AMD has introduced a new member of the Radeon RX 5500 family of GPUs, the RX 5500 XT. It"s really just the first standalone version of the GPUs introduced in October, which falls in line with AMD"s announcement at the time. The card is built on a 7nm process and it"s based on AMD"s RDNA architecture, which should result in improved efficiency over past generations.
The Radeon RX 5500 XT is a budget-oriented GPU, aimed at gamers playing at 1080p resolution, which AMD says account for more than 64 percent of the market. AMD promises 60+ frames per second in "select" AAA titles, and 90+ frames per second in select esports titles. Here"s a rundown of the specs:
| Model | Compute Units | Stream Processors | TFLOPS | GDDR6 (GB) | Game Clock (MHz) | Boost Clock (MHz) | Memory Interface |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Radeon™ RX 5500 XT | 22 | 1,408 | Up to 5.2 | 4GB/ 8GB | 1,717 | Up to 1,845 | 128-bit |
The Radeon RX 5500 XT also supports a number of features like Radeon Anti-Lag, Radeon Image Sharpening, and, thanks to the latest Adrenalin driver, Radeon Boost, which increases frame rates when players move in-game by dynamically adjusting the resolution.
AMD claims a 13% performance advantage over its competitor, most likely Nvidia"s GTX 1650 SUPER, which is also geared towards gaming at 1080p. That card has somewhat similar specs, though AMD"s offering goes up to 8GB of memory and has higher clock speeds. However, the Radeon RX 5500 XT starts at $169, which is $10 more than Nvidia"s offering.
If you do go the AMD route, you can get Monster Hunter: Iceborne Master Edition and three months of Xbox Game Pass for PC. You"ll need to make your purchase before January 27, though, and redeem your code by February 29. The Radeon RX 5500 XT is available starting today from partners including ASRock, ASUS, MSI, and more.