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Radeon Software update addresses power issues related to RX 480 graphics card

The driver caters to users concerned over the amount of power their Radeon RX 480 card draws from their motherboard's PCIe slot.

David Craddock

July 7, 2016 2:45 PM

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In response to a growing number of Radeon RX 480 owners upset over the amount of power the card pulls from their motherboard's PCIe slot, AMD has pushed out a new update (via Tech Report) replete with fixes that should resolve the issue.

Update 16.7.1 sates the Radeon RX 480's thirst for power and contains a number of other fixes and updates. "The RadeonRX 480’s power distribution has been improved for AMD reference boards, lowering the current drawn from the PCIe bus," per the patch notes.

Additionally, users can toggle a compatibility mode found under the Globe Settings menu in Radeon Settings to further mitigate power draws. "This option is designed to reduce total power with minimal performance impact if end users experience any further issues."

Along with fixes that target popular games such as Grand Theft Auto 5 and Doom, other changes are less obvious; specifically, a note refers to "limited PCI-E Bandwidth" being adjusted to the RX 480's correct speed. Full patch notes can be found on AMD's support site.

Hopefully these fixes will make AMD's Radeon RX 480, priced at only $199 and available in memory quantities of 4GB or 8GB of DDR5 RAM, more appealing to consumers leery of dealing with power siphoning issues.

David Craddock

Long Reads Editor

David L. Craddock writes fiction, nonfiction, and grocery lists. He is the author of the Stay Awhile and Listen series, and the Gairden Chronicles series of fantasy novels for young adults. Outside of writing, he enjoys playing Mario, Zelda, and Dark Souls games, and will be happy to discuss at length the myriad reasons why Dark Souls 2 is the best in the series. Follow him online at davidlcraddock.com and @davidlcraddock.