AMD Radeon RX 570 4GB Review

Name: AMD Radeon RX 570 4GB Review
Item: Asus ROG Strix Radeon RX 570 4GB
Rating: 3.5
Author: Igor Wallossek

by Igor Wallossek April 19, 2017 at 2:02 PM

42 Comments

AMD’s Radeon RX 570 is an updated version of last year's RX 470. It's based on the same 5.7 billion transistor Ellesmere GPU with an equal number of compute units, enabling an identical list of resources (2048 Stream processors and 128 texture units). The two cards feature interchangeable back-ends with 32 ROPs and a corresponding 4GB of GDDR5 memory. Not surprisingly, AMD again targets 1920x1080 with its Polaris Redux.

Because we've run out of synonyms to show just how similar Radeon RX 570 and its predecessor really are, enthusiasts who want to know more about this card's composition are invited to check out our AMD Radeon RX 470 4GB Review. The only specs you'll find different are the core and memory clocks AMD imposes to make the RX 570 a little faster. And of course, if you see how this same GPU fares with a few more compute units turned on and twice as much GDDR5 memory, take a look at our AMD Radeon RX 580 8GB Review.

	Nvidia GeForce GTX 960	Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 3GB	AMD Radeon RX 470	Asus RX 470 Strix OC	Asus RX 570 Strix OC
Shader Units	1024	1152	2048	2048	2048
ROPs	32	48	32	32	32
GPU	GM206	GP106	Ellesmere	Ellesmere	Ellesmere
Transistors	2.54 Billion	4.4 Billion	5.7 Billion	5.7 Billion	5.7 Billion
Memory Size	2GB	3GB	4/8GB	4GB	4GB
Interface	192-bit	192-bit	256-bit	256-bit	256-bit
GPU Clock Rate (MHz)	1080+	1502+	1206	1270	1300
Memory Clock Rate (MHz)	1502	2002	1650	1650	1750

AMD doesn't have a reference-class Radeon RX 570, and it didn't make its own RX 470 either. That means we're definitely testing a partner board. Last time, we received Asus' Strix RX 470 OC for our review. As luck would have it, Asus' Strix RX 570 OC found its way to our U.S. and German labs, facilitating an excellent comparison from one generation to the next.

MORE: Best Graphics Cards

MORE: Desktop GPU Performance Hierarchy Table

MORE: All Graphics Content

Asus ROG Strix Radeon RX 570 4GB

$165Amazon

Summary

About the author

Igor Wallossek & Chris Angelini

Igor Wallossek is a Senior Contributing Editor for Tom's Hardware DE. He tests and reviews CPUs, GPUs, games and headsets.

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42 comments

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shrapnel_indie

Again...

Quote:

Confusion caused by re-branding existing hardware

Yet the exact same issue exists for the uninformed between the same gen GTX 1060 models (3GB and 6GB) which also differ in the available functioning parts of the GPU... There wasn't a big deal made about that, yet there seems to be with the Radeons.
nzalog

330834 said:

Again...

Quote:

Confusion caused by re-branding existing hardware

Yet the exact same issue exists for the uninformed between the same gen GTX 1060 models (3GB and 6GB) which also differ in the available functioning parts of the GPU... There wasn't a big deal made about that, yet there seems to be with the Radeons.

Uhh that's not quite the same. I get that you red hat might be on a little tight but RX570 and RX580 sound like a completely new gen card. Not a slightly overclocked RX470 and RX480. I was excited until I read into the actual specs.
AndrewJacksonZA

So basically it boils down to how much more it will cost for an RX570 over an RX470 for a 5%-10% improvement in performance.

Thanks for your efforts Igor, we appreciate it. :-)
josetesan

if they only supported CUDA, i'll go definitively for it ..
AndrewJacksonZA

2459790 said:

if they only supported CUDA, i'll go definitively for it ..

Out of interest, what do you need CUDA support for?
josetesan

Machine Learning
josetesan

For the sake of comparison,
see http://navoshta.com/cpu-vs-gpu/

According to amazon specs, g2.2xlarge does offer a gtx680/gtx770GPU, so , as you can see, speed increase is amazing !
Besides, i'd like a good gaming card .
keith12

18 pages for that Final Conclusion. These 'new' cards from AMD are a joke. Cynincal for AMD. For those that have zero or very little technical savvy, they will purchase these. For the more discerned among us, this is a non-story. C'mon AMD, give us something to cheer about!!! not being the 'also rans' who gave us good cards, and then re-released the same card the following year. Sick of this crap.
AndrewJacksonZA

2459790 said:

Machine Learning

Hooray for open standards like CUDA! /s

(Sorry, closed systems like that are a pet peeve of mine.)
dstarr3

I keep wanting to do an AMD-based budget build, but... well, they just don't ever make anything that I feel is competitive. If eventually the price on this dropped to more like 1050 Ti prices, then absolutely, killer bang for the buck. But at the MSRP of $200, I'd rather spend just a little bit more and go for a 1060 6GB.

