AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT 50th Anniversary

The AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT 50th Anniversary is a 7nm RDNA 1.0 GPU built on the Navi 10 chip, with 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs. It runs at a base clock of 1680 MHz, a game clock of 1830 MHz, and a boost clock of 1980 MHz, paired with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its average benchmark score stands at 26403, placing it in the 71st percentile of all GPUs. The card launched with a launch MSRP of 449 USD.

Benchmark Performance

The RX 5700 XT 50th Anniversary’s average score of 26403 positions it just ahead of the AMD Radeon 860M (26401, delta 0%) and the AMD Radeon R9 M290X (26126, delta 1.1%). It trails the NVIDIA RTX A4000 (26714, delta -1.2%) by a small margin and leads the AMD Radeon R9 370X (25893, delta 2%). These deltas indicate that the card sits in a narrow performance band, with differences of only a few percentage points against its closest competitors. The 71st percentile ranking suggests it outperforms roughly seven out of ten GPUs in the benchmark database, a solid mid-to-upper tier standing.

Breaking down individual workloads, the Geekbench Metal score of 88292 is the highest recorded for this card, significantly outpacing its OpenCL (75784) and Vulkan (74150) results. This points to strong compute performance under Apple’s Metal API, though the card also handles Vulkan and OpenCL competently. In Passmark tests, the G3D score of 16437 and GPU compute score of 7923 are respectable, but the DirectX 9 (219), DirectX 10 (98), DirectX 11 (116), and DirectX 12 (66) scores show a clear regression in older API benchmarks. The DirectX 12 score being lower than DirectX 11 suggests driver optimizations may favor legacy APIs, or that the card’s architecture is better suited to compute-heavy workloads rather than specific DirectX feature sets.

The FP32 performance of 10.14 TFLOPS and FP16 of 20.28 TFLOPS (2:1 ratio) provide a theoretical compute ceiling that aligns with the observed benchmark outcomes. The texture rate of 316.8 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 126.7 GPixel/s further support the card’s ability to handle high-resolution textures and pixel shading, though the modest deltas against rivals imply that real-world performance differences are often within a few percent.

Power and Cooling

The RX 5700 XT 50th Anniversary has a TDP of 225 W, requiring a suggested PSU of 550 W. Power is delivered via a single 6-pin and a single 8-pin connector, which is typical for cards in this performance class. The dual-slot design measures 272 mm in length, 111 mm in height, and 40 mm in width, making it compatible with most standard ATX cases but potentially tight in smaller form factors. The 7nm process node from TSMC helps keep thermal density manageable, though the 10,300 million transistors on a 251 mm² die (41.0M / mm²) indicate a high-density chip that will generate significant heat under load. Users should ensure adequate case airflow and a PSU that meets the 550 W recommendation to avoid instability.

Who Should Consider It

Given its 71st percentile ranking and average score of 26403, the RX 5700 XT 50th Anniversary is best suited for gamers targeting high-refresh 1080p or smooth 1440p gameplay. The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for modern titles at these resolutions, though the card’s age and end-of-life status mean it may struggle with the most demanding recent releases at maximum settings. The 10.14 TFLOPS FP32 compute capability provides headroom for productivity tasks such as video encoding or 3D rendering, but users expecting cutting-edge ray tracing or AI acceleration will be disappointed, this card has no dedicated RT or tensor cores. It remains a viable option for budget-conscious builders who prioritize raw rasterization performance and can accept its 225 W power draw and dual-slot footprint.

FAQ

Q: What is the TDP of the RX 5700 XT 50th Anniversary?

A: The TDP is 225 W, with a suggested PSU of 550 W.

Q: What memory configuration does it use?

A: It has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth.

Q: What API support does the card offer?

A: It supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

Q: Is there dedicated ray tracing hardware?

A: No, the card lists no RT cores or tensor cores.

Q: What is the production status?

A: It is end-of-life, having been released on 2019-07-06.

Q: How does it compare to the NVIDIA RTX A4000?

A: The RX 5700 XT 50th Anniversary is 1.2% slower than the RTX A4000 based on average benchmark scores.

How It Compares

Against the AMD Radeon 860M, the RX 5700 XT 50th Anniversary is statistically identical, with a delta of 0%. Both cards average around 26400 in benchmarks, meaning users will see no meaningful performance difference between the two in most workloads. The 860M is an integrated solution, so the 50th Anniversary’s dedicated design may offer better sustained performance, but the data shows parity.

The AMD Radeon R9 M290X trails by 1.1%, with the RX 5700 XT scoring 26403 versus 26126. This is a narrow margin, but the 50th Anniversary does edge ahead. The R9 M290X is a much older mobile GPU, so the 50th Anniversary’s lead is expected given its newer architecture and higher clocks.

The NVIDIA RTX A4000 is 1.2% faster, scoring 26714. This is a professional workstation card, so the RX 5700 XT holds its own in raw compute benchmarks despite lacking the A4000’s professional features and driver optimizations. The difference is negligible in gaming scenarios.

The AMD Radeon R9 370X is 2% slower, with the 50th Anniversary leading at 26403 versus 25893. This is the largest delta among the rivals, but still a small gap. The R9 370X is a desktop card from the same era, so the 50th Anniversary’s advantage is consistent with its higher-tier positioning.

Memory Subsystem

The RX 5700 XT 50th Anniversary is equipped with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory running at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). The 256-bit memory interface yields a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s, which is ample for feeding the 10.14 TFLOPS FP32 compute throughput. This bandwidth supports high-resolution textures and high-detail settings at 1440p, though the 8 GB capacity may become a limiting factor in titles that exceed that threshold at 4K with ultra textures. The memory clock of 1750 MHz is fixed, and the card does not offer memory overclocking headroom beyond what the GDDR6 standard allows. For most users, the combination of 8 GB and 448 GB/s is well balanced for the card’s rasterization performance.

Ray Tracing and Feature Set

The RX 5700 XT 50th Anniversary has no dedicated ray tracing cores or tensor cores, as indicated by the null values in its specification. This means any ray tracing effects must be handled through compute shaders, which is generally less efficient than dedicated hardware. The card supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, covering the major graphics APIs for modern gaming. It also supports PCIe 4.0 x16, which provides ample bandwidth for data transfer, though the card’s performance is not bottlenecked by PCIe 3.0 in most scenarios. Display outputs include 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, allowing multi-monitor setups at high refresh rates. The absence of RT and tensor cores means users should not expect hardware-accelerated ray tracing or DLSS-like features; the card relies purely on conventional rendering and compute.