Despite not having any support for real-time ray tracing features at the moment, AMD still did a pretty impressive job with the Radeon RX 5700 XT that is aimed at 1440p gaming. After seeing how the actual performance reference RX 5700 XT in person, we will now take a look at the Gigabyte Radeon RX 5700 XT Gaming OC 8G, one of the custom cards available from the board partners.
Specifications
| GPU | Radeon RX 5700 XT | Gigabyte Radeon RX 5700 XT Gaming OC 8G |
| Shading Units | 2560 | 2560 |
| TMUs | 160 | 160 |
| ROPs | 64 | 64 |
| Compute Units | 40 | 40 |
| Base Clock | 1605 | 1650 |
| Boost Clock | 1905 | 1905 |
| Memory Type | GDDR6 | GDDR6 |
| Memory Size | 8 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory Bus | 256 bit | 256 bit |
| Bandwidth | 448 GB/s | 448 GB/s |
| Effective Memory Speed | 14 Gbps | 14 Gbps |
| Additional Power Connector | 1 x 8-pin, 1 x 6-pin | 1 x 8-pin, 1 x 6-pin |
| Dimension | 277.3 Â x 122.5 x 48.4 mm | 279.85 x 114.35 x 49.55 mm |
| TDP | 225 W | 225 W |
| Recommended PSU | 600 W | 600 W |
Unboxing
Starting off with the box, the RX 5700 XT Gaming OC 8G ships in the usual eye logo for its products that don’t fall under the AORUS branding. Features such as the RGB Fusion 2.0, WindForce cooling fans and factory overclocked right out of the box are pretty much to be expected, but that’s nothing new already. FidelityFX and Freesyc 2 HDR are the features that come with Radeon RX 5000 series that is worth looking into.
More details on the highlighted features i.e RGB lighting, metal backplate, Copper heatpipes and base, WindForce cooling fan design can be found at the back of the box. Alternatively, you can visit the main product page via the QR code provided at the back of the box.
The Gigabyte Radeon RX 5700 XT
For the Radeon RX 5700 XT, Gigabyte does offer both reference and its custom model that falls under its Gigabyte branding. We’ve yet to see any RX 5700 XT under the AORUS branding, but that’s entirely up to Gigabyte to decide. The RX 5700 XT Gaming OC 8G is equipped with Gigabyte’s signature triple-fan cooler and WindForce cooling, something that will probably be enough to keep the temperature in check without sounding like a jet engine while on load.
As for the WindForce cooling design, Gigabyte designed the cooler with the middle fan rotating in a reversed direction to provide much more coverage to further improve the cooling performance.
The RGB elements on the RX 5700 XT Gaming OC 8G are very minimal and can be disabled via the RGB Fusion software if it’s needed. If you’re one of those who prefer to not have any RGB lightings in your system, this is definitely an option to consider for.
Gigabyte did equip its RX 5700 XT Gaming OC 8G with a pretty big cooler that comes with four Copper heatpipes and a Copper base to keep the GPU temperature in check. The dimension of the cooler is slightly thicker than the reference Radeon RX 5700 XT, but it’s still basically a dual-slot card that will fit just fine inside small ITX cases i.e SilverStone Raven RVZ02 and Sugo SG13.
Here are some close-up shots of the Copper heatpipes and Aluminum fins on the heatsink, in case if you wonder how the cooler actually looks like. Theoretically, you can expect the RX 5700 XT Gaming OC 8G to run cooler and quieter than the reference card with this beefy looking cooler.
For its power requirement, Gigabyte recommends the use of a 600W power supply with a 6-pin and 8-pin PCIe power connector for the RX 5700 XT Gaming OC 8G.
The metal backplate installed at the back of the PCB is meant to provide the card some additional enhancement in rigidity to reduce the chance of getting a sagged PCB.
The display output options are basically the same as the reference Radeon RX 5700 XT, which is a total of 3 x DisplayPort and 1 x HDMI. For those of you who are still using a monitor that doesn’t come with any DisplayPort or HDMI port, it’s probably the right time to upgrade your monitor to a better one if this card is going to be your next system upgrade.
