Article index
- 1 – Overview
- 2 – Gallery
- 3 – GPU information
- 4 – Benchmarks
- 4.1 – 3DMark FireStrike (1920×1080)
- 4.2 – 3DMark FireStrike Ultra (4K / 3840×2160)
- 4.3 – 3DMark TimeSpy (Direct3D 12)
- 4.4 – Unigine Superposition – 1080p Medium – Direct3D
- 4.5 – Unigine Superposition – 4K Optimized – Direct3D
- 4.6 – FurMark 1.21 (OpenGL)
- 4.7 – Rhodium LC (OpenGL)
- 5 – Burn-in Test
- 6 – Conclusion
1 – Overview
The SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 5500 XT is an entry level gaming graphics card powered by AMD Navi 14 GPU (with a 7nm RDNA architecture) packing 1408 shader cores, 88 texture units (TMUs) and 32 render output units (ROPs). This graphics card comes with core clock speed of 1737 MHz (game clock) and a memory clock speed of 1750 MHz (14 GHz effective). The card embarks 8GB of GDDR6 graphic memory and the board is cooled by a Dual-X VGA cooler (dual fan).
More marketing information can be found on SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 5500 XT homepage.
2 – Gallery
Bundle: very minimal: the graphics card and … nothing else.
The Dual X VGA cooler has two 95mm fans. At idle, the fans are stopped and the card is passive. Perfect!
Dual-X Cooling Technology
SAPPHIRE’s acclaimed Dual-X Cooling is powered by two massive yet silent fans and state-of-the-art radiator design. The streamlined form of our 95mm blades mean greater airflow and superior heatsink coverage at lower noise compared to standard cooling designs.
The PULSE RX 5500 XT is protected by a very nice backplate:
Backplate (Tough Metal Backplate)
The all-aluminum backplate provides additional rigidity that guarantees nothing bends and dust stays out. It also helps cool your card by increasing heat dissipation.
Outputs: one HDMI 2.0 (4K @ 60Hz), three DisplayPort 1.4:
BIOS switch:
Dual BIOS
Choose between performance mode or silent mode to enhance your gaming experience.
– Silent mode: GPU core clock @ 1717MHz
– Performance mode: GPU core clock @ 1737MHz
Power connector: one 8-pin power connector that allows the card to draw up to (150+75) = 225W.
3 – GPU Information
The usual GPU Caps Viewer and GPU-Z screenshots.
4 – GPU Benchmarks
| Test System | |
|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Core i7-8700K @ 3.7GHz |
| Motherboard | GIGABYTE Z390 Gaming X |
| Memory | 16GB DDR4 Corsair Vengeance LED @ 3000MHz |
| PSU | Corsair AX860i |
| Storage | Samsung 860 EVO 1GB SSD |
| OS | Windows 10 v1909 64-bit |
4.1 – 3DMark FireStrike (1920×1080)
| 22003 (graphics:28030, physics:18578, combined:9419) ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX 2080 OC 8GB – GeForce 416.94  |
| 19146 (graphics:22604, physics:18585, combined:9109) ASUS ROG Strix GeForce GTX 1080 OC 8GB – GeForce 416.94 |
| 19118 (graphics:22150, physics:18587, combined:9639) MSI GeForce RTX 2070 Ventus 8GB – GeForce 417.01 |
| 16504 (graphics:19574, physics:18586, combined:29143) MSI Radeon RX Vega 56 AIR BOOST – Adrenalin 18.11.1 |
| 16414 (graphics:18561, physics:18629, combined:8025) EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 FTW – GeForce 416.94 |
| 12248 (graphics:14084, physics:18494, combined:4931) SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 5500 XT – Adrenalin 20.01.3 |
| 11708 (graphics:13426, physics:18640, combined:4651) MSI Radeon R9 290X – Adrenalin 18.11.1 |
| 11538 (graphics:13079, physics:18534, combined:4711) EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 SC 6GB – GeForce 416.94 |
