ASUS Radeon RX 5600 XT TUF Gaming X3 EVO OC 6GB Review

Today we are (finally) publishing our review of AMD’s latest Radeon RX 5700 XT graphics card, dubbed as the “ultimate 1080p graphics card” by AMD. This launch was somewhat a roller coaster ride. Other media consider it as “messy” release or “AMD jebaited themselves”. I’ll discuss more on this in the review. But for now, let’s check out the new Asus TUF Gaming X3 Radeon RX 5600 XT EVO (TUF 3-RX5600XT-O6G-EVO-GAMING); I wish company would name their products simpler or give them shorter names. Anyway, it’s one of the company’s RX 5600 XT and the more affordable option than Asus’ ROG Strix lineup. Let’s find out if this graphics card is really the ultimate 1080p gaming graphics card in the market, and if you should buy one. Please continue reading our Radeon RX 5600 XT review below, featuring Asus’ TUF Gaming X3 EVO graphics card.

AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT Review – Featuring ASUS TUF Gaming X3 EVO

At CES 2020, AMD announced their latest graphics card, the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT, dubbed as the ultimate 1080p gaming graphics card. It’s a graphics card originally intended to compete with NVIDIA’s GTX 1660 Super and GTX 1660 Ti graphics card.

However, several days after AMD’s announcement of the said graphics card; NVIDIA suddenly dropped the price of their GeForce RTX 2060 Founders Edition graphics card from $349 to $299 USD. This effectively made the RTX 2060 more attractive, since it’s just $20 more from the base price of the RX 5600 XT. Not to mention, the better variants of the RX 5600 XT from AIB partners are expected to be priced around $300+ USD.

During, AMD’s presentation, they said that the RX 5600 XT outperformed the GTX 1660 Ti and the GTX 1660 Super; both cards comes with a starting retail price of $230 USD and $280 USD respectively. NVIDIA had to counter this, and dropping the price of the RTX 2060 was the result. However, this move resulted in killing the GTX 1660 Ti in the process, both by the RX 5600 XT and the RTX 2060.

To counter NVIDIA’s move, AMD decided not to adjust the price of the RX 5600 XT; but instead they released a new vBIOS in the very last minute. That’s why some reviews are late since the graphics cards have to be flashed with the new vBIOS and test them again.

While the new vBIOS increased the clocks speeds and memory speed (in some models), thus increasing the performance of some RX 5600 XT making it more competitive; it also resulted to some issues and concerns. First, by doing this, it made the performance of the RX 5600 XT fast enough to be near the performance of the RX 5700. This made the RX 5700 bad in terms of value and somehow effectively killing that graphics card. Now, it’s either you buy an RX 5600 XT or an RX 5700 XT.

Second, users should never do a vBIOS update or flash their graphics card with a new BIOS if there is nothing wrong with the product. There are some cases that it is really important to flash the BIOS of a graphics card; but if the card is working perfectly fine and it doesn’t have any problems at all, users should not flash them. Why? Because flashing a vBIOS is risky. Although the process is easy, flashing it is very risky. You could potentially brick the graphics card. A corrupted vBIOS file, or a sudden power outage, or wrong BIOS file and etc, could potentially brick the graphics card.

Another issue that surfaced is the first batch of RX 5600 XT are already in warehouses or perhaps store shelves. This means, they are still carrying the old BIOS and users may wonder why their RX 5600 XT were performing slow. Thus, users need to flash the BIOS; but would have to deal with the potential risk of flashing the BIOS.

On top of that, it turns out that not all RX 5600 XT can be flashed with higher clock speed and memory speeds. The GDDR6 memory on these RX 5600 XT were not rated to run at 14Gbps, but could easily do 12Gbps. Like in our unit, the TUF Gaming X3 Radeon RX 5600 XT EVO, after flashing its BIOS only the clock speed increased. The memory speed remained 12Gbps. According to Asus, only the ASUS ROG STRIX TOP model will have a memory speed of 14Gbps; the rest will have 12Gbps.

This basically means that some RX 5600 XT in the market will have the original stock BIOS with stock speeds. Then there are some RX 5600 XT that will have a higher clock speed but only 12Gbps memory speed. And finally, there are some RX 5600 XT (most probably only the higher-end 5600 XT) that will have a higher clock speed and faster memory speed.

That’s why if ever you decide to buy an RX 5600 XT, be sure to check out the reviews and their specs meticulously to ensure that you are buying the “better” variant of the RX 5600 XT. I’ll write a separate article listing all the RX 5600 XT graphics cards, so that you’ll know which one are fast and which are not. For now, let’s take a look at the Asus TUF Gaming X3 Radeon RX 5600 XT EVO and see how this card performs.

