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AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT
Date issued:
Following on from the launch of Radeon RX 5700 XT and RX 5700 back in July, AMD is today extending the reach of its 7nm Navi GPUs with a mainstream offering dubbed the Radeon RX 5500 XT.
Priced from $169, the new baby Navi graphics card is the third consumer solution built around the firm's latest RDNA architecture and is designed to offer high-quality 1080p gaming while supporting a wide range of modern features made available via the new Radeon Software Adrenalin 2020 Edition driver.
| Radeon RX 5700 XT | Radeon RX 5700 | Radeon RX 5500 XT | Radeon RX Vega 64 | Radeon RX Vega 56 | Radeon RX 580 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Launch date | Jul 2019 | Jul 2019 | Dec 2019 | Aug 2017 | Aug 2017 | Apr 2017 |
| Codename | Navi 10 | Navi 10 | Navi 14 | Vega 10 | Vega 10 | Polaris 20 |
| Architecture | RDNA | RDNA | RDNA | GCN | GCN | GCN |
| Process (nm) | 7 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 14 | 14 |
| Transistors (bn) | 10.3 | 10.3 | 6.4 | 12.5 | 12.5 | 5.7 |
| Approx Die Size (mm²) | 251 | 251 | 158 | 486 | 486 | 232 |
| Shaders | 2,560 | 2,304 | 1,408 | 4,096 | 3,584 | 2,304 |
| Texture Units | 160 | 144 | 88 | 256 | 224 | 144 |
| ROP Units | 64 | 64 | 32 | 64 | 64 | 32 |
| Boost Clock (MHz) | 1,905 | 1,725 | 1,845 | 1,546 | 1,471 | 1,340 |
| Game Clock (MHz) | 1,755 | 1,625 | 1,717 | - | - | - |
| Peak SP TFLOPS | 9.75 | 7.95 | 5.20 | 12.66 | 10.54 | 6.17 |
| Memory Type | GDDR6 | GDDR6 | GDDR6 | HBM2 | HBM2 | GDDR5 |
| Memory Size (GB) | 8 | 8 | 4 / 8 | 8 | 8 | 4 / 8 |
| Memory Clock (MHz) | 14,000 | 14,000 | 14,000 | 945 | 800 | 8,000 |
| Memory Bus (bits) | 256 | 256 | 128 | 2,048 | 2,048 | 256 |
| Max Bandwidth (GB/s) | 448 | 448 | 224 | 484 | 410 | 256 |
| PCIe Support | Gen 4 | Gen 4 | Gen 4 | Gen 3 | Gen 3 | Gen 3 |
| Power Connectors | 6+8 | 6+8 | 8 | 8+8 | 8+8 | 6 |
| TDP (watts) | 225 | 180 | 130 | 295 | 210 | 185 |
| Launch MSRP | $399 | $349 | $169 / $199 | $499 | $399 | $199 / $229 |
Employing a purpose-built 158mm² die, RX 5500 XT is home to a trim 1,408 shaders, 88 texture units and 32 ROPs, while a 128-bit bus paves the way to either a 4GB or 8GB GDDR6 frame buffer. Such cuts are expected in order to meet the lower price points, yet a combination of architectural enhancements and a 1,845MHz boost clock facilitated by the 7nm process bode well for performance. RX 5500 XT is geared to outperform a previous-generation Radeon RX 580 at a lower price point, and while using considerably less power.
Plenty of promise and AMD's latest software builds on those foundations with cutting-edge features such as Radeon Anti-Lag, which dynamically adjusts the pacing of CPU work to better align with GPU output, and Radeon Boost, which can increase performance by as much as 23 per cent by dynamically reducing rendering resolution during fast-moving scenes. For retro gamers, Integer Display Scaling is also now available to help maintain that pixel-art styling synonymous with classic games.
Ensuring a wide selection of custom coolers from the get-go, partner cards from ASRock, Asus, Gigabyte, MSI, PowerColor, Sapphire (pictured) and XFX are all being made available at launch, and with a choice of 4GB or 8GB configurations, there's an element of future proofing for those gamers looking ahead to upcoming titles.
1080p Gaming Credentials
Whereas Radeon RX 5700 and RX 5700 XT were framed with 1440p gaming in mind, the more affordable Radeon RX 5500 XT is very much a 1080p solution. Benchmarks from leading review sites show that AMD's latest can creep ahead of the rival GeForce GTX 1650 Super in certain titles.
Games that are taxing on memory also stand to benefit from a larger frame buffer. In Far Cry: New Dawn, an 8GB Radeon RX 5500 XT is found to be almost 15 per cent quicker than a standard 4GB model. Performance compared to the ageing Radeon RX 580 is also improved by over 10 per cent; an impressive feat given that card TDP has dropped from 185W to just 130W.
Summary
Continuing the good work of Radeon RX 5700 and RX 5700 XT, AMD's mainstream Radeon RX 5500 XT offers much-needed competition in the mainstream segment and serves as a sensible choice for gamers seeking 1080p gaming credentials on a modern, efficient architecture.
A wide range of Radeon RX 5500 XT graphics cards are available to purchase right here at Scan Computers.