| 11075 (graphics:12839, physics:18597, combined:4201) MSI Radeon RX 470 8GB – Adrenalin 18.11.1 |
| 10292 (graphics:11368, physics:18595, combined:4325) MSI GeForce GTX 970 – GeForce 416.94 |
| 7899 (graphics:8616, physics:18629, combined:3175) MSI Radeon HD 7970 – Adrenalin 18.11.1 |
4.2 – 3DMark FireStrike Ultra (4K / 3840×2160)
| 6680 (graphics:6581, physics:18559, combined:3617) ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX 2080 OC 8GB – GeForce 416.94 |
| 5517 (graphics:5446, physics:18595, combined:2819) ASUS ROG Strix GeForce GTX 1080 OC 8GB – GeForce 416.94 |
| 5242 (graphics:5113, physics:18601, combined:2777) MSI GeForce RTX 2070 Ventus 8GB – GeForce 417.01 |
| 4634 (graphics:4654, physics:18592, combined:2148) MSI Radeon RX Vega 56 AIR BOOST – Adrenalin 18.11.1 |
| 4593 (graphics:4512, physics:18631, combined:2304) EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 FTW – GeForce 416.94 |
| 3497 (graphics:3491, physics:18493, combined:1589) SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 5500 XT – Adrenalin 20.01.3 |
| 3117 (graphics:3013, physics:18669, combined:4711) EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 SC 6GB – GeForce 416.94 |
| 2869 (graphics:2830, physics:18652, combined:1325) MSI Radeon RX 470 8GB – Adrenalin 18.11.1 |
| 2681 (graphics:2594, physics:18622, combined:1321) MSI GeForce GTX 970 – GeForce 416.94 |
4.3 – 3DMark TimeSpy (Direct3D 12)
| 10028 (graphics:10725, cpu:7330) ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX 2080 OC 8GB – GeForce 416.94 |
| 8252 (graphics:8461, cpu:7239) MSI GeForce RTX 2070 Ventus 8GB – GeForce 417.01 |
| 7524 (graphics:7562, cpu:7316) ASUS ROG Strix GeForce GTX 1080 OC 8GB – GeForce 416.94 |
| 6284 (graphics:6144, cpu:7218) MSI Radeon RX Vega 56 AIR BOOST – Adrenalin 18.11.1 |
| 6284 (graphics:6131, cpu:7324) EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 FTW – GeForce 416.94 |
| 5033 (graphics:4776, cpu:7242) SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 5500 XT – Adrenalin 20.01.3 |
| 4524 (graphics:4244, cpu:7239) EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 SC 6GB – GeForce 416.94 |
| 4259 (graphics:3966, cpu:7338) MSI Radeon R9 290X – Adrenalin 18.11.1 |
| 3957 (graphics:3660, cpu:7330) MSI Radeon RX 470 8GB – Adrenalin 18.11.1 |
| 3814 (graphics:3515, cpu:7368) MSI GeForce GTX 970 – GeForce 416.94 |
4.4 – Unigine Superposition – 1080p Medium – Direct3D
More info about Superposition available HERE.
| 20795 (avg FPS: 155.5) ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX 2080 OC 8GB – GeForce 416.94 |
| 16419 (avg FPS: 122.8) ASUS ROG Strix GeForce GTX 1080 OC 8GB – GeForce 416.94 |
| 16001 (avg FPS: 119.7) MSI GeForce RTX 2070 Ventus 8GB – GeForce 417.01 |
| 13039 (avg FPS: 97.5) EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 FTW – GeForce 416.94 |
| 12078 (avg FPS: 90.3) MSI Radeon RX Vega 56 AIR BOOST – Adrenalin 18.11.1 |
| 9266 (avg FPS:69) SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 5500 XT – Adrenalin 20.01.3 |
| 9082 (avg FPS: 67.9) EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 SC 6GB – GeForce 416.94 |
| 8290 (avg FPS: 62) MSI Radeon R9 290X – Adrenalin 18.11.1 |
| 7469 (avg FPS: 55.9) MSI GeForce GTX 970 – GeForce 416.94 |
| 7127 (avg FPS: 53.3) MSI Radeon RX 470 8GB – Adrenalin 18.11.1 |
| 5332 (avg FPS: 39.9) MSI Radeon HD 7970 – Adrenalin 18.11.1 |
4.5 – Unigine Superposition – 4K Optimized – Direct3D
More info about Superposition available HERE.
