The mid-range has been geared up for one of the most eventful times the graphics card industry has experienced. With the arrival of NVIDIA’s GTX 1060 and AMD’s Radeon RX 480, choosing an obvious winner isn’t as clear cut as you’d think but with today’s release, PowerColor may have done enough to sway folks over to the red team.

The RED DEVIL RX 480 certainly isn’t for the faint hearted. The heavy satanic/demonic theme appeals to those with a dark-side and while some may appreciate the aesthetics as a master-piece in engineering those on the other side of the fence may prefer something less satanic but then if you’re investing in a graphics card which bears the name “RED DEVIL” what else can you expect?

As has been the case in previous generations of AMD graphics cards, the reference design for RX 480 lends itself to being noisy and inefficient in the cooling arena and this is where the RED DEVIL steps up to the plate. This graphics card features PowerColor’s very own triple-fan configuration which resolves those reference qualms. Though RED DEVIL may not drop the temperature as much as other custom designs, the intention here is to combat noise more than anything else. PowerColor’s objective is to provide the market with one of the quietest RX 480s available, and this they certainly achieve.


Putting the RED DEVIL into DX11 and DX12 applications reveals a faster solution than the reference RX 480 – this you come to expect from a card which utilises a factory overclock. The boost in frequency to the GPU and memory is proof that the GTX 1060 isn’t the sole option in the 1080p sector. We were able to enjoy significant increases to the framerate over the reference design and it’s clear that the RX 480 responds to some DX12 titles in a better fashion to NVIDIA’s GTX 1060. The RX 480 responds particularly well to DOOM’s Vulkan API.

Our experience with RED DEVIL is definitely a positive one but there are a few things to consider. The backplate on this card extends out beyond the PCB which in some cases could obstruct the memory slots on your motherboard (check out our video below for a demonstration). While PowerColor will be altering the orientation of the emblem on the edge of the card in a future revision, earlier editions like the one we tested features the logo in an upside down position – an oversight which should have been ironed out after inspection phases.

RED DEVIL RX 480 is priced aggressively – placing it as an attractive proposition. This graphics card arrives with a price-tag of £259.99 GBP / $270 USD. Add to the great lineup of features the 3-year warranty and the RED DEVIL is a great choice to consider.

PowerColor’s RED DEVIL RX 480 gives AMD’s mid-range the ferocious identity it screams out for -- although the chosen triple fan cooler renders this card near silent. A bold factory overclock squeezes out even more performance, making this card a top-pick!




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