AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT unveiled – midrange with 6GB of graphics memory

AMD’s processor architecture Zen 2 and associated processors have shaken up the market considerably and are in serious competition with Intel’s products, in terms of both price and performance. On the graphics card front, the same success story does not really prevail, but the Navi-based Radeon RX 5000 series has now seriously entered lower price ranges.

►Test: Gigabyte Radeon RX 5500 XT Gaming OC – sensible performance at a premium

SweClocker’s tests of the Radeon RX 5500 XT show that the card offers decent performance, but at a high price tag. Under the hood houses the small graphics circuit Navi 14, which means that both performance is well below the big siblings Radeon RX 5700 and RX 5700 XT. Well-reputed Igor’s Lab now believes that the gap can be filled with a new card as early as the beginning of 2020.

Specifically, this applies to the model Radeon RX 5600 XT, which was previously listed in databases but otherwise flew under the radar. Igor Wallossek writes that data from a Chinese graphics card manufacturer and sources at AMD’s partner manufacturers point in the same direction: the RX 5600 XT is an upcoming product and is basically a scaled-down variant of the Navi 10 circuit.

Reusing the already established circuit is said to be a step towards achieving cheaper graphics cards, as existing circuit boards and cooling solutions can be used. Another economic aspect is that circuits that are not suitable for the Radeon RX 5700 and the XT variant, can instead be used for the newcomer. According to Wallossek, the scaled-down Navi 10 probably means that a quarter of the circuit will be shut down.

This means that the Radeon RX 5600 XT gets 1,920 stream processors, 120 texture units and 48 raster units. In addition, the memory support drops to 6 GB – a level that is lower than for both the RX 5700 duo and the more expensive version of the RX 5500 XT. With three quarters of the Navi 10 circuit intact, the RX 5600 XT should offer about 75 percent of the performance of the RX 5700 XT, provided the clock frequencies are at the same levels.

In conclusion, Wallossek writes that much points to a launch during week 3 in 2020, which thus runs between 13 and 19 January. The large annual technology fair Consumer Electronics Show (CES) kicks off on January 7, ending on the 10th. If the information about the launch is correct, it is likely that more information will emerge during CES 2020.

Read SweClocker’s latest tests of the Navi family: