AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT review: Delicious 1080p performance

Test setup & gaming performance

Test setup

The detailed specifications of our new graphics card testbed system is as follows:-

• Intel Core i7-8086K (4.0GHz, 12MB L3 cache)
• ASUS ROG Strix Maximus X Hero (Intel Z370)
• 4 x 8GB G.Skill Ripjaws V DDR4-3000 (Auto timings: CAS 15-15-15-35)
• Samsung 860 EVO 500GB SSD
• Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
• ASUS PB287Q, 4K monitor

The full line-up of graphics cards tested are listed below:

• Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 5600 XT
• ASUS ROG Strix Radeon RX 5500 XT O8G Gaming
• AMD Radeon RX 5700
• NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Founders Edition
• ASUS ROG Strix GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Gaming OC
• Zotac Gaming GeForce GTX 1660 Super

Test cards compared

	Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 5600 XT	ASUS ROG Strix Radeon RX 5500 XT O8G Gaming	AMD Radeon RX 5700	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Founders Edition	ASUS ROG Strix GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Gaming OC	Zotac Gaming GeForce GTX 1660 Super
Core Code	Navi 10	Navi 14	Navi 10	TU106	TU116	TU116
GPU Transistor Count	10.3 billion	6.4 billion	10.3 billion	10.8 billion	6.6 billion	6.6 billion
Manufacturing Process	7nm FinFET	7nm FinFET	7nm	12nm FinFET	12nm	12nm
Core Clock	Game clock: 1,615MHz, Boost clock: 1,750MHz (Performance Mode) Game clock: 1,460MHz, Boost clock: 1,620MHz (Silent Mode)	Game clock: 1,737MHz, Boost clock: 1,865MHz (OC Mode) Game clock: 1,737MHz, Boost clock: 1,845MHz (Gaming Mode)	1,605MHz	Core: 1,365MHz, Boost: 1,680MHz	1,500MHz	1,530MHz
Stream Processors	2,304	1,408	2,304	1,920	1,536	1,408
Stream Processor Clock	1,420MHz	1,685MHz	1,465MHz	—	1,500MHz	1,530MHz
Texture Mapping Units (TMUs)	144	88	144	120	96	88
Raster Operator units (ROP)	64	32	64	48	48	48
Memory Clock (DDR)	6GB GDDR6 14,000MHz (Performance Mode) 6GB GDDR6 12,000MHz (Silent Mode)	8GB GDDR6 14,000MHz	14,000MHz	6GB GDDR6 14,000MHz	12,000MHz	14,000MHz
Memory Bus width	192-bit	128-bit	256-bit	192-bit	192-bit	192-bit
Memory Bandwidth	336GB/s	224GB/s	448GB/s	336.1GB/s	288.1GB/s	336GB/s
PCI Express Interface	4.0	4.0	PCIe 4.0	3.0	PCIe 3.0	PCIe 3.0
Power Connectors	1x 8-pin	1x 8-pin	1x 6-pin, 1x 8-pin	1x 8-pin	1x 8-pin	1x 8-pin
Multi GPU Technology	No	No	CrossFire	No	—	—
DVI Outputs	No	No	—	No	—	—
HDMI Outputs	1x	1x	1	1x	2	1
DisplayPort Outputs	3x	3x	3	2x	2	3
HDCP Output Support	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	—	—

Next up, here's a list of all the benchmarks used:

• 3DMark
• Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation
• Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
• Far Cry 5
• Metro Exodus
• Middle-earth: Shadow of War
• Shadow of the Tomb Raider
• Tom Clancy's The Division 2

3DMark

The synthetic 3DMark benchmark tests graphics and computational performance at different resolutions, starting at 1080p and going all the way up to 4K. A series of two graphics test, one physics test, and then a combined test stresses your hardware in turn to assess its performance.

The Radeon RX 5600 XT comes super close to overtaking the Radeon RX 5700. It's a mere 4 per cent slower, and it also edges out the GeForce RTX 2060 by around 7 per cent. It's significantly faster than the Radeon RX 5500 XT 8GB too, posting a solid 42 per cent lead in Fire Strike. 

Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation

Ashes of the Singularity has long been the poster child for the performance benefits a low-level API like DirectX 12 can bring. It is based on the Nitrous engine and can be extremely punishing thanks to the huge number of onscreen units and the sheer level of detail accorded to each unit. However, the CPU does become the limiting factor at lower resolutions and settings.

At 1080p and Crazy settings, the Radeon RX 5600 XT once again sits between the GeForce RTX 2060 and Radeon RX 5700. In fact, only a few frames separate each of these cards. Compared to the Radeon RX 5500 XT 8GB, the Radeon RX 5600 XT is also just under 42 per cent quicker. 

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

Mankind Divided features just about every trick to make your game look pretty, including things like volumetric and dynamic lighting, screenspace reflections, and cloth physics. Even though it was released in 2016, the game is capable of bringing even the most powerful systems to their knees.

Compared to the GeForce RTX 2060, the Radeon RX 5600 XT is roughly 8 per cent faster at 1080p and Ultra settings. It's also a good 38 per cent better than the Radeon RX 5500 XT.

Far Cry 5

In Far Cry 5, which is a title optimised for AMD, the Radeon RX 5600 XT does really well. It's practically neck-and-neck with the Radeon RX 5700, and also 18 per cent faster than the GeForce RTX 2060. 

Metro Exodus

Metro Exodus runs better in DirectX 12, so that's the setting we chose to run our benchmarks at. There's just one caveat though – actual in-game performance is generally better than the results you get in the in-game benchmark, so this is best taken as an indicator of relative performance, rather than the absolute numbers you can expect in game.

At 1080p and Ultra settings, the Radeon RX 5600 XT is 16 per cent faster than the GeForce RTX 2060. And once again, it's just a hair behind the Radeon RX 5700. 

Middle-earth: Shadow of War

The Radeon RX 5700 has a bigger advantage over the RX 5600 XT in Shadow of War, where it posted a 11 per cent lead, its largest yet. 

Shadow of the Tomb Raider

Like Metro Exodus, Shadow of the Tomb Raider runs better in DirectX 12 as well. DLSS and ray tracing have been added to the game already, but these numbers are obtained without those features turned on.

The Radeon RX 5600 XT raced ahead to a 18 per cent lead over the GeForce RTX 2060 at 1080p and Highest settings. It was also around 8 per cent behind the Radeon RX 5700.

Tom Clancy's The Division 2

Division 2 is another new addition to our benchmark suite, and it replaces 2016's The Division. We've also shifted to DirectX 12 here as well because of the performance gains offered by the low-level API.

The Radeon RX 5600 XT once again narrows the gap with the Radeon RX 5700 here, where there's virtually no difference between the two at 1080p and Ultra settings. However, the former is still approximately 9 per cent quicker than the GeForce RTX 2060.