PowerColor Red Devil Radeon RX 570 4GB Review

Final Thoughts

Price

The PowerColor Red Devil Radeon RX 570 4GB Graphics Card is currently available for around £220, although the Red Dragon edition with a dual-fan design is just £196. This is typically around £10-30 cheaper than the GTX 1060, and while the Nvidia card is a little bit faster, it’s not so far ahead that you would usually notice in real world usage.

Overview

The latest card from Powercolor is interesting. It’s certainly an upgrade and improvement on the older RX 470 chipsets, and while the Radeon card range is eagerly in need of new blood, such as the new Vega cards that are on the horizon, the 5xx series still offer very good value for money. If you bought the RX4xx series of cards, there’s pretty much no reason to upgrade right now. However, if you’re still sitting on a mid-budget GPU that’s 2-years or even older, then you’re certainly the target market for this type of card.

When it comes to delivering rock solid 60fps and above frame rates at 1080p, the Powercolor Red Devil RX 570 is right on the money. It’s a fast card for gaming, even at ultra graphics settings, with a little overhead left for higher frame rate displays, or adding some antialiasing for a smoother looking game. Add to that the inclusion of Radeon Chill, which can drastically cut power usage while still delivering your target frame rate, FreeSync 2 for judder free gaming, and HDR video output for those using it on newer monitors and 4K TVs, it’s a compelling upgrade. It’s pretty much head to head in terms of performance with the GTX 1060, but the only real difference is which you prefer, as we all know some people are firmly loyal to the red or green team.

Efficiency is rubbish on this card, although if you’re gaming on games that support Radeon Chill, that can easily tip the balance back in AMDs favour. This is an older chipset, with increased power requirements and bigger overclocks, so it eats up the power. The cooler does a great job though, and while the card does run a little warm, it runs very quietly too, giving you a choice to run it quiet, or increase the fan RPM to keep it cooler. The improved power delivery and cooling did have one nice benefit though, as I was able to squeeze another 4.5% performance improvement out of the card, helping it take back the lead from the similar specification and priced Sapphire RX 570.

Build quality is literally a strong point for this card too. Not only does it look fantastic, but it feels it too. The durable metal backplate and shroud design give the card a rigid design, and it’s sure to look visually appealing in any gaming system.

Pros

• A nice revision of an older chipset, with noticeable performance improvements
• Incredibly quiet cooler design
• Easy to overclock
• Stylish aesthetics
• Durable and aggressive looking metal construction
• Backplate pre-installed
• Good display connectivity options
• Support for HDR, Chill, VR, and More!
• Fantastic for 1080p gaming
• Affordable price

Cons

• Poor efficiency

Neutral

• Stock fan profile could easily be set higher
• Factory overclocks could have been a little higher, but that’s easily fixed manually

“If you invested in a mid-range card a few years ago and modern games are proving hard work for your rig, the RX 570 is a great upgrade for those looking for reliable frame rates at 1080p, without the burden of the price tags of modern high-end graphics cards.”