Graphics Cards

[RPX100]

Does anyone here own the new ASRock Radeon RX 5700 XT Challenger Pro 8G OC?

It seems to be a recent refresh of the old 2-fan design (which had noise and cooling problems).

If you have any feedback from using this card yourself, please post a quick summary. Thank you.

[RPX100 · Accepted solution]

--- personal review Dezember 2020 ---

I have bought the ASRock RX 5700 XT Challenger Pro 8GB OC and have been testing it for 2 days now.

It has a triple fan design and supports 0 RPM silent fan mode (below 60°C).

It is mostly black with a few silver highlights. No RGB lights are installed (which I prefer).

link to ASRock product page: ASRock RX 5700 XT Challenger Pro 8G OC 

temps:

- between 50°C and 55°C on desktop (idle, 1 display connected, 1440p)

- comparison to my GTX 1070 (triple fan design from 2016) in the same case: 37 - 41°C idle (2 displays, 1080p)

- gaming load temps reach 78°C (junction temp: 98°C) with default fan curve (limited to 54% by default)

- custom fan curve via Radeon Software can improve temps to 70°C (junction temp: 85°C) (65% max RPM)

- warning: connecting 2 displays with different refresh rate and/or resolution will raise temps by 5-10°C on idle!

noise:

- since the triple fan design supports 0 RPM mode, it is indeed silent (0db) in desktop/idle

- default fan curve (54% RPM limit) is noticeable, but not too loud (temps are high tho!)

- custom fan curve (65% RPM limit) is acceptable with headset (no vibration sounds, no rambling, just air flow noise)

- even on manual max RPM it is just the noise of air being pushed - no rambling, no vibration - but loud and noticeable air flow

- on RPM set to more than 55% I recommend the use of headset (which is standard while gaming, at least for me)

power consumption (as shown in Radeon Software readout):

- idle (1 monitor): 11-16W

- idle (2 monitor): 33-40W (1440p and 1080p) [VRAM clock stays maxed!]

- idle (2 monitor): 11-16W (both on same resolution and refresh rate - 1080p/60Hz)

- gaming 1440p: up to 220W (95%+ load)

- gaming 1080p: around 140-190W (depending on load)

dual monitor experience:

- using 2 monitors is working, altough there are some issues while using different resolution/refresh rate monitors

- VRAM will stay at max clock and power consumption will rise while using different resolution/refresh rate monitors

gaming and stability: (1 monitor)

- 1080p and 1440p gaming is working okay-ish. GPU seems to be up to the task.

- Frametimes at 1080p are stable around <16ms

- Frametimes at 1440p will mostly swap between 16ms up to 33ms

- I have noticed screen flickering on 1080p and 1440p (not all the time, more like 1 or 2 white/black frames each minute)

- 2 days of testing, 5 hours of gaming (1080p), 3 hours of 1440p: 6x Black Screen (driver reset), 8x PC reboot

- the first 60 minutes of each gaming session were under default GPU settings (Radeon Software not touched at all)

- after that I increased fan speed trying to prevent crashes: still crashed

- then I lowered max GPU clock and VRAM clock by 50 MHz: still crashed

- then I lowered voltage in 25mV steps and increased power limit to +50%: still crashed

- This is a fresh install of windows 10, all updates installed.

- Newest BIOS, newest chipset drivers, recommended Adrenalin Software (20.9.1) 

conclusion:

I can not recommend this card, because of huge stability issues and crashes. (I will return it)

The RX 5700 (XT) cards already have a bad reputation, so I am not surprised, but still shocked.

I have read a lot of user feedback regarding the 5700 (XT)'s issues and made sure to only use supported hardware.

The card was tested on 2 different monitors that are running fine on GTX 1070 since 2016.

When it did work in games: image quality was good and sharp on Ultra settings.

Framerates were stable, but the random white/black frames (flicker) is noticeable and annoying.

-RPX100 - Dez 2, 2020

[RPX100]

I was not able to find any reviews for this card.

Does anyone else have a link to a good review for this card?

Looks to me like there are only reviews for the 2-fan model around.

I am still thinking about buying this card, since I really do not need the RGB stuff on all the other cards,

that are available here in Germany and that have a 3-fan cooling design.

If I do end up buying this card, then I will update this topic with personal insights and data.

[RPX100 · Accepted solution]

--- personal review Dezember 2020 ---

I have bought the ASRock RX 5700 XT Challenger Pro 8GB OC and have been testing it for 2 days now.

It has a triple fan design and supports 0 RPM silent fan mode (below 60°C).

It is mostly black with a few silver highlights. No RGB lights are installed (which I prefer).

link to ASRock product page: ASRock RX 5700 XT Challenger Pro 8G OC 

temps:

- between 50°C and 55°C on desktop (idle, 1 display connected, 1440p)

- comparison to my GTX 1070 (triple fan design from 2016) in the same case: 37 - 41°C idle (2 displays, 1080p)

- gaming load temps reach 78°C (junction temp: 98°C) with default fan curve (limited to 54% by default)

- custom fan curve via Radeon Software can improve temps to 70°C (junction temp: 85°C) (65% max RPM)

- warning: connecting 2 displays with different refresh rate and/or resolution will raise temps by 5-10°C on idle!

noise:

- since the triple fan design supports 0 RPM mode, it is indeed silent (0db) in desktop/idle

- default fan curve (54% RPM limit) is noticeable, but not too loud (temps are high tho!)

- custom fan curve (65% RPM limit) is acceptable with headset (no vibration sounds, no rambling, just air flow noise)

- even on manual max RPM it is just the noise of air being pushed - no rambling, no vibration - but loud and noticeable air flow

- on RPM set to more than 55% I recommend the use of headset (which is standard while gaming, at least for me)

power consumption (as shown in Radeon Software readout):

- idle (1 monitor): 11-16W

- idle (2 monitor): 33-40W (1440p and 1080p) [VRAM clock stays maxed!]

- idle (2 monitor): 11-16W (both on same resolution and refresh rate - 1080p/60Hz)

- gaming 1440p: up to 220W (95%+ load)

- gaming 1080p: around 140-190W (depending on load)

dual monitor experience:

- using 2 monitors is working, altough there are some issues while using different resolution/refresh rate monitors

- VRAM will stay at max clock and power consumption will rise while using different resolution/refresh rate monitors

gaming and stability: (1 monitor)

- 1080p and 1440p gaming is working okay-ish. GPU seems to be up to the task.

- Frametimes at 1080p are stable around <16ms

- Frametimes at 1440p will mostly swap between 16ms up to 33ms

- I have noticed screen flickering on 1080p and 1440p (not all the time, more like 1 or 2 white/black frames each minute)

- 2 days of testing, 5 hours of gaming (1080p), 3 hours of 1440p: 6x Black Screen (driver reset), 8x PC reboot

- the first 60 minutes of each gaming session were under default GPU settings (Radeon Software not touched at all)

- after that I increased fan speed trying to prevent crashes: still crashed

- then I lowered max GPU clock and VRAM clock by 50 MHz: still crashed

- then I lowered voltage in 25mV steps and increased power limit to +50%: still crashed

- This is a fresh install of windows 10, all updates installed.

- Newest BIOS, newest chipset drivers, recommended Adrenalin Software (20.9.1) 

conclusion:

I can not recommend this card, because of huge stability issues and crashes. (I will return it)

The RX 5700 (XT) cards already have a bad reputation, so I am not surprised, but still shocked.

I have read a lot of user feedback regarding the 5700 (XT)'s issues and made sure to only use supported hardware.

The card was tested on 2 different monitors that are running fine on GTX 1070 since 2016.

When it did work in games: image quality was good and sharp on Ultra settings.

Framerates were stable, but the random white/black frames (flicker) is noticeable and annoying.

-RPX100 - Dez 2, 2020

[RPX100]

After another day of testing:

Re-Installing the driver and disabling all the Radeon Software-Features solved the crashes.

things that will crash the card:

- Radeon Anti Lag, Boost, Chill, Enhanced Sync, Image Sharpening when they are enabled

- which means: only use the Standard profile and don't touch "gaming", "eSports" or "energy saver"

If the card remains stable with default driver setup, then I will keep it. Performance is good now.

No more flickering, no more crashes, no more black screens (since driver re-install and default settings).

[colesdav]

These: 

Radeon Anti Lag. 
Boost. 
Chill. 
Enhanced Sync.
Image Sharpening. 

Are all key AMD Marketing Features for their GPUs. 
They promoted those Radeon Adrenalin Software features to Shareholders Meeting. 

They should not be causing your GPU to crash. 

[RPX100]

---

@colesdav wrote:

They should not be causing your GPU to crash. 

---

Indeed, they should not be causing any issues or crashes. But they do.

Image quality is fine without them. Gaming performance as well. So I don't need them.

I am still kinda mad that these issues exist at all (since forever?) ^^

[RPX100 · Accepted solution]

update: 3 more days of testing driver 20.9.1 and 0 crashes since the reinstall:

- undervolted to stable 1081mV at max 2000MHz boost clock

- game clock is stable between 1951MHz - 1976MHz

- card is running very well on 1440p/60fps

- temps are around 60-62°C (core, mem and VRM)

- fan curve manually adjusted for junction temp to stay below 85°C

additional review info:

- some games even run well on 4k resolution high (or ultra), depending on game engine

- the fan curve is actually based on junction temp

- I do like the ASRock triple fans on this card, even on high RPM.

- the cooler setup of this card is able to deal with the 200W TDP, with manual fan curve

- I can not recommend the default OC frequency and voltage

... and in case someone reads this topic at a later date: yes, I kept the card after all. *fingers crossed*