Custom PC - UK (2020-04)

AMD RADEON

RX 5700 /£299 inc VAT

SUPPLIER overclockers.co.uk

T

he Radeon RX 5700 uses the same

configuration of the Navi 10 GPU as

the 5600 XT, with its four disabled

compute units. However, it ups the clock

speeds and uses a much wider 256-bit

memory interface for a whopping 448GB/

sec memory bandwidth. The result is an

impressively powerful card.

One of only two cards in this group

test to sport a blower-style cooler, the

reference RX 5700 is a very smart-looking

card. The smooth, clean lines of its cooler

shroud and illuminated Radeon logo is a

vast improvement over any of the other

cards we’ve seen in this group test – other

than the near identical RX 5700 XT. You do

miss out on a backplate, so it looks far less

appealing from that angle, which seems like

a missed opportunity.

The blower does a decent job of keeping

heat and noise in check, but the fan is noisier

than coaxial fan-based cooler designs.

The cooler also appears to contribute

to the overall length of the design, with

much shorter, multi-fan cooler designs

available. As such, despite its good looks, we

recommend a card with a third-party cooler.

Another crucial physical feature to note

is the requirement for both a 6-pin and an

8-pin PCI-E power cable. Most cards that

are cheaper and slower than this one require

only a single cable.

When it comes to internal features, the big

omission here is again the lack of ray-tracing

support. We can’t speak for how important

you may feel this feature is, but even if it’s just

for playing around with older or more simple

games, such as Minecraft and Quake, there’s

fun to be had with the new feature. The fact

that AMD cards simply don’t support it at all

puts them at a disadvantage.

Instead, the RX 5700 makes its bid for your

wallet based on pure gaming performance.

We’ve already seen how AMD’s new RDNA

architecture and 7nm manufacturing process

has vastly improved the performance and

power consumption of AMD’s latest graphics

cards, and the RX 5700 continues that trend.

The RX 5700 trades blows with the RTX

2060 Super across our testing, more often

than not coming out on top, even if the

margin is small. However, with the RX 5700 VERDICT

The pure performance champ at its price

point, but it lacks ray tracing.

PERFORMANCE

45 / 50

RAY TRACING

0 / 10

OVERALL SCORE

81 %%

EFFICIENCY

8 / 10

VALUE

28 / 30

T-REX

+^ Good for 1080p and^

1440p gaming

+^ Best bang for^

buck at its price

+^ Surprisingly

power-frugal

VELOCIRAPTOR

-^ Noisy stock blower fan
-^ Lacks ray tracing

costing £50 less than the RTX 2060 Super,

there’s a clear ray-tracing premium involved

here. If you’re not that fussed about it, the RX

5700 is clearly the better buy.

Not even power consumption holds back

the appeal of the RX 5700, with this card

actually using less power than the RTX

2060 Super when under load. Considering

how much AMD has struggled with this

side of things in recent years, it’s quite

astonishing to be able to say that.

Conclusion

There’s no two ways about it, the RX 5700

is the best pure bang for buck graphics card

at around the £300 price point right now,

and by some margin too. It’s as fast as the

RTX 2060 Super while using a fraction less

power and costing £50 less. However, you

miss out on ray tracing, so it really comes

down to how much you value you place on

having that feature.

SPEC

Graphics processor AMD Radeon RX

5700, 1465MHz base clock, 1625MHz

game clock, 1725MHz max boost clock

Pipeline 36 compute units, 2,304

stream processors, 64 ROPs

Interface PCI-E 4

RT Cores 0

Tensor Cores 0

Memory 8GB GDDR6, 14GHz effective

Memory interface 256-bit

Bandwidth 448GB/sec

Outputs/inputs 3 x DisplayPort 1.4, 1 x HDMI 2b

Power connections 1 x 8-pin, 1 x 6-pin

AMD RADEON

RX 5700 /£299 inc VAT

SUPPLIER overclockers.co.uk

T

he Radeon RX 5700 uses the same
configuration of the Navi 10 GPU as
the 5600 XT, with its four disabled
compute units. However, it ups the clock
speeds and uses a much wider 256-bit
memory interface for a whopping 448GB/
sec memory bandwidth. The result is an
impressively powerful card.
One of only two cards in this group
test to sport a blower-style cooler, the
reference RX 5700 is a very smart-looking
card. The smooth, clean lines of its cooler
shroud and illuminated Radeon logo is a
vast improvement over any of the other
cards we’ve seen in this group test – other
than the near identical RX 5700 XT. You do
miss out on a backplate, so it looks far less
appealing from that angle, which seems like
a missed opportunity.
The blower does a decent job of keeping
heat and noise in check, but the fan is noisier
than coaxial fan-based cooler designs.
The cooler also appears to contribute
to the overall length of the design, with
much shorter, multi-fan cooler designs
available. As such, despite its good looks, we
recommend a card with a third-party cooler.

Another crucial physicalfeaturetonote

is the requirement for botha 6-pinandan

8-pin PCI-E power cable.Mostcardsthat

are cheaper and slowerthanthisonerequire

only a single cable.

When it comes to internalfeatures,thebig

omission here is again thelackofray-tracing

support. We can’t speak forhowimportant

you may feel this featureis,butevenif it’sjust

for playing around with olderormoresimple

games, such as MinecraftandQuake,there’s

fun to be had with the newfeature.Thefact

that AMD cards simply don’tsupportit atall

puts them at a disadvantage.

Instead, the RX 5700 makesitsbidforyour

wallet based on pure gamingperformance.

We’ve already seen howAMD’snewRDNA

architecture and 7nm manufacturingprocess

has vastly improved the performanceand

power consumption of AMD’slatestgraphics

cards, and the RX 5700 continuesthattrend.

The RX 5700 trades blowswiththeRTX

2060 Super across ourtesting,moreoften

than not coming out ontop,evenif the

margin is small. However,withtheRX 5700 VERDICT

Thepureperformancechampatitsprice

point,butit lacksraytracing.

PERFORMANCE

45 / 50

RAYTRACING

0 / 10

OVERALLSCORE

81 %%

EFFICIENCY

8 / 10

VALUE

28 / 30

T-REX

+Goodfor1080pand

1440pgaming

+Bestbangfor

buckatitsprice

+Surprisingly

power-frugal

VELOCIRAPTOR

• Noisystockblowerfan


• Lacks ray tracing

costing £50 less than the RTX 2060 Super,

there’s a clear ray-tracing premium involved

here. If you’re not that fussed about it, the RX

5700 is clearly the better buy.

Not even power consumption holds back

the appeal of the RX 5700, with this card

actually using less power than the RTX

2060 Super when under load. Considering

how much AMD has struggled with this

side of things in recent years, it’s quite

astonishing to be able to say that.

Conclusion

There’s no two ways about it, the RX 5700

is the best pure bang for buck graphics card

at around the £300 price point right now,

and by some margin too. It’s as fast as the

RTX 2060 Super while using a fraction less

power and costing £50 less. However, you

miss out on ray tracing, so it really comes

down to how much you value you place on

having that feature.

SPEC

Graphics processor AMD Radeon RX

5700, 1465MHz base clock, 1625MHz

game clock, 1725MHz max boost clock

Pipeline 36 compute units, 2,304

stream processors, 64 ROPs

Interface PCI-E 4

RT Cores 0

Tensor Cores 0

Memory 8GB GDDR6, 14GHz effective

Memory interface 256-bit

Bandwidth 448GB/sec

Outputs/inputs 3 x DisplayPort 1.4, 1 x HDMI 2b

Power connections 1 x 8-pin, 1 x 6-pin