KitGuru KitGuru.net – Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards
The Sapphire RX 580 Nitro+ Limited Edition 8GB replaces the Sapphire RX 480 Nitro+ OC 8GB which currently retails for £248.99. AMD is expected to retain similar pricing for the RX 580 once the dust has settled, though it may be slightly higher at launch to help retailers clear existing inventories of the RX 480. As such, expect pricing between £$€220 to £$€280 for RX 580s with the variation in between due to differences in memory sizes, overclock levels and general features.
Sapphire's particular model will likely retail for £259.99 with a standard 3 year warranty, making it one of the more expensive models in the RX 580 range. However, Sapphire has delivered an excellent product with good cooling performance, low noise and strong temperatures. It's also pushed out of the box performance to the limit of the GPU meaning there's very little required of the end user to get maximum performance, other than install the graphics card and set the VBIOS to boost mode.
While we haven't had an opportunity to assess other RX 580s available at launch, it's hard to imagine anyone could be disappointed with Sapphire's offering. That said, the 8GB of frame buffer still seems overkill for the RX 580: the GPU runs out of computational power before it runs out of frame buffer. Most buyers would be better off opting for a lower cost 4GB model and making up any clock speed deficits through manual overclocking of the core and memory.
System owners looking to upgrade their graphics card will find that the RX 580 is a compelling option, provided that pricing is right. AMD PR sent this price list just before launch but based on our retail sources this pricing seems optimistic:
- RX 580 8GB: £219.99 inc VAT
- RX 580 4GB: £184.99 inc VAT
- RX 570 4GB: £164.99 in VAT
Pricing is increasingly important for AMD and Sapphire as we have started to see Nvidia GTX 1060 6GB partner cards for as little as £215 (HERE and HERE) online today.
AMD's RX 580 struggles to significantly overcome Nvidia's GTX 1060 which is generally a better option due to being considerably more power efficient. In short, the RX 580 is the less desirable option of the two, even if board partners like Sapphire have done a stellar job in presenting the graphics card in a refined and well-built package.
Gamers looking to upgrade from popular GPUs like the GTX 970 and R9 390 may still be able to put off that mid-range upgrade for a while longer. The RX 580 is, on average, a faster graphics card but not enough so to warrant any urgency in making an upgrade.
Overclockers UK confirmed a £289.99 including VAT retail price for this product. This is in our opinion too expensive but reflects the limited edition nature of this specific product. Sapphire does, thankfully, also sell an RX 580 Nitro+ OC 8GB, which isn't limited edition, and that hits a more competitive price point of £259.99 as well as an even more affordable Pulse variant. We'd advise buyers interested in Sapphire's RX 580 to seriously consider the standard Nitro model or Pulse variant instead since the differences are minimal but the savings are considerable.
Buy from Overclockers UK for £289.99 HERE.
Discuss on our Facebook page over HERE.
Pros
- Good cooling performance and low noise.
- Semi-passive fan mode.
- Backplate.
- High factory overclock.
- Dual VBIOS switch.
- Optional blue LED fans.
Cons:
- Limited OC headroom.
- High power consumption.
KitGuru says: Sapphire makes the best of AMD's RX 580 GPU with its Nitro+ Limited Edition version. If you're in the market for an RX 580 then this graphics card deserves to be on the shortlist but it could benefit from a price drop.
Be sure to check out our sponsors store EKWB here
