The AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT launched with a TGP of 150 watts, a 1375 MHz game clock, a 1560 MHz boost clock and 12 Gbps GDDR6 memory.
But less than a week before it was made available for sale, AMD gave it a big boost in these aspects :
Up to 20.7% higher game clock
Up to 12% higher boost clock
Up to 16.7% higher memory clock
Up to 10W higher TGP
All that overclocking makes the Radeon RX 5600 XT quite a different beast from what was initially announced, and better positions it against the discounted NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 cards.
But please note that AMD is leaving it up to their AIB partners to determine the final clock speeds, so your card may not see such high boosts.
AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT BIOS Updates : Where To Get Them?
To enjoy the free Radeon RX 5600 XT power-up, you will need to download and install the new BIOS updates from your card manufacturer. But you need to make sure you are downloading the right one.
Note : All links and information were sourced from the respective card manufacturers. Please check with them if you face any issues. We can offer no guarantee regarding their accuracy or reliability.
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Unlike the Radeon RX 5700 and RX 5700 XT cards, the new AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT does not have a reference design – it is available only as custom-designed cards from AMD’s partners.
Here is a quick primer on the first slew of Radeon RX 5500 XT cards from ASRock, ASUS, GIGABYTE, MSI, PowerColor, Sapphire and XFX!
AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT : The First Cards
If you want to skip ahead to the first twenty two RX 5500 XT cards, click on these links.
The AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT is basically the desktop version of the Radeon RX 5500M, using the same GPU with 6.4 billion transistors fabricated on the 7 nm process technology.
This Navi GPU has 22 Compute Units with 1408 stream processors and a 128-bit memory interface. The only difference is the Radeon RX 5500 XT has higher clock speeds and TDP, with up to 8 GB of GDDR6 memory.
The AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT designed to deliver 1080p gaming at 60+ fps for AAA titles, and 90+ fps for esport games.
To reduce costs, AMD opted to use a PCI Express 4.0 x8 interface, instead of the PCIe 4.0 x16 interface. But if paired with a PCIe 4.0 chipset, it will deliver the same bandwidth as PCIe 3.0 x16.
In this table, we compare its reference specifications against its more powerful brethren – the RX 5700 and RX 5700 XT.
Again, please note that the RX 5500 XT is only available from AMD partners as custom cards, and could have different specifications.
Specifications
Radeon RX
5700 XT
Radeon RX
5700
Radeon RX
5500 XT
Transistors
10.3 billion
10.3 billion
6.4 billion
Fab Process
7 nm
7 nm
7 nm
Die Size
251 mm²
251 mm²
158 mm²
Total Graphics Power
225 W
185 W
130 W
Stream Processors
2560
2340
1408
Base Clock
1605 MHz
1465 MHz
1607 MHz
Game Clock
1755 MHz
1625 MHz
1717 MHz
Boost Clock
1905 MHz
1725 MHz
1845 MHz
TMUs
160
144
88
Max. Texture Rate
304.8 GT/s
248.4 GT/s
162.4 GT/s
ROPs
64
64
32
Max. Pixel Rate
121.9 GP/s
110.4 GP/s
59.0 GP/s
Memory Size
8 GB
8 GB
4 GB / 8 GB
Memory Type
GDDR6
GDDR6
GDDR6
Bus Width
256-bit
256-bit
128-bit
Bandwidth
448 GB/s
448 GB/s
224 GB/s
PCIe Interface
PCIe 4.0 x16
PCIe 4.0 x16
PCIe 4.0 x8
ASRock RX 5500 XT Challenger D 4G OC
This is an overclocked 4 GB variant with a dual fan cooler, a 78 MHz higher base clock and a 20 MHz higher game clock :
Base Clock : 1685 MHz
Game Clock : 1737 MHz
Boost Clock : 1845 MHz
GDDR6 Memory Clock : 1750 MHz (14 Gbps)
Display Ports : 3 x DisplayPort 1.4, 1 x HDMI 2.0b
Polychrome SYNC
Dual Fan Design + Stylish Metal Backplate
0dB Silent Cooling
ASRock Tweak
ASRock RX 5500 XT Phantom Gaming D 8G OC
This is the 8 GB version of the Challenger card above, and comes with the same dual fan cooler, a 78 MHz higher base clock and a 20 MHz higher game clock :
Base Clock : 1685 MHz
Game Clock : 1737 MHz
Boost Clock : 1845 MHz
GDDR6 Memory Clock : 1750 MHz (14 Gbps)
Display Ports : 3 x DisplayPort 1.4, 1 x HDMI 2.0b
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ASUS ROG Strix Radeon RX 5500 XT
This is an overclocked 8 GB variant with a dual-fan cooler, and 20 MHz higher game and boost clocks.
