OpenCL (API)

OpenCL allows use of GPUs for highly parallel numeric computation accelerates many scientific software packages against CPU up to factor 10 or 100 and more. OpenCL 1.0 to 1.2 are supported for all chips with Terascale or GCN architectures. OpenCL 2.0 is supported with GCN 2nd gen. or higher.^[10] Any OpenCL 2.0 conformant card can gain OpenCL 2.1 and 2.2 support with only a driver update.^{[citation needed]}

Vulkan (API)

API Vulkan 1.0 is supported for all GCN architecture cards. Vulkan 1.2 requires GCN 2nd gen or higher with the Adrenalin 20.1 and Linux Mesa 20.0 drivers and newer.

Polaris

Polaris 10 features 2304 stream processors across 36 Compute Units (CUs),^[16] and supports up to 8GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit memory interface. The GPU replaces the mid-range Tonga segment of the Radeon M300 line. According to AMD, their prime target with the design of Polaris was energy efficiency: Polaris 10 was initially planned to be a mid-range chip, to be featured in the RX 480, with a TDP of around 110-135W^[17] compared to its predecessor R9 380's 190W TDP. Despite this, the Polaris 10 chip is anticipated to run the latest DirectX 12 games "at a resolution of 1440p with a stable 60 frames per second."^[17]

Polaris 11, on the other hand, is to succeed the "Curacao" GPU which powers various low-to-mid-range cards. It features 1024 stream processors over 16 CUs, coupled with up to 4GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128 bit memory interface.^[18][19] Polaris 11 has a TDP of 75W.^[17][19]

RX 480 reference card PCI Express power limit violations

Some reviewers discovered that the AMD Radeon RX 480 violates the PCI Express power draw specifications, which allows a maximum of 75 watts (66 watts on its 12v pins) being drawn from the motherboard's PCI Express slot. Chris Angelini of Tom's Hardware noticed that in a stress test it can draw up to an average of 90 watts from the slot and 86 watts in a typical gaming load.^[23] The peak usage can be up to 162 watts and 300 watts altogether with the power supply in a gaming load.^[23] TechPowerUp corroborated these results by noting it can also draw up to 166 watts from the power supply, past the limit of 75 watts for a 6-pin PCI Express power connector.^[24] Ryan Shrout of PC Perspective did a follow-up test after other reports and found out his review sample takes 80-84 watts from the motherboard at stock speed, and that the other PCI Express slots' 12 volt power supply pins were supplying only 11.5 volts during load on his Asus ROG Rampage V Extreme motherboard.^[25] He was not concerned about the voltage droop due to the specification's 8% voltage tolerance, but did note of possible problems in systems where multiple overclocked RX 480 cards are running in quad CrossFire, or in motherboards that are not designed to withstand high currents, such as budget and older models.^[25]

AMD has released a driver that reprograms the voltage regulator module to draw less power from the motherboard, allowing the power draw from the motherboard to pass the PCI Express specification.^[26] While this worsens the overage on the 6-pin power connector, that violation is not much of a concern because these connectors have a greater safety margin in their power rating.^[26] The amount of power drawn from on the connector is dependent on a newly introduced "compatibility mode" in the driver. When on, compatibility mode reduces the total power consumption of the card, allowing both power sources to operate closer to their ratings. Standard mode yields essentially unchanged performance, while compatibility mode results in performance drops within the error of benchmarks.^[27] Some RX 480 cards designed by AMD's partners include an 8-pin power connector which can provide more power than the stock design.^[28][29]

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