MSI Radeon RX 5500 XT 8GB Graphics Card Review

How Much Does It Cost?

AMD is already cutting it fine when it comes to price with this one. Nvidia is in a very strong position to counter them on price and they have been doing so. The issue is, MSI has stuck a very fancy cooler on this card, and that means lots of expensive materials and manufacturing. The end result is a card that’s about £30-60 more expensive than it needs to be. Don’t get me wrong, you’re getting what you pay for in build quality, and that’s fine. However, you can get the same performance for a little less money or a little more performance for the same money. Right now, it’s £243.99 in the UK or $219.99 in the US.

Overview

When it boils down to it, there’s really NOTHING wrong with this card. I’d even argue that is the best Radeon RX 5500 XT we’ll ever see. However, just how much do you have to try to push the lowered end model up rather than just give it enough of a fancy cooler to get the job done? The Sapphire card had an OK cooler and half the RAM, but outside of the 4K tests, it made little to no difference, which is a shame.

Performance

The figures are good on this card though, and hitting around 90 FPS at 1080p is great, and we are shouting around 60 even at 1440p on many games too. A few of the more demanding games may need you to adjust settings, but for a £200 (ish) card, that’s expected at higher resolutions.

The GTX 1660 Ti will perform better for the same money though. Which raises an interesting question, as I know a lot of people who wouldn’t touch Nvidia if their life depended on it. I know a lot of people who wouldn’t touch AMD if their life depended on it. Either way, there are loyalists out there, and this is the best AMD card in this price range right now. So it depends on how you want to look at it.

Should I Buy One?

Are you going to enjoy Borderlands 3 any less at 1080p when it’s sitting at 60 FPS and you have VSync on this card vs the Nvidia card? I doubt it. Buy what makes you happy I say, but don’t overspend if you don’t need to either. The 1660 Ti is simply faster for the same money, and there are equally fast cards for less money.

MSI may have made the best performing, the best looking, and the best made RX 5500 XT the market will ever see, but I’m not entirely sure who’s going to buy it.