AMD Radeon R9 M470

The AMD Radeon R9 M470 is a mobile graphics solution built on the GCN 2.0 architecture, fabricated by TSMC on a 28 nm process. The chip, codenamed Emerald, packs 2,080 million transistors into a 160 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 13.0M per mm². The FACT PACK lists no TDP, no power connector requirements, and no suggested PSU wattage for this part. Consequently, any system integration guidance must be qualitative. Given its mobile-class design and the absence of a dedicated power connector specification, this is a component that draws its power entirely from the motherboard slot, a common trait for mid-range notebook GPUs. The PCIe 3.0 x16 bus interface supplies the necessary power and data bandwidth, but the exact electrical draw is not documented in the available data. Users should rely on the laptop manufacturer’s power delivery design, as the data does not support any aftermarket PSU recommendation. The lack of a TDP figure means that thermal solutions are unspecified; however, the 28 nm process node suggests a moderate heat output, likely manageable by a standard notebook cooling solution.

Power and Cooling — TDP, PSU recommendation, connector requirements

The data sheet for the R9 M470 omits several power-related fields: tdp, slotWidth, powerConnectors, and suggestedPsu are all null. This absence is notable because it prevents any quantitative assessment of thermal design power. Without a TDP figure, the benchmark database cannot correlate performance with power efficiency, and system integrators must infer cooling needs from the chip’s architecture. The GCN 2.0 design, paired with a 28 nm process, typically implies a power envelope that is moderate by desktop standards but potentially significant for a mobile chassis. The absence of a suggested PSU is logical for a mobile part, as the power supply is integrated into the laptop’s AC adapter and motherboard VRM design. No connector requirements are listed, reinforcing the assumption that the card is soldered or MXM-based and does not accept external PCIe power cables. The bus interface, PCIe 3.0 x16, provides up to 75W of power via the slot, but the actual consumption is unverified. Benchmark results show a percentile rank of 50 against all GPUs, indicating a mid-pack position; this suggests the cooling solution is neither trivial nor extreme. The production status is end-of-life, meaning no new thermal guidance will be forthcoming. In summary, the data supports only a qualitative statement: the R9 M470 relies on slot power, and its cooling requirements are unspecified but consistent with a mid-range mobile GPU from the 2016 era.

Who Should Consider It

The R9 M470’s benchmark percentile of 50 places it exactly at the median of all GPUs in the database. This position implies that it is a balanced performer, neither a high-end enthusiast part nor an entry-level laggard. The memory configuration is 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus, yielding 76.80 GB/s of bandwidth. This capacity and bandwidth are sufficient for 1080p gaming at medium to high settings in titles from its release period, but the lack of specific benchmark scores means the data cannot pinpoint exact frame rates. The shading units number 768, with 48 texture mapping units and 16 raster output pipelines. These specifications produce a pixel rate of 16.00 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 48.00 GTexel/s, indicating that the card can handle moderate fill-rate workloads. For users targeting 1080p resolution with conservative settings, the R9 M470 is a viable option, particularly for esports titles that are less demanding on memory capacity. At 1440p, the 2 GB frame buffer becomes a limiting factor, as modern games often exceed this capacity for high-resolution textures. The FP32 performance is 1.536 TFLOPS, which places it in the lower-mid range of compute capability; this is adequate for older games and light creative workloads but not for heavy 3D rendering. The data does not support recommendations for 4K gaming, as the memory bandwidth and capacity are insufficient. The end-of-life production status suggests that this GPU is best suited for budget-conscious users who are purchasing refurbished or used laptops, though pricing is not discussed herein. In essence, the R9 M470 is for gamers who accept 1080p medium presets and are not chasing high refresh rates.

Ray Tracing and Feature Set

The FACT PACK explicitly lists rtCores and tensorCores as null. This means the R9 M470 has no dedicated ray tracing hardware and no tensor cores for AI acceleration. Consequently, ray tracing is not a supported feature in hardware; any ray-traced effects would be performed on the general-purpose shading units, which is impractical given the 1.536 TFLOPS FP32 throughput. The API support is modern for its time, with DirectX 12 (feature level 12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The DirectX 12 support is notable because it allows for lower-level hardware access, which can improve draw call throughput and multi-threaded CPU usage. However, the feature level 12_0 does not include some of the later DX12 Ultimate features like mesh shaders or variable rate shading, which are absent from the data. Vulkan 1.2.170 provides similar low-level benefits for cross-platform titles, and OpenGL 4.6 ensures compatibility with legacy applications. The absence of tensor cores means that features like DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) are unavailable; the card must rely on traditional temporal anti-aliasing or FSR (FidelityFX Super Resolution), though the latter is not explicitly mentioned in the facts. The GCN 2.0 architecture itself does not natively support hardware-accelerated ray tracing, which is a feature introduced in later generations. For users who prioritize ray-traced lighting, shadows, or reflections, the R9 M470 is not a suitable choice. The feature set is otherwise complete for rasterization-based rendering, with full support for modern graphics APIs up to its release date. The data indicates no display outputs, so the specific ports (HDMI, DisplayPort) are not documented, but the PCIe 3.0 x16 interface is standard for mobile implementations.

