AMD Radeon 5500 (XT) Graphics Cards Are Officially Launched!

Well, after weeks of rumour and speculation, it’s finally here. Yes, at 2 pm GMT on the 12th of December, the AMD Radeon RX 5500 and XT graphics cards were officially launched. Has Christmas come early for AMD customers, though? – Let’s take a look!

AMD Radeon 5500 (XT) Graphics Cards

With the GPU representing one of AMD’s more budget-friendly entry-level designs, nobody was expecting the 5500 XT to be a world-beater. With it being the last major graphics card release before the end of 2019, however, it had the potential to be something to see out the year with a (hopefully not literal) bang.

VRAM Memory Variants

Available in both 4GB and 8GB VRAM variants, AMD is keen to push the fact that the 5500 XT has very specifically been designed to be the new King of the 1080p gaming market.

Although they are not saying it in so many words, Team Red has semi-set the 5500 XT aside to effectively be the replacement for the aging Polaris based 4XX and 5XX graphics cards. Models which, in fairness, are still highly popular with consumers thanks to their low price points.

‘The King of 1080p Gaming’

You may recall when it released earlier this year, AMD was keen to push the 5700 XT as the card for the 1440p market. As part of their formal reveal for the 5500 XT, they’re taking the same line again but on the 1080p end of the gaming scale. A performance level which is still (arguably) the most popular market with consumers.

Reference VS AIB Partner

Although AMD will be releasing reference models of the 5500 XT, this launch is somewhat unusual in that today also sees all of the AIB partner models as well. Something that usually doesn’t happen for several weeks after the main launch. Such as, for example, what we saw with the 5700 XT.

AMD has, however, released the image below confirming a number of the upcoming AIB partner releases from some of the biggest names in the graphics card world.

Video

Having had one of the graphics cards in our possession, we have been able to get a really thorough look at it which you can check out in the video below.

Review

Are you now wanting further specifics as to how this GPU both looks and performs? Then you can check out our fully-detailed and in-depth review of the Sapphire 5500 XT graphics card via the link here!

What Do We Think?

While the AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT is a more than good enough 1080p gaming graphics card, it does have 1 pretty significant issue. Namely, the price. With most 4GB models expected to retail for a price in the region of £180 (with the 8GB variants possibly being as high as £240 for some of the more ‘bells and whistles’ models) it is putting itself in direct competition with a lot of other arguably better graphics cards.

Put simply, the alternatives to the RX 5500 XT is spending a lot less (and getting a still more than decent AMD 580/590 GPU) or spending a little more and getting something like the Nvidia 1650 Super. This is, most definitely, a GPU that looks to be between two stools.

The short version is, if you really do need a graphics card on this level, then the AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT is an excellent option. You may, however, just want to be a little bit patient until that price drops a little. Launch day prices are rarely good and, in this instance, the 5500 XT is certainly no exception.

For more information on the 5500 XT graphics cards, you can visit the official AMD website via the link here!

What do you think? – Let us know in the comments!