AMD Radeon RX 470 (Updated: 3-way CrossFire possible)

[theitsage]

There's no reference RX 470 so I got the only one available locally at Best Buy. It's an XFX RX 470 4GB Black. It has a backplate and comes with 3 DisplayPorts, 1 HDMI, 1 DVI.

My Mac Pro is currently running macOS Beta DB7 with modified AMDRadeon4000.kext to enable acceleration for Polaris 10 cards. I swapped the pair of RX 480s out to test this RX 470. The computer booted right up and during the boot process the fans ran for 2 seconds at most.

The RX 470 seems to be fully functional with OpenGL - which the RX 480 struggles in macOS. I was able to run Valley and Heaven for more than an hour without issues. This is a huge improvement over the RX 480 which crashes out within seconds.

With 120W TDP rating and massive heatsink running the entire length of the card, it runs a lot cooler too. What amazed me the most is that during web browsing and casual use, the fans do not spin.

As far as performance goes, it's on par with a GTX 970 but uses less power. It's definitely faster than an R9 280x (250W TDP). If you feel adventurous, you can possibly mount 3 of these inside a Mac Pro tower - with a 6-pin Y splitter for second and third card.

It works great in Windows 10 as well. The Best Buy edition comes equipped with these obnoxiously bright white LEDs. *It also has a dual vBios switch similar to the R9 280x.*

Updated: GM build of macOS 10.12 Sierra, RX 470 works very well after kext mod (no boot screen). Performance is slightly faster than R9 280x.

 

[killawat]

thank you for spending infinite amounts of cash on these GFX! How are you able to get a hold of them LOL.

Since RX 460/RX 470 is working out of the box, do you recommend this over RX 480 for exclusive use in OS X if one were to use it there?

It really sucks that theres no reference card for RX 470 though.

 

[javinv]

Do you have a 5K display ? I wasn't able to make the 480x run at that resolution on a dell up2715k.

Thanks for sharing all this information (and amounts of cash!) btw !!

 

[theitsage]

I actually tried an XFX RX 460 but it did not work with my Mac Pro - even though macOS beta has RX 460's PCI ID all over it. I'm thinking Apple might be hiding something and we will only find out at the next product launch.

Based on MSRP pricing, it's a no-brainer to get the RX 480. However, given how hard it is to find one at $240 I'd say RX 470 is not a bad choice at all. Especially for us Mac Pro tower owners. The RX 470 works much better than RX 480 in macOS atm.

@killawat I checked Microcenter and Best Buy almost every morning for new inventory and door-busted the ones with GPU in stock. @javinv I don't have a 5K display to test unfortunately.

 

[Ironjer]

I actually tried an XFX RX 460 but it did not work with my Mac Pro - even though macOS beta has RX 460's PCI ID all over it. I'm thinking Apple might be hiding something and we will only find out at the next product launch.

i read in another forums RX460 works OOTB Sierra without kext mod, etc.

 

[theitsage]

Can you link me to it? Was it in a Mac Pro tower or Mac with eGPU? I was certain an RX 460 would work without any mods prior to trying that XFX RX 460.

 

[Ironjer]

Can you link me to it? Was it in a Mac Pro tower or Mac with eGPU? I was certain an RX 460 would work without any mods prior to trying that XFX RX 460.

for sure http://forum.netkas.org/index.php/topic,11605.0.html

 

[theitsage]

for sure http://forum.netkas.org/index.php/topic,11605.0.html

Thank you. I'll watch for MVC's response on the info of the RX 460 he got. I'll post screenshots of Valley and Heaven in macOS later today.

 

[javinv]

@javinv I don't have a 5K display to test unfortunately.[/QUOTE]

Don't worry, I'll post the solution for it if I find it ! Thank you again for sharing all your findings !

 

[SoyCapitanSoyCapitan]

Until my applications are using Metal or Vulkan (if ever) I can't even waste money putting a good card in my Mac again. I did it with the GTX680 and 980 and it was a waste with that terrible old OpenGL.

 

[knowhate]

.