Test System Setup
The test is done using the following setup under an ambient temperature of 30°C:
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 9 3900X |
| Motherboard | MSI MEG X570 GODLIKE |
| Memory | G.Skill Trident Z Royal 16GB @3600MHz |
| Graphics Card | Gigabyte Radeon RX 5700 XT Gaming OC 8G |
| Power Supply | Enermax MaxTytan 1250W |
| Primary Storage | Corsair Force Series Gen.4 PCIe MP600 2TB |
| Secondary Storage | WD Black 6TB |
| CPU Cooler | Thermaltake Floe Riing 360 RGB |
| Chassis | Cooler Master Test Bench V1 |
| Operating System | Windows 10 64bit |
The test is done separately for games that support both DirectX 11 and DirectX 12 at the resolution of 1920×1080, 2560×1440, and 3840×2160. A GeForce RTX 2060 Super is used for this test as well, which falls in the same price range as the RX 5700 XT just for a fair comparison.
Games Benchmark
Looking at the 1080p performance, the Radeon RX 5700 XT Gaming OC 8G goes above the 60fps mark with ease on most of the selected titles. Gamers who wanted to use this card for 1080p gaming will be able to get 60fps above in most of the AAA titles with ease.
Moving on to 1440p gaming, the Radeon RX 5700 XT Gaming OC 8G can still hold up to the game against the RTX 2060 Super on most of the titles without any major issues. Though, both cards started to struggle with the more demanding titles like Metro Exodus, Assassin’s Creed, Watch Dogs 2.
As for 4K gaming, you can still game on some of the titles at high settings with the Radeon RX 5700 XT Gaming OC 8G but you won’t be getting that 60fps mark for sure. Though, lowering the settings will get you that 60fps for smoother gameplay – depending on how much are you willing to sacrifice on the graphics quality.
Temperature
Compared to the reference RX 5700 XT, the WindForce cooler on the Radeon RX 5700 XT Gaming OC 8G allows it to operate silently on both idle and load. The fans will not start spinning until it goes beyond 50°C, so it will remain total silent at idle. Though that doesn’t change the fact that the GPU temperature will shoot up to 100°C in just a blink of an eye if you use it for cryptocurrency mining, FurMark stress test or other programs stresses the GPU beyond normal usage.
If it’s only used for gaming, the Radeon RX 5700 XT Gaming OC 8G will only hit 96°C at most while the game is loading – still pretty hot if you ask me. Since we can barely hear the fan noise when everything is running on default, manually adjusting the fan curve via software to 60% will help the card to run cooler at 88°C.
Final Thoughts
Looking at the gaming performance, the difference in performance isn’t that big between the custom Radeon RX 5700 XT Gaming OC 8G and the reference Radeon RX 5700 XT. It’s definitely an impressive card that can take on most of the newest AAA titles at 1080p with ease and some on 1440p, but real-time ray tracing is something that you can never experience with this card as of now – not until AMD come up with an alternative for that.
The FidelityFX is probably the most interesting feature you can get on any of the supported RX 5000 series cards, as it allows you to enjoy a better-looking graphics using a smart algorithm and be enabled via AMD’s software that is just a few clicks away. That is without having to go through the trouble of training AI models for DLSS like what NVIDIA did with its RTX cards.
As for the price, the Radeon RX 5700 XT Gaming OC 8G comes with a price tag of RM 2099, which is RM 200 more expensive than the reference model. The price isn’t entirely justifiable if we look at the cooler’s performance, FidelityFX and FreeSync 2 HDR features this card have to offer – but of course, that is if DLSS and real-time ray tracing isn’t something you’re looking for.
Pro
- Better triple-fan cooler design with low operating noise
- Metal backplate included
- Radeon Image Sharpening, FidelityFX for better image quality
- Support for DSC 1.2a enables 8K 60 Hz
- Support for PCIe 4.0
Cons
- Slow fan speed on default
- No support for real-time ray tracing on RTX enabled games
- Price is slightly on the higher side