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MSI Radeon RX 5500 XT Mech 4G
This is a stock 4 GB variant, with a dual-fan cooler, and reference clock speeds
TORX Fan 3.0 with Dispersion Fan Blades
RGB Mystic Light + Afterburner OC Utility
Boost Clock : up to 1845 MHz
Game Clock : 1717 MHz
Base Clock : 1607 MHz
GDDR6 Memory Clock : 1750 MHz (14 Gbps)
Display Ports : 3 x DisplayPort 1.4, 1 x HDMI 2.0b
MSI Radeon RX 5500 XT Mech 8G
This is a stock 8 GB variant, with a dual-fan cooler, and reference clock speeds
TORX Fan 3.0 with Dispersion Fan Blades
RGB Mystic Light + Afterburner OC Utility
Boost Clock : up to 1845 MHz
Game Clock : 1717 MHz
Base Clock : 1607 MHz
GDDR6 Memory Clock : 1750 MHz (14 Gbps)
Display Ports : 3 x DisplayPort 1.4, 1 x HDMI 2.0b
MSI Radeon RX 5500 XT Mech 4G OC
This is an overclocked 4 GB variant, with a dual-fan cooler, 40 MHz higher base clock and 16 MHz higher game clock.
TORX Fan 3.0 with Dispersion Fan Blades
RGB Mystic Light + Afterburner OC Utility
Boost Clock : up to 1845 MHz
Game Clock : 1733 MHz (Reference card is 1717 MHz)
Base Clock : 1647 MHz (Reference card is 1607 MHz)
GDDR6 Memory Clock : 1750 MHz (14 Gbps)
Display Ports : 3 x DisplayPort 1.4, 1 x HDMI 2.0b
MSI Radeon RX 5500 XT Mech 8G OC
This is an overclocked 8 GB variant, with a dual-fan cooler, 40 MHz higher base clock and 16 MHz higher game clock.
TORX Fan 3.0 with Dispersion Fan Blades
RGB Mystic Light + Afterburner OC Utility
Boost Clock : up to 1845 MHz
Game Clock : 1733 MHz (Reference card is 1717 MHz)
Base Clock : 1647 MHz (Reference card is 1607 MHz)
GDDR6 Memory Clock : 1750 MHz (14 Gbps)
Display Ports : 3 x DisplayPort 1.4, 1 x HDMI 2.0b
Price + Availability (Accurate as of 16 December 2019)
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PowerColor Radeon RX 5500 XT
This is a stock 4 GB variant, with a single-fan cooler, and reference clock speeds
Boost Clock : up to 1845 MHz
Game Clock : 1717 MHz
Base Clock : 1607 MHz
GDDR6 Memory Clock : 1750 MHz (14 Gbps)
Display Ports : 1 x DisplayPort 1.4, 1 x HDMI 2.0b, 1 x SL DVI-D
PowerColor Red Dragon RX 5500 XT
This is an overclocked 8 GB variant, with a dual-fan cooler, a 78 MHz higher base clock and a 20 MHz higher game clock :
Boost Clock : up to 1845 MHz
Game Clock : 1737 MHz (Reference card is 1717 MHz)
Base Clock : 1685 MHz (Reference card is 1607 MHz)
GDDR6 Memory Clock : 1750 MHz (14 Gbps)
Display Ports : 1 x DisplayPort 1.4, 1 x HDMI 2.0b, 1 x SL DVI-D
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AMD launched their Polaris GPU architecture to great fanfare with the introduction of the Radeon RX 480. It offered an affordable 1440p gaming alternative to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070. The AMD Radeon RX 470 was released later, offering 1080p gaming performance at even lower cost and power consumption.
