ASRock RX 5600XT Phantom Gaming D3 Review

Solid performance, but how is the value?

By Damien Gula on April 13, 2020 | Hardware Reviews | 0

Two months after the release of AMD’s Radeon RX 5600 XT into the wild, ASRock delivers a triple fanned take into the pack to offer cool temperatures while keeping those 1080p frames bumping. Within this review, we will be taking a look at the ASRock RX 5600XT Phantom Gaming D3, assessing its performance and looking at its value proposition within the current market.

Specifications

• MSRP: $319.99 USB 
• Game Clock: 1670 MHz
• Boost Clock: 1750 MHz
• Memory: 6 GB 192-Bit GDDR6
• Memory Clock: 14 Gbps
• Stream Processes: 2304
• Bus: PCI-e 4.0
• Ports: 3x Display Port, 1x HDMI 
• Cooling: Triple Fan
• Size: 2 Slot
• RGB Logo Control via Polychrome Sync

In case you are just beginning your journey into the wide world of PC parts, back in January,  at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), AMD announced what seemed to be a rapid release hot on the heels of their December’s launch of the Radeon RX 5500XT. With the release of the RX 5600 XT, AMD sought to disrupt the mid-tier market of GPUs, targeting NVIDIA’s 16-series of GPUs and to offer a different upgrade path from the current leader in 1080p gaming: the NVIDIA GTX 1060. 

Following CES, we got our hands on the SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 5600 XT to give it a shake. What we discovered back then was that the Radeon RX 5600 XT offered a true successor to AMD’s former Polaris-based (RX 500 series) GPUs in frames per second, power consumption, and thermal performance. 

With ASRock’s offering, we found that these same improvements hold true, but with some pretty significant improvement in one area in particular: thermal performance. This detail is in no small part due to the triple fan design on the ASRock Phantom Gaming D3 model that we are looking at today. Without any more exposition, let’s get into the numbers.

Synthetic Benchmarks and Thermal Performance: 

Here are the system specifications for my test bench:

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3800X
• Cooler: Corsair Hydro Series H100i RGB Platinum SE (Closed loop cooler)
• RAM: 16 GB Patriot Viper Gaming RGB, 16 GB Silicon Power Gaming Turbine
• Motherboard: ASUS Prime X570-PRO
• GPU: ASRock Phantom Gaming D3 Radeon RX 5600 XT
• Storage: 1TB WD_Black SN750, 1 TB Seagate FireCuda
• PSU: NZXT E850
• Case: NZXT H510 Elite

Since the RX 5600 XT is advertised as the penultimate 1080p card, our tests and the majority of the numbers we talk about will be within the 1080p range. We will be showing data collected from both ASRock and SAPPHIRE’s RX 5600 XT offerings as well as comparing them to MSI’s RX 5700XT and RX 5500XT. Standing in for the predecessor, the Radeon RX 580, we will be using PowerColor Red Devil RX 580. We will also be testing these GPUs in 1440p to see how these numbers split the difference between the 5500XT and 5700X as well as to highlight improvements over the RX 580. 

Let’s begin!

Our first synthetic test is the 3DMark Time Spy Extreme. This benchmark shows both the RX 5600 XT takes a massive stride ahead of the 5500XT. We did notice that the ASRock version fell a few point behind its SAPPHIRE counterpart, but the gap is within the margin of error. As stated in my review of the SAPPHIRE version, you may also notice in both 1080p and 1440p, the 5500XT was nearly neck and neck with the RX 580. This is a very promising direction for AMD with the RX 5600 XT as these improvements mean that it is positioned as a true successor in both architecture and performance over the previous generation. Our gaming tests show a similar story. 

For these tests, we used the highest settings available in these titles to capture as close a comparison as possible between GPUs. With these numbers, keep in mind, we are pushing the RX 5600 XT to put AMD’s claims about this GPU being the premium choice for 1080p gamers. Here is a look at the numbers:

Unsurprisingly, we see ASRock’s iteration on the Radeon RX 5600 XT  at peak performance in the 1080p range. With our collected numbers averaging around or above 80 frames-per-second, some of our tests are even averaging within the triple digits! In most cases, our tests showed the GPU capable of achieving over 60 FPS at 1440p as well. Even in our benchmark of Shadow of the Tomb Raider, a title that favors NVIDIA, the ASRock Phantom Gaming D3 Radeom RX 5600 XT hovered steady over 70 frames per second.

In the Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers benchmark, ASRock’s RX 5600 XT showed similar resolve. While the RX 580 and the RX 5500XT are nearly indistinguishable, trailing behind the pack, the RX 5600 XT soared with its big brother in the ranks of high performance in an MMO setting. One of the reasons we love to use this benchmark here at MMORPG.com is because of the high saturation of spell effects within the test. Even with everything going on through the combat sequences, we saw numbers in the high digits in both 1080p and 1440p. 