Asus TUF Gaming X3 Radeon RX 5600 XT EVO Specifications

Closer Look at the Asus Radeon RX 5600 XT TUF Gaming X3 EVO

The Asus Radeon RX 5600 XT TUG Gaming X3 EVO has a very familiar AMD-Radeon-themed box. You get the red logo with the name of the product; a photo of the graphics card at the front portion and some features of the graphics card at the back.

The TUF series is Asus’ cheaper or close to reference model graphics card. But it does feature a tri-fan design with a beefy heat sink underneath. I’m not worried too much about the capability of the TUF’s cooler to cool its GPU; what I am worried about is the memory.

It was discovered that Asus’ RX 5700 XT ROG Strix and TUF has a poor implementation of their cooler, specifically in cooling the GDDR6 memory. So, I’m not sure if Asus addressed the issue in the RX 5600 XT and fixed it or not. We will find out on our temperature test later in this review.

The RX 5600 XT TUF features axial-tech fans with dual ball bearing that are very silent, increased downward air pressure and can last longer than traditional GPU fans. It also features 0dB technology where the fans do not run until the GPU reaches a certain temperature. This results in a dead silent operation during idle to light load situations.

Technically speaking, RGB lighting is not present in this graphics card. But there is a small LED strip on the side-front section that cannot be controlled. The color is fixed to a Blue to Purple gradient. I’m not sure why they need to put it there, I think they should have made the line longer or no lighting at all. It looks off in my opinion and doesn’t match with the color scheme of the graphics card.

It does have a protective backplate and I think it’s metal. The RX 5600 XT TUF Gaming X3 EVO has a 2.7-slot design and it’s quite a big with a measurement of 282.6mm x 128.5mm x 53.8mm. According to Asus, this graphics card has passed a 144-hour validation program that puts cards “through a series of stringent tests to ensure compatibility with the latest games”.

Test Setup For Asus RX 5600 XT TUF X3

I tested the ASUS TUF Gaming X3 Radeon RX 5600 XT EVO on an MSI MEG Z390 ACE motherboard powered with an Intel Core i7-8700K overclocked to 4.9GHz. The rest of the specifications of the system are as follows:

Operating System: Windows 10 Pro 64bit ver. 1903
Motherboard: MSI MEG Z390 ACE
Processor: Intel Core i7-8700K
CPU Cooler: SilverStone PF240 AIO
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Elite DDR-4000 16GB
Graphics card: ASUS TUF Gaming X3 Radeon RX 5600 XT EVO OC 6GB
Storage Drives: Samsung 970 EVO Plus NVMe SSD, Crucial MX500 2TB
Power Supply: Seasonic 850W Prime Titanium
Chassis: Thermaltake Core P5

The test will be a bit different compared to our other graphics cards review. Since AMD released a new vBIOS for the RX 5600 XT, I will include the test results that I got before I flashed the Asus RX 5600 XT TUF and after I flashed its vBIOS. So, there will be two results in the benchmark graphs below.

I am also using the Radeon Software Adrenalin 2020 edition 20.1.3 for Windows 10 64bit. The graphics card was tested in two gaming resolutions – 1920×1080 FHD and 2560×1440 WQHD. The RX 5600 XT is intended for 1080p gaming, so let’s see how good (or not) this graphics card is at 1080p.

For the synthetic benchmarks, I used the benchmark tools from 3DMark. I also used the following games to test the RX 5600 XT TUF graphics card: Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Final Fantasy XV Windows Edition, Ghost Recon: Wildlands, Metro Exodus, Middle Earth Shadow of War, Monster Hunter World, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, and The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt.

There are two GPUz and GPGPU screenshots of the RX 5600 XT TUF below. The one on the left-hand side has the new vBIOS and the one on the right-hand side has the old BIOS.

Noise and Temperature

Screenshot on the left-hand side has the new vBIOS while the one on the right-hand side has the old vBIOS. The Asus RX 5600 XT TUF Gaming X3 EVO OC is a very silent graphics card. It’s basically dead silent during idle to light load situations where the fans do not run or spin at all. The temperature is around 48° Celsius with the old BIOS and around 49° Celsius with the new BIOS. The new vBIOS update didn’t seem to have a significant impact on the graphics cards temperature. Well, that’s great news. But how about during full load?

Again, screenshot on the left-hand side (or the first one) has the new vBIOS and the other one has the old vBIOS. At full load the Asus RX 5600 XT TUF’s temperature was just hovering around 60° Celsius, with its hotspot at around 66° Celsius. After applying the new vBIOS, the full load temperature went up to 62° Celsius and its hot spot at around 69° Celsius. It’s not a huge increase on the GPU temperature and the card is generally silent with its fans running at around 1200-1300 RPM. The fans are a bit audible but are not loud or obnoxious. If you’re using a close case setup, you probably won’t hear the fans.