 

[theitsage]

I'm attaching screenshots for benchmarks I ran on this RX 470. Also attached is the vBios.rom if anybody wants to hack away at it for boot screen.

 

[electonic]

Thanks so much for your work for the community!

For comparison: my slightly higher clocked 7950 scores 1751 points in Hotel.
So almost on par and one could easily run two of these. fantastic.

 

[theitsage]

Thank you @electonic for the 7950 score in Hotel for comparison. This RX 470 has been working so normal there's nothing interesting to update.

If I was in need of a replacement/upgrade GPU for a Mac Pro tower, this is definitely the card I'd get. It's $200 new, almost plug and play with macOS, and 3-GPU CrossFire is a possibility.

 

[theitsage]

Plugged all 3 Polaris 10 GPUs in my Mac Pro tonight with stock power supply.

 

[p.l]

Good work dude!!! OpenCL monster right there... Whats the Luxmark with all 3??

Anyone needing help to get a Polaris 10 going can view our video below...

 

[BillyBobBongo]

@p.l Perhaps a stupid question, but is there a reason that you don't just add the RX 470 identifier to the kext file rather than editing an existing one in there?

 

[AndreeOnline]

Great job guys! Looking good!

FCPX and Resolve is a great start—I'd also be very interested to learn about Cinema 4D stability/issues.

 

[theitsage]

I have no doubt luxball scene in Luxmark would be in low 30,XXX with a 3-way RX 470. I did not run it because 2 of the 3 Polaris 10 GPUs are 480 which have 150W TDP rather than 120W like the 470.

 

[handheldgames]

The RX 470 is running at PCIe 1.x speed on the '10 single core cMP, aka 0x101. A properly modded 7950 running @ pcie 2.x shows a value of 0x102.

Plug and play usually comes with a price.

 

[AndreeOnline]

Looking at little closer at the results here, I find it a bit off putting that my old R9 280X holds up way too good.

It's two generations back—it was middle of the road back then—and it still beats the RX 470.

My Luxmark scores are pretty typical at:

Ball:12.298
Mic: 6.513
Hotel: 2.176

I'm not sure this is correct, but reminiscing my gut tells me new-gen low end cards often came very close to prior-gen top end cards.

This whole rebranding where new cards aren't just BETTER at everything is hard to keep up with.

That's not to say that the lower power consumption and price points are a great thing.

 

[Pressure]

Looking at little closer at the results here, I find it a bit off putting that my old R9 280X holds up way to good.

It's two generations back—it was middle of the road back then—and it still beats the RX 470.

My Luxmark scores are pretty typical at:

Ball:12.298
Mic: 6.513
Hotel: 2.176

I'm not sure this is correct, but reminiscing my gut tells me new-gen low end cards often came very close to prior-gen top end cards.

This whole rebranding where new cards aren't just BETTER at everything is hard to keep up with.

That's not to say that the lower power consumption and price points are a great thing.

That's the effect of being stuck at 28nm for years.

 

[handheldgames]

FWIW....

The XFX 470 idles without the fans running. While running a benchmark sets them in motion, they quickly slow down and turn off once the temp is in range. This would never have been noticed without the card's built-in headlights. A nice change from the typical Video Card fan's whirring in the background.

 

[theitsage]

FWIW....

The XFX 470 idles without the fans running. While running a benchmark sets them in motion, they quickly slow down and turn off once the temp is in range. This would never have been noticed without the card's built-in headlights. A nice change from the typical Video Card fan's whirring in the background.

It is very nice indeed. When there's boot screen mod for Polaris GPUs, this RX 470 will certainly be my pick. I already tried the old 7000 series flash without success. Luckily there's vBios switch on this card for me to use the second stock ROM.

 

[VAGDesign]

Just a small addition about the fans.
On my XFX 7950 Double D, only 1 fan of two runs while on desktop with simple tasks is running. When you connect a 2nd monitor, both fans are running. Only during high gfx demand you hear the fans running, while after each task they slow down fast and it's been quiet again.

I know XFX uses different plates with kind of liquid integrated within copper in the PCBs on 7950/7970/280/280X and probably the most recent models.

Thanks to OP for the info and the data he shared, Cheers!