Everything seems to be coming up roses for AMD the past few months, much to the joy of PC end-users worn and jaded by a decade long state of technology stagnation.
AMD have managed the near impossible by beating Intel into helpless submission throughout their entire Zen CPU/APU processor range, hooray!
Now, the GPU division is gunning for Nvidia with their latest mainstream 7nm Navi effort, touting superior cost performance at 1080 gaming. And as if this was not enough, they immediately upped the value and challenge by unleashing more goodies in the form of a BIOS flash speed upgrade when a reactive Nvidia dropped prices to compete.
So now it's... 1080p and beyond?
Besides higher clocks, 7nm also means AMD is able to recommend a parsimonious mere 450W power supply for the RX5600 XT cards.
Official Website
https://www.asus.com/Graphics-Cards/ROG-STRIX-RX5600XT-O6G-GAMING/Asus ROG Strix RX5600 XT Gaming GPU
- PCI Express x16 4.0
- OC Edition: Boost Clock ~1770 MHz (OC Mode)/ ~1750 MHz (Gaming Mode)
- Axial-tech fan design features a smaller fan hub that facilitates longer blades and a barrier ring that increases downward air pressure.
- 0dB technology lets you enjoy light gaming in relative silence.
- 2.7-slot design expands cooling surface area to make the most of the three powerful Axial-tech fans.
- Dual BIOS switch lets you toggle between Quiet and Performance BIOS profiles sans software.
- Auto-Extreme Technology uses automation to enhance reliability.
- Super Alloy Power II includes premium alloy chokes, solid polymer capacitors, and an array of high-current power stages.
- MaxContact Technology allows 2X more contact with the GPU chip for improved thermal transfer.
- A reinforced frame prevents excessive torsion and lateral bending of the PCB.
- ASUS FanConnect II equips two hybrid-controlled fan 2 headers for optimal system cooling.
- Aura Sync - features Aura RGB lighting both on the shroud and backplate.
Unboxing
Simple bundle inside
Wah, very big card... and 2.7 slots thick too.
BIOS switch between P(erformance) and Q(uiet) as well as LED lights toggle switch.
Asus!!! So very nice of you to throw in an extra free round white sticker to make our lives more complicated... yet more 1st world issues to fuss over.
8+6 pin power plugs just mean serious business, the pretty white ROG logo does light up too!
More pin headers (FanConnect II) for yet more fans... yums, 5 big fat heatpipes (the 6th is not visible here)!
Rather unique ringed small hub fans to concentrate the air intake
The mosfet sink is clearly evident here
Showing off the sole HDMI 2.0b output amongst the 3 covered DisplayPort 1.4 outputs.
Wonder if there is any chance of further improving heat transfer between the bare Navi core and the heatsink (bare Alu or nickel plated?) for the restless liquid metal enthusiasts. It must be also noted the factory warranty will likely also be considered overclocked consequently. Go Google for the nice close-up shots in the TPU review.
Video
https://www.amd.com/en/graphics/amd-radeon-rx-5600-seriesBIOS Upgrade
Very straightforward and fast. Uses just a single flash update Windows application unlike some other brands. Definitely ensure your system is stable before doing any flashing.Source
https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/Graphic%20Card/ATi/ROG-STRIX-RX5600XT-O6G-GAMING/ROG-STRIX-RX5600XT-O6G-GAMING_BIOSupdate.zip
PC World report
https://www.pcworld.com/article/3516108/amd-radeon-rx-5600-xt-graphics-cards-vbios-confusion.html
* Do note that this flash upgrade is both free & optional so just ignore those attention seeking naysayers on Youtube making mountains out of molehills over this so called AMD fiasco. Simply leave it out if you are not comfortable with flashing the card or perhaps ask the distro to do it for you.
Procedure
New BIOS
P BIOS
Q BIOS
OG BIOS
Setup
Asus Strix RX5600 XT | Ryzen 3600X uv air | Asus Crosshair VI Extreme X370 | 32GB Ballistix Sports 3200@3600 | 500GB WD Black nvme | Win 10 1909The following initial tests were done using the new Q BIOS so one can expect defnite better performance with the new P BIOS with its even higher clocks. Guess I currently still subscribe more to the anti-noise/heat/dust/RGB camp.
