GRAPHICSCARDS
72 JANUARY2020|COMPUTER SHOPPER|ISSUE383
THERX570is easilythe odd oneout o
these GPUs. Althoughithasn’tbeen dir
replaced,makingitcurrent-gen in acert
sense, it’s not based on the same Navi
architectureasAMD’sRadeonRX5700
RX 5700XT, andit’snot even from last
In fact, it launched allthe wayback in A
2017,and it’s based on the old Polaris
architecturethatoriginated withthe
long-gone RX 480 (Shopper345).
Youcan stillbuy it, however,and pric
drops over time means that thiserstwhile
mid-range GPUhas been enjoying anew
leaseoflifeasapowerful budget card. As
such,it’s worth considering alongside –and
even above –much more recent entry-level
GPUs such as theGeForce GTX1650.
SEASONEDVETERAN
This isn’t toosurprisingwhen youremember
that the RX 570was closer in specs to the
mid-range RX 580 than it ever was to AMD’s
more overtly ‘budget’GPUs. It combines 4GB
of GDDR5 VRAM with 2,048 stream
processors(AMD’s term forcores), and on
the AsusROG Strix RX 570 OC partner card
we have here,there have been some relatively
bold overclockstoboot.
The reference design (whichyou can’t
actuallybuy,due to the lack of an AMD-built,
stockRX570 card) runs itscoresatabase
speed of 1,168MHz,boosting to 1,244MHz
when temperatures allow.Thisparticularcard
will instead aimtorun at apermanent
1,300MHzinits Silent and Gaming modes,
pushingeven furtherto1,310MHz in OC mode.
It seems to defaulttoGaming mode,
though you can easily switch to Silent mode
(which reduces fanspeeds)orOCmode by
installing Asus’ GPU Tweak II software. Since
OC modeproduces the bestperformance
whilealso keeping fannoooissseeeuuundddeeercccooontttroool,,,weee
used it to conductour testing.
Besidesittotally smmmashing the
RX 470 it replaced, we’’’ve always
appreciated how the RX 570
couldmatch or even beeeat the
4GB versionofthe RX 580
in tests.Most cruciallyyy,in
2019,itcan reliably
outperform themore
expensive GTX 1650 as
well.Its focusonslick
1080pgamingwas
evident in Dirt Showdo
running at 1080p,wher
it produced 118fps,and
goingupto2,560x1,44
only caused it to drop
AMD RadeonRX570
★★★★★
£130•From http://www.awd-
VERDICT
Don’t be fooled by its age: the heavily d
RX 570 will outpace any ‘true’budget G
respective 101fps and 76fps, it’s no contest.
TheRX570 is hard to faultinTomb Raider
as well.Itaveraged92fps at 1080p and 63fps
at 1440p,againbeating theGTX 1650 on both
counts. Maintaining high frame rates in
Metro: Last Light Redux proved to be a
much bigger ask, but the RX 570’s 45fps at
1080p is still perfectly finetoplaywithout the
needtomake any cuts to graphical quality.
The GTX 1650 averaged 31fps here,which is
also technically playable, although 45fps
looks alot smoother in motion.
However,1440p is toomuch forboth
cards:the RX 570 still comesout ahead butits
25fps result needs improvement. Luckily, that
can be easilyattained by disabling SSAA:this
doubles the frame rateto50fps, which also
happens to be significantlyhigher than the
GTX 1650’s 34fps underthe sameconditions.
TWEAKWILLED
This isn’tthe bestcardfor virtual-reality
hardware(notleast because it onlyhas one
HDMI port in addition to itssingleDisplayPort
andtwo DVI-D outputs), but it’s quitecapable
of playingmost VR games at medium quality
or higher.That’s according to the SteamVR
PerformanceTest,inwhich the RX 570scored
6.6out of 11.While that doesn’t sound great,
it’s stillrated as ‘High’bythe Valve-designed
bbbeeenccchmaaark,,,wheeereeeaaassstttheeeGGGTX 16 66555000 ’sssssscccoooreeeooof
5.4isclassed as ‘Medium’.
our gaming benchmarks in the default Gaming
mode,and the results wereatmostameagre
one or twoframes lower than in OC mode, so
GPU Tweak II is just an option rather than
must-have software.Thatsaid, it has other
uses, too–it canenable a0Db fanmode, for
instance,whichwill disable both fans when
theGPU’s loadislight enough that it can get
by with passive cooling. This obviously allows
forsilent running, althougheven in OC mode,
this is apleasinglyquiet graphics card.
Nonetheless, temperaturesare kept under
control. When idling, it hovers around 36°C,
rising to 72°C under heavy load and onlyever
peaking at 74°C.Thisand power consumption
arethe two areas where Nvidia’sbudgetGPU
wins out: it’s bothmuchcooler underload,
anduses atinyamountofelectricity, never
exceedingits 75W TDP. The RX 570’s
performanceadvantageisworth it,but it
runs hotterand can slurp up to 155W,more
than twice as much juice.
Looks-wise, theangular plasticofthe ROG
Strix RX 570 OC keeps it in line withall other
ROGStrixcards,including more recent ones,
so don’tworry about gettingold-fashioned
design with thisolder GPU. There’s even a
touch of addressable RGBlightingonthe side,
andthis can be synced with Asus’s AURA
system to matchthe LED colours and effects
ooofoootttheeerAsssuuussshaaardddwaaareeein yyyooouuurPC.
WILD CARD
Ultimately,the worstthing youuucouldsay
aboutthe RX 570isthat it doeeesn’t standup
to currentmid-range performmmance. The
GTX 1660Ti, forinstance,peeerforms much
better,asdoes theRadeon RRRX5700.
Regardless, itspricing
puts it inbudget
territorrry, whereit’s
comforrrtably the
fastest aaaround. Pick
one up if you’re trying
to stay bbbelow £150; it’s
aconvinnncing reminder
that newwwer doesn’t
always mmmeanbetter.
