The RX 5500 XT by AMD is their latest and smallest graphics card in the RX 5xxx series. The launch is mediocre, so this post is going to be small to match.
The RX 5500 XT by AMD is their latest and smallest graphics card in the RX 5xxx series. The launch is mediocre, so this post is going to be small to match.
nVidia’s Turing architecture has been fantastic, with almost every card in the 16xx and 20xx range being recommended on our charts. The cards perform well and are power-efficient, so you typically get a card that hits all the main points: high performance, lower power draw, low temperatures, and low noise. Pricing is an issue for the flagship cards (2080 and 2080 Ti) where lack of competition lets nVidia showcase its pricing creativity with $1200 cards. Oil tycoons buy graphics cards too, you know! But for all the other Turing cards, the prices are fine at launch. Well, almost all.
The sole Turing card that was a thoroughly bad launch was the GTX 1650, which was weak and quite overpriced. Even today, half a year after its launch, it remains overpriced at $150, easily beaten by cheaper ~$120 cards. Today, nVidia is updating the lineup with the GTX 1650 Super, for $160.
It’s been over two decades since Intel released a discrete graphics card (the last was the disappointing Intel740, which hit the market back in 1998). That is set to change in 2020, when Intel intends to release its new discrete GPU, the Intel Xe.
Intel is being characteristically tight-lipped about what we can expect with their new cards, but if the Xe (pronounced “ex-ee”) proves to be a reliable alternative to Nvidia or AMD cards, PC builders might soon have more options at their disposal.
This article will tell you what we know about Intel Xe so far.
Up until a few years ago, the value king for gaming was the Intel i5 processor. More recently, AMD’s Ryzen APUs have stolen the show at the low tiers, and we all know that no integrated graphics from Intel can currently compete with AMD’s Vega 8 and Vega 11 iGPUs. So it’s a no-brainer for gaming builders at very low budgets (who are entirely skipping graphics cards) to go with Ryzen APUs.
But outside of such head-to-head CPU comparisons, a broader value question remains for upper-low-tier (and lower-mid-tier) builders: how would a self-built system balanced around AMD’s newest R3 (including a discrete graphics card) compare to a highly discounted prebuilt system with a few key upgrades?
nVidia’s new Super 1660 makes the 1660 non-Super obsolete, and gives the 1660 Ti (also non-Super) a pretty hard time. As such, it is now the new default card for both the Good and Very Good tiers, with the Ti being an alternative.
Is this RTX 2060 Super actually a worthwhile buy for builders? Let’s take a look at the specifications, and see what a balanced build would look like!
This month, we’re bringing lots of small updates to our main build chart (and reaffirming some decisions from last month):
Not content with shaking up the CPU market, AMD have also thrust themselves squarely into this year’s midrange GPU market with the newly released AMD Radeon RX 5700. It’s time to play some games! Yet before that, we need to build a PC. Let’s get to it!
Just when we thought NVIDIA was done with the super launch, the RTX 2080 Super arrives! Yet what is this card for? Let’s take a look!
What is the deal with the new RTX 2070 Super? Let’s take a look at the specifications of this new GPU, and then get to building!