PC World - USA (2019-08)

(Antfer) #1
78 PCWorld AUGUST 2019

REVIEWS AMD RADEON RX 5700 AND 5700 XT


mxwl) all the way back in 2014, GeForce
cards have absolutely pummeled their
Radeon rivals. With AMD’s new RDNA
graphics architecture and the leap to the 7nm
process, the domination is over.
The days of laughing at Radeon power
efficiency (or lack thereof) are over. This is
very encouraging for AMD’s future GPU
development...though it remains to be seen
what Nvidia’s architects are capable of when
Team Green shifts to 7nm at some point in
the future.

BOTTOM LINE
A week ago, the answer would have been a
clear yes. The Radeon RX 5700 and RX 5700
XT deliver more than enough oomph to
topple the original GeForce RTX 2060 and


  1. A few days ago, the answer would have
    been more nuanced, since the Radeon
    tandem but can’t quite match the firepower
    of the new RTX Super graphics cards (see
    page 43). But in the wake of AMD’s pre-
    launch price cuts, clarity returns.
    Yes. Yes, you should buy these
    graphics cards.
    The Radeon RX 5700 and 5700 XT are
    excellent, delivering noticeably better
    performance than the GeForce RTX 2060 and
    RTX 2060 Super they’re price-matched with.
    The Radeon RX 5700 XT even manages to
    trade blows with the GeForce RTX 2070
    Super in some games despite costing $100
    less. AMD just served up a delectable 1440p
    gaming duo.
    These Navi GPUs would also excel at high
    refresh rate 1080p gaming, and with
    the Radeon RX 5700 XT you can
    dabble with 4K gaming in some
    games if you don’t mind dialing some
    visual settings back from Ultra. If
    you’re into content creation too, poke
    around for reviews that reveal how
    much of a difference the Radeon RX
    5700’s PCIe 4.0 connection makes in
    your workloads of choice.
    The Radeon RX 5700 and RX 5700
    XT are the first mainstream 7nm GPUs;
    the first PCIe 4.0 GPUs; and the first
    GPUs with DisplayPort Display Stream
    Compression for next-gen monitors.
    And as the first 7nm GPUs built using


Whole System Power Draw
(Watts)

SHORTER BARS INDICATE BETTER PERFORMANCE

56.1

54.3

55.2
59.6
55.7
56.5
56
55.2

259

284

300
416
315
318
344
399
Load Idle 4K

Radeon RX 5700

Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 (FE)

Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 Super (FE)
AM 64 D Radeon Vega
Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 (FE)
Radeon R X 5700 XT
Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Super (FE)
AMD Radeon VII
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