| 9069 (avg FPS: 67.8) ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX 2080 OC 8GB – GeForce 416.94 |
| 7014 (avg FPS: 52.5) ASUS ROG Strix GeForce GTX 1080 OC 8GB – GeForce 416.94 |
| 6936 (avg FPS: 51.9) MSI GeForce RTX 2070 Ventus 8GB – GeForce 417.01 |
| 5639 (avg FPS: 42.2) EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 FTW – GeForce 416.94 |
| 5060 (avg FPS: 37.8) MSI Radeon RX Vega 56 AIR BOOST – Adrenalin 18.11.1 |
| 3886 (avg FPS: 29.1) EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 SC 6GB – GeForce 416.94 |
| 3863 (avg FPS:29) SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 5500 XT – Adrenalin 20.01.3 |
| 3026 (avg FPS: 22.6) MSI Radeon RX 470 8GB – Adrenalin 18.11.1 |
4.6 – FurMark 1.21
P1080 (1920×1080)
| 10203 (avg FPS: 170) ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX 2080 OC 8GB – GeForce 416.94 |
| 9270 (avg FPS: 154) MSI GeForce RTX 2070 Ventus 8GB – GeForce 417.01 |
| 7322 (avg FPS: 122) ASUS ROG Strix GeForce GTX 1080 OC 8GB – GeForce 416.94 |
| 6691 (avg FPS: 112) MSI Radeon RX Vega 56 AIR BOOST – Adrenalin 18.11.1 |
| 6201 (avg FPS: 103) EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 FTW – GeForce 416.94 |
| 4946 (avg FPS: 83) MSI Radeon R9 290X – Adrenalin 18.11.1 |
| 4556 (avg FPS: 76) EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 SC 6GB – GeForce 416.94 |
| 4475 (avg FPS: 75) SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 5500 XT – Adrenalin 20.01.3 |
| 3845 (avg FPS: 64) MSI GeForce GTX 970 – GeForce 416.94 |
| 3367 (avg FPS: 56) MSI Radeon RX 470 8GB – Adrenalin 18.11.1 |
| 3246 (avg FPS: 54) MSI Radeon HD 7970 – Adrenalin 18.11.1 |
P2160 (3840×2160)
| 3817 (avg FPS: 64) ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX 2080 OC 8GB – GeForce 416.94 |
| 3165 (avg FPS: 52) MSI GeForce RTX 2070 Ventus 8GB – GeForce 417.01 |
| 2734 (avg FPS: 46) ASUS ROG Strix GeForce GTX 1080 OC 8GB – GeForce 416.94 |
| 2261 (avg FPS: 38) MSI Radeon RX Vega 56 AIR BOOST – Adrenalin 18.11.1 |
| 2217 (avg FPS: 37) EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 FTW – GeForce 416.94 |
| 1718 (avg FPS: 29) SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 5500 XT – Adrenalin 20.01.3 |
| 1600 (avg FPS: 27) MSI Radeon R9 290X – Adrenalin 18.11.1 |
| 1556 (avg FPS: 26) EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 SC 6GB – GeForce 416.94 |
| 1330 (avg FPS: 22) MSI GeForce GTX 970 – GeForce 416.94 |
| 1071 (avg FPS: 18) MSI Radeon HD 7970 – Adrenalin 18.11.1 |
| 1030 (avg FPS: 17) MSI Radeon RX 470 8GB – Adrenalin 18.11.1 |
4.7 – Rhodium LC
Rhodium LC (LC for Liquid Carbon!) is a new GPU pixel shader benchmark made with GeeXLab and based on this shadertoy demo. You can download RhodiumLC from THIS PAGE.
