The AMD Radeon RX 590 Review, feat. XFX & PowerColor: Polaris Returns (Again)
by Nate Oh on November 15, 2018 9:00 AM ESTMeet The Cards: XFX & PowerColor
As there are no reference cards, for today's launch AMD sampled us the XFX Radeon RX 590 Fatboy. PowerColor also sampled us their RX 590 Red Devil. Both sport modest factory overclocks over the reference 1545MHz boost, and both feature dual BIOS with performance and quiet options. Broadly-speaking, if you're already familiar with PowerColor's Red Devil and XFX's GTS designs for Polaris, then you'll already know what these boards are like.
| Radeon RX 590 Series Cards | ||||||
| XFX RX 590 Fatboy | PowerColor RX 590 Red Devil | Radeon RX 590 (Reference) | Radeon RX 580 (Reference) |
|||
| Boost Clock | 1580MHz | 1576MHz | 1545MHz | 1340MHz | ||
| Memory Clock | 8Gbps | 8Gbps | 8Gbps | 8Gbps | ||
| VRAM | 8GB | 8GB | 8GB | 8GB | ||
| TBP | TBA | TBA | 225W | 185W | ||
| Length | 10.63" | 10" | N/A | N/A | ||
| Width | 2.5 Slot | 2.5 Slot | N/A | N/A | ||
| Cooler Type | Open Air | Open Air | N/A | N/A | ||
| Price | TBA | ~$299? | $279 | $229 | ||
Both of the cards are relatively typical for custom factory overclocked designs, featuring thick heatsinks, dual axial fans, 1x8pin + 1x6pin for power, and the extremely essential presence of LEDs. Right now we don't have a definitive answer on price, but expect them to be in the high $200s to low $300s range where heavily factory-overclocked GTX 1060 6GB cards reside. For the opening launch window, all the partner cards are marked at the $279 SEP.
XFX Radeon RX 590 Fatboy
From the outside, the XFX Radeon RX 590 Fatboy looks to be much of the same with its existing RX 500 and 400 series models. The card's amusing namesake comes from the new heatsink design that XFX is calling the 'Fatboy Unibody VRM Heatsink,' and the company claims the design brings 50% greater heatsink surface area over previous RX 400/500 series cards. So it would seem it's an iteration on the Unibody VRM Heatsink introduced by RX RS and GTR series cards.
As silly as the 'Fatboy' name may be, it seems to have done its marketing job by raising interest, critical or otherwise, and for a subdued Polaris refresh SKU, that extra differentiation can be helpful.
And in terms of 'fatness', the RX 590 Fatboy has the 2.5 slot Double Dissapation style cooler, leading up to a height of 2.09". Thick, but perhaps not as thick as the Red Devil, which stands at 2.24". In any case, the card is neatly clad in an aluminum backplate. Right next to the PCIe power connections is the BIOS dip switch, toggling between Performance and Quiet/Lower RPM.
The display output situation is fairly standard for both cards, with 3 DisplayPorts, 1 HDMI, and 1 DL-DVI-D port.
PowerColor Red Devil Radeon RX 590
For the Red Devil RX 590, the thermal solution doesn't appear unchanged from the RX 580 version, sharing the same dimensions, 4x8mm + 1x6mm heatpipes, 6+1 power phases, and DrMos. At 10" long but 2.24" (57mm) high, the Red Devil RX 590 is a particuarly squat but thick card - just 3mm away from the standard triple-slot width. So prospective buyers should keep that in mind for smaller form factors, occupied neighboring PCIe slots, or chassis airflow management.
While the card has the red Red Devil LED, one of the more easily overlooked features is a small dip switch to disable LEDs. Both BIOS and LED switches are labelled so on the pentagram-emblazoned 1.5mm metal backplate.
Both the XFX Fatboy and PowerColor Red Devil have zero dB fan functionality as well, turning off the fans under certain temperatures and lighter workloads.
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wumpus - Saturday, November 17, 2018 - link
Diminishing returns, sure. But the improvements are still there. Oddly enough, it looks like 2080ti Battlefield (raytraced edition) has a choice of [low] 1080P raytraced (at 72Hz) vs. super high resolution and/or frequency. I'm curious what buyers pick (assuming their cards don't fail).Don't forget the value of a big screen for 2d and "immersive" effects. I certainly loved going from 1024x768 15" to 1600x1200 19" (CRTs)_, even though it would be ages before GPUs would catch up to those resolutions (the 19" CRT likely predated by Voodoo card).
Can't tell about 1366x768, I went straight from CRT land (at least 1600x1200 and beyond) to 1080P and wouldn't touch 1366 (unless on a laptop). The 2d benefits are enough, although you might consider a second monitor, or simply find a sufficiently large 4k TV (60Hz *real* frequency minimum, and make sure the HDMI interface can take 60HZ) for 2d use.
Spunjji - Sunday, November 18, 2018 - link
I'd argue that point happens somewhere between 1080p and 1440p - the difference between 1080p and lower resolutions is painfully stark, especially when it comes to representation of textures. YMMV depending on screen size and preference, of course, but it sounds like you might want an update prescription :)sean8102 - Tuesday, December 18, 2018 - link
As someone who finally upgraded from 1080p to 1440p (27 inch IPS monitor for both, 75 Hz / or 60 Hz 10 bit on my new 1440p). I was very surprised at the difference. I was not expecting it to be very noticeable, but it def is . It's not night and day but its def a nice bump up in sharpness. But the main thing I love is the extra screen space. I also went from ivy bridge 3770K to 8700K. I'm hoping my EVGA GTX 1080 (regular not Ti) can last me at least 6 more months. Till the end of next year would be even better. So far so good, I don't mind bumping one or two settings down as long as I can get close to max settings and a mostly steady 60 FPS.HardwareDufus - Friday, November 16, 2018 - link
I'm the same way...Hard $200 cap on SSDs, Video Cards, Motherboards and CPUs. However, I might bend on the CPU next time out. I was flexible when I purchased my current I7-3770K many years back.. I paid about $300 for it.
I'm hoping we get an 8 core / 16 thread Ryzen with onchip Vega graphics... Problem is no manufacturer will put two HDMI 2.0 ports on a decent mITX motherboard.
AndrewDarnell - Friday, November 16, 2018 - link
https://www.reddit.com/r/Amd/comments/7xz2fw/psa_o...NomanA - Thursday, November 15, 2018 - link
Vega 56 is between $350-400 in US. There are higher priced Vega 56s as well, but you can find them below $400.limitedaccess - Thursday, November 15, 2018 - link
This is available for $370 at Newegg.ca currently.There are GTX 1070s between $450 - $500.
mapesdhs - Thursday, November 15, 2018 - link
It seems the NPCs are happy to follow NVIDIA's push to shove the entire pricing stack upwards, mainstream becomes $600. Oh dear.Btw, used 980 Tis are a decent alternative. Only just a little bit slower than a 1070 FE but usually about the same or cheaper than the 590 via normal auction. Not as much as VRAM as a 590, but I doubt that matters much at this level.
PeachNCream - Friday, November 16, 2018 - link
NPCs?Spunjji - Sunday, November 18, 2018 - link
It's a derogatory term that implies an individual is a "non-player character", doomed to wander around following instructions and being led by others. You'll mostly see it used in an unintentionally ironic way by the alt-right to describe anyone who doesn't reside in their echo chambers.In this case I sort-of endorse the point, because I too am frustrated by the willingness of many in the supposedly tech-savvy enthusiast community to swallow this ridiculous and unnecessary price inflation.