After successfully launched its Ryzen 7 and Ryzen 5 CPUs into the market, AMD today has decided to shift its attention to its graphics cards. That being said, it is still not yet time for Vega though but instead, the company decided to launch the new Radeon RX 500 series graphics cards.
Still using Polaris GPUs as per Radeon RX 400 series cards, AMD has made it clear that the Radeon RX 500 are not targeted to users that have just bought their graphics within the past two years. Instead, the company aims to attract users that still using AMD R9 300 series cards and older as well as those who are stuck on integrated graphics solution.
Leading the line-up is the Radeon RX 580 which is designed to deliver gaming at resolutions of up to 1440p as well as for virtual reality. Built with 36 compute units, the card runs at a base clock speed of 1257MHz and boost speed of 1340MHz. Users can choose to have the Radeon RX 580 with either 8GB or 4GB GDDR5 VRAM.
The rest of the card in the series are meant for 1080p gaming, starting with the Radeon RX 570 which offers 32 compute units with base clock speed of 1168MHz and boost clock speed of 1244 MHz. Just like Radeon RX 580, the card also be obtained with either 8GB or 4GB of GDDR5 VRAM.
As for Radeon RX 560, the card is clocked slightly faster than Radeon RX 570 at base and boost clock speed of 1175 MHz and 1275 MHz respectively but only carries 16 compute units. While it is still designed for 1080p gaming, AMD is targeting this card for users that are looking that upgrade the graphics capability of their small form factor or OEM system.
Last but not least, there is also the Radeon RX 550 has been positioned as the new entry-level model for Radeon RX series. In general, this particular card is made for users that looking for affordable upgrade from the integrated graphics in their system as well as those who want to have 4K and HDR capability on their Home Theatre PC.
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In terms of firepower, the Radeon RX 550 carries up to 10 compute units and features boost clock speed of 1183 MHz. With the option of either 2GB or 4GB GDDR5 VRAM, the card doesn’t require any power connector.
Here is a quick look at the performance level that each of these Radeon RX 500 series cards are able to deliver:
As this article was based on information provided to us during a pre-launch press briefing, we didn’t receive any Malaysian pricing for Radeon RX 500 series cards although here are their general pricing in United States:
Radeon RX 580 8GB: USD 229 (about RM 1010)
Radeon RX 580 4GB: USD 199 (about RM 878)
Radeon RX 570 4GB: USD 169 (about RM 746)
Radeon RX 560 4GB: USD 99 (about RM 437)
Radeon RX 550 2GB: USD 79 (about RM 349)
As for their general release date, the Radeon RX 580 and RX 570 graphics cards will begin to be available to gamers throughout the world starting from today onwards while the Radeon RX 550 will be released on 20 April. Interestingly, the Radeon RX 560 will only be launched in May.
Meanwhile, those that will be attending the Malaysian launch of AMD Ryzen processors tomorrow will be one of the first in the country to be able to check out the new Radeon RX 500 series graphics card. For the folks that not able to be there at the event, stay tuned for them through our coverage tomorrow.
