MSI Adds Low-Profile AMD Radeon RX 460 Graphics Cards to Lineup
by Anton Shilov on February 18, 2017 1:00 PM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
- AMD
- Radeon
- MSI
- Polaris
- RX 460 4GT LP
- RX 460 2GT LP
MSI has quietly added two low-profile AMD Radeon RX 460 graphics adapters to its product family. The add-in-boards (AIBs) are powered by AMD’s latest entry-level GPU, Polaris 11. As these are base RX 460 models. they do not require PCIe power and are compatible with a wide range of computers that have enough space for a dual-slot card. The new adapters will be among the most affordable discrete graphics options today and will be aimed at those upgrading entry-level systems as well as building SFF HTPCs.
The MSI Radeon RX 460 4GT LP and Radeon RX 460 2GT LP are based on AMD’s Baffin (Polaris 11) graphics chip (896 stream processors, 56 texture units, 16 raster operations pipelines, 128-bit memory bus) clocked at up to 1.2 GHz (base/boost) and carry 2 or 4 GB of GDDR5 memory at 7 Gbps. As for connectivity, the boards have one DL-DVI-D and one HDMI 2.0 output with HDCP 2.2 support (HDCP 2.2 is required for playback of protected UHD video). When it comes to cooling, the AIBs use dual-slot cooling systems with two fans, the same as the company installed on other low-profile graphics cards. As an added bonus, MSI states that it uses MIL-STD-810G certified components to ensure a long lifespan for its LP adapters.
Over the past couple of months, MSI and a number of other companies (GIGABYTE, GALAX) have introduced low-profile graphics adapters based on NVIDIA’s GPUs - MSI is one of the first with similar LP RX 460 cards and extending its range of contemporary LP AIBs to four models. The addition of two low-profile cards to the lineup may indicate that demand for such products is relatively significant and rather stable.
Both AMD Polaris 11 (Baffin) and NVIDIA GP107 GPUs outperform integrated graphics cores of mainstream desktop CPUs and also support modern functionality like DirectX 12 and Vulkan APIs. Furthermore, the two graphics processors support hardware-accelerated decoding and encoding of HEVC (H.265) and VP9 video at 4Kp60 as well as HDR10. Finally, the GPUs consume up to 75 W of power and do not need any auxiliary PCIe power connectors, which makes them compatible with virtually all modern PCs with a PCIe 3.0 x16 slot, including those from various large brands that sometimes do not have any spare connectors left.
| MSI's Radeon RX 460 Low Profile Graphics Cards | ||||||
| RX 460 4GT LP | RX 460 2GT LP | |||||
| GPU | AMD Polaris 11 (Baffin) | |||||
| Stream Processors | 896 | |||||
| Texture Units | 56 | |||||
| ROPs | 16 | |||||
| Core Clock (MHz) | 1090 | |||||
| Boost Clock (MHz) | 1200 | |||||
| Memory | Capacity | 4 GB | 2 GB | |||
| Type | GDDR5 | |||||
| Clock | 7 Gbps | |||||
| Bus Width | 128 bit | |||||
| Outputs | DisplayPort | 0 | ||||
| DVI | 1 × DVI-D | |||||
| HDMI 2.0b | 1 | |||||
| TFLOPS (FP32) | 1.95 | |||||
| TDP | 75 W | |||||
| Launch Date | 2/2017 | 2/2017 | ||||
MSI has not announced MSRPs forthe new cards, and since the AIBs were added to the company’s product family in the last week, they are no yet available at Amazon or Newegg. Given the positioning of the adapters, it is unlikely that their price will be substantially different from $109 (2 GB version) and $139 (4 GB version) recommended by AMD.
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cbm80 - Saturday, February 18, 2017 - link
The DVI port is for people with old, but still useful, 2560x1600/1440 monitors. They use DL-DVI which can't be passively derived from DP+ or HDMI.Though since this generation of video cards has removed analog, the DVI port is not as useful as it was, since you don't get analog out of it.
thomasg - Sunday, February 19, 2017 - link
How many displays using such resolutions and only providing DVI-D do actually exist?I can think of only a single one, the ancient Dell 3007WFP (I'm using an almost as ancient 3008WFP which has HDMI and DisplayPort, despite being 9 years old).
shabby - Sunday, February 19, 2017 - link
Hp zr30w is another, bought one for $100 recently, love it. It does have dp though.cbm80 - Sunday, February 19, 2017 - link
The 30" Apple Cinema Display is another one. Also some cheap no-name 27" monitors in recent years.DanNeely - Monday, February 20, 2017 - link
I've got an NEC 3090 which was their last pre-display port generation model. Assuming I'm still using it in a year or two (a 32" single cable 5k60 or 4k120 monitor is my next planned major tech purchase) there's a good chance that by default I'll be buying a $80 dual channel DVI adapter. OTOH if I can find a cheap 32" (I want to keep my vertical height) 4k monitor with either an adjustable stand or a standard VESA mount (so I can swap a good stand in) I might go that way instead. It'd be more up front, but the power savings would work out to something like $20-50/year (the 3090's a pig and running AC doubles the cost for a decent chunk of the year) and there's the question of how much longer the elderly display I've got will actually last for.Powerlurker - Tuesday, February 21, 2017 - link
All those budget Korean panels that were popular a few years ago (Qnix, Crossover, etc.) before affordable IPS panels started being sold by more reputable manufacturers for one. They were primarily made for the internet cafe market as noname companies would buy A-/B+ IPS panels, slap them in a cheap chassis with only a DL DVI-D input and sell them on eBay for ~$400 shipped from Korea when an IPS monitor of any quality from a US distributor would cost at least 60% more.mm0zct - Monday, February 27, 2017 - link
My Dell u2711 is 2560x1440 and can only be driven at native resolution by DisplayPort and Dual-Link DVI.I use it with two systems - a Dell laptop dock which only has DP and single-link DVI, so this has to use the DisplayPort connection, and my Desktop, which uses one of the DVI inputs.
Losing DVI support on my desktop would mean having to switch cables around every time I want to switch from work (my company issued Dell laptop) to my personal PC, and back. Alternatively I could shell out stupid money for the updated Dock with dual-link DVI support, but I'm quite happy with the gen1 £12 ebay purchase that lets me use my laptop with my monitor at home (the laptop only has HDMI+VGA).
samer1970 - Sunday, February 19, 2017 - link
We need RX460 in single slot low profile design and it is doable using notebook cooling fans and heatpipes...Hurn - Sunday, February 19, 2017 - link
Well, the card is clearly low profile. Wonder if it comes with a low profile bracket (in addition to the full height bracket shown in the pics).samer1970 - Sunday, February 19, 2017 - link
hurn, its low profile but it is dual slot card ...