SAPPHIRE Nitro Radeon RX 460 OC 4GB Review

Introduction

I received both the SAPPHIRE Nitro Radeon RX 470 4GB (and the 8GB version), as well as SAPPHIRE's Nitro Radeon RX 460 4GB at the same time, but the NDA on the Radeon RX 460 is four days later, so here we are - with yet another new graphics card launch. In the last week, we've seen NVIDIA launch its incredible new Pascal-based Titan X which costs $1200 - but has the performance numbers to back it up, and AMD's launch of the mid-range $179 graphics card in the form of the Radeon RX 470.

Well, why not throw another one on the pile, guys? Yeah, thought so. So here we are, back again with another graphics card from AMD in the form of the Radeon RX 460. AMD has now filled the sub-$250 market with next-gen Polaris-based offerings, starting with the new Radeon RX 460, filling the middle with the RX 470 and then we have the RX 480. The Radeon RX 460 is a peculiar beast, as it has AMD betting the farm on the 80% of the market that cannot afford to spend $300 or more on a graphics card - let alone $1200 for the new Titan X.

AMD is aiming the new Radeon RX 460 at the eSports, casual, and 1080p gamers, all while offering them future-proof technology through HDR, 4K, and VR support.

AMD promises 90FPS or more at 1080p on High settings in hugely popular games like CS:GO, League of Legends, Overwatch, DOTA 2, Rocket League, and more.

As for the numbers, we're looking at 170FPS or so in CS:GO, and 109FPS for Overwatch. Not too damn bad at all, AMD.

Not only will desktop gaming PCs receive the new Radeon RX 460, but it will enable "console class GPU performance in incredible form factors" and that has me excited to see where AMD could take the Radeon RX 460.

Pricing & Availability

AMD has placed a price of $109 on the Radeon RX 460, while the SAPPHIRE Nitro Radeon RX 460 model we have here today sitting at a price of $139.