The Best RX 5700 XT Graphics Cards

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Reviewed by Benjamin Barr

This year has been an incredible one for graphics cards. Nvidia is currently rolling out their new 3000 series cards, and AMD has just announced their competing RX 6000 series cards. These haven’t launched just yet, so it may be a long time before consumers can actually get their hands on one. On top of that, these new cards seem to be primarily focused on the upper-mid to high-tier market. The most affordable cards won’t be available until January, and even then, good luck getting one. 

However, there are several wonderful current-generation cards available right now that cater to a mid-tier market and still give great gaming performance. One of the best choices in this bracket is the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT.

The first 5700 XT graphics card came out in July of last year. Though it was intended to compete with the price point of Nvidia’s RTX 2060, it nearly competes with the RTX 2070 in terms of performance! This graphics card series marked the first time AMD has ever managed to successfully challenge Nvidia. Although the RTX 2060 SUPER has tightened that competition, there are still plenty of reasons to stick with Team Red.

What are the best RX 5700 XT cards? You’re about to find out.

Should You Buy an RX 5700 XT?

Let’s take a second to talk about what to look for in a GPU before we get into listing the best 5700 XTs. Picking out components can be intimidating, especially when you’re first dipping your toes into the PC-building pool. Measuring performance with terms like “Boost Clock” and “GDDR6 RAM” might give a beginner more anxiety than answers.

The easiest way to choose a graphics card is in terms of your budget. It’s an old rule of thumb that you should allocate a little under half the cost of your build (before peripherals) to your graphics card if you’re using your PC for gaming. That means your GPU should cost nearly as much as your case, power supply, motherboard, CPU, storage, and RAM put together.

Because of this, the RX 5700 XT is best suited for builds near the $800-$1,000 range. This graphics card will enable players to reach excellent framerates at 1080p and even 1440p resolutions on most AAA titles. Players will see reduced input lag with Radeon Anti-Lag and can get completely stutter and tear-free gaming by pairing the card with a FreeSync compatible monitor. The 2060 SUPER is its nearest competitor, and the 2070 SUPER is the next step up (unless you can somehow get your hands on a 3070). 

Zoom In: The Best RX 5700 XT Graphics Cards

Are you ready to see our list of the eight best 5700 XT cards? Let’s go!

1. GIGABYTE Radeon RX 5700 XT OC

The best RX 5700 XT overall

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Manufacturer: GIGABYTE | Memory: 8GB GDDR6 | Base Clock: 1650 MHz | Boost Clock: 1905 MHz | Price: 💰💰💰

Coming in at number one is the GIGABYTE Radeon 5700 XT OC. If you’ve read our best GTX 1660 Ti or best RTX 2080 lists, you might have noticed we like a lot of the cards made by GIGABYTE. There’s a good reason why! 

Other GPU manufacturers can make cards that look flashier. There are a few that even run cooler, but you’re always going to pay a major premium for those extra features. We consider the GIGABYTE OC to have the best price to performance ratio of the bunch.

This card has three unique 80mm WINDFORCE fans, which spin in alternate directions for maximum heat dissipation. These fans are mounted on top of a heatsink with five composite copper heat-pipes. This allows for higher overclock ability and a significant boost to frame rates.

All of this is housed in a matte black casing with a solid backplate. The simple GIGABYTE logo RGB won’t be turning any heads in your case, but it will blend into almost any rig seamlessly and give you one of the best gaming experiences at a bottom rung price.

After all, black goes with everything.

2. Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 5700 XT

The best alternative RX 5700 XT

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Manufacturer: Sapphire Technology | Memory: 8GB GDDR6 | Base Clock: 1670 MHz | Boost Clock: 1925 MHz | Price: 💰💰💰💰

The Sapphire Pulse is our second choice for the best Radeon 5700 XT. It’s similar to the GIGABYTE OC both in terms of price and performance. The only reason the GIGABYTE managed to squeak out a slight lead is because of its three-fan design and its ever-so-slightly lower price, though you’ll notice the Pulse has slightly higher clock speeds.

It features two-ball bearing fans with options for intelligent and precision fan control. The card also has a duel BIOS, meaning users will be able to choose between a performance mode that boosts frame rates and a silent mode that favors keeping those pesky decibels to a minimum.

