Radeon RX 5600 XT Launch Review Round Up

Derangel said:
No one is saying that vendors won't update any of their models, the statement is that not all vendors will update all models.

No one said it's hard to get a BIOS or that's it's hard to update, stop spouting statements that exist only in your head.
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This. He said "may not" not "will not" which isn't the same thing. It's just something to consider, and not completely unfounded.

Here's PowerColors 12Gbps 5600XT... https://www.newegg.com/powercolor-radeon-rx-5600-xt-axrx-5600xt-6gbd6-3dh-oc/p/N82E16814131761

Now here's PowerColors page for the bios upgrades...
AMDbios.jpg

But this shouldn't be something to consider? :rolleyes:
 
IcePickFreak said:
This. He said "may not" not "will not" which isn't the same thing. It's just something to consider, and not completely unfounded.

Here's PowerColors 12Gbps 5600XT... https://www.newegg.com/powercolor-radeon-rx-5600-xt-axrx-5600xt-6gbd6-3dh-oc/p/N82E16814131761

Now here's PowerColors page for the bios upgrades...
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But this shouldn't be something to consider? :rolleyes:
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No, he actually said they would have two versions of the SAME CARD! :rolleyes: You know, I actually watched the video I linked and then commented, you?
 
ChadD said:
I have a brain. Look around at all the LISTED for sale cards right now. They all have manufacturer product pages with the new bios downloads. The only acceptation as I stated is Asus.

So some of these reviewers are suggesting that the same manufacturers that have announced 2 and 3 different cards each (which all have downloadable bios and flash utilities up today) are going to in the future release new cards that wont... or launch a brand new model down the road with a old pre launch vbios. Its sort of a stupid thing to even suggest.

Its like that time I bought a 5770 that came with a year old pre 5770 release bios. I'm joking that never happened. Perhaps someone has bought a video card that had the wrong bios loaded, and well hell who knows perhaps that has even happened at some point. But it seems extremely unlikely in this case. If AMD had done this on a low low end model like a 5400 or something I could see this being an issue. But $300+ for a video card is still enough money that there aren't going to be a ton of no brand white box junker versions of the 5600 floating around.
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You think it's stupid to suggest that not every card an AIB releases will have the exact same specs? You do know that not every card is capable of the same cooling performance, right? A lot of 5600's seem overbuilt right now, which is good. However, to suggest that AIBs don't cheap out on cooling and power delivery is a "stupid thing to even suggest". Unless you've forgotten about cards like the MSI 5700 XT Evoke, the ASUS 5700 XT TUF, or the MSI 1080 ti Armor.
 
IcePickFreak said:
But this shouldn't be something to consider? :rolleyes:
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Where is the issue ?

Everyone's card on newegg is listed as 12gb right now... cause its what they ship with. Advertising them as anything other then what they are out of the box would be illegal.

The MFG has an official download on their official site. That covers both models they are selling.

Steve suggesting any of these manufacturers are going to release a 12gb only ever ever model at any point in the future makes him sound silly. Perhaps he was just talking off the cuff and didn't really think his choice of words through all that well.

But sure if you find yourself at your local microcenter or other part shop... and you see a screaming deal on a 5600. Grab your phone and do a quick MFG website check to ensure you can grab a new bios easy peasy. However I would say the same about ANY GPU or Motherboard your not familiar with. Make sure it actually has support.
 
Derangel said:
You think it's stupid to suggest that not every card an AIB releases will have the exact same specs? You do know that not every card is capable of the same cooling performance, right? A lot of 5600's seem overbuilt right now, which is good. However, to suggest that AIBs don't cheap out on cooling and power delivery is a "stupid thing to even suggest". Unless you've forgotten about cards like the MSI 5700 XT Evoke, the ASUS 5700 XT TUF, or the MSI 1080 ti Armor.
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My point was more that this vbios really doesn't bump the power much. From testing done by the people that have tested both vbios options. The stock speed bioses have seen ZERO difference in actual power draw, and nearly identical thermals. The factory OC cards have a very small bump in both power and thermals. The power draw goes from 162 watts to 164 watts. That is hardly going to cause any additional stress on anyones cards. What I was saying was if the card is going to fail with the new bios cause it can't handle the heat... it was going to fail with the old bios. This is not a bios that bumps the power draw 20% or something.

