MSI Radeon RX 5600 XT Gaming Z
January 2020Type
Graphics CardPrice
$340 USMSI Radeon RX 5600 XT Gaming Z 6 GB Package
The MSI Radeon RX 5600 XT Gaming Z graphics card comes inside a large cardboard box. The front of both packages has a large "MSI" logo on the top left corner & the "Gaming X" series branding on the lower-left corner. A large picture of the graphics card itself is depicted on the front which gives a nice preview of the new EVOKE design.
The packaging also comes with an AMD 50 sticker since the red team celebrated its 50th year anniversary in 2019. Other features of the graphics card are also mentioned such as the RDNA architecture, 7nm, Fidelity FX, Freesync 2 HDR along with some specs such as 6 GB GDDR6, AMD Fiedility FX and PCIe 4.0.
The back of the box is very typical, highlighting the main features and specifications of the cards. The three key aspects of MSI's top tier custom cards are its new TORX Fan 3.0 cooling system, the Twin Frozr 7 thermal design, and the wave curved heatsink. A large list of product specifications and features are also mentioned which you can see in the picture below.
The sides of the box once again greet us with the large Radeon RX branding. There's also the mention of 6 GB GDDR6 memory available on the card. The higher memory bandwidth delivered through the new GDDR6 interface would help improve performance in gaming titles at higher resolution over GDDR5 based graphics cards.
Outside of the box, the graphics card and the accessory package are held firmly by foam packaging. The graphics card comes with a few accessories and manuals which might not be of much use for hardcore enthusiasts but can be useful for the mainstream gaming audience. The card is nicely wrapped within an anti-static cover which is useful to prevent any unwanted static discharges on various surfaces that might harm the graphics card.
Useful manuals and installation guides are packed within an MSI labeled letter case. There is an MSI Quick Users Guide, a Support bracket installation guide, a sticker letter, the MSI DIY comic, and a single driver disk. It's best to ignore the driver disk and install the latest software and graphics drivers directly from the AMD and MSI official web pages as the ones shipped in the disks could be older versions and not deliver optimal performance for your graphics cards.
After the package is taken care of, I can finally start talking about the card itself. The card itself is simply stunning to look at and the shroud is really well-built with great texturing along the sides.
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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