MSI's flagship Radeon RX 5700 XT GAMING X is here -- but was it worth the wait?

Introduction

MSI's flagship Radeon RX 5700 XT GAMING X was teased a few weeks ago and it seems like it is virtually the same card design wise as the leaks, except it has had some refinement which really ticks some boxes for me.

VIEW GALLERY - 61 IMAGES

The new RX 5700 XT GAMING X from MSI is their latest flagship custom RX 5700 XT graphics card with their impressive TWIN FROZR 7 cooling technology. The last custom Navi card from MSI was its Radeon RX 5700 XT EVOKE OC, and while it looked good - the new RX 5700 XT GAMING X looks great.

We'll go into detail on the look and style of the card later in the review, but just quickly you can see from the shot above that it has a different design to other GAMING X cards.

I actually dig this change as it differentiates the Radeon-based GAMING X against the GeForce-powered GAMING X cards like the new SUPER cards from MSI. The new Radeon RX 5700 XT GAMING X has a really slick backplate, one of the best from MSI and its line up of custom GAMING X cards -- and an interesting tweak to the front of the card that I think they pulled off.

You should expect to see MSI's new Radeon RX 5700 XT GAMING X for between $420-$450 -- something we'll confirm when MSI nails the price down as well as availability. I'll update this when I find out.

MSI Gaming Radeon RX 5700 XT MECH OC Today Yesterday 7 days ago 30 days ago CAD $582.52 CAD $578.21 CAD $570.24 CAD $541.49 Buy * Prices last scanned on 9/26/2020 at 7:42 am CDT - prices may not be accurate, click links above for the latest price. We may earn an affiliate commission.

Detailed Specs

MSI has one of the fastest custom Radeon RX 5700 XT graphics cards on the market with its new RX 5700 XT GAMING X, and it is the fastest RX 5700 XT it offers in the 6 different SKUs it has on offer.

As you can see we have the Navi 10 GPU boosting at up to 2025MHz, while its 8GB of GDDR6 is at 14Gbps (as it is on ALL models, including the RX 5700). We have a dual-fan design here with the TWIN FROZR 7 cooler, and dual 8-pin PCIe power connectors.

Cooling Tech: MSI TWIN FROZR 7

Kick Ass TWIN FROZR 7 Cooling Tech

I love the attention to detail MSI puts into its graphics cards, but the company has taken it to the next level when it comes to directly comparing its new RX 5700 XT GAMING X against AMD's own RX 5700 XT reference model.

Starting with the fact it directly calls out the less-than-1mm gap between the PCB and backplate on the Radeon RX 5700 XT reference graphics card. MSI has a large 3.3-3.85mm gap on its RX 5700 XT GAMING X in something that it calls "Spaced Armor" with well-structured support with cubes.

Overall, the TWIN FROZR 7 cooling tech isn't too different to the near-equivalent MSI card in the GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER GAMING X (something I reviewed just a couple of days ago).

We have the same TORX Fan 3.0 technology here.

MSI uses its Wave-Curved 2 heat sink to drop GPU and VRM temps as low as they can go, with more airflow delivered across the heat sink that passes through the fins quicker... thus, dropping temps faster.

Something that has been around since 2008 is ZERO FROZR, which stops the fans from spinning until they hit 60C.

There's a chunky AF heat sink keeping MSI's Radeon RX 5700 XT GAMING X cool.

How cool? Well, pretty cool.

MSI uses a die-cast metal sheet as its Close Quarters Heatsink that keeps both the memory models cooler - and has an anti-bending safeguard for the IO bracket.

MSI is also dedicated to keeping the power delivery system cool with a dedicated aluminum plate that covers the entire power delivery system.

TWIN FROZR 7 coolers have additional thermal padding applied to the GDDR6 memory and PWMs.

MSi is using something new here with the RX 5700 XT in that it has a feature that draws more power from the PCIe power connectors versus the PCIe slot on the motherboard. As MSI explains, this prevents overloading the motherboard (or at least taking some load away from it) and ensures cleaner power goes into the card.

MSI uses its own custom PCB with the Radeon RX 5700 XT GAMING X.

Detailed Look

I love the packaging MSI provides for its Radeon RX 5700 XT GAMING X, celebrating AMD's 50th anniversary.

I have to say -- MSI's new Radeon RX 5700 XT GAMING X is one of my favorite-looking custom Navi cards yet. The blend of the black and gunmetal gray mixed with those awesome red accents on the front...

... and seriously, that backplate is one of the best yet -- it truly is a beautiful looking card. The backplate and its brushed metal style is one of the best yet and has me continuing to ask "how can MSI one-up itself from here".

