AMD RX 490 Update: Why It's No Longer GTX 1080's Rival but Imminent Launch Expected

The crowds have been busy with AMD Ryzen that there's only a little info to dig about AMD RX 490. However, a recent report could be a strong hint at the graphics card launch.

Slightly higher benchmark score than GTX 1070

Many gamers are doubt whether to buy GTX 1070 or wait for RX 490 instead. Judging from the leaked benchmarks, the Dual GPU (Polaris-based) seems to be an exciting hardware worth the wait. It's reportedly manufactured on 14nm process and 1200MHz GPU clocks, Tweaktown has learned. That makes RX 490 better than Nvidia's GTX 1070.

The Dual-GPU card could outperform GTX 1080

Nvidia hasn't detailed further on GTX 1080 Ti version but the 1080 series with a single GPU could easily be beaten by a dual-Polaris-based card. It wins in a few factors which may be a good selling point.

RX 490 could be pricier than GTX 1080

A dual-GPU card will sync better than separated card but AMD could price the RX 490 at a higher point than Nvidia tags GTX 1080 with.

With all of that being the case, it is safe to assume that the RX 490 isn't a direct rival for GTX 1080. It could either be better, or worse.

There are two possibilities:

- AMD RX 490 could have a higher performance than the 1080 but it may come out pricier.

- Or, RX 490 could be slightly better than 1070 - which is why gamers may want to stick with the latter.

"Fallout 4" High-Res Texture Pack will be launched next week

While this might look like it has nothing to do with RX 490 but Bethesda 'unofficially' confirmed the arrival of the graphics card after it's listed as one of the requirements in the engine department. The detail has been removed but fortunately, a few sources managed to take a screenshot.

It's obvious that the revamped game version will need better hardware setup for a maximum visual experience. The update, according to Gematsu, will also need an extra 58 GB of space.