One of my main concern with this graphics card is its memory temperature. I haven’t opened the graphics card yet, but it looks like they fixed or at least addressed the issue. Looking at the sides of the graphics card, it looks like the GDDR6 memory are passively cooled by a plate; and there are thermal pads as well. I’m getting around 84° Celsius with the old vBIOS and around 86° Celsius with the new vBIOS. That’s a little hot but at least it didn’t reach 90°+ Celsius. GDDR6 memory has an operating temperature of around 0C to +95° Celsius, so it’s still within the safe operating temperature.

Now time to see how the RX 5600 XT TUF Gaming X3 and if it really outperforms NVIDIA’s GTX 1660 series graphics cards or not.

Asus RX 5600XT TUF X3 Synthetic Benchmark Results

First, let’s check out the results we got with the synthetic benchmarks. Some of you might not be interested in synthetic benchmarks, but there are others who would like to see them. This also gives us an idea of the general performance of the ASUS TUF Gaming X3 Radeon RX 5600 XT EVO graphics card and its standing.

For the synthetic benchmark results, I include 3DMark Fire Strike, 3DMark Fire Strike Extreme, 3DMark Fire Strike Ultra, 3DMark Time Spy and 3DMark Time Spy Extreme. Below are the results I got with both the old vBIOS and the new vBIOS.

As you can see from the benchmark results above, there is an improvement from the old vBIOS to the new one. The increase isn’t that significant at all, perhaps because only the clock speeds were increased and the memory remained at 12Gbps. Nevertheless, the increase seemed to be consistent; except in Time Spy Extreme where the increase is just 38 points.

However, the Asus RX 5600 XT TUF Gaming X3 does outperform the GTX 1660 Super and GTX 1660 Ti. It even outperformed the RTX 2060 Founders Edition on the Fire Strike benchmarks. But the RTX 2060 was a bit faster in Time Spy (Extreme), which is a DX12 benchmark test. Now let’s check out some game benchmarks.

Asus RX 5600XT TUF X3 1080p Game Benchmark Results

The Radeon RX 5600 XT is mainly a 1080p graphics card. Most of the gamers are still using this resolution; so, AMD is hoping to win the gamers with their RX 5600 XT graphics card.

Below are the game benchmarks results I got with the Asus RX 5600 XT TUF Gaming X3:

At 1080p, the Asus TUF Gaming X3 RX 5600 XT performed quite well. It’s not an all-win for the RX 5600 XT since it didn’t outperform the GTX 1660 series on Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and Final Fantasy XV. However, in most game titles, the RX 5600 XT with the new vBIOS outperformed the GTX 1660 Ti and GTX 1660 Super. It even outperformed the RTX 2060 Founders Edition; it was only in Monster Hunter World and The Witcher 3 where the RTX 2060 was faster than the RX 5600 XT.

No wonder NVIDIA decided to drop the price on the RTX 2060. They probably knew that the RX 5600 XT would outperform the GTX 1660 series lineup. However, AMD might have not anticipated NVIDIA’s move to drop the price on the RTX 2060. And that really caused some problems for AMD. Anyway, let’s check out how it performs in 1440p gaming resolution.

Asus RX 5600XT TUF X3 1440p Game Benchmark Results

1440p isn’t the target gaming resolution of the RX 5600 XT. That’s the job of the Radeon RX 5700 XT instead. However, it doesn’t mean you can’t play at 1440p with the RX 5600 XT. The gaming experience may not be as smooth compared to with an RX 5700 XT. But if you lower the graphics settings, you may be able to get a more playable or higher frame rate. Below are the results I got with the Asus RX 5600 XT TUF Gaming X3 at 2560×1440 resolution.

The results didn’t change much, the RX 5600 XT is still generally faster than the GTX 1660 Ti and GTX 1660 Super. But the GTX cards are still faster on Final Fantasy XV. I bet; we’d get even better results if the memory was also increased to 14Gbps. Unfortunately, like I said earlier, not all RX 5600 XT would be able to achieve 14Gbps memory speed. Only the higher-end RX 5600 XT with cherry picked components will come with a higher clock speed and faster memory speed.

Pricing and Availability

Asus TUF Gaming X3 Radeon RX 5600 XT EVO OC is now available in the US. The base price for the RX 5600 XT is $279 USD. However, the Asus graphics card are usually more expensive, so I expect it is going to be above $300 USD. They are on the more expensive side, but you know, it’s Asus.

AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT Review Conclusion

Time to wrap up this review, let’s talk about the performance first. Does the RX 5600 XT deliver? Is it a good or great 1080p gaming graphics card? I believe you have seen the numbers on the benchmark graphs and the answer is yes. The RX 5600 XT is fast and was able to beat the GTX 1660 Ti and GTX 1660 Super easily. It even outperforms the RTX 2060 Founders Edition, surpassing it depending on the game.

It’s a clear win for the RX 5600 XT against the GTX 1660 series, and it is trading blows with the RTX 2060. So generally speaking, it is a good solid 1080p gaming graphics card. Take note that I am talking about its performance with the new vBIOS. Without the new vBIOS or the increased performance, the RX 5600 XT might be having a hard time competing with the RTX 2060.

So, should you get an RX 5600 XT for your 1080p gaming monitor? Well, it depends actually. There are several factors that you need to consider. If you are an AMD fan and you simply want a Radeon RX graphics card for your gaming PC, then go for it. If you want something faster then get the RX 5700 XT instead.

However, if you are not loyal to a particular brand and you need to weigh in the pros and cons then it’s a bit complicated. The NVIDIA RTX 2060 Founders Edition, including EVGA’s RTX 2060 KO currently retails for $299 USD. If you like NVIDIA’s set of features like Turing, NVENC encoder, more stable or mature drivers, and most of the games you play usually perform better with an NVIDIA graphics card; then I think you already know the answer to your question. Yeah, RTX is also a thing on the 2060 but the graphics card isn’t powerful enough for real-time ray tracing to be honest.

By the way, all AMD graphics card (at this time) do not feature real-time ray tracing or a similar technology. The upcoming Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 consoles (both powered by AMD hardware) are said to feature real-time ray tracing. This means, future games will more or less feature ray tracing in one form or another. I’m not sure if AMD will enable a similar feature on their existing Navi GPUs in the near future; but it is expected that ray tracing is one of the features in AMD’s upcoming RDNA 2 later this year.

On the other hand, the RX 5600 XT is generally faster or at least on par with the RTX 2060. If you can get an RX 5600 XT below $300 then that’s great. But you need to make sure that you are getting the right or faster RX 5600 XT; the one that comes with a BIOS update or at least has a BIOS update. Like I said, not all RX 5600 XT are the same. Which is why this launch is a bit messy.

The first batch of the RX 5600 XT is expected to come with the old BIOS. Users will have to flash the graphics card; and it involves a certain risk like I mentioned earlier. Second, not all RX 5600 XT can be flashed with a faster 14Gbps memory. This means that some RX 5600 XT will be faster than the other. In this case, the Asus RX 5600 XT TUF Gaming X3 features a faster GPU clock speed after flashing its vBIOS; but its memory speed remained 12Gbps. The Asus ROG RX 5600 XT STRIX TOP (ROG-STRIX-RX5600XT-T6G-GAMING) graphics card will feature a 14Gbps memory. The TUF and STRIX OC will only have 12Gbps of memory.

Asus’ graphics cards are usually more expensive compared to the competition. At $320 retail for the TUF variant and $340 for the ROG Strix, you can get an RTX 2060 (overclocked edition) at this price. Though, an Asus RTX 2060 is usually more expensive; starting at $340 to $400+ retail depending on the model or SKU. So, I would leave the decision whether you go for an Asus graphics card or not.

If you do decide to get an Asus graphics card, the Asus TUF Gaming X3 RX 5600 XT EVO OC is a good place to start. I wouldn’t bother with the Strix OC since it only has a 12Gbps memory speed for a higher price. I would rather point you to get the STRIX TOP with 14Gbps of memory speed instead, if you have the budget. The ROG Strix cooler does look better though, even if it’s the same old cooler design they used since GTX 10 series a few years ago. I hope with the upcoming graphics cards this year, Asus will have a new and fresh design instead.

Competition is a good, good for us consumers. As we can see here, NVIDIA was forced to drop the price of the RTX 2060. AMD has also done a good job with their RX 5600 XT; it is good enough to force NVIDIA to drop their price. Though, I think AMD was not anticipating NVIDIA’s move to drop the price of the RTX 2060. And I think AMD should have just released the RX 5600 XT with faster clock settings and unlock its full potential in the first place. Although, that would endanger the sales of the RX 5700. But at this point the RX 5700 (non-XT) is no longer a good option anymore, thanks to the cheaper RX 5600 XT.

Finally, if you really need a graphics card for your 1080p monitor now, I think the RX 5600 XT is not a bad choice at all.