And in terms of CPUs, I'd like to see what budget Ryzen chips AMD can come up with before I pull the trigger. i3s don't have the core count, so AMD's already ahead, but their budget lineup is getting a bit long in the tooth right now.

Really, it's just not a compelling time to buy just about anything right now.
Michael_627

Cool, my friend has a skate company, he's really cool. It's called that. Ryzen.
shrapnel_indie

1612573 said:

I keep wanting to do an AMD-based budget build, but... well, they just don't ever make anything that I feel is competitive. If eventually the price on this dropped to more like 1050 Ti prices, then absolutely, killer bang for the buck. But at the MSRP of $200, I'd rather spend just a little bit more and go for a 1060 6GB. And in terms of CPUs, I'd like to see what budget Ryzen chips AMD can come up with before I pull the trigger. i3s don't have the core count, so AMD's already ahead, but their budget lineup is getting a bit long in the tooth right now. Really, it's just not a compelling time to buy just about anything right now.

Too bad that the GTX-1050Ti loses 100% of the time to the RX-470 and RX-570... and loses a majority of the time to a lowly R9-380. The 470 and 570 were meant to compete with the 1060 3GB (Crippled 1060 GPU)
madmatt30

So essentially its a 480 4gb at the end of the day but at this point in time it costs more money !!

Its a good card but the pricepoint at this minute in time is way off kilter.
shrapnel_indie

2392437 said:

330834 said:

Again...

Quote:

Confusion caused by re-branding existing hardware

Yet the exact same issue exists for the uninformed between the same gen GTX 1060 models (3GB and 6GB) which also differ in the available functioning parts of the GPU... There wasn't a big deal made about that, yet there seems to be with the Radeons.

Uhh that's not quite the same. I get that you red hat might be on a little tight but RX570 and RX580 sound like a completely new gen card. Not a slightly overclocked RX470 and RX480. I was excited until I read into the actual specs.

True, not exactly the same....
The 1060 3GB is a cut down 1060 with half the RAM (due to the cutting) while the 1060 6GB is the full thing. (more like a 470-480 or 570-580 comparison in that sense.) HOWEVER The naming convention, just like the 4xx - 5xx issue can be just as confusing to the uninitiated/uneducated in the matters... for the opposite reasons. the 1060 users would expect same performance outside of RAM limitations, while in this case the 5xx users won't be expecting a new and improved Polaris. For that matter, Kaby-Lake is a new and improved Skaylake with an updated hardware codec for video decoding.
cangelini

330834 said:

Again...

Quote:

Confusion caused by re-branding existing hardware

Yet the exact same issue exists for the uninformed between the same gen GTX 1060 models (3GB and 6GB) which also differ in the available functioning parts of the GPU... There wasn't a big deal made about that, yet there seems to be with the Radeons.

We were never sampled a 3GB card in the U.S. Our German team did get a 3GB card, which made it into our GeForce GTX 1060 round-up, and yes, a big deal was made about the problematic naming. Then, again, in today's story, the 1060 3GB is explicitly recommended against.
dstarr3

330834 said:

1612573 said:

I keep wanting to do an AMD-based budget build, but... well, they just don't ever make anything that I feel is competitive. If eventually the price on this dropped to more like 1050 Ti prices, then absolutely, killer bang for the buck. But at the MSRP of $200, I'd rather spend just a little bit more and go for a 1060 6GB. And in terms of CPUs, I'd like to see what budget Ryzen chips AMD can come up with before I pull the trigger. i3s don't have the core count, so AMD's already ahead, but their budget lineup is getting a bit long in the tooth right now. Really, it's just not a compelling time to buy just about anything right now.

Too bad that the GTX-1050Ti loses 100% of the time to the RX-470 and RX-570... and loses a majority of the time to a lowly R9-380. The 470 and 570 were meant to compete with the 1060 3GB (Crippled 1060 GPU)

Right. Which is why I'd rather see this AMD card at 1050 Ti prices, or else I'm just going to go with the 1060 6GB.
madmatt30

^ not really a fair comment , the 1060 6gb is in almost all locations $100 more than a comparable 1050ti.

The 570 needs to be at the current 470 pricepoint - the issue at the minute is the prices of 470/480 cards have gone through the roof (in the UK at least,) for some peculiar reason.

I would be happy that at this moment in time there is a GPU choice for pretty much every variable budget - just not all from the same range or even manufacturer.
Amd IMO were very clever with the RX cards , they've hit a market sector performance & pricewise that is missing from nvidias current lineup.

