Testing Methodology
Sapphire Radeon RX 460 Nitro 4GB Specification |
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 |
GPU Comparisons |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GPU |
Memory |
Miscellaneous |
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Cores |
Base (MHz) |
Boost (MHz) |
Size (MB) |
Clock (MHz) |
Bus (bits) |
Power Config |
Driver |
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| Sapphire Radeon RX 460 Nitro | 896 |
- |
1,250 |
4,096 |
7,000 |
128 |
6 |
16.7.3 |
|
| Asus GeForce GTX 950 | 768 |
1,026 |
1,190 |
2,048 |
6,610 |
128 |
- |
368.81 |
|
| Nvidia GeForce GTX 750 Ti | 640 |
1,020 |
1,085 |
2,048 |
5,400 |
128 |
- |
368.81 |
|
HEXUS Graphics Test Bench |
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|---|---|---|
| Hardware Components | Product Page | |
| Processor | Intel Core i7-6700K (overclocked to 4.4GHz) | intel.com |
| CPU Cooler | Noctua NH-D15S | noctua.at |
| Motherboard | Asus Z170 Pro | asus.com |
| Memory | Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4-2400 | crucial.com |
| Power Supply | be quiet! Dark Power Pro 11 850W | bequiet.com |
| Primary Storage | 256GB Samsung 950 Pro | samsung.com |
| Secondary Storage | 512GB SK hynix Canvas SC300 | skhynix.com |
| Chassis | Fractal Design Define R5 Windowed | fractal-design.com |
| Monitor | Philips Brilliance 4K Ultra HD LED (288P6LJEB/00) | philips.co.uk |
| Operating system | Windows 10 (64-bit) | microsoft.com |
Benchmark Suite |
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|---|---|
| Synthetic Benchmarks | |
| 3DMark | Fire Strike, Time Spy and Time Spy Stability Tests |
| Gaming Benchmarks and Settings | |
| Dirt Rally | DX11, 4xMSAA, High and Ultra Quality |
| Doom | OpenGL and Vulkan, TSSAA (8TX), High and Ultra Quality |
| Fallout 4 | DX11, TAA, High and Ultra Quality |
| Hitman | DX12, SMAA, High and Maximum Quality |
| Rise of the Tomb Raider | DX12, FXAA, High and Very High Quality |
| Tom Clancy's The Division | DX11, FXAA, High and Ultra Quality |
| Total War: Warhammer | DX12, MLAA, High and Ultra Quality |
| General Benchmarks | |
| Power Consumption | To emulate real-world usage scenarios, we record system-wide mains power draw both when idle and while playing Dirt Rally. |
| Temperature | To emulate real-world usage scenarios, we record GPU core temperature both when idle and while playing Dirt Rally. |
| Noise | A PCE-318 meter is used to record noise levels when idle and while playing Dirt Rally. |
| Overclocking | Maintaining out-the-box voltage, we increase the card's power target and aim for an optimal balance of core and memory overclock. With the heightened frequencies in place, the 3DMark, Dirt Rally and Rise of the Tomb Raider tests are re-run at FHD settings. |
Notes
To minimise the impact of any CPU bottlenecks, our test platform is configured with a quad-core Intel Core i7-6700K processor overclocked to 4.4GHz across all cores and 32GB of Crucial Ballistix Sport LT DDR4 memory set to run at 2,400MHz using the built-in XMP profile.
The usual benchmark runs take in three resolutions and put the GPUs through the wringer by running them at ultra-quality settings. Such an approach would work in this instance, but, considering the RX 460 is a mainstream GPU, what would an average 8.4fps at 4K really tell you?
Rather, we have taken a different tack. Benchmarks are conducted at 1,920x1,080 alone. And while we run our ultra-quality tests which provide cross comparisons against all recent high-end cards, we also notch the quality down to high, to see if we can manage playable frame rates in these popular titles.
Comparisons wise, we include a GeForce GTX 950 card that's priced at the same £130 or so as the Sapphire, and it has the benefit of running without an additional power connector. Offering more context and often amongst the most popular GPUs on the Steam Hardware Survey, we've dusted off our GeForce GTX 750 Ti and run the numbers for good measure on the latest drivers.
We're expecting these £100-£130 GPUs to make a good fist of gaming at 1080p, so let's get to it.