AMD Radeon RX 5700 & 5700 XT Graphics Card Review

Peter Donnell / 5 years ago

How Much Does It Cost?

The AMD Radeon RX 5700 was meant to launch at a higher price. However, just two days ago, AMD revealed a tasty price drop to counter their green-team rivals. The cards are now priced as below. AMD only confirmed the price in USD though, so please use the links below to check up to date pricing in both the UK and the US.

50th Anniversary Edition AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT – $449 UK / US
AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT – $399 UK / US
AMD Radeon RX 5700 (Non-XT) – $349 UK / US

For comparison an RTX 2060, ranges from around $340 – $410 (£400 – £450), and an RTX 2070 from $460 – $510 (£510 – £570).

Overview

Honestly, I went into this review with slightly lower expectations than the cards deserved. The Radeon VII just didn’t hit the market for me personally, even though it can deliver some impressive performance in its own respect. Rightfully though, I have changed my tune, and I’m walking away pretty damn impressed with what AMD has done this generation. Does Nvidia have faster cards? Yeah, they do. However, the market is much MUCH bigger than what’s happening at the extreme end. For this price range, where most people tend to spend their money, AMD is a genuinely competitive option once again.

Performance

The gaming figures speak for themselves really. The cards set out to compete and even beat the performance of the RTX 2060 and RTX 2070 cards. However, not only did they manage this quite consistently, they even gave the RTX 2080 a run for its money at some resolutions. Plus, AMD has been able to compete with Nvidia on the higher end cards for some time, but at the cost of huge power usage. Now that AMD has its power and heat under control, the playing field is a lot less bumpy than it has been for several generations.

Should I Buy One?

RTX has Ray Tracing. I can’t avoid that little point. You may want it, you may not care. However, right now AMD is offering similar and better gaming performance at a lower price and are easily some of the best all-around AMD cards we’ve seen for a long time. The performance is ideal for 1440p gamers. Plus, for those using FreeSync displays, it’s a no brainer, and so much more. Plus, with the new price cut, picking between red or green just became a lot more difficult.