P1080 (1920×1080)
| 4853 (avg FPS: 80) ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX 2080 OC 8GB – GeForce 416.94 |
| 3650 (avg FPS: 60) ASUS ROG Strix GeForce GTX 1080 OC 8GB – GeForce 416.94 |
| 3461 (avg FPS: 57) MSI GeForce RTX 2070 Ventus 8GB – GeForce 417.01 |
| 2835 (avg FPS: 47) EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 FTW – GeForce 416.94 |
| 2640 (avg FPS: 43) MSI Radeon RX Vega 56 AIR BOOST – Adrenalin 18.11.1 |
| 1923 (avg FPS: 32) EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 SC 6GB – GeForce 416.94 |
| 1755 (avg FPS: 29) SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 5500 XT – Adrenalin 20.01.3 |
| 1484 (avg FPS: 24) MSI GeForce GTX 970 – GeForce 416.94 |
| 1418 (avg FPS: 23) MSI Radeon R9 290X – Adrenalin 18.11.1 |
| 1192 (avg FPS: 19) MSI Radeon RX 470 8GB – Adrenalin 18.11.1 |
| 937 (avg FPS: 15) MSI Radeon HD 7970 – Adrenalin 18.11.1 |
P2160 (3840×2160)
| 1269 (avg FPS: 21) ASUS ROG Strix GeForce RTX 2080 OC 8GB – GeForce 416.94 |
| 930 (avg FPS: 15) ASUS ROG Strix GeForce GTX 1080 OC 8GB – GeForce 416.94 |
| 892 (avg FPS: 14) MSI GeForce RTX 2070 Ventus 8GB – GeForce 417.01 |
| 735 (avg FPS: 12) EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 FTW – GeForce 416.94 |
| 669 (avg FPS: 11) MSI Radeon RX Vega 56 AIR BOOST – Adrenalin 18.11.1 |
| 497 (avg FPS: 8) EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 SC 6GB – GeForce 416.94 |
| 450 (avg FPS: 7) SAPPHIRE Radeon RX 5500 XT – Adrenalin 20.01.3 |
| 378 (avg FPS: 6) MSI GeForce GTX 970 – GeForce 416.94 |
| 305 (avg FPS: 5) MSI Radeon RX 470 8GB – Adrenalin 18.11.1 |
| 302 (avg FPS: 5) MSI Radeon R9 290X – Adrenalin 18.11.1 |
| 231 (avg FPS: 3) MSI Radeon HD 7970 – Adrenalin 18.11.1 |
5 – Burn-in Test
This burn-in test has been done with the upcoming FurMark 1.21.0.
The first burn-in test has been done with default settings.
Idle state
– total power consumption: 37W
– GPU temperature: 38°C
Load state
– total power consumption: 196W
– GPU temperature: 69°C
– ASIC max power: 127W
A rough estimation of the power consumption of the RX 5500 XT is:
P = (196-37-25) * 0.9
P = 134W
where 0.9 is the efficiency factor of the Corsair AX 860i PSU and 25 is an estimation of the additional CPU load (when one thread is running at 100% on the Core i7-8700K) when FurMark is running.
The ASIC (or GPU itself) power consumption (in GPU Shark) is 127W which is coherent with the previous value of 134W (which is an estimation of the power consumption of the whole board). The offical total board power consumption is 130W.
The GPU temperature reached a max value of 69°C which is very nice. The VGA cooler did its job in a remarkable silence. Great!
For the second burn-in test, I set the power to the max: +20%
Load state – +20% TDP
– total power consumption: 202W
– GPU temperature: 74°C
– ASIC max power: 136W
It was expected, the GPU temperature raised a bit, without notable increase of the VGA cooler noise.
6 – Conclusion
The SAPPHIRE PULSE RX 5500 XT is a nice entry level graphics card. It’s powered by a modern GPU (AMD Navi 14 with RDNA architecture) and supports 4K resolution. But this card is not a powerful graphics weapon. Even if 4K is supported thanks to 8GB of VRAM, the GPU is not enough powerful to fully enjoy gaming at ultra high resolution. But for full HD resolution, the RX 5500 XT is ok. It offers more of less the same level of performance than a GeForce GTX 1060 (or GTX 1660).
SAPPHIRE has done a nice job on the VGA cooler: it cools the board and it’s noiseless.
The card has a nice design. The backplate is appreciated here, in Geeks3D’s lab!
A small RGBA LED somewhere would have been nice. Not a Xmas tree, only a PULSE or SAPPHIRE illuminated logo… In the dark, I can’t see the card in the PC tower. Looks like an old gen graphics card 🙁
If you need more performances, the new Radeon RX 5600 XT (Navi 10 GPU) is certainly a better choice but you have to spend more cash.
