AMD’s new Radeon RX 5500 XT graphics card has launched at $200 USD for the 8gb model,
but how does this compare against the older RX 580 8gb? I’ve compared 17 games at 1080p
and 1440p resolutions to help you decide which to get or see if it’s worth upgrading.
Let’s start out by looking at the differences in specs. The RX 580 is based on the 14nm
GCN 4th gen architecture and was released in April 2017, while the newer RX 5500 XT
was released in December 2019 and uses the newer 7nm RDNA architecture. The 5500 XT has
less compute units, less stream processors, but higher clock speeds. They both have 8GB
of memory, however the 580 uses GDDR5 memory while the 5500 XT uses GDDR6. The 580 also
has a higher TDP, so we’re expecting it to use more power, but we’ll compare that
later.
The 8gb RX 5500 XT launched at $200 USD, while the RX 580 can currently be picked up new
from $160 to $170 USD, you can find updated prices linked in the description.
For the testing I’m using the Gigabyte RX 5500 XT Gaming OC 8GB and the Gigabyte RX
580 Gaming 8GB.
The system that I’m testing with has an Intel i7-8700K CPU overclocked to 5GHz on
all cores in an MSI Z390 ACE motherboard, along with 16GB of DDR4-3200 CL14 memory in
dual channel. You can check the links in the description for details on all of the components
as well as for up to date pricing.
Testing was done with the latest Windows 1909 fully up to date, and with the latest Radeon
drivers available at the time of testing, so with all of that out of the way let’s
get into the results.
Call of Duty Modern Warfare was tested in campaign mode. I’ve got the 1080p results
on the lower half of the graph, and the 1440p results towards the upper half. In this test
there was a 15% higher average frame rate with the 5500 XT, and stepping up to 1440p
the difference lowered to a 10% lead for the 5500 XT.
Control is one of the only games where I was consistently seeing a slightly lower frame
rate with the 5500 XT. This time the RX 580 was performing 5% faster in terms of average
FPS, however the 1% lows were much more similar comparatively.
Red Dead Redemption 2 was tested using the games built in benchmark tool. In this test
at 1080p the 5500 XT had a 7% higher average frame rate, lowering slightly to a 6% improvement
at 1440p.
Battlefield V was tested in campaign mode, in terms of average FPS at 1080p the results
are within margin of error, however the 1% low was a bit further ahead. At 1440p the
1% lows are much closer together, however the 5500 XT was only 3.6% ahead in average
FPS.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider was tested with the games benchmark tool, and there wasn’t
too much of a difference in this test. At 1080p the 5500 XT was just under 7% faster,
and at 1440p it was only a couple of FPS higher, which translates to almost a 5% boost.
Apex Legends was tested with all graphical settings at maximum, and there was only a
6 and 4% higher average FPS at 1080p and 1440p respectively, however there was a larger improvement
seen in the 1% lows. At 1080p the 5500 XT has a 22% higher 1% low, and 10% higher at
1440p.
Borderlands 3 was tested with the game’s benchmark tool, and at 1080p this game saw
the largest difference out of all 17 titles that I’ve tested, with almost a 25% higher
average frame rate and a 1% low that was above even the average from the 580. At 1440p it’s
still a fair win for the 5500 XT, however the difference lowered to a 12.5% improvement.
Fortnite was tested using the replay feature, with the exact same replay file used for all
testing. At 1080p the 5500 XT was almost 10% higher in average FPS, dropping down to a
7% improvement once we increase the resolution to 1440p.
PUBG was also tested using the replay feature, with the same replay file again. At both resolutions
the 5500 XT was around 7% faster in terms of average FPS.
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey was tested using the built in benchmark. Nothing too special
here to mention, at 1080p the 5500 XT was 13% higher in average FPS, lowering a little
to 12.5% higher at 1440p.
The Witcher 3 tends to be a fairly GPU heavy game, however the differences in this test
were quite minimal, with just a 2 to 3 percent increase seen in average frame rate with the
5500 XT.
The Division 2 was tested with the games benchmark tool, and the 5500 XT was almost 9% higher
in average FPS at 1080p and 8% at 1440p.
Ghost Recon Breakpoint was also tested using the built in benchmark, and there was an above
average improvement here. At 1080p the 5500 XT was almost 20% ahead in average FPS, rising
up to a 16.5% improvement at 1440p.
Overwatch was tested in the practice range, so while not quite the same as actual gameplay,
it allows me to perform the same test pass more accurately which is ideal for comparison
purposes. At 1080p there was a decent 14% higher average frame rate with the 5500 XT,
lowering slightly to a 12% higher average FPS at 1440p.
Rainbow Six Siege was tested with the games benchmark tool. At 1080p there was almost
a 7% increase to average FPS with the 5500 XT, but at 1440p the difference lowered to
just a 2% boost, or a little over a 1 FPS change with a little more improvement seen
to 1% low.
Strange Brigade was tested using Vulkan and also with the built in benchmark, and in this
case the results were essentially the same between both. At 1080p the 580 was a little
ahead, but realistically they’re so close it’s still within margin of error, then
a similar deal at 1440p with the 5500XT now just 1 FPS higher.
I’ve tested CS:GO with the Ulletical FPS benchmark, and this test saw one of the largest
improvements out of all games tested. At 1080p there’s a nice 24% improvement to average
FPS, then at 1440p this rose greatly to a massive 30% higher average frame rate.
Over all 17 games tested the newer RX 5500 XT was around 9.5% faster than the older RX
580. As you can see though, it really depends on the specific game, but in general the 5500
XT does have an edge in performance.
At 1440p the overall average lowers slightly to the RX 5500 XT having an 8% higher average
frame rate. Although I wouldn’t personally be looking to buy either of these for 1440p
gaming, you could definitely use them in many games with lower settings.
Total system power draw from the wall had some interesting results. Despite offering
higher levels of performance, AMD’s new 7nm architecture is clearly more power efficient.
I’ve measured power in two different games, and in both cases the RX 580 was using more
than 30% more power than the 5500 XT, and that’s while the 5500 XT was outperforming
the 580.
As both cards I’m testing with have different cooling solutions I haven’t looked at thermals
as it would be less of a fair comparison. Due to that lower power draw though I’d
expect the 5500 XT to run a bit cooler, and as a result, quieter.
Now for the final difference, the price. You can find updated prices linked in the description.
At the time of recording, the 8gb 5500 XT has launched at $200 USD, while the RX 580
seems to be available new for $160, however $170 seems to be more common, though there
are of course also cheaper second hand options as it’s been out for over 2 years.
In terms of cost per frame, the older RX 580 is better value. I’ve included it with both
the lowest $160 amount on Newegg, but also at $170 which seems to be more widely available.
If you’ve already got an 8gb 580 there’s not really much reason to upgrade to the 5500
XT, in most games tested the performance difference just isn’t enough to justify it. If you’re
looking at buying today though, then the 580 is a better deal in terms of dollar per frame,
and it’s still offering a good 1080p gaming experience. You could argue that the power
efficiencies from the newer 5500 XT are beneficial, but you’re going to seriously need to play
a lot of games over the course of a year before seeing much difference in your power bill.
In the end, it seems like more people prefer higher frame rates at the expense of more
power anyway.
Honestly in terms of performance improvement, given the RX 580 came out over two and a half
years ago, we’re not seeing much gain compared to the price. It may have made more sense
to compare the RX 590, but I don’t currently have one of those available for testing.
So with all of that in mind which would you pick? The newer RX 5500 XT, or the older RX
580? Let me know in the comments, and if you’re new to the channel consider getting subscribed
for future comparisons and tech videos like this one.