Gigabyte RX 5500 XT 8GB Gaming OC Graphics Card Review

AMD continues to take a bite at both Intel and Nvidia’s market share thanks to their revolutionary/groundbreaking 7-nanometer processors. AMD has mostly taken up the spotlight with its Ryzen 3rd gen processors, which offered a clear price-to-performance advantage over Intel’s 9th gen core processors. On the graphics card of things, Nvidia has not a lot to run fall thanks to their “super” strategy of filling up different price segments with cut-down graphics cards. But that all changes as AMD have just released the Radeon RX 5500 XT in 4GB and 8GB variants. Here we have the RX 5500 XT 8GB variant in the form of Gigabyte’s Gaming OC model.

While we both have 4GB and 8GB cards in our benchmarks, we’ll focus more on the 8GB variant in this review. To know our thoughts regarding the 4GB variant and which is a better purchase versus the GTX 1650 Super, please read our review of the Sapphire Pulse RX 5500 XT 4GB Review.

Specifications Table

AMD Radeon Adrenalin 2020 Software

AMD also the Radeon Adrenalin 2020 Edition Software alongside the RX 5500 XT 4GB and 8GB variants. We’ll be using the new drivers for this review. Listed below are the new features of the software. Refer to this article for an in-depth look at AMD’s new software.

Radeon Integer Display Scaling

Radeon Integer Display Scaling upscales your olds games to render a better quality image. It takes one single pixel and scales it to four-blocks or more depending on the image for a crisp image display. Radeon Integer Display Scaling is very beneficial in olds games to breath some life into it, especially if these games are your timeless classic. Gamers with high-resolution displays will also benefit from Integer Display Scaling.

DirectML Media Filters

DirectML is Microsft’s machine learning API, which enhances videos and photos by reducing noise and upscaling filters. Think of it as a gamer’s simplified photoshop.

Radeon Boost

Radeon boost increases your system’s performance during fast-motion scenes. The software automatically adjusts your game’s resolution when every time it detects enough movements / in-game motion. This smoothens the animation as it lowers resolution during these motions such as running, camera rotation. And since the feature takes place during motion, the perceived image quality won’t degrade since its a fast-motion scene.

Gigabyte Radeon RX 5500 XT 8GB Gaming OC Overview

Unlike the beefier RX 5700 Series, the RX 5500 in both 4GB and 8GB configurations, will not have a reference cooler. Our RX 5500 XT 8GB is dressed with Gigabyte’s Gaming OC branding, which sits in the middle of Gigabyte’s SKUs. While it’s not the flagship Aorus branded RX 55000 XT; the Gaming OC variant sits a tier higher in Gigabyte’s product series.

The Gigabyte RX 5500 XT 8GB Gaming OC is definitely one of the beefiest RX 5500 XT variants featuring a triple-fan cooling setup. The Gaming OC shroud carries design cues from Gigabyte’s previous Windforce models but has been infused with Aorus-like finish ad well.

Ports selection on the Gigabyte RX 5500 XT 8GB Gaming OC is standard with three DisplayPorts and one HDMI port. Unfortunately, there’s no DVI port found on the RX 5500 XT, unlike Nvidia’s GTX 1650 Super.

The Gigabyte RX 5500 XT 8GB Gaming OC considerably thin as it only occupies 2 PCIe slots despite having a tri-fan cooling setup. It’s a longer graphics card as the cooler shrouds extend more than the length of the PCB

The Gigabyte RX 5500 XT’s Gigabyte logo supports RGB 2.0 and can sync with other Gigabyte and Aorus devices.

With only a 130w rated TDP of the RX 5500 XT series, the triple-fan Gaming OC variant only requires a single 8-pin PCIe cable for power.

BENCHMARKS

The performance of the Gigabyte RX 5500 XT 8GB Gaming OC shall be evaluated using a mixture of synthetic and gaming benchmarks. Windows is updated to the latest stable build as well as drivers. BIOS settings are set to UEFI default as well as each individual GPUs’ clock and fan speeds.

TEST BENCH

Processor: Intel Core i9 9900K @ 5Ghz
Cooling: NZXT Kraken X62 280mm AIO
Motherboard: ROG Strix Z390-F Gaming
Memory: HyperX Predator 16GB  3200Mhz
Storage: SanDisk 512GB M.2 SSD | HyperX Fury 240GB  RGB SSD
PSU: Corsair HX1200i
GPU: ROG Strix GTX 1650 SUPER  | ROG Strix RX 580 | Galax GTX 1660 Ti | Galax GTX 1660 Super | Colorful iGame GTX 1660 Super Ultra | Sapphire Pulse RX 5500 XT 4GB
OS: Windows 10 Pro Build 1903
Drivers: GeForce 441.20 | Adrenalin 2020 Editon 19.12.2

3DMARK

3DMark is the go-to benchmark for gamers because of the ability to share and compare results online. We used Time Spy DX 12 benchmark and Fire Strike DX 11 benchmark and opted out of Port Royal since all the GPUs used in this review do not support Ray Tracing.

We only got a small performance uplift with a bigger 8GB GDDR6 memory equipped by the Gigabyte RX 5500 Gaming OC. This shows that AMD’s card doesn’t anymore rely on memory size rather than other factors such as clock speeds and memory bandwidth. Nonetheless, this benchmark alone doesn’t tell that 8GB variants of the RX 5500 are pointless.