How It Compares

The nearestRivals array is empty in the provided FACT PACK. This absence is significant because it means there are no direct comparative data points for the R9 M470 within this database. Without rival scores or deltaPct values, the analysis must rely solely on the percentile rank and absolute specifications. The percentile of 50 indicates that exactly half of all GPUs in the database perform better, and half perform worse. This median position is a useful anchor for context. For instance, a GPU at the 25th percentile would be substantially slower, while one at the 75th percentile would be faster, but no such specific comparisons are available. The lack of rivals also means that the database does not have a validated benchmark score for this part; avgBenchmarkScore is 0, which is likely a placeholder indicating no recorded runs. Consequently, any comparative statements must be framed as general observations based on the architectural specifications. The closest conceptual rivals would be other mid-range mobile GPUs from the same era, such as the GeForce 900M series from NVIDIA, but their specs are not in the FACT PACK and cannot be cited. The R9 M470’s 76.80 GB/s memory bandwidth and 1.536 TFLOPS are the key numeric anchors; typical competitors in this class would offer similar bandwidth, but without data, this is speculation. The empty rivals list is a critical limitation for the "How It Compares" section, as it precludes any deltaPct calculations. The data supports only a positional statement: the R9 M470 sits at the median, meaning it is neither a standout performer nor a weak link among all GPUs tracked by this database.

Benchmark Performance

The benchmark section of the FACT PACK contains no entries; benchmarks is an empty array, and avgBenchmarkScore is 0. This zero value is not a performance measurement but rather an indicator that no synthetic or real-world test results have been submitted for this GPU. The percentileVsAllGpus field, however, is 50, which is a derived metric that places the R9 M470 in the middle of the distribution. The percentile is likely computed from the specifications or historical data, but the absence of actual scores makes it impossible to report any frame rate, time, or numeric performance delta. The FP32 throughput of 1.536 TFLOPS is the most direct compute metric; this translates to a theoretical maximum of 1.536 trillion floating-point operations per second. The texture rate of 48.00 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 16.00 GPixel/s are derived from the 48 TMUs and 16 ROPs, respectively. These figures are deterministic: at a boost clock of 1000 MHz, the texture rate is 48 TMUs × 1000 MHz = 48 GTexel/s, and the pixel rate is 16 ROPs × 1000 MHz = 16 GPixel/s. The base clock is 900 MHz, with a boost to 1000 MHz, so the actual performance will vary between these two states depending on thermal headroom and power limits. The memory runs at 1200 MHz, which is 4.8 Gbps effective due to GDDR5’s double data rate, producing 76.80 GB/s over the 128-bit bus. In the absence of rival scores, the only benchmark interpretation is relative to the median: the R9 M470’s positional data suggests it is exactly average. For a user, this means that in a typical game at 1080p, the card should deliver playable frame rates at medium settings, but the data cannot quantify the precise number. The lack of deltas is a data gap, not a performance verdict.

FAQ

Q: What is the production status of the AMD Radeon R9 M470?

A: The production status is listed as end-of-life, meaning AMD has ceased manufacturing this GPU.

Q: Does the R9 M470 support hardware ray tracing?

A: No. The FACT PACK lists rtCores as null, indicating no dedicated ray tracing cores. Any ray tracing would be unsupported in hardware.

Q: What is the memory configuration and bandwidth?

A: The card features 2 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus, running at 1200 MHz (4.8 Gbps effective), resulting in 76.80 GB/s of bandwidth.

Q: Which graphics APIs are supported?

A: The R9 M470 supports DirectX 12 (feature level 12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170.

Q: What is the pixel and texture fill rate?

A: The pixel rate is 16.00 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is 48.00 GTexel/s, based on 16 ROPs and 48 TMUs at a 1000 MHz boost clock.

Q: How does the R9 M470 rank among all GPUs?

A: The percentileVsAllGpus field is 50, meaning it performs better than 50% and worse than 50% of all GPUs in the database.