It also looks like this is the new mid range efficiency king. Doesn't look like thermals are going to be an issue. These are not Vega cards.
 
ManofGod said:
No, he actually said they would have two versions of the SAME CARD! :rolleyes: You know, I actually watched the video I linked and then commented, you?
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ChadD said:
Where is the issue ?

Everyone's card on newegg is listed as 12gb right now... cause its what they ship with. Advertising them as anything other then what they are out of the box would be illegal.

The MFG has an official download on their official site. That covers both models they are selling.

Steve suggesting any of these manufacturers are going to release a 12gb only ever ever model at any point in the future makes him sound silly. Perhaps he was just talking off the cuff and didn't really think his choice of words through all that well.

But sure if you find yourself at your local microcenter or other part shop... and you see a screaming deal on a 5600. Grab your phone and do a quick MFG website check to ensure you can grab a new bios easy peasy. However I would say the same about ANY GPU or Motherboard your not familiar with. Make sure it actually has support.
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Well that card is not a Red Devil or Red Dragon and not covered by the SKUs they listed, thus no bios update currently.
 
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IcePickFreak said:
Well that card is not a Red Devil or Red Dragon and not covered by the SKUs they listed, thus no bios update currently.
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Yes, currently, you are correct. As as a slight correction, he said that there will be two cards with the same name but different bios levels, which I very much doubt.
 
ChadD said:
My point was more that this vbios really doesn't bump the power much. From testing done by the people that have tested both vbios options. The stock speed bioses have seen ZERO difference in actual power draw, and nearly identical thermals. The factory OC cards have a very small bump in both power and thermals. The power draw goes from 162 watts to 164 watts. That is hardly going to cause any additional stress on anyones cards. What I was saying was if the card is going to fail with the new bios cause it can't handle the heat... it was going to fail with the old bios. This is not a bios that bumps the power draw 20% or something.

It also looks like this is the new mid range efficiency king. Doesn't look like thermals are going to be an issue. These are not Vega cards.
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That is a good point. I doubt there will be more than a handful (at least outside of China) that don't have the increased power and clocks. At the very least, this is likely only something to consider for a couple months. Once launch shipments have made it through the retail channel everything on shelves/digital stock should come pre-updated and have fully updated listings to reflect it.

Beyond the weird launch, it does seem like a pretty good card, at least when close to MSRP. If I were in the market for a $300-ish card I'd definitely be looking at the 5600 XT right now, even with the driver issues.
 
ManofGod said:
Yes, currently, you are correct. As as a slight correction, he said that there will be two cards with the same name but different bios levels, which I very much doubt.
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Yeah my mistake as well, I thought that anand quote posted above was from him. Too loud in here to hear a video right now. I agree that doesn't make sense.
 
Derangel said:
That is a good point. I doubt there will be more than a handful (at least outside of China) that don't have the increased power and clocks. At the very least, this is likely only something to consider for a couple months. Once launch shipments have made it through the retail channel everything on shelves/digital stock should come pre-updated and have fully updated listings to reflect it.

Beyond the weird launch, it does seem like a pretty good card, at least when close to MSRP. If I were in the market for a $300-ish card I'd definitely be looking at the 5600 XT right now, even with the driver issues.
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I might get sick of waiting for Big Navi... and Ampere to up performance or drop prices. 5600 is looking attractive to me if I can get one on the cheap. I almost pulled the trigger on a Vega 56 for $350 Canadian not that long ago... the base 5700XT is listed at 380 Canadian. Glad I waited a bit. Think I'll hold off another month or two though and see if I can snag a deal on one 30-40 bucks cheaper or even a 5700. Probably sticking with my 2560x1080 monitor for gaming long enough that not much more makes sense anyway.
 
