MSI Radeon RX 5600 XT Gaming Z
January 2020Type
Graphics CardPrice
$340 USConclusion - Messy Launch But Totally Worth It!
With the release of the Radeon RX 5600 XT, AMD finally completes its mainstream lineup with a surprisingly great card. At first, the Radeon RX 5600 XT wasn't looking like a formidable opponent against NVIDIA's Turing lineup but the rather messy situation with the BIOS updates and what I would like to refer to as a 'Free Performance Upgrade' has put it in a very respectable place in the mainstream graphics segment.
Featuring the Navi 10 design, the card has essentially the same chip as the Radeon RX 5700, with optimized clocks and memory configuration. But the unique offsetting point of this chip is the TDP which shows that these Navi 10 dies didn't quite make it to the higher-end clocks of the RX 5700. But it allows AMD to manage a mainstream tier graphics card without producing a separate SKU which isn't either a Navi 14 or a Navi 10 design. The Radeon RX 5600 XT has strong driver support which is made even better with the recent release of the AMD Adrenaline 2020 edition software suite and a whole range of other features that you get with Navi such as Freesync and Anti-Lag technologies. All of these are well-added features in the 1080p HD gaming which this card clearly handles without an effort.
Initially, the card was positioned against the GTX 1660 Ti which retails for $279 US too but the GTX 1660 SUPER replaced it offering 95% of the card's performance at a lower price of $229 US. NVIDIA also dropped the price bomb on the RTX 2060 which with its added feature set of RTX features as DLSS/RTX made for a much worthwhile purchase but AMD's performance upgrade did uplift the RX 5600 XT quite a lot.
In terms of performance, the Radeon RX 5600 XT 6 GB graphics card consistently outperformed the RTX 2060 and much of this is to do with the MSI's Gaming Z variant which has the fastest clocks of their RX 5600 XT Gaming lineup and also features 14 Gbps memory pin speeds versus 12 Gbps of the remaining variants (X and Non-X). You are looking at anywhere from 20 to 25% performance boosts over the GTX 1660 SUPER and GTX 1660 Ti which makes this card a compelling upgrade for 1080p and even 1440p gamers. I was surprised to find some bigger gains in Vulkan optimized titles that go off to show AMD's great and continuing driver support for the latest APIs.
With all the good things about this card to say, there's one issue which would play a major role in deciding the fate of this card and that's the price. At $340 US, we are talking a $60 US premium over the RX 5700 XT MSRP. The regular MSI Radeon RX 5600 XT Gaming retails for $310 which is a $30 US premium and the Gaming X variant costs $330 which is a $50 US premium. This goes off to show the premium cost attached to MSI's Gaming series but MSI justifies the higher-premium by not only slamming the same cooler as their RX 5700 XT on top of the RX 5600 XT Gaming series but also the same PCB. Plus the Gaming Z variant comes with much higher clock speeds, rivaling those of other custom variants by top-tier AMD board partners. The 14 Gbps clock speeds will also be kept exclusive to the Gaming Z variant which means there would be at least a 5-10% delta in terms of performance between the regular and Gaming Z variants which makes up for the extra cost.
The extra cost also goes into the behemoth shroud design that comes with a solid metal backplate, and a dual-fan cooling system fitted with MSI's most advanced TORX 3.0 technology. This cooler is straight up a beast of its own and the undervolted Navi 10 GPU which offers efficiency on par with NVIDIA's Turing GPU architecture, delivers great thermal performance. The card is also beautiful on its own, a stunning brushed aluminum design that covers the front and backplate along with MSI's Mystic Aura RGB technology which provides a spectacular light show on the side 'Gaming' logo.
The MSI Radeon RX 5600 XT Gaming Z is as high-end as RX 5600 XT can get. This specific AIB variant offers a superb cooling solution, superb components, and performance which delivers a 5-10% uplift over the base 'upgraded' versions of the card. This puts the MSI Radeon RX 5600 XT Gaming Z comfortably ahead of the RTX 2060 custom designs which are anywhere from $299 to $329 US. The RTX 2060 has some nifty features of its own such as DLSS and ray-tracing support which has been optimized now to be played around on NVIDIA's entry-level RTX solution but if you aren't a fan of those, the RX 5600 XT is the more compelling option in a simple price to a performance metric.
The card will be shipping in February and unlike existing RX 5600 XT models, won't require any need of flashing the card which one a single-BIOS design like the RX 5600 XT could end up in chaos for new PC builders as vBIOS flashing isn't just a simple task unless done so by a software application such as MSI's own dragon center. The $60 US premium over the MSRP is a hard bite but this card is the fastest in the mainstream segment and definitely a worthwhile choice if you're aiming to build a long-lasting PC.
Note - The MSI Radeon RX 5600 XT Gaming Z would be available on retail shelves in February 2020.
Contents
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The MSI Radeon RX 5600 XT Gaming Z is one of the fastest RX 5600 XT models around, featuring fast GPU clocks, 14 Gbps memory, a superb cooling solution, and a beefy VRM design which single-handily beats out the RTX 2060 making it a perfect choice for 1080p and even entry-level 1440p gamers, If you can dish out the extra $60 US premium that MSI is asking, then the Gaming Z is the best RX 5600 XT variant to get your hands on!
- Best card for 1080p gamers, faster than an RTX 2060
- Huge performance uplift versus Polaris cards
- Excellent Performance Per Watt
- No BIOS flash required in Gaming Z variants
- Much cooler than the reference model
- Much quieter than the reference model
- Great factory overclock out of the box
- 14 Gbps memory modules on the Gaming Z
- Amazing Shroud design with Twin Frozr 7 & backplate
- Performance and Silent Mode Options in Dragon Center App
- TORX 3.0 cooling system with finned aluminum heatsink
- First GPUs Built Entirely on 7nm Process node
- PCI-e Gen 4.0 Support
- Good I/O (DSC 1.2a for 8K 60 Hz, Triple Display Ports 1.4 HDR, HDMI 2.0)
Pros
- Very High Price ($340 US+)
- No dedicated hardware for Ray Tracing
- Not a lot of overclocking headroom left
- Messy Launch & lower-clock factory shipped BIOS in existing models
Cons
About the author: A Software Engineer by training and a PC enthusiast by passion, Hassan Mujtaba serves as Wccftech's Senior Editor for hardware section. With years of experience in the industry, he specializes in deep-dive technical analysis of next-generation CPU and GPU architectures, motherboards, and cooling solutions. His work involves not only breaking news on upcoming technologies but also extensive hands-on reviews and benchmarking.
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