More choice is always a good thing
Tech_TTT

I have the feeling that the Vega is going to be delayed ...
shrapnel_indie

134065 said:

330834 said:

Again...

Quote:

Confusion caused by re-branding existing hardware

Yet the exact same issue exists for the uninformed between the same gen GTX 1060 models (3GB and 6GB) which also differ in the available functioning parts of the GPU... There wasn't a big deal made about that, yet there seems to be with the Radeons.

We were never sampled a 3GB card in the U.S. Our German team did get a 3GB card, which made it into our GeForce GTX 1060 round-up, and yes, a big deal was made about the problematic naming. Then, again, in today's story, the 1060 3GB is explicitly recommended against.

I guess I'll need to go review it again as I don't remember it sticking out as much as it does here and with the 580 review.

...

Okay... after review, yes, the 1060 3GB model was not recommended and it was mentioned how-the naming scheme wasn't liked. Unfortunately, it seems a little more time was spent running out of synonyms and more "print space" was used to express the dislike of "improved" older gen tech that is still performance competitive by AMD.
imlock

I dont understand the "unevenness" graph. Is there any explanation of it in another article?
dstarr3

1031363 said:

^ not really a fair comment , the 1060 6gb is in almost all locations $100 more than a comparable 1050ti. The 570 needs to be at the current 470 pricepoint - the issue at the minute is the prices of 470/480 cards have gone through the roof (in the UK at least,) for some peculiar reason. I would be happy that at this moment in time there is a GPU choice for pretty much every variable budget - just not all from the same range or even manufacturer. Amd IMO were very clever with the RX cards , they've hit a market sector performance & pricewise that is missing from nvidias current lineup. More choice is always a good thing

I'm not comparing the pricing of the 1050 vs 1060. I'm just saying that the pricing of this card is a bit too close to the 1060 6GB (which can be had for about $220). For the difference, I'd rather go for the 1060. Now, if AMD had priced this closer to the 1050 Ti, that'd be a no-brainer. But they haven't, so I'm kinda gonna have to overlook this card.
madmatt30

1612573 said:

1031363 said:

^ not really a fair comment , the 1060 6gb is in almost all locations $100 more than a comparable 1050ti. The 570 needs to be at the current 470 pricepoint - the issue at the minute is the prices of 470/480 cards have gone through the roof (in the UK at least,) for some peculiar reason. I would be happy that at this moment in time there is a GPU choice for pretty much every variable budget - just not all from the same range or even manufacturer. Amd IMO were very clever with the RX cards , they've hit a market sector performance & pricewise that is missing from nvidias current lineup. More choice is always a good thing

I'm not comparing the pricing of the 1050 vs 1060. I'm just saying that the pricing of this card is a bit too close to the 1060 6GB (which can be had for about $220). For the difference, I'd rather go for the 1060. Now, if AMD had priced this closer to the 1050 Ti, that'd be a no-brainer. But they haven't, so I'm kinda gonna have to overlook this card.

at this moment in the uk you can get the 8gb 580 for £230 which is the same price as a 1060 6gb.

ON newegg Im seeing plenty of 4gb 570's for $169 - Id say that price is absolutely right for what youre getting.
falcompsx

I would much rather see a slightly spec bumped but otherwise identical product receive a new name to differentiate it, than see an entirely new generation of product recycle an existing name of the previous generation product like nvidia did with the Titan X and the new Titan X.
dstarr3

133390 said:

I would much rather see a slightly spec bumped but otherwise identical product receive a new name to differentiate it, than see an entirely new generation of product recycle an existing name of the previous generation product like nvidia did with the Titan X and the new Titan X.

That's how cars are named and no one seems to be confused by that convention. Honestly, if the industry switched to that kind of naming convention, like a 2016 nVidia 1060 and a 2017 nVidia 1060, etc, that would only make things like required spec sheets on games easier to read.

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Page 1:AMD Radeon RX 570

Page 2:Asus Strix RX 570 OC

Page 3:Test System & Methodology

Page 4:Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation (DirectX 12)

Page 5:Battlefield 1 (DirectX 12)

Page 6:Civilization VI (DirectX 12)

Page 7:Doom (Vulkan)

Page 8:Grand Theft Auto V (DirectX 11)

Page 9:Hitman (DirectX 12)

Page 10:Metro: Last Light (DirectX 11)

Page 11:Rise of the Tomb Raider

Page 12:Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands (DirectX 11)

Page 13:Tom Clancy's The Division (DirectX 12)

Page 14:The Witcher 3 (DirectX 11)

Page 15:Power Consumption

Page 16:Temperature & Clock Frequency

Page 17:Noise

Page 18:Final Analysis