Yet again, MSI surprises with the custom Radeon RX 5700 XT GAMING X and its styling.

MSI's new Radeon RX 5700 XT GAMING X from the front -- showing off that dual-fan TWIN FROZR 7 cooler.

On the back we have the gorgeous brushed metal backplate.

We have 3 x DP and 1 x HDMI for display connectivity.

You'll need 8+8-pin PCIe power connectors to get the MSI RX 5700 XT GAMING X running.

The chunky 2.5-slot card from the top, with its Mystic Light RGB lighting to the left with MSI's iconic dragon.

Another look at the chunky heat sink.

Test System Specs

Our New GPU Test Rig

Welcome to the latest revision of our GPU test bed, with our system being upgraded from the Intel Core i7-7700K to the Core i7-8700K. The CPU is cooled by the Corsair H115i PRO cooler, with the 8700K overclocked to 5GHz. We've stayed with GIGABYTE for our motherboard with their awesome Z370 AORUS Gaming 7.

We approached our friends at HyperX for a kit of their kick ass HyperX Predator DDR4-2933MHz RAM (HX429C15PB3AK4/32), with 2 x 8GB sticks for a total of 16GB DDR4-2933. The RAM stands out through every minute of our testing as it has beautiful RGB lights giving the system a slick look while benchmarking our lives away, while the Z370 AORUS Gaming 7 motherboard joins in with its own array of RGB lighting.

Detailed Tech Specs

CPU : Intel Core i7-8700K @ 5GHz

Cooler : Corsair Hydro Series H115i PRO

MB : Z370 AORUS Gaming 7

RAM : 16GB (2x8GB) HyperX Predator DDR4-2933

SSD : 1TB OCZ RD400 NVMe M.2

SSD : 512GB OCZ RD400 NVMe M.2

PSU : InWin 1065W PSU

Chassis : In Win X-Frame

OS: Windows 10 Pro x64

Additional Images

Benchmarks - Synthetic

3DMark Fire Strike - 1080p

3DMark has been a staple benchmark for years now, all the way back to when The Matrix was released and Futuremark had bullet time inspired benchmarks. 3DMark is the perfect tool to see if your system - most important, your CPU and GPU - is performing as it should. You can search results for your GPU, to see if it falls in line with other systems based on similar hardware.

3DMark Fire Strike - 1440p

3DMark has been a staple benchmark for years now, all the way back to when The Matrix was released and Futuremark had bullet time inspired benchmarks. 3DMark is the perfect tool to see if your system - most important, your CPU and GPU - is performing as it should. You can search results for your GPU, to see if it falls in line with other systems based on similar hardware.

3DMark Fire Strike - 4K

3DMark has been a staple benchmark for years now, all the way back to when The Matrix was released and Futuremark had bullet time inspired benchmarks. 3DMark is the perfect tool to see if your system - most important, your CPU and GPU - is performing as it should. You can search results for your GPU, to see if it falls in line with other systems based on similar hardware.

3DMark TimeSpy

3DMark TimeSpy Extreme

Heaven - 1080p

Heaven is an intensive GPU benchmark that really pushes your silicon to its limits. It's another favorite of ours as it has some great scaling for multi-GPU testing, and it's great for getting your GPU to 100% for power and noise testing.

Heaven - 1440p

Heaven - 4K

Benchmarks - 1080p

1080p Benchmarks

Middle-earth: Shadow of War is a sequel to the popular Shadow of Mordor, which was powered by the Lithtech engine. When cranked up to maximum detail, it will chew through your GPU and its VRAM like it's nothing.

You can buy Middle-earth: Shadow of War at Amazon.

Metro Exodus is one of the hardest tests that our graphics cards have to go through, with 4A Games' latest creation being one of the best looking games on the market. It is a serious test that pushes GPUs to their limits, and also features RTX technologies like DLSS.

Far Cry New Dawn was developed by Ubisoft, and is powered the Dunia Engine, an engine that has been modified over the years for Far Cry and last used in Far Cry 5. Dunia Engine itself was a modified version of CRYENGINE, scaling incredibly well on all sorts of hardware.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider is one of the latest games to join our graphics card benchmark lineup, with the game built using the Foundation engine as a base, the same engine in Rise of the Tomb Raider. Eidos Montreal R&D department made lots of changes to the engine during the development of Shadow of the Tomb Raider to make it one of the best-looking games out right now.

