30 APRIL 2020|COMPUTER SHOPPER|ISSUE 386
IT’STAKENAfewmonthsforAMD’s
efficiency-focusedNavi architecturetotake
forminabudget GPU, and the excellenceof
lastyear’sRX5700 andRX5700 XT (Shopper
380) made the waitfeelevenlonger.It’sfinalllly
here,however,withtheRX 550 0:a1 08 0p
gamingcardwithboth4GBand,enticingly,
8GB VRAM options.
It’s thelatterwe’retesting here,using
PowerColor’sRedDragon version(reference
designsaren’tavailable,soit’s partner cards
only). The combinationofplentyofmemory
and theultra-fine 7nmmanufacturing
processofNavi/RDNA isan excitingone,
even if thisparticularcard is stretching the
low-costaspectabit: £200isn’tfaroffGTX
1660 Superterritory.
WATTSTHE DEAL
It looksandfeelsworthy,however.
PowerColor modelsareusually thecheapest
ofthe cheap,but thisisavery decently
constructed card:dual open-airfans span the
entire widthofthe casing, and the modestly
decorated metal backplatebothhelps with
looks (shouldyourPChaveaside window)
and makes it easiertowipecleanofdust than
an exposed PCBwould.
An 8-pin power connector has about the
most pins youcould expectforalower-end
GPU,butthenthat’s still easilydoable with
anyPSU, andthe RX 5500XT’s actual in-use
efficiencyis very good. Under load,weonly
recorded itusingupto115W,well shortofits
quoted 130W TDP. It also runs coolly, only
VERDICT
Thisisastrong1080pperformerthatdoesnnn’t
guzzlepower,butit’spricedalittletoocloseee
tothemid-range
GAMINGGRAPHICSCARD
TheRX5 70 0silings
excelledbecause they
matched Navi’s power-savingqualities
withhighcoreperformance.Forthe most
pppaaarrrttt,,,ttthhheeeRRRXXX 555555000000 XXXTTTlllooooookkkssstttooofffooollllllooowwwsssuuuiiittt...IIIttt’sss
definitelyagoodcardforplayingat 1080 p,
withDirt Showdownaveraging 109fps at this
resolution on the highest settings. Likewise,
Metro:LastLightRedux–the baneof
lower-end GPUs–stayedsmooth at48fps,
andTomb Raidercruisedto104fps.
Iteven producedfineshowingsat
2, 56 0x1,440, at leastinDirtandTombRaider:
89fps and 74fps respectively.Metro only
averaged 29fps,sotheRX5500 XTdoesn’t
alwayspunch above its weight when using
maximum graphics settings, although turning
offSSAA producedafar slicker 53fps.
VRperformance,an areawhereAMD has
typicallylaggedbehindIntel,isalso on the up.
The RX 5500 XTscored 8.9outof 11 in the
SteamVRPerformanceTest, enoughtoplay
mostgames onamixofhigh and very high
settings; comparethattoAMD’sbudget
output fromacoupleofyears ago,whenthe
RX 560(Shopper 35 7)wasonlyscoring 0.9.
BOOSTLOOSE
Thatsaid,theRX 560wasalsoalotcheaper
thaaannn£20 00 0 wheeen itttwasnew,andthatbrings
ththe RX 5500 XT.
performer in itself,the
ycapable competitionat
akesitabudget GPU that
lue.
givenaGTX 1660 Super
0 0XThasplentyofrivals
e Radeon RX 590 (Shopper
cised onlaunchforits
ropped aslowas£ 16 5,
u get 8GBofVRAM, as
igher 10 80p performance
n what this newerNavi
dprovides.Perhaps not
much–itproduced 11 5fps
irt, 54fpsinMetro and
psinTomb Raider–but
t’s still threeforthree at
wer price.
EventheoldRadeonRX5 0
Shopper 357 )bitesattheRX 5500
XT’sheels,with 11 8fpsinDirt,
45fpsinMetroand92fpsinTomb
RRRaaaiiidddeeerrr...TTThhhiiisssooonnnlllyyycccooossstttsss£££ 111333000 ,,,sssuuurrreeelllyyyaaabbbiiiggg
enoughsavingtotemptawaypotentialbuyers.
AMDhas,toitscredit,comeupwithaneat
tricktoshake some extra frames outofthe
RX 5500XT.Theoverhauled Radeon Software
Adrenalin2020 utilitynow includes Radeon
Boost, which dynamicallylowersin-game
resolutionwhen you use the mousetomove
your view around. The ideais that you won’t
notice the drops insharpnessduringrapid
cameramovements,butwill benefit from the
performanceincreasethesedropsproduce.
Radeon Boostisn’tsupportedin anyofour
usual benchmarkgames, sowe trieditin
ShadowoftheTombRaider,and whileit’strue
that the resolution scalingiseffectively
imperceptible,italsoadded onlyatiny handful
ofextraframes.Perhaps it would be more
effectiveinahecticshooter than inthismore
stealthytitle,which doesn’trely asmuch on
twitchreflexes andrapidmousemovements.
CARDS ONTHETABLE
Besides,Radeon Boostisavailabletoall
Radeon400-seriesGPUs andlater,soit’snot
exclusivetotheRX5500 XT.Thefact that this
GPU is inarguablyastrong 1080 pcontender
–whiletaking intoaccount itspowerefficiency,
high VRAM and goodtemperature control
–meansitscrapesafourth star,but there are
better-value graphics cardstochoose from.
JamesArcher
POWERCOLOR Red Dragon
Radeon RX 5500 XT
★★★★★
£200•From http://www.scan.co.uk
SPECIFICATIONS
Dirt Showdown
Metro Last Light
Tomb Raider
0% -50 Reference + 50 + 100
See page 84 forperformancedetails
GPUAMDRadeonRX 5500 XT•MEMORY8GBGDDR6•
GRAPHICSCARDLENGTH 22 7mm•WARRANTYTwoyears
RTB•DETAILSwww.powercolor.com•PART CODEAXRX
5500 XT8GBD6DHR/OC
10 4fps
48 fps
109 fps