As observed before, not all of our tests chart improvements for the RX 5600 XT. Much like its little brother - the RX 5500XT, the RX 5600 XT took a pounding in the Final Fantasy XV Benchmark, revealing some of its lowest scores. Contextually, this test does favor NVIDIA GPUs and this performance loss does seem to be a bit of a trend within this particular test. The RX 5700XT did manage to push beyond the 60 FPS mark at 1440p, but the mid- and lower- end RDNA cards just did not hang with it. That being said, many of the sequences within the benchmark ran smoothly.

Both Warhammer: Vermintide 2 and Far Cry 5 continue to show the positioning within the product stack and the improvements over the previous RX500-series. Where the previous generation’s card targeting esports and the 1080p range - the RX 580 -  struggled, both RX 5600 XT cards showed marked improvement. 

It is worth noting that ASRock followed the same pattern as SAPPHIRE did with their PULSE on release: dropping a BIOS update was released to increase voltage to the GPU, upping the operating frequency and improving the memory core clock speed. This was in response to NVIDIA’s price reduction for the RTX 2060. The numbers listed above reflect the performance after updating the BIOS.

Thermal performance and power consumption remain the hallmarks of AMD’s 7nm process, Navi-based GPUs. Navi promised to deliver power without sacrificing efficiency and AMD has done just that. Even with the bump in voltage use with BIOS update, the voltage was still lower than its predecessor and the impact on thermal performance was negligible. This was helped by ASRock’s triple-fan design on the Phantom Gaming D3 model.

Looking purely at thermal performance, we have seen a steady trend with the Navi GPU of sustained lower (under 80C) temperatures during testing without major fan ramping. The fan tachometer on the ASRock RX 5600 XT only saw highs in the lower 2000 RPMs while temperatures stayed low. 

Looking at this in a gaming setting, the highest sustained temperature during testing in Destiny 2 with the RX 580 was 87C with fans blazing at 3,069 RPMs. In this same scenario, the ASRock Phantom Gaming D3 RX 5600 XT only hit 68C, with fans staving over the heat with fan speeds around 2000 RPMs. Keep in mind: this is without employing any of AMD special software for thermal management.

While the fan speeds were not as low as the SAPPHIRE PULSE, the temperatures stayed lower all around on this board. On the other side of that same scale, versus Power Color’s RX580, we saw a significant difference between both temperature and the fan speeds necessary to maintain those temperatures.

Build Quality

ASRock’s Phantom Gaming D3 is a well built RX 5600 XT. Boasting an overbuilt heatsink, a striking black design with red striping, as well as a metal backplate, this card carries with it an aesthetic subtle enough to fit into most systems without clashing, but bold enough to be noticed. The GPU itself is longer than the SAPPHIRE version, but a bit less wide.

It features a triple fan design very similar in size to the one found on ASRock’s Taichi RX 5700XT. These fans keep the GPU cool without being noisy. They are smaller fans, but they get the job done.

In case you are looking at how this GPU can add to the overall aesthetic of your machine, the Phantom Gaming D3 RX 5600 XT does have a small amount of programmable RGB lighting on it. The Phantom Gaming logo on the side can be controlled with ASRock’s Polychrome Sync software. 

Overall, ASRock has done a great job balancing form and function in this GPU. 

Final Thoughts

The Radeon RX 5600 XT continues to represent a true leap forward for AMD over their previous generation of GPUs. ASRock’s offering to this line up delivers performance in both high frame rates and overall thermal control. If you are looking for a replacement GPU in the $300 range, ASRock’s RX 5600 XT is a rather appealing choice for upgrading - especially if you are a few generations behind!

However, at the time of writing this review, the $300 - $400 price range held a myriad of different options including offerings in both the RX 5700 and RTX 2060 families just $15 USD away from where this GPU lands. With fluctuating markets, it is always wise for any system builder to take a look at the current pricing to see where the components you are looking for may fall. 

Regardless of what you do with this information, ASRock’s Phantom Gaming D3 Radeon RX 5600 XT is a great GPU for 1080p gaming that could even push you into the 1440p range with some minor adjustments. This GPU (and those within the RX 5600 XT product family) provide a true middle ground between the RX 5500XT and the RX 5700 in both price and performance. 

I look forward to seeing what the future holds for both AMD and partners like ASRock as they keep pushing technology forward while keeping it accessible to the masses.

The product described in this review was provided by the manufacturer for evaluation purposes.