Today, we are going to take a look at the XFX Radeon RX 470 RS Black Edition(RX-470P4LDB6) graphics card. This is no ordinary Radeon RX 470 graphics card. It is factory-overclocked and boasts a really unique cooler. Check it out!
The XFX Radeon RX 470 RS Black Edition Specification Comparison
Here is our unboxing video of the XFX Radeon RX 470 RS Black Edition graphics card. This is exactly what you can expect if you purchase one.
The XFX Radeon RX 470 RS Black Edition graphics card comes in an overly large cardboard box. Inside, you will only find the XFX Radeon RX 470 RS Black Edition graphics card, a combined installation guide and warranty card leaflet, a driver CD and a 4-pin to 6-pin power adaptor.
The XFX Radeon RX 470 RS Black Edition Overview
In this video, we are going to take a quick look at the XFX Radeon RX 470 RS Black Edition graphics card, and its unique Ghost 4.0 cooler.
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The XFX Radeon RX 470 RS Black Edition Up Close
The XFX Radeon RX 470 RS Black Edition is a large card – the same size as the AMD Radeon RX 480. The shroud of the XFX Ghost 4.0 cooler extends a little over the card itself, to accommodate the two large 85mm fans. The back is protected and stiffened by a solid aluminium backplate, which also serves as a secondary heatsink.
The XFX logo is etched into the backplate, with a white XFX logo on the top of the shroud. However, case modders should note that it does not have any LED lighting – the XFX logo will not light up when the card is powered up. The third XFX logo can be found as part of the exhaust vent, next to the DVI port.
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The XFX Ghost 4.0 Cooler
The XFX Ghost 4.0 cooler is, arguably, the highlight of this model. It features a unibody heatsink, with composite heatpipes. The unibody design improves its ability to cool the VRM and GDDR5 memory modules by 40%, while reducing fan noise by 5%.
The composite heatpipe design, on the other hand, combines the liquid and capillary action heatpipe in a single pipe. This increases the total heatpipe surface area by 30%, which greatly improves its ability to quickly transfer heat.
The other cool thing about the XFX Ghost 4.0 cooler are its two 85 mm fans, pun intended. With a power output of 4.2 W, two of these FirstD FDC10H12S9-C fans can push a considerable amount of air through the heatsink. But what’s really cool are its patented hard-swap design, and its load-sensing technology.
The hard swap design allows for easy detachment and installation of the two fans. They are locked in place by just two clips. You can swap them out for more powerful fans, or even fans with LED lights. It also allows you to easily remove them to clean the blades or even the heatsink fins underneath. Very useful!
The other cool feature is the fans’ auto load-sensing capability. They will automatically adjust their speed according to the workload. During light loads (watching videos, using office applications), the XFX Radeon RX 470 RS Black Edition runs cool enough that both fans do not spin at all, giving you absolute silence. But when you start gaming, the fans start up and increase their speed to meet the demand automatically.
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Benchmarking Notes
Our graphics benchmarking test bed has the following specifications :
We used the GeForce driver version 372.54 for all three NVIDIA graphics cards, and the Radeon Software 16.8.2 driver for the three AMD graphics cards used in our tests.
The XFX Radeon RX 470 RS Black Edition Cooling Performance
The AMD Radeon RX 470 uses the AMD Polaris 10 GPU, which is fabricated on the 14 nm FinFET process. The smaller process technology allows AMD to run the Radeon RX 470 GPU at 1.2 GHz with a TDP of just 120 W. This allows for a much cooler card, and hopefully, better overclocking potential.
