AMD Radeon RX 580

The AMD Radeon RX 580, built on the Polaris 20 chip and GCN 4.0 architecture, occupies a peculiar position in the benchmark database. Its average benchmark score of 13559 places it at the 53rd percentile of all GPUs, a dead-center ranking that suggests a card defined by equilibrium rather than extremes. The data reveals a product that was competitive at its 2017 launch and remains a functional, if unspectacular, participant in modern workloads, though its end-of-life production status signals that its era has passed.

Memory Subsystem

The RX 580 ships with 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s. The memory clock runs at 2000 MHz, translating to 8 Gbps effective. This configuration provides a balanced memory pipeline that was generous for its time and remains adequate for contemporary 1080p gaming. The 256-bit bus width is particularly relevant for high-resolution textures, as it allows the card to move large amounts of data without becoming a bottleneck. At 1440p, the 8 GB capacity handles most current titles at medium to high settings, though the 256.0 GB/s bandwidth may struggle with extreme texture packs or heavily modded games that exceed the frame buffer's comfortable envelope. The pixel rate of 42.88 GPixel/s and texture rate of 193.0 GTexel/s further indicate a card designed for steady, predictable throughput rather than bursty performance. For users considering this card today, the memory subsystem is its most durable asset, outlasting the compute capabilities that have aged more visibly.

Ray Tracing and Feature Set

The RX 580 does not include dedicated ray tracing cores or tensor cores; the FACT PACK lists these fields as null. Instead, it relies on 2304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs to execute all graphics work. This means ray tracing, where supported, is handled through compute shaders rather than specialized hardware, resulting in performance that is functional but not competitive with dedicated RT implementations. The card supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3, covering the essential API surface for modern games. The Vulkan 1.3 support is noteworthy, as it enables access to current cross-platform titles and some recent releases that have optimized for this API. The FP32 compute rating of 6.175 TFLOPS, with FP16 at the same 1:1 ratio, provides a baseline for non-graphics workloads, though the absence of accelerated FP16 or tensor operations limits its appeal for machine learning tasks. Display outputs include 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, which supports multi-monitor setups and high refresh rates at 1080p, though HDMI 2.0b caps 4K output at 60 Hz without variable refresh rate over HDMI.

Power and Cooling

The RX 580 carries a TDP of 185 W and requires a single 8-pin power connector. The suggested PSU is 450 W, which is modest by modern standards and allows installation in systems with mid-range power supplies. The card is dual-slot and measures 241 mm (9.5 inches) in length, making it compatible with most mid-tower cases. The 14 nm process node, manufactured by GlobalFoundries, yields a die size of 232 mm² with 5,700 million transistors, resulting in a transistor density of 24.6M per mm². This architecture is not power-efficient by current norms, but the 185 W envelope is manageable with a capable air cooler. Users upgrading from older systems should verify that their power supply has the necessary 8-pin connector, as adapters from 6-pin configurations may not provide adequate stability under sustained load. The thermal design appears to prioritize consistent clock maintenance at 1257 MHz base and 1340 MHz boost, and the data suggests that power delivery is not a limiting factor for the card's real-world performance.

How It Compares

The nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570, which posts an average score of 13564, a delta of 0% relative to the RX 580's 13559. This is a statistical tie, indicating that the two cards perform identically in aggregate benchmarks. The GTX 570 is a much older architecture, so this parity speaks to the RX 580's longevity rather than the GTX 570's strength.

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950 sits just below with an average score of 13549, a delta of 0.1% behind the RX 580. This negligible difference means the two cards are effectively interchangeable in performance, though the RX 580's 8 GB memory gives it a clear advantage in texture-heavy scenarios that the GTX 950's smaller frame buffer cannot handle.

The AMD Radeon Pro 455 trails at 13416, a 1.1% deficit. This professional-grade card is designed for stability and certification rather than raw speed, so the RX 580's slight edge is expected. The Pro 455 may offer better driver support for content creation, but the RX 580 wins on pure throughput.

