Sapphire RX 5500 XT Pulse 4GB Review

1. Introduction2. Sapphire RX 5500 XT Pulse 4GB3. Testing Methodology4. 3DMark Fire Strike & Time Spy (1080p, 1440p, 4K)5. Battlefield V (1080p, 1440p, 4K)6. The Division 2 (1080p, 1440p, 4K)7. F1 2019 (1080p, 1440p, 4K)8. Far Cry New Dawn (1080p, 1440p, 4K)9. Gears 5 (1080p, 1440p, 4K)10. Ghost Recon: Wildlands (1080p, 1440p, 4K)11. Metro Exodus (1080p, 1440p, 4K)12. Middle Earth: Shadow of War (1080p, 1440p, 4K)13. Shadow of the Tomb Raider (1080p, 1440p, 4K)14. Total War: Three Kingdoms (1080p, 1440p, 4K)15. Clock Speed16. Temperatures17. Acoustics18. Power Consumption19. Overclocking20. Closing Thoughts21. View All Pages

Our newest GPU test procedure has been built with the intention of benchmarking high-end graphics cards. We test at 1920×1080 (1080p), 2560×1440 (1440p), and 3840×2160 (4K UHD) resolutions.

We try to test using the DX12 API if titles offer support. This gives us an interpretation into the graphics card performance hierarchy in the present time and the near future, when DX12 becomes more prevalent. After all, graphics cards of this expense may stay in a gamer’s system for a number of product generations/years before being upgraded.

We tested the RX Vega64 and Vega56 using the ‘Turbo‘ power mode in AMD’s WattMan software. This prioritises all-out performance over power efficiency, noise output, and lower thermals.

Driver Notes

• All AMD graphics cards (except RX 5500 XT) were benchmarked with the Adrenalin 19.9.2 driver.
• RX 5500 XT graphics card were benchmarked with the Adrenalin 19.12.2 driver supplied to press ahead of launch.
• All Nvidia graphics cards (except 1650/1660 SUPER) were benchmarked with the Nvidia 436.48 driver.
• All GTX 1660 SUPER graphics cards were benchmarked with the Nvidia 441.07 driver supplied to press ahead of launch.
• GTX 1650 SUPER was benchmarked with the Nvidia 441.20 public driver.

Test System

We test using the Overclockers UK Germanium pre-built system, though it has been re-housed into an open-air test bench. You can read more about it over HERE.

CPU	Intel Core i7-8700K Overclocked to 5.0GHz
Motherboard	ASUS ROG Strix Z370-F Gaming
Memory	Team Group Dark Hawk RGB 16GB (2x8GB) @ 3200MHz 16-18-18-38
Graphics Card	Varies
System Drive	Samsung 960 EVO 500GB
Games Drive	Kingston UV500 960GB
Chassis	Streacom ST-BC1 Bench
CPU Cooler	OCUK TechLabs 240mm AIO
Power Supply	Corsair AX1500i 80+ Titanium PSU
Operating System	Windows 10 1903

Comparison Graphics Cards List

• PNY RTX 2080 Ti XLR8 Gaming 11GB
• Nvidia RTX 2080 Ti Founders Edition (FE) 11GB
• Nvidia RTX 2080 SUPER Founders Edition (FE) 8GB
• Nvidia RTX 2070 SUPER Founders Edition (FE) 8GB
• Nvidia RTX 2060 SUPER Founders Edition (FE) 8GB
• Nvidia RTX 2060 Founders Edition (FE) 6GB
• Gigabyte GTX 1660 Ti OC 6G
• EVGA GTX 1660 SUPER SC Ultra 6GB
• Gigabyte GTX 1660 SUPER Gaming OC 6G
• Palit GTX 1660 SUPER GamingPro OC 6GB
• Gigabyte GTX 1660 Gaming OC 6G
• ASUS ROG Strix GTX 1650 SUPER 6GB
• Palit GTX 1650 StormX OC 4GB
• Nvidia GTX 1060 Founders Edition (FE) 6GB
• AMD RX 5700 XT 8GB
• ASRock RX 5700 XT Taichi X OC+ 8GB
• PowerColor RX 5700 XT Red Devil 8GB
• Sapphire RX 5700 XT Nitro+ 8GB
• ASUS RX 5700 TUF Gaming X3 8GB
• AMD RX 5700 8GB
• AMD Radeon VII 16GB
• AMD RX Vega 64 Air 8GB
• AMD RX Vega 56 8GB
• Sapphire RX 590 Nitro+ SE 8GB
• Sapphire RX 580 Pulse 8GB
• ASUS RX 570 ROG Strix Gaming OC 4GB

Software and Games List

• 3DMark Fire Strike & Fire Strike Ultra (DX11 Synthetic)
• 3DMark Time Spy (DX12 Synthetic)
• Battlefield V (DX12)
• The Division 2 (DX11)
• F1 2019 (DX12)
• Far Cry New Dawn (DX11)
• Gears 5 (DX12)
• Ghost Recon: Wildlands (DX11)
• Metro: Exodus (DX12)
• Middle Earth: Shadow of War (DX11)
• Shadow of the Tomb Raider (DX12)
• Total War: Three Kingdoms (DX11)

We run each benchmark/game three times, and present averages in our graphs.

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