Snowdog said:
Depends on the reivew. Also IIRC, their card only had 12 Gbs memory speed which would use less power.

TPUP, had power practically identical to the 2060 with the new Bios:
https://www.techpowerup.com/review/sapphire-radeon-rx-5600-xt-pulse/31.html
View attachment 217497

As does the Gamers Nexus review:


Power is essentially the same between 2060 and 5600xt, and will depend on which one has higher tweaked clock speeds.
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Looks like it depends heavily upon how each brand specced the build, as techpowerup shows a fair bit of variance between them, for power usage.

https://www.techpowerup.com/review/asus-radeon-rx-5600-xt-strix-oc/31.html

https://www.techpowerup.com/review/msi-radeon-rx-5600-xt-gaming-x-gaming-z/31.html
 
The Asus & MSI models seem to be the coolest cards. But seems like they will also be priced $40-$50 more than other not so cool cards

ASUS also tries to differentiate their over-engineered (& over-priced) cards by offering 14ghz memory speed only for some models. Other models will stick to 12ghz
 
PC Gamer on AMD's bait & switch launch for the 5600 XT:

https://www.pcgamer.com/amds-last-minute-5600-xt-bios-update-feels-like-a-bait-and-switch/


Changing a price, like AMD did with the RX 5700 and 5700 XT launch, is easy. Requiring new firmware is a massive headache and usually indicates something went wrong with the launch. But of course, AMD didn't change the specs of the RX 5600 XT—it's only the good RX 5600 XT cards that were updated.


Bottom line: Make sure you know what sort of RX 5600 XT card you're buying, especially if you want the 'full' experience.
...
If you want the 'good' RX 5600 XT cards, get one with 14Gbps GDDR6.
 
PC World weighs in on the 5600 XT overclock situation:

https://www.pcworld.com/article/3516108/amd-radeon-rx-5600-xt-graphics-cards-vbios-confusion.html


Overclocked custom graphics cards aren’t anything new, but releasing software-locked shackles from GPUs to such a large degree is very unusual, especially mere days before launch.
...
Each of AMD’s board partners can choose how much they want to juice the GPU overclock, and whether to increase the Radeon RX 5600 XT’s memory speeds from 12Gbps to 14Gbps. It’s the upgraded memory that you really want, as that’s what responsible for most of the performance uplift we saw with the Sapphire Pulse. Not every custom model will receive it, however. The conclusion of TechPowerUp’s Asus 5600 XT Strix TOP review includes the following information:

“You might be wondering why this review’s name was updated from “STRIX OC” to “STRIX TOP” after posting. ASUS just informed us that the sample they had originally sent was the “STRIX OC” (1560 MHz Game, 1620 MHz Boost, 12 Gbps memory), but using the new BIOS turned the card into the “STRIX TOP” (1670 MHz Game, 1750 MHz Boost, 14 Gbps memory), which is a new SKU specifically for overclocking the memory. The “STRIX OC” regular users buy will also receive a BIOS update (1670 MHz Game, 1750 MHz Boost, 12 Gbps memory), so GPU clocks match the TOP, as only memory speed remains at 12 Gbps.”
 