Benchmarks - 1440p

1440p Benchmarks

Middle-earth: Shadow of War is a sequel to the popular Shadow of Mordor, which was powered by the Lithtech engine. When cranked up to maximum detail, it will chew through your GPU and its VRAM like it's nothing.

You can buy Middle-earth: Shadow of War at Amazon.

Metro Exodus is one of the hardest tests that our graphics cards have to go through, with 4A Games' latest creation being one of the best looking games on the market. It is a serious test that pushes GPUs to their limits, and also features RTX technologies like DLSS.

Far Cry New Dawn was developed by Ubisoft, and is powered the Dunia Engine, an engine that has been modified over the years for Far Cry and last used in Far Cry 5. Dunia Engine itself was a modified version of CRYENGINE, scaling incredibly well on all sorts of hardware.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider is one of the latest games to join our graphics card benchmark lineup, with the game built using the Foundation engine as a base, the same engine in Rise of the Tomb Raider. Eidos Montreal R&D department made lots of changes to the engine during the development of Shadow of the Tomb Raider to make it one of the best-looking games out right now.

Benchmarks - 4K

4K Benchmarks

Middle-earth: Shadow of War is a sequel to the popular Shadow of Mordor, which was powered by the Lithtech engine. When cranked up to maximum detail, it will chew through your GPU and its VRAM like it's nothing.

You can buy Middle-earth: Shadow of War at Amazon.

Metro Exodus is one of the hardest tests that our graphics cards have to go through, with 4A Games' latest creation being one of the best looking games on the market. It is a serious test that pushes GPUs to their limits, and also features RTX technologies like DLSS.

Far Cry New Dawn was developed by Ubisoft, and is powered the Dunia Engine, an engine that has been modified over the years for Far Cry and last used in Far Cry 5. Dunia Engine itself was a modified version of CRYENGINE, scaling incredibly well on all sorts of hardware.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider is one of the latest games to join our graphics card benchmark lineup, with the game built using the Foundation engine as a base, the same engine in Rise of the Tomb Raider. Eidos Montreal R&D department made lots of changes to the engine during the development of Shadow of the Tomb Raider to make it one of the best-looking games out right now.

Thermals & Power

Thermals

MSI's new Radeon RX 5700 XT GAMING X runs at around 63-67C depending on the load/game/benchmark being run, with it falling into an average of around 65C. This isn't too bad considering it's faster than the other RX 5700 XT cards on the charts, and still runs cooler. Nice work, MSI.

Power

330W total falls right into line with the rest of the custom Radeon RX 5700 XT graphics cards.

Final Thoughts

MSI has outdone itself with the new Radeon RX 5700 XT GAMING X -- with it being one of the fastest custom RX 5700 XT graphics cards on the market, all while looking great doing it.

It easily beats AMD's own Radeon RX 5700 XT reference graphics card, just like all of the other custom RX 5700 XT graphics cards but it also beats them. I've already looked at the SAPPHIRE RX 5700 XT PULSE OC and MSI RX 5700 XT EVOKE OC, with the new RX 5700 XT GAMING X beating both of them in every single test.

I've still got a custom XFX Radeon RX 5700 XT THICC Ultra II to review shortly, which will be interesting to see if it can beat MSI's kick ass RX 5700 XT GAMING X. The card doesn't crack 70C in my test bed, sitting between 63-67C depending on the load, benchmark, or game.

It is arguably one of MSI's best-looking custom graphics cards, with the TWIN FROZR 7 cooler looking great but perorming super-well, too. The RX 5700 XT GAMING X is whisper quiet, with its fans staying silent until the card gets to 60C with ZERO FROZR tech.

One of the other stand out features is MSI's use of an interesting Power Allocation Technology, something that sees the MSI RX 5700 XT GAMING X drawing more power from the dual 8-pin PCIe power connectors versus out of the PCIe 3.0/4.0 slot that it uses on the motherboard.

This feature helps prevent overloading on the motherboard, ensuring that the RX 5700 XT GAMING X gets a super-clean power signal that ensures the best performance. It's little touches like this that make the MSI Radeon RX 5700 XT GAMING X stand out.

Now that the custom RX 5700 XT graphics card line up is filling out with a heap of cards from multiple companies, these little things like the power allocation tech on MSI's new card become important.

Mix that with the impressive look and style of the RX 5700 XT GAMING X, with its TWIN FROZR 7 cooling and ZERO FROZR tech for silent operation, and you've got yourself one of the best -- if not the best custom Radeon RX 5700 XT on the market.

MSI -- can you do the Radeon RX 5700 XT LIGHTNING Z next? Pretty please?