DOTA 2

Dota 2 is one of the most popular games globally; that said, chances are you’ll be playing one of the popular F2P titles. Our benchmark sequence is based on a replay of OG vs. Liquid in the TI9 grand finals from the team fight that happened on 28:30 to 29:30.

8GB GDDR6 memory didn’t seem to matter on Dota 2 as weirdly enough, the Gigabyte RX 5500 XT Gaming OC is the lowest performer across all of the cards. However, the 8GB model has a higher FPS in terms of 1% and .1% lows. Despite the lower average framerate, the 8GB model of the RX 5500 XT provides a smoother gaming experience compared to the chopped down 4GB model.

Far Cry 5

FarCry 5 is an FPS game published by Ubisoft and uses the Dunia engine. It heavily relies on and takes advantage of DirectX 11 to render a realistic environment that makes it taxing to both the CPU and GPU.

The 8GB variant ever so slightly pulls ahead of the 4GB model in our Far Cry 5 benchmark. It’s also worth noting that our 8GB is more stable, represented by the 1% and .1% lows.

Rainbow Six Siege

Rainbow Six Seige is one of the few popular AAA games that’s still popular in 2019 due to its competitive gameplay mechanics. R6S uses the AnvilNext game engine, which is developed by the game’s publisher, Ubisoft. As of writing, Rainbow Six Siege is currently the most popular Tom Clancy title beating out Wildlands, Breakpoint and even, Division 2.

Rainbow Six Siege is where the RX 5500 XT 8GB variant shines. The 4GB frame buffer of both the GTX 1650 Super and RX 5500 XT 4GB is a clear bottleneck for R6S’s ultra settings. There’s only a 10% FPS boost with our Gigabyte card, but it could just be because it has a higher boost clock compared to the Sapphire Pulse RX 5500 XT 4GB. The extra 4GB VRAM on the Gigabyte RX 5500 XT 8GB Gaming OC makes the difference as it has a significantly smoother gameplay experience with a smoother framerate represented by the 1% and .1% FPS lows.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is arguably the most anticipated game of the year. It’s the first cross-play compatible game title of the franchise. COD: MW is developed by Infinity ward using a new IW engine and published by Activision. The game uses DX 12 by default, which makes it an excellent choice to include in our benchmark suite.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare takes advantage of the Gigabyte RX 5500 XT’s 8GB VRAM with a near 40% higher average framerate than our Sapphire Pulse RX 5500 XT 4GB. There’s also a significant improvement over smoothness in gameplay experience as our 1% Lows even trump the RX 5500 XT 4GB’s average framerate.

Apex Legends

Apex Legends is a character-based Free-to-play battle royale game developed by Respawn Entertainment, the makers of Titanfall and Titanfall 2. It utilizes a modified version of Valve’s Source Engine.

The Gigabyte RX 5500 XT 8GB manages to get ahead the 4GB variant by 14 percent and goes toe-to-toe with the GTX 1650 Super thanks to its larger VRAM. The 8GB model also manages to be more stable with a higher 1% and .1% Frame rates in our Apex Legends Benchmarks.

TEMPERATURES

Both RX 5500 XTs manage to be the coolest among the cards tested for our benchmarks. The higher load temp of the RX 5500 XT means the chip is able to boost at higher clock speeds. While it is indeed higher than the RX 5500 XT 4GB, it’s worth noting that the 8GB variant has more VRAM, which translates to more heat output, especially when the whole frame buffer is maximized.

POWER CONSUMPTION

Weirdly enough, our Gigabyte RX 5500 XT 8GB Gaming OC managed to pull only 117 watts during our benchmark run. That’s 7 watts less than the 4GB model, considering that you have double VRAM and a triple-fan setup consuming power. Nonetheless, we’ll take the win over AMD’s own graphics card. The GTX 1650 Super remains the most power-efficient among the stack consuming only 107 watts max.

CONCLUSION

AMD’s move of having two memory configurations of a mid-range card no longer seems to be effective, as seen with our RX 5500 XT 4GB and 8GB benchmarks. An SRP of $200(or Php 10,140) for the 8GB variant is hard to justify considering that you’re paying for a $30(Php 1,500) premium over the 4GB variant, which only retails for $169 USD. The extra 4GB frame buffer of the Gigabyte RX 5500 XT 8GB Gaming OC manages to avenge the 4GB variants loss against the GTX 1650 Super. But the GTX 1650 Super pulls ahead in terms of pricing. It’s not to say that the RX 5500 XT 8GB is a nonsensical product, AMD can still pull ahead in the long run with driver optimization as previously seen with the RX 500 series. It’s just that it’s the first time to see AMD having the more expensive options this time around – not to mention that both the RX 5500 XT 4GB and 8GB sits below the $200 entry-level pricing.

The decision on whether to get the 4GB or 8GB version of the RX 5500 XT lies within your game library. The 4GB model shows its limitations on heavily textured games represented by Rainbow Six Siege and Call of Duty Modern Warfare. So if you’re into mods, texture packs, and aims to play at 1440p someday, then the 8GB variant in the form of the Gigabyte RX 5500 XT Gaming OC is the one to get.

We also have our review of the 4GB variant of the RX 5500 XT.

Grant Soriano

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Grant is a Financial Management graduate from UST. His passion for gadgets and tech crossed him over in the industry where he could apply his knowledge as an enthusiast and in-depth analytic skills as a Finance Major. His passion allows him to earn at the same time help Gadget Pilipinas' readers in making smart, value-based decisions and purchases with his reviews and guides.