AMD unveils Polaris-based Radeon RX 570 and RX 580

Still no sign of Vega - have these overclocked RX 470s and RX 480s instead

AMD has launched its new five-series line of graphics cards, but anyone wanting to get their hands on graphics cards based on the next-generation Vega GPU will have to wait.

The Radeon RX 570 and RX 580 graphics cards unveiled today are based, like their 400-series predecessors, on the Polaris microarchitecture and built on 14nm FinFET process manufacturing, but with ratcheted up clock speeds.

The devices form part of AMD's response to Nvidia's impressive 10-series GPUs, which it was progressively rolled out to good reviews since the middle of 2016.

The two GPUs are intended to supplant AMD's RX 470 and RX480 graphics cards, launched last year in response to Nvidia's steamrollering GeForce GTX 1060 and 1050 Ti devices - but initially understocked as AMD struggled to push units out of the door fast enough.

AMD claims that the Radeon RX 580 is competitive against Nvidia's GeFore GTX 1060, but should weigh in at a lower price point compared to most GTX 1060 graphics cards on the market today - $199 or $229, depending on whether you load your basket with the 4GB model or the 8GB model, compared to the $229-$299 price points of the various 6GB GTX 1060-based graphics card on the market today.

Table (bordered)
Device
Radeon RX 580
Radeon RX 570
GPU
Polaris 20 XTX
Polaris 20 XL
Cores
2,304
2,048
Texture units
144
128
ROPs
32
32
Base clock
1,257MHz
1,168MHz
Boost clock
1,340MHz
1,244MHz
Memory clock
8GHz
7GHz
Memory
4 or 8GB
4 or 8GB
Memory bus
256-bit
256-bit
Bandwidth
256 GB/s
224 GB/s

The RX 580 will offer a base clock speed of 1,257MHz and boost clock of 1,340MHz. Its Polaris architecture has 36 compute units or 2,304 stream processors. Digital Foundry describes it as "an overclocked RX 480", enabled by refinements to Polaris.

"It is what it is, a RX 480 with a few slight tweaks to the clock," they add.

The 4GB RX 570, meanwhile, is priced at $169 and intended to compete against Nvidia's 3GB GTX 1060 and the 4GB GTX 1050Ti, as well as providing a replacement for the short-lived RX480, which was discounted over the Easter weekend in advanced of the 500-series launch today.

The Radeon RX 570 will come in 4GB and 8GB variants (for $199 or so), and offer a base clock speed of 1,168MHz and a boost clock of 1,244MHz. Like the RX 580, it is pretty much a RX 470 with a few tweaks to add a dash more performance.

At the bottom end, meanwhile, AMD also announced a full Polaris 11 RX 560 and a low-end form of the Polaris 12 GPU, which will find a home in the forthcoming Radeon RX 550.

However, while offering good value for money, the Radeon RX 500 series represents more of a refresh compared to the ‘old' RX 400 cards than genuinely new products. Enthusiasts, meanwhile, will have to continue their wait for the perennially forthcoming Vega GPUs that AMD has been promising for some time.