Marees said:
PC World weighs in on the 5600 XT overclock situation:

https://www.pcworld.com/article/3516108/amd-radeon-rx-5600-xt-graphics-cards-vbios-confusion.html
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Summary of available card/bios info by PC World:


  • ASRock released a one-click Windows updater for its Phantom Gaming D3, Phantom Gaming D2, and Challenger D.
  • Gigabyte provides your choice of two VBIOSes to download for its Radeon RX 5600 XT Gaming OC model (GV-R56XTGAMING OC-6GD). You want the 180W “FA0” version, which boosts the board power and cranks the GPU and memory clocks, similar to the Sapphire Pulse we’ve tested. The company’s Windforce OC Radeon RX 5600 XT doesn’t offer a performance-boosting BIOS at this time.
  • MSI’s Radeon RX 5600 XT Gaming X needs to be updated using the company’s Dragon Center software (warning: that link’s a ZIP file download).
  • PowerColor offers upgraded VBIOSes for its Radeon RX 5600 XT Red Dragon and Red Devil models.
  • XFX offers a “pro-tuned BIOS” with faster GPU clock speeds for its Raw II Pro, Thicc II Pro, Thicc III Pro, and Thicc III Ultra. The page doesn’t mention a memory speed upgrade, however.
 
Tech Report's Nathan Wasson has a quick summary of the bios availability for various 5600 GT cards:

https://techreport.com/news/3468140/vbios-updates-and-drivers-available-for-radeon-rx-5600-xt/


 
Marees said:
Tech Report's Nathan Wasson has a quick summary of the bios availability for various 5600 GT cards:

https://techreport.com/news/3468140/vbios-updates-and-drivers-available-for-radeon-rx-5600-xt/


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Hexus also lists the same, except I still don't see XFX here

(Also yet to see updated review of XFX by FPS review. So still not sure if XFX allows overclocking memory to 14ghz)

https://m.hexus.net/tech/news/graph...d-partner-rx-5600-xt-bios-updates-with-links/
 
I've never heard so many complaints when a manufacturer increased performance for the end users, lol. It does feel pretty rushed, but Sapphire and Asus said most cards will be updated before user even sees it. And it's simple enough to update. It's not uncommon for different ABI cards to run at different speeds, so this is nothing new, just AMD gave them a bit more leeway (at a confusing time so close to release).
 
Marees said:
(Also yet to see updated review of XFX by FPS review. So still not sure if XFX allows overclocking memory to 14ghz)
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Our update review just published. Minutes before we dropped it yesterday, they sent us a 14gbps bios. Brent tested all day, and by night, they said the 14gbps is on hold as it needs more engineering validation, so the 12gbps article was published this morning. So, as of now, XFX is officially at 12gbps, but that may change.

Ninja edit: I'll update the OP with all your goodness later today.
 
I need a video card for a 2600 build. I want the 5600 just to throw AMD a bone but I'll admit waiting to find out who and when BIOS updates are sent out is annoying. That said, I'm mainly waiting for stock, shock price settling and post BIOS reviews on which manufacturer is handling the rollout the best.
 
Glad I am all set on what I have because I do not need a reason to spend more money. :) Flashing is easy, however, and I have been doing it here or there for a long time. In fact, two out of my 3 cards are flashed, a Vega 56 and an RX 5700.
 
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As much as AMD is killing it in the CPU space, they seem to be stumbling in the GPU space. Multiple articles raising a stink over all of this confusion. I do not remember any discussions prior to launch that there would be two different memory bandwidths for the cards. So it was first : "it is kinda meh, compared to RTX2060." Then it was: "we have a BIOS update to make it better!". Now it is: "Actually that BIOS update is only selectively being given out depending on which card you buy". "Board Partners" using this situation to now overprice cards because they have unlocked the higher memory bandwidth makes all of this stink even worse than the confusion, to me. I have no preference any way, so as an outside observer it just gives a poor overall impression.
 
