
Let me start out by saying that the differences between the GTX1060 6GB and the RX480 8GB seem marginal. Sebbbi made a nice summary, so I'll simply contribute some real life experience and reflections from my time with the RX480.
It's nice. But then I don't try to push it into places where it doesn't want to go. (I've been around in 3D since vector terminals, I don't see the point of chasing the last few percents of achievable performance.)
The reference RX480 is
much happier being undervolted from stock. This lowers power draw and thus throttling and thus increases performance from stock. I prefer a card that is quiet and preferably doesn't generate much heat. So that is how I utilize the margins of the product. I drop the voltage to 1.03V, increase the max power by 15% so it can breathe, increase the memory speed which also allows better utilization of its resources. This gives Firestrike extreme graphics scores of 6000 (regular 13400) and Time Strike graphics at 4200. The usual caveats apply.
Overall power draw is still significantly down, particularly in real gaming that doesn't necessarily push the GPU to 100% all the time. (This is even more true if you cap the frame rates to the refresh rate of your display of course!)
Noise is surprisingly low in use, the measurements from open air settings doesn't really translate well for a card that exhausts in back of the cabinet under a desk, plus real longer gaming sessions don't lead to a higher steady state temperature inside the cabinet. Under the conditions which I run it, the card is really nice. It can be pushed higher, but it doesn't pay off with the reference cooler. Throttling and noise increases, and the performance only very modestly so. Maybe this would be different with a good after market cooler, but the results online aren't too encouraging. Again, stay within the comfort zone of the card, and you'll be a much happier customer.
I could live with this card for the foreseeable future, but I will probably upgrade to a Vega product for reasons that are completely irrational. (How could I resist a GPU that is named after my youngest daughter?
)
Both the GTX1060 and the RX480 are reasonably sensible products, and while you pay some novelty tax at this point in time, prices aren't likely to drop all that much in absolute terms. Go with whatever strikes your fancy. AMD has always played nice with my 27" displayport iMac that I currently use as monitor for my PC box, and I kinda like to support the underdog for market health reasons, but both of those are rather subjective. Oh, and I might go for a freesync monitor in the future.
You can't go far wrong either way. Just buy, tinker, forget, and enjoy your gaming. :smile2:
