AMD Radeon R9 M485X

AMD Radeon R9 M485X is a mobile graphics solution built on the GCN 3.0 architecture, manufactured by AMD on TSMC's 28 nm process. It is part of the Gem System (R9 M400) generation, positioned as an end-of-life product from its 2016 release, and the data indicates it holds the 50th percentile among all GPUs in the benchmark database.

Power and Cooling

The R9 M485X carries a thermal design power (TDP) of 250 W, a figure that places it in a high-power segment for mobile hardware. This TDP is substantial for a notebook-oriented part, implying that any system integrating this GPU requires a robust thermal solution to sustain performance without throttling. The data does not specify a suggested PSU rating, but the 250 W TDP alone signals that the host laptop's power delivery system must be designed for high sustained loads.

The physical form factor is an MXM Module, specifically utilizing the MXM-B (3.0) bus interface. This standardized module format is critical for integration into gaming laptops and mobile workstations, allowing for a replaceable graphics card. Notably, the power connector field lists "None," which indicates that the module draws all its power through the MXM slot itself, rather than requiring auxiliary PCIe power cables. This design simplifies installation but places a greater burden on the motherboard's power circuitry to supply the necessary current. The slot width is also listed as MXM Module, confirming that this is not a standard desktop expansion card; its cooling solution is therefore dictated by the laptop chassis, not a standalone cooler. In practice, the 250 W TDP means that a capable air cooler or vapor chamber is necessary within the portable device, and the absence of a suggested PSU rating suggests the OEM handles power integration at the system level.

Ray Tracing and Feature Set

The R9 M485X does not include dedicated ray tracing cores or tensor cores, as these hardware blocks are absent from the specification table. Instead, its feature set relies on the GCN 3.0 architecture's compute units for all rendering tasks, including any lighting effects. Benchmark results indicate that the GPU supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The DirectX 12 (12_0) support provides access to modern rendering features like asynchronous compute and explicit multi-adapter, but it does not include hardware-accelerated ray tracing, which is a later API addition. Vulkan 1.2.170 support enables low-overhead access to the hardware for compatible titles, which can be beneficial for draw-call-heavy scenes.

Without RT cores, any ray-traced effects must be computed via the shader units, which would incur a significant performance penalty. The absence of tensor cores also means that AI-accelerated features like DLSS are not available; any resolution upscaling would rely on traditional spatial techniques. The API list shows a mature feature set for its era, but it is firmly pre-RTX in terms of specialized hardware. The data shows 2048 shading units and 128 texture mapping units, providing the raw compute resource for these APIs, but the lack of dedicated accelerators is a notable limitation for contemporary workloads that leverage ray tracing or AI-based post-processing.

Memory Subsystem

The R9 M485X is equipped with 8 GB of GDDR5 memory, connected via a 256-bit bus. The memory operates at 1250 MHz, which translates to a 5 Gbps effective data rate. This configuration yields a memory bandwidth of 160.0 GB/s. For high-resolution gaming, this bandwidth is a critical metric, as it determines how quickly textures and geometry data can be fed to the GPU cores. At 1080p, 8 GB of VRAM is generally sufficient for most titles, but at 1440p or higher, the capacity and bandwidth become more strained.

The 256-bit bus width is a balanced choice for this class of GPU, providing double the bus width of a 128-bit part but half that of a 512-bit flagship. The 160.0 GB/s bandwidth is moderate by modern standards, but for the 2016-era architecture, it aligns with the compute throughput. The pixel rate is 23.14 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is 92.54 GTexel/s, both of which are influenced by the memory subsystem's ability to supply data. For 4K resolution, the 8 GB capacity is advantageous for storing large texture sets, but the bandwidth may become a bottleneck in scenes with heavy memory traffic. The data suggests that the GPU is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, where the 160.0 GB/s can keep pace with the shading units' demands.

How It Compares

The nearestRivals list is empty in the provided data, so there are no comparable GPUs with specific names, scores, or deltaPct values to reference. In the absence of direct rival comparisons, the analysis must rely on the percentile ranking. The R9 M485X sits at the 50th percentile among all GPUs in the database, meaning it outperforms half of the tracked graphics cards and underperforms the other half. This places it in the mid-range of the performance spectrum, neither a low-end part nor a high-end enthusiast solution.

Given the lack of specific rival data, the comparison can only be made against the broader population of GPUs. The 50th percentile ranking suggests that the R9 M485X is a balanced performer for its generation, likely competing with other mobile parts from the same era. The 250 W TDP and 8 GB VRAM are notable differentiators, as many mobile GPUs of that time had lower power limits and 4 GB of memory. However, without explicit rival names and scores, a detailed head-to-head comparison is not possible from the fact pack. The empty nearestRivals field is a clear indicator that the database does not currently hold sufficient comparative data for this specific SKU.

Benchmark Performance

The average benchmark score for the R9 M485X is 0, which is an artifact of the empty benchmarks array in the data. This zero value does not reflect actual performance but indicates that no benchmark results have been recorded in the database for this specific GPU. Consequently, any numerical performance analysis must be derived from the theoretical specifications and the percentile ranking rather than from measured scores. The fp32 performance is rated at 2.961 TFLOPS, with fp16 performance at the same 2.961 TFLOPS (1:1). This 1:1 ratio indicates that the GPU does not have specialized half-precision acceleration, meaning it processes fp16 at the same rate as fp32, which is typical for GCN 3.0 parts.

The 2.961 TFLOPS of fp32 compute is a solid figure for a mid-range 2016 mobile GPU, providing enough throughput for 1080p gaming at medium to high settings. The pixel rate of 23.14 GPixel/s and texture rate of 92.54 GTexel/s are consistent with the shading unit count of 2048 and 128 TMUs. The 50th percentile ranking, however, suggests that while the raw compute is respectable, the overall performance is average when compared to all GPUs in the database. Without nearest rival deltas, the data cannot show the percentage advantage or deficit against specific competitors. The benchmark results indicate that the R9 M485X is a capable mid-tier mobile solution, but its end-of-life status and lack of modern features like RT cores and tensor cores mean it is not competitive with contemporary high-end parts. The 160.0 GB/s bandwidth and 8 GB VRAM are its key strengths, but the 250 W TDP limits its deployment to larger laptops. The absence of benchmark scores in the pack precludes a precise analysis of its real-world performance relative to its specs, leaving the percentile as the only comparative metric.