Sapphire Nitro+ RX 480 OC 8GB Graphics Card Review

Noise, Power Consumption and Temperatures

Noise

During idle states, the graphics card’s 0dB fan mode comes into operation and allows for silent running providing other components emit very little noise. This an excellent addition and ensures the system noise remains as low as possible when viewing online content, and other basic tasks. Annoyingly, a driver bug prevented me from accurately assessing the load noise output which is the reason why there’s no data being displayed below. AMD’s latest driver automatically overrides Sapphire’s tuned fan profile which results in ridiculously fast fan speeds above 2300RPM. Apparently, it’s because AMD targeted a 65C delta instead of 75C which the Sapphire model’s cooling apparatus is based upon.

Power Consumption

When stressed, the total system wattage is just over 300 watts although it drops below this amount on a regular basis. While this isn’t the most efficient unit we’ve tested, it’s still a low figure given the X99 test system’s large power draw.

Temperatures

As previously mentioned, the Sapphire Nitro+ RX 480 OC’s revised cooling solution is a huge upgrade over AMD’s reference design and maintains a very respectable 75C average temperature.