ThatITGuy said:
As much as AMD is killing it in the CPU space, they seem to be stumbling in the GPU space. Multiple articles raising a stink over all of this confusion. I do not remember any discussions prior to launch that there would be two different memory bandwidths for the cards. So it was first : "it is kinda meh, compared to RTX2060." Then it was: "we have a BIOS update to make it better!". Now it is: "Actually that BIOS update is only selectively being given out depending on which card you buy". "Board Partners" using this situation to now overprice cards because they have unlocked the higher memory bandwidth makes all of this stink even worse than the confusion, to me. I have no preference any way, so as an outside observer it just gives a poor overall impression.
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So, board partners are screwing us then, which is not a complete surprise. Of course, which board partners is the question? The same ones who agreed with GPP? :D
 
That_Sound_Guy said:
I need a video card for a 2600 build. I want the 5600 just to throw AMD a bone but I'll admit waiting to find out who and when BIOS updates are sent out is annoying. That said, I'm mainly waiting for stock, shock price settling and post BIOS reviews on which manufacturer is handling the rollout the best.
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If you want the most likely hassle free experience, grab a Sapphire card. On Twitter they mentioned that their cards ship with the vBIOS already installed (at least in the US)

ManofGod said:
So, board partners are screwing us then, which is not a complete surprise. Of course, which board partners is the question? The same ones who agreed with GPP? :D
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Well considering XFX is one of the ones screwing around and they haven't made an Nvidia card in many years....... Honestly though, AIBs cheaping out the most they can, while charging over MSRP, in order to maximize profit at the expense of customers is nothing new.
 
ManofGod said:
So, board partners are screwing us then, which is not a complete surprise. Of course, which board partners is the question? The same ones who agreed with GPP? :D
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I look at it this way:

AMD exclusive partners vs Nvidia exclusive partners & everyone else caught in the crossfire

Nvidia gave rebate to EVGA who are selling RTX 2060 now for $300. Rest of board partners forced to keep up by offering mail-in rebates & temp discounts

To counter Nvidia AMD raised clock Speed but realised they need to raise memory speed also. They must have checked with Saphire who must have said we are good.

Now XFX doesn't know if their cards can support 14ghz
Powercolor is scrambling for a new cooler
Asus finds that their overclock premium has become zero

MSI are still finalizing their BIOS

The consumer wins of course.
6 months down the line, the reference 5600 XT might be available for $240, maybe.
 
ManofGod said:
So, board partners are screwing us then, which is not a complete surprise. Of course, which board partners is the question? The same ones who agreed with GPP? :D
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I likely missed some of the discussions on this card prior to launch, but it appears that this 12gbps/14gbps differentiation was not well documented or discussed prior to launch. I know vendors often have different "Grades" of a card, but looking at the reactions to this launch, the steps I mentioned above seemed to be mostly universal. Everything seems to have happened / been realized after launch instead of all of this having come out before launch, which is why i keep seeing Bait and Switch in "headlines" (i use that loosely when it comes to internet journalism) regarding this release.
 
I mean, other cards available from vendors have had different memory speeds in the past, it's not as if different clock and memory speeds for different ABI cards isn't the norm anyways, but a better heads up to their partners would have been better.
 
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Ready4Dis said:
I mean, other cards available from vendors have had different memory speeds in the last, it's not as if different clock and memory speeds for different ABI cards isn't the norm anyways, but a better heads up to their partners would have been better.
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Thing is, if you look at most current generations, memory clocks are generally static. Some deviate, but the vast majority of memory speeds are stock. While some of that was true in the past, it's most certainly not true at this time. Also rarely (if at all?) did they deviate by 17 percent.
 
Ready4Dis said:
I've never heard so many complaints when a manufacturer increased performance for the end users
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No kidding, look at those quotes from PC Gamer: they called it a bait and switch. Bait and switch works the other way, guys. "Oh no, they snuck in an upgrade!"

Also, calling the new bios a requirement seems like a stretch.
 
thecold said:
Thing is, if you look at most current generations, memory clocks are generally static. Some deviate, but the vast majority of memory speeds are stock. While some of that was true in the past, it's most certainly not true at this time. Also rarely (if at all?) did they deviate by 17 percent.
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I should be clear on this, I think most of this will blow over soon enough. Either way, well whatever.
 
Speaking of XFX, they have not built a good, reliable card since the Fury Non X days. Most of the cards they build now and poor quality, plagued with hardware issues or just downright ugly.
 
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