With its Ghost 4.0 cooler, the XFX Radeon RX 470 RS Black Edition should deliver significantly better cooling performance than the stock Radeon RX 470 card. While we don’t have one at hand, we do have a number of other AMD and NVIDIA cards. Take a look at their peak exhaust temperature (as measured at their exhaust vents).
Note that these are not the recorded temperatures, but how much hotter the exhaust air is above ambient temperature.
As you can hear, the two fans do produce a considerable amount of noise. That is the secret (and downside) to its significantly better cooling performance. Of course, this is an open testbed, so the noise will be muted in an enclosed chassis.
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3DMark DirectX 12 Benchmark (2560 x 1440)
3DMark Time Spy is a new DirectX 12 benchmark that supports new API features like asynchronous compute, explicit multi-adapter, and multi-threading.
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Ashes of the Singularity (1920 x 1080)
We tested Ashes of the Singularity in the DirectX 12 mode, which supports the new Asynchronous Compute feature. We started with the full HD resolution.
This chart shows you the minimum and maximum frame rates, as well as the average frame rate, recorded by Total War : Warhammer‘s internal DirectX 12 benchmark.
This chart shows you the minimum and maximum frame rates, as well as the average frame rate, recorded by Total War : Warhammer‘s internal DirectX 12 benchmark.
This chart shows you the minimum and maximum frame rates, as well as the average frame rate, recorded by Total War : Warhammer‘s internal DirectX 12 benchmark.
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The Witcher 3 (1920 x 1080)
This chart shows you the minimum and maximum frame rates, as well as the average frame rate, that FRAPS recorded in The Witcher 3.
This chart shows you the minimum and maximum frame rates, as well as the average frame rate, that FRAPS recorded in The Witcher 3.
When the resolution increased to 1440p, all cards took a massive hit in frame rate. Only the GeForce GTX 1070 and the GeForce GTX 980 Ti delivered average frame rates above 60 fps.
This chart shows you the minimum and maximum frame rates, as well as the average frame rate, that FRAPS recorded in Fallout 4.
The 4K resolution really taxed the cards. Even the GeForce GTX 1070 could not deliver an average frame rate of 60 fps.
The XFX Radeon RX 470 RS Black Edition only managed an average frame rate of 31 fps. That made it 7% slower than the Radeon RX 480 (8 GB), but 18% slower than the GeForce GTX 1060.
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Our Verdict
The AMD Radeon RX 470 was always meant for 1080p gaming, but XFX managed to take it one step further with the XFX Radeon RX 470 RS Black Edition. Thanks to the factory-overclocking of the GPU and the GDDR5 memory, it offers performance close to that of the AMD Radeon RX 480.
In our real world benchmarks, the XFX Radeon RX 470 RS Black Edition was proven to be capable of delivering good frame rates even at 2560 x 1440. 1440p gaming is now possible with the Radeon RX 470!
What you get in return is a well-made, factory-overclocked Radeon RX 470 card, with a powerful load-sensing cooler and a solid aluminium backplate. The hard-swappable fans are also a nice touch, allowing for very easy upgrades, replacement and maintenance.
Of course, you may just decide to skip these niceties and top up another US$10 for an 8GB Radeon RX 480. That will buy you a slightly faster card, with more overclocking potential.
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Local tech retailer, TECH Armory, just revealed the local pricing for the new AMD Radeon RX 480 graphics card. They brought in the 8 GB model of the Radeon RX 480 from Sapphire and XFX. Unfortunately, the 4 GB model is currently not available.
Both the Sapphire Radeon RX 480, and the XFX Radeon RX 480 are being sold at RM 1,299 (~US$ 325), inclusive of the 6% GST. This is a 36% premium over the official price of the Radeon RX 480 (8 GB) graphics card of US$ 239.
Of course, the prices in Malaysia are always significantly higher than the official prices in the United States. The Palit GeForce GTX 1080 and 1070, for example, cost RM 3,099 (~US$ 775) and RM 1,999 (~US$ 500) – a premium of 29% and 32% respectively.
So is it worth getting the Radeon RX 480 (8 GB)? Or is it better to top up and get the GeForce GTX 1070? You decide.
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