ASRock Radeon RX 5500 XT Phantom Gaming OC 8 GB Review

Name: ASRock Radeon RX 5500 XT Phantom Gaming OC 8 GB
Brand: ASRock

W1zzard

on Feb 11th, 2020,

in Graphics Cards.

Manufacturer: ASRock

(22 Comments) »

Introduction

AMD launched the Radeon RX 5500 XT graphics card in mid-December. The RX 5500 XT is based on AMD's second 7 nm "Navi" family graphics chips, the "Navi 14." It comes with the entire feature set of "Navi," including the latest RDNA compute units, GDDR6 memory, PCIe gen 4.0 capability, and all the software features the RX 5700-series support.

What's unexpected about the RX 5500 XT is that it does not max out "Navi 14." It has the same exact core configuration as the RX 5500 OEM with 22 RDNA compute units making up 1,408 stream processors, 88 TMUs, 32 ROPs, and a 128-bit wide GDDR6 memory interface. The "Navi 14" silicon features 24 compute units (1,536 stream processors); currently, the only contraption that maxes it out is the Radeon Pro 5500M found exclusively in Apple's MacBook Pro 16-inch. The RX 5500 XT has slightly higher reference clock speeds as the RX 5500 OEM with up to 1845 MHz boost and 1717 MHz "gaming" clocks. The memory ticks at 14 Gbps (GDDR6 effective) on both 4 GB and 8 GB variants. The ASRock RX 5500 XT ships with factory-overclocked speeds of 1737 MHz Game Clock and 1845 MHz maximum Boost.

The Radeon RX 5500 XT is available at sub-$200 price-points, with the 4 GB variant being priced at $180 and the 8 GB variant at $200. ASRock's card features 8 GB of VRAM and is priced at the same $200 MSRP, making it one of the most affordable 8 GB RX 5500 variants available today. It comes with a relatively compact dual-fan solution including idle fan stop and a metal backplate.

Radeon RX 5500 XT Market Segment Analysis
	Price	Shader Units	ROPs	Core Clock	Boost Clock	Memory Clock	GPU	Transistors	Memory
GTX 1650	$150	896	32	1485 MHz	1665 MHz	2000 MHz	TU117	unknown	4 GB, GDDR5, 128-bit
RX 570	$110	2048	32	1168 MHz	1244 MHz	1750 MHz	Ellesmere	5700M	4 GB, GDDR5, 256-bit
RX 5500	unknown	1408	32	1670 MHz	1845 MHz	1750 MHz	Navi 14	6400M	4 GB, GDDR6, 128-bit
RX 5500 XT	$180	1408	32	1717 MHz	1845 MHz	1750 MHz	Navi 14	6400M	4 GB, GDDR6, 128-bit
RX 5500 XT 8 GB	$200	1408	32	1717 MHz	1845 MHz	1750 MHz	Navi 14	6400M	8 GB, GDDR6, 128-bit
ASRock RX 5500 XT Phantom Gaming OC 8 GB	$200	1408	32	1737 MHz	1845 MHz	1750 MHz	Navi 14	6400M	8 GB, GDDR6, 128-bit
GTX 1650 Super	$160	1280	32	1530 MHz	1725 MHz	1500 MHz	TU116	6600M	4 GB, GDDR6, 128-bit
RX 580	$160	2304	32	1257 MHz	1340 MHz	2000 MHz	Ellesmere	5700M	8 GB, GDDR5, 256-bit
GTX 1060 3 GB	$170	1152	48	1506 MHz	1708 MHz	2002 MHz	GP106	4400M	3 GB, GDDR5, 192-bit
GTX 1060	$210	1280	48	1506 MHz	1708 MHz	2002 MHz	GP106	4400M	6 GB, GDDR5, 192-bit
RX 590	$180	2304	32	1469 MHz	1545 MHz	2000 MHz	Polaris 30	5700M	8 GB, GDDR5, 256-bit
GTX 1660	$210	1408	48	1530 MHz	1785 MHz	2000 MHz	TU116	6600M	6 GB, GDDR5, 192-bit
GTX 1070	$300	1920	64	1506 MHz	1683 MHz	2002 MHz	GP104	7200M	8 GB, GDDR5, 256-bit
RX Vega 56	$270	3584	64	1156 MHz	1471 MHz	800 MHz	Vega 10	12500M	8 GB, HBM2, 2048-bit
GTX 1660 Super	$230	1408	48	1530 MHz	1785 MHz	1750 MHz	TU116	6600M	6 GB, GDDR6, 192-bit
GTX 1660 Ti	$280	1536	48	1500 MHz	1770 MHz	1500 MHz	TU116	6600M	6 GB, GDDR6, 192-bit

Packaging

The Card

ASRock's RX 5500 XT Phantom Gaming follows the design theme set by the RX 5700 XT Phantom Gaming. It pairs a gunmetal gray color theme with red highlights. The metal backplate uses the same colors, but adds an extra highlight in form of a white logo and stripe.

Dimensions of the card are 23.0 x 11.0 cm.

Installation requires two slots in your system.

Display connectivity options include three standard DisplayPort 1.4a and an HDMI 2.0b.

The board uses one 8-pin power connector. This input configuration is specified for up to 225 watts of power draw.

AMD's Navi generation of GPUs no longer supports CrossFire. DirectX 12 does include its own set of multi-GPU capabilities, but the implementation requires game developers to put serious development time into a feature only a tiny fraction of their customers might ever use.

Disassembly

ASRock's thermal solution uses three heatpipes and a copper base to soak up heat from the GPU quickly. This part of the heatsink also provides cooling for the VRM circuitry and memory chips. The two fans are 90 mm in diameter.

The backplate is made out of metal; it adds to the card's aesthetic and protects components on the PCB when handling the card.

High-resolution PCB Pictures

These pictures are for the convenience of volt modders and people who would like to see all the finer details on the PCB. Feel free to link back to us and use these in your articles or forum posts.