The NVIDIA P106-090 leads the group with an average score of 13716, putting the RX 580 1.1% behind. The P106-090 is a mining-focused card without display outputs, so its benchmark lead is largely academic for gamers. Still, the data shows that the RX 580 sits in a tight cluster where no rival manages to separate itself by more than a couple of percentage points.

Benchmark Performance

The benchmark results paint a picture of consistent, mid-range performance across different testing methodologies. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, the RX 580 scores 1005, which is a modest result for a modern DirectX 12 workload. This low absolute number suggests that the card is not optimized for the latest rendering techniques that stress geometry and async compute. In contrast, Geekbench scores are substantially higher: 52176 in Metal, 37453 in OpenCL, and 45173 in Vulkan. The Vulkan score being higher than OpenCL indicates that the GCN architecture responds well to low-level API access, which is a positive sign for gamers playing Vulkan-based titles. The Metal score, which is nearly 40% higher than OpenCL, suggests that the card performs better in Apple's graphics stack, though this is of limited relevance to PC users. PassMark scores show a different pattern: DirectX 9 at 124 is the highest of the DX tests, while DirectX 10 at 46, DirectX 11 at 60, and DirectX 12 at 43 are all significantly lower. This regression from older to newer APIs is typical for GCN hardware, which was designed before the era of explicit multi-adapter and advanced DX12 features. The PassMark G3D score of 8813 and GPU Compute score of 3488 confirm that the card's overall graphical performance is above average, but its compute capabilities are more modest. The average benchmark score of 13559, when compared to the nearest rivals, shows a delta of 0% against the GTX 570, 0.1% against the GTX 950, 1.1% against the Radeon Pro 455, and -1.1% against the P106-090. These tiny margins indicate that the RX 580 is the definition of a mid-pack card, neither leading nor lagging its peers by any meaningful degree.

Who Should Consider It

The RX 580's 53rd percentile ranking and its benchmark profile suggest a card that is best suited for 1080p gaming at medium to high settings. The 8 GB memory is the key differentiator, allowing it to handle modern textures that would exceed the VRAM of its rivals with smaller frame buffers. For 1440p, the card can manage older titles or esports games at high refresh rates, but the 256.0 GB/s bandwidth and 6.175 TFLOPS FP32 performance will struggle with recent AAA releases at high settings. The DirectX 12 score of 43 in PassMark indicates that the card is not well-equipped for the latest DX12-only titles, so users who prioritize new releases should look elsewhere. Conversely, the strong Vulkan score of 45173 in Geekbench suggests that Vulkan-based games, such as many cross-platform titles, will run surprisingly well. The card's 185 W TDP and 450 W PSU requirement make it an easy drop-in for existing systems with adequate power, and the 241 mm length fits most cases. Gamers on a strict 1080p budget who play a mix of older and Vulkan-optimized titles, or who need 8 GB of VRAM for texture-heavy mods, will find the RX 580 adequate. Those seeking ray tracing, high-end 1440p performance, or future-proofing for DX12-heavy workloads should not consider this card, as the data clearly shows its limitations in those areas.

FAQ

Q: How much VRAM does the AMD Radeon RX 580 have?

A: The RX 580 has 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth.

Q: Does the RX 580 support hardware ray tracing?

A: No, the RX 580 does not have dedicated ray tracing cores. It relies on its 2304 shading units for compute-based rendering.

Q: What power supply is recommended for the RX 580?

A: The suggested PSU is 450 W, and the card requires a single 8-pin power connector. The TDP is 185 W.

Q: How does the RX 580 compare to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950?

A: The RX 580's average benchmark score of 13559 is 0.1% higher than the GTX 950's 13549, making them effectively equal in performance.

Q: What APIs does the RX 580 support?

A: The card supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3.

Q: Is the RX 580 suitable for 1440p gaming?

A: The data suggests it can handle 1440p for older titles or esports games, but its 256.0 GB/s bandwidth and 6.175 TFLOPS FP32 performance will limit recent AAA games at high settings.