The latest rumors have stated that AMD's Radeon RX 5500 series graphics card based on the Navi 14 GPU will receive its custom flavors on 12th December. Currently, the AMD Radeon RX 5500 has only launched for the OEM market with a DIY launch planned for next month.

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According to ITHome, AMD has briefed AIBs internally that they can release their custom variants for the Radeon RX 5500 graphics card on the 12th of December. AMD announced the Radeon RX 5500 series back in early October which means that the mainstream audience would have to wait at least 2 months before they could get their hands on the new Navi based graphics card.

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AMD Radeon RX 5500 is based on the Navi 14 GPU architecture. There are many variants of the Navi 14 GPU which are being produced. The one that goes inside the desktop discrete lineup is more of a cut-down version compared to the full variant which is being featured on Apple's new Macbooks.

AMD Radeon RX 5000 '7nm Navi RDNA' GPU Lineup Specs:

Graphics Card Radeon RX 5700 XT 50th Anniversary Radeon RX 5700 XT Radeon RX 5700 Radeon RX 5600 XT Radeon RX 5500 XT Radeon RX 5300 GPU Architecture 7nm Navi (RDNA 1st Gen) 7nm Navi (RDNA 1st Gen) 7nm Navi (RDNA 1st Gen) 7nm Navi (RDNA 1st Gen) 7nm Navi (RDNA 1st Gen) 7nm Navi (RDNA 1st Gen) Stream Processors 2560 SPs 2560 SPs 2304 SPs 2304 SPs 1408 SPs 1408 SPs TMUs / ROPs 160 / 64 160 / 64 144 / 64 144 / 64 88 / 32 88 / 32 Base Clock 1680 MHz 1605 MHz 1465 MHz 1130 MHz 1670 MHz TBD Boost Clock 1980 MHz 1905 MHz 1725 MHz 1560 MHz 1845 MHz 1645 MHz Game Clock 1830 MHz 1755 MHz 1625 MHz 1375 MHz 1717 MHz 1448 MHz Compute Power 10.14 TFLOPs 9.75 TFLOPs 7.95 TFLOPs 7.19 TFLOPs 5.19 TFLOPs 4.63 TFLOPs VRAM 8 GB GDDR6 8 GB GDDR6 8 GB GDDR6 6 GB GDDR6 8 GB GDDR6

4 GB GDDR6 3 GB GDDR6 Bus Interface 256-bit 256-bit 256-bit 192-bit 128-bit 96-bit Bandwidth 448 GB/s 448 GB/s 448 GB/s 288 GB/s 224 GB/s 168 GB/s TBP 235W 225W 180W 150W 130W 100W Price $449 US $399 US $349 US $279 US $169 US (4 GB)

$199 US (8 GB) $129 US? Launch 7th July 2019 7th July 2019 7th July 2019 21st January, 2020 7th October 2019 28th August, 2020

The AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT features 1408 stream processors which mean that there are 22 CUs or compute units featured on the card. It also packs 88 TMUs and 32 ROPs with clock speeds rated at 1670 MHz base, 1717 MHz game, and 1845 MHz boost clocks. The card manages to deliver up to 5.19 TFLOPs of compute performance at 110W. There's also 4 GB of GDDR6 memory featured on the card that runs across a 128-bit bus interface, delivering a cumulative bandwidth of 224 GB/s.

In terms of raw performance, AMD officially pits the card against the GeForce GTX 1650 which is a $149 US part and has been replaced by the $159 US GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER as of this month. It is stated to be up to 37% faster than the GTX 1650 on average at 1080p in several titles. In an OEM review by Heise.de, the graphics card turned out to be as fast as the Radeon RX 580 while sipping in much lower power. Since then, TechPowerUP managed to grab hold of an OEM sample too. The card was tested against the GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER which was only 5% faster.

Do bear in mind that the OEM version features a standard heatsink cooler whereas AIBs with their much better GPU coolers and factory overclocks would deliver better performance. So in the end, we would see the Radeon RX 5500 performing or even outpacing the GTX 1650 SUPER which would be a win-win for AMD in the sub-$200 US segment.

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AMD Radeon RX 5500 Performance / Performance Per Watt / Performance Per Dollar Metrics: (Image Credits: TechPowerUP):







As you can see, the AMD Radeon RX 5500 delivers about the same performance as the Radeon RX 580 and is only 5% slower than NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER while absolutely crushing the GTX 1650. The performance per watt crown still goes to NVIDIA whose 12nm Turing architecture delivers absolutely stellar performance efficency. However, the 7nm AMD Radeon RX 5500 card completley wrecks the Radeon RX 580 in this department, offering almost twice the performance per watt uplift than the older 12nm Polaris based offerings.

Performance per Dollar is based on 3 different prices which are yet to be confirmed. If AMD prices the card north of $150 US, then the GTX 1650 SUPER would be a better purchase but AMD could once again one-up NVIDIA and drop a $140 US price tag on the RX 5500 which would make it the better card of the two. Expect more news on the AMD Radeon RX 5500 series custom lineup and the XT variant in the coming weeks.