Open ambient air, non-ac Jan 2020 weather
Special mention must be given to current state of affairs of AMD Radeon drivers.
The latest AMD Adrenalin 2020 20.1.3 driver package weighs in at an astounding 1.23GB installation folder size. It is every bit overly ambitious and painfully intrusive too. It drives, it streams, it overlays, it records, it browses, it advertises etc... and unfortunately, it forces monitoring with logging down everyone's throats. Installation desperately needs to be made more flexible offering optional modules instead of its current all or none monolithic method.
It is likely just trying too hard, anecdotally giving grief to users by being so overarching in its breadth with its twitchy instability. Once the new card drivers were installed, my previously stable system developed a random reboot problem.
A few troubleshooting steps later and the problem was narrowed down to the drivers conflict especially the monitoring portion clashing with hwinfo64 GPU monitoring. Stability immediately returned once GPU monitoring options were disabled in hwinfo64, there is no option to disable these in Adrenalin. Fortunately, Afterburner GPU monitoring seems totally OK. Everything is running great for over a week now with no obvious issues so this driver conflict is successfully circumvented for good.
Another peeve, the SSD activity LEDs have also been working overtime too since the Adrenalin drivers were installed. Too bad, there is also no option to disable sensor logging with the current AMD drivers.
Yes AMD, just fix your drivers already and kindly please spare us such pain ASAP. But software peeves aside, almost everything else is overwhelmingly positive with this card... ha!
PS: Oh, if you enjoy watching bearded guys with long flowing Shirley Temple curls spend 10 painful minutes rambling on and on about AMD drivers, try this narcissistic link - https://youtu.be/pboDbxogSw4
Daily 24/7 Sounds Of Silence
Imagine surfing on your PC with zero fan noise from the GPU yet remaining at admirably low temperatures. This pure AMD test rig is sited on the table top, running just besides me and it is near silent as the CPU maglev fans are also running quiet, sub-1K rpm.
Gears 5 Benchmark
DirectX12 only game.My current game... exploring the depth of the SP campaign in short snatches of free time. Yup, enjoying it even if this is another MS console port. (I actually end up finishing the single player campaign with the test card the day after getting it.)
Conveniently, Gears 5 features a built-in benchmark with detailed reporting and gives the GPU a nice workout too.
OK, AMD said 1080p gaming so here it's running at 1080p with max options.
Also bench tested at 2560 x 1440 resolution too as per my personal game setting.
Now also seems a good time to check out all the load temps as reported by Afterburner, every reading seems to be in good order.
Unigine Heaven 4.0 Bench
Hmm, it's been a very long time since I touched this bench so really rusty here, just maxxed out every possible setting at 1080 resolution.
GFXBench
Trying this freebie cross platform bench this 1st time around, is it any good?
VR Mark Bench
Virtual reality, anyone?Impressive score at 91st percentile but the card is just too new to be recognised by this benchmark even after installing the latest Futuremark sysinfo patch. https://www.3dmark.com/vrm/43277662
China iCafe Adrenalin 20.4.2 Drivers
Some sharp eyed Redditor found this nugget, a slimmed down driver meant for internet cafes in China. Note this is not WHQL certified and would not work properly with secure boot either.https://www.reddit.com/r/Amd/comments/gns69h/amd_radeon_driver_has_a_internet_cafe_special/
https://www.amd.com/zh-hans/support/kb/release-notes/icafe-windows-10-driver
Initial Impression
Final card score - Asus hardware is good, AMD software is meh....
- Solidly (over)built hardware- power, cooling, dual BIOS, backplate, lighting, noise reduction... yummy!
- Fantastically cool enough to run 0 rpm 24/7 when not gaming = no noise = no dust
- Free optional flash BIOS speed upgrade on Day 1 of hitting the retail world
- Powerful card at mainstream pricing with potential for even more speed hacks
In other news...
- AMD Radeon drivers continue to be a challenge
- AMD new product launches continue to be messy affairs
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