MSI Radeon RX 570 Gaming X 4G Review

Performance Analysis

Comparing this card to a pre-overclocked RX 470, average frame rates are either the same or, at most, 1fps higher now, with the average improvement coming to just over one percent – as unexciting as it is unsurprising. 3DMark suggests that OC Mode will make very little difference, as it actually scored a touch less than the default mode, suggesting that the performance boost is so small it won't overcome margin of error. Even so, there's little reason not to use OC Mode.


The Asus RX 580 Strix is around 14 percent quicker on average, which again doesn't surprise – the GPU there has 12.5 percent more cores as well as higher core and memory clock speeds. Next to Nvidia, the RX 570 compares favourably to the GTX 1060 3GB, especially in DirectX 12 and Vulkan tests, with some tests clearly pushing the 3GB frame buffer beyond its limits even at 1080p – 4GB is the current sweet spot, although for how long is always hard to guess. The GTX 1060 6GB, meanwhile, does emerge as significantly faster, but then it's also more expensive, so the RX 570 is not poorly placed in value terms.

In general, 1440p gameplay is within reach for this card, but 4GB is likely to feel the strain sooner rather than later, with some games even now producing minimum frame rates that are just below the 30fps we expect for smoothness. For 1080p, though, it's a hard card to argue with, always producing smooth frame rates at ultra settings, with some titles seeing a minimum of more than 60fps. With a FreeSync screen to match, you'll have a high quality 1080p gaming experience, although the same was true of the RX 470, of course.


Efficiency is not a strong point here, with system power consumption actually peaking above the same system using an overclocked RX 480 – AMD has clearly had to sacrifice power targets to meet these new speeds. There's a massive difference between efficiency when comparing with the GTX 1060s in the chart.

MSI's Twin Frozr VI cooling solution is extremely effective. It keeps the card at its peak boost speed of 1,281MHz all the time (1,293MHz in OC Mode), and the temperature is low. Better yet, the fan speed peaked at just 27 percent (approximately 1,200 RPM), at which level is was effectively silent.

We saw performance improve by between five and eight percent with our overclock applied. This isn't much compared to what Nvidia's Pascal hardware can do, but it's to be expected with Polaris. We'd say 1,400MHz is a good target for a 24/7 overclock with these cards, although it's early days and always a lottery.

Conclusion

With the RX 570 being a rebranded RX 470 and little new from MSI's card design, this is a pretty by the books review. Like the RX 470 before it, the RX 570 remains a solid sub-£200 option for 1080p gamers. In fact, for such players, we'd say it's the best sub-£200 choice at current prices unless you can nab an RX 580 4GB for cheap; the GTX 1060 3GB appears to be limited here and there by its frame buffer size. VR and 1440p are technically valid use scenarios for the RX 470, but we'd say any such gamers would be better off stepping up to an RX 580 8GB or GTX 1060 6GB as a minimum.

The £30 premium MSI is asking for is a little steep, perhaps, but not completely unreasonable. You get more flexible display outputs, upgraded power input and components, and a seriously effective cooler that will be nearly impossible to hear in anything that's not a completely silent system. It's also not way off what other partners are asking for. There's enough by way of features and quality to earn it a recommendation for anyone seeking an excellent, silent 1080p gaming experience on a £200 budget. That said, it's worth keeping an eye on deals for the outgoing RX 470; the differences between this card and that one is really very slim indeed. Alternatively, RX 580 4GB SKUs are available for little more than this card, and should offer a sizeable performance jump at 1080p – they should be your first port of call, especially if low noise isn't a top priority.