Sapphire’s designs are unique, and you might love or hate the look of the Pulse. I’m personally a fan of the exposed heat pipe at the front of the card, but I could do without the red accents. The Sapphire logo is the only lighting on the card, and it cannot be changed from its default red color.

Still, the Pulse is one of our favorite RX 5700 XTs. It’s definitely one to look out for with fluctuating price and availability. It’s also considerably shorter than the GIGABYTE, coming in at only 46.5mm long, making it an excellent option for smaller builds looking to save space.

3. PowerColor Red Devil Radeon RX 5700 XT

The best cooling RX 5700 XT

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Manufacturer: PowerColor | Memory: 8GB GDDR6 | Base Clock: 1770 MHz | Boost Clock: 2010 MHz | Price: 💰💰💰💰

We would contend that cooling is the most important feature to look for in an aftermarket graphics card. Cooling is what allows a card to reach higher framerates and maintain stability. The PowerColor Red Devil does this better than any of the other cards on this list.

The card features three 90mm fans sitting on top of a 300mm fin-stack, and it has an excellent PCB design. Like the Pulse, the Red Devil also features both silent and OC BIOS modes, so you can choose between favoring performance or volume. You’ll be happy with both in either mode, however. This thing has “cool and quiet” in spades.

The design is nice, as well. It has a black 1.5mm metal backplate to help prevent any warping of the PCB, though there are openings cut into the metal that help facilitate the passthrough of airflow to keep the card cool. There’s also a Red Devil insignia, which lights up as part of the card’s fully controllable RGB. 

The Red Devil is our pick for people looking to spend a little more money for worthwhile upgrades on a 5700 XT. We love the design, and the cooling solution is top-notch. The Sapphire Nitro+ also has excellent cooling, but the PowerColor Red Devil is cheaper, so it gets the win.

4. ASRock Radeon RX 5700 XT Taichi X

The best premium RX 5700 XT

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Manufacturer: ASRock | Memory: 8GB GDDR6 | Base Clock: 1810 | Boost Clock: 2040 | Price: 💰💰💰💰

Not everyone is looking for a budget option. Some consumers won’t settle for anything less than the best card in the lineup. We’d like to direct those of you who want to make your other Team Red friends green with envy to the ASRock Radeon RX 5700 XT Taichi X.

This card is absolutely stunning. It has two 90mm fans on either side and an RGB-lit 80mm fan in the center. The BIOS comes in OC and silent modes, but you can get even more control with Taichi Tweak, a software that allows you to “tweak” smart-fan systems and performance. The heatsink uses a 2.5 slot design. It isn’t the heftiest cooling solution we’ve seen, but it’s more than capable of getting the job done.

The Taichi X also has no less than six different video ports — four DisplayPorts and two HDMI. So, if you happen to need three monitors, a micro LCD temperature display, and a TV, this is the only card in the lineup that can do that natively.

The Taichi X has a 3D metal black plate with the brand’s signature gears embedded into the surface. It’s easily the most aesthetically unique RX 5700 XT on the market. It will look great whether you choose to mount it horizontally to show off the backplate or vertically to showcase the stunning RGB display.

We have a hard time recommending any 5700 XT at this price point, however, as its retail is only $20 shy of an upgrade into 3070/2070 SUPER territory. Oddly enough, though, we found a Taichi X on a sale at NewEgg going for $409.99 at the time of writing. It certainly usurps the GIGABYTE as the best choice overall if you can find it at a price like that.

5. ASUS ROG Strix Radeon RX 5700 XT

The best RX 5700 XT for overclocking

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Manufacturer: ASUS | Memory: 8GB GDDR6 | Base Clock: 1905 MHz | Boost Clock: 2035 MHz | Price: 💰💰💰💰

The ASUS ROG Strix has been a popular aftermarket variant of many GPUs in recent years, and the RX 5700 XT is no exception.

The ROG Strix has three Axial-tech fans, which have a smaller hub that allows for longer blades and more airflow. These are mounted on a hefty 2.7 slot heatsink, which gives ample space for heat dissipation. Gamers Nexus tested it against several 5700 XTs and found this one to be the quietest under load. Dual-BIOS is included here as well. Add this to a super high boost clock, and you’ll see why it’s our pick for the best RX 5700 XT for overclocking.

On top of all that performance, the card looks great too. It has a matte black backplate with an RGB lit cutout of ASUS’s logo. In fact, their Aura Sync lighting control is connected to a full RGB display, including lighting fixtures on the bottom of the card for those who wish to mount it vertically.

6. AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT Founders Edition

The best RX 5700 XT for liquid cooling

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Manufacturer: AMD | Memory: 8GB GDDR6 | Base Clock: 1605 MHz | Boost Clock: 1905 MHz | Price: 💰💰💰

This one will throw a lot of you for a loop — a water-cooling loop, that is! The AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT reference card has been widely criticized for its odd design and the poor temperature control offered by its blower-style cooling system, but none of that matters if you’re going to rip the air cooler off and liquid cool it.

The reference card actually has one of the best PCB designs, making it ideal for liquid cooling. It’s also a natural choice since it’s one of the cheapest variations. There’s no point in spending money on an aftermarket cooling system you aren’t going to use after all. They can be difficult to find now, but it’s always worth a look.

• USERS LIKE

• Affordable
• Easy to open
• Good PCB design

• USERS DISLIKE

• Odd design
• Hard to find
• Bad cooling system

7. ASRock Radeon RX 5700 XT Phantom Gaming Elite

The best cheap RX 5700 XT

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Manufacturer: ASRock | Memory: 8GB GDDR6 | Base Clock: 1690 MHz | Boost Clock: 1945 MHz | Price: 💰💰💰

Looking to get an RX 5700 XT and spend as little money as possible in the process? The ASRock Phantom Gaming Elite just might be the card for you. This thing has a surprising number of features for a card that’s priced so low.

Does it have the best cooling solution? No, but it has three fans sitting on top of a 2.7 slot heatsink, which is a lot better than what the reference cards have. It looks better than you’d expect as well. It even has a metal backplate and RGB! Again, it’s not the most stylish one on this list, but it sure beats raw PCB.

It’s still an RX 5700 XT at the end of the day, and that’s what’s most important. You won’t find a better one at this price.

8. PowerColor Red Dragon Radeon RX 5700 XT

The best SFF RX 5700 XT

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Manufacturer: PowerColor | Memory: 8GB GDDR6 | Base Clock: 1650 MHz | Boost Clock: 1905 MHz | Price: 💰💰💰

All these triple-fan cooling solutions are great for people with full towers and ATX cases. The SFF crowd might need something a little smaller, though. The PowerColor Red Dragon is compact and affordable.

It has two 100mm fans that are remarkably quiet for such a small card. The heatsink isn’t as thick as some cards, but it does offer full coverage, which gives it surprisingly efficient cooling. Dual-BIOS is always a plus, and once again, we have a simple, black, brushed metal backplate.

The Sapphire Pulse is another option to consider, but the Red Dragon is a great choice if you don’t like the Pulse, it doesn’t fit in your case, or you can’t find one at a reasonable price.

Buyer’s Guide: Best AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT Graphics Cards

Let’s go over the essential considerations when choosing an RX 5700 XT.

1. Price

Finding the best RX 5700 XT for your budget is the top priority. Don’t be swayed by more expensive tech if it’s going to force you to cut corners elsewhere. Likewise, don’t skimp out on your GPU to get a fancier SSD. An unbalanced build is just performance left on the table.

2. Cooling

Cooling is the next crucial factor after cost. Be sure to check multiple reviews on any card you’re considering, and be wary of any complaints about the card running hot. This is doubly important if you plan on doing any overclocking. You should also keep an eye out for complaints about the amount of unwanted noise generated by the fans.

3. Size

What are the dimensions of your case? You need to make sure that there’s enough space between the slot at the back of the case and the fans at the front, especially if you’re thinking about installing a radiator.

4. Appearance

Branding is another thing to consider. Certain brands like ASUS and MSI use native RGB controlling software. You might think about matching your GPU with a same-brand motherboard to get the most out of that synchronized control. ASUS, GIGABYTE, Zotac, MSI, and EVGA are all reputable manufacturers of aftermarket GPUs.

Finally, pick the one that you think will look best in your system. Aesthetics should always be second to performance, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t consider them.

Our Process

For this guide on RX 5700 XTs, our writers spent 5 hours researching over 15 of the most popular options from brands big and small. After comparing this data, we read over 100 user reviews and narrowed our list down to the top 8 RX 5700 XTs on the market. All of this research adds up to recommendations you can trust.

We hope you’ve found the perfect model for your setup. 

Happy gaming! 

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