AMD RX 580 MSI GPU Review: Great performer which needs minor fixes

Specs-sheet

• 36 computer units
• Base Frequency up to 1257 MHz
• Boost Frequency up to 1340 MHz
• Max Performance of 6.2 TFLOPs
• TDP 185 W
• Memory 8 GB (GDDR5)
• Max Memory Bandwidth 256 GB/s
• I/O 2x Display port, 2x HDMI up to 4K 60fps

Unique features

• Shader Intrinsics: Allows the direct game to hardware access on Radeon RX cards to extract more performance from the GPU.

• Radeon FreeSync technology: Brings an end to choppy gameplay and broken frames with fluid, artifact-free performance at virtually any framerate

Design

The AMD RX 580 looks like a true graphics card, which is made for gaming and the design reaffirms the same. The model that we used is made by MSI with TWIN (dual) FROZR VI thermal solution with TORX FAN 2.0 to offer faster cooling system. The graphics card had a plastic outer shell in Black and Red color, which gives it a unique look.

The MSI logo on the side of GPU supports RGB lighting, which can be toggled using the MSI app. As it supports the full spectrum of RGB colors there are unlimited ways of customizing the card. However, the RGB lighting works only for the MSI logo and we would love to see RGB lighting throughout the card.

Software

The Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition has one of the best UI that I have seen on any GPU. It looks modern with easily accessible settings options to customize the graphics card to toggle between the various parameters related to display, graphics, fan speed, clock speed and more.

In fact, AMD also gives an option to control the graphics card using an Android mobile application called AMD Link. It did take some time to pair the smartphone with the AMD graphics (which was a bit of a lengthy process). However, once we set up the AMD Link, we were able to get live performance update of the graphics card, provided, both the PC and the smartphones were connected to an active internet connection.

Performance

We got mixed results in terms of performance from the AMD RX 580 GPU with 8 GB RAM. For the most part, the GPU performs well in terms of graphics capability. However, we were not happy with the thermal issues of the graphics card.

When we tried to play some high-demanding titles like GTA V, Crysis 3, and NFS, the graphics performance from the card was up to the mark. (we tested all these games in the extreme mode). However, soon after we started playing the game the fans would start to spin of making audible noises and within a few minutes of gaming, we could sense the heat of waves from the graphics card. Fans only start to spin only after the card reaches 60-degree Celsius.

When we continue to play the game for an extended period of time, there was no drop in performance as all the above-mentioned games were averaging with a frame rate of 70fps to 85fps at all the time. We manually tried to change the rpm of the fan and the results were the same.

Heaven Benchmark 4

In the heaven benchmark 4 (DirectX 11), we got a score of in the extreme setting and here is a comparison between the other similarly priced graphics card on the heaven benchmark. As these graphs clearly indicated that the AMD RX 580 with 8 GB RAM is not the best performer. However, it is also not the worst performer as well.

GTA V

We continue to test the AMD RX 580s capabilities by playing the most popular action-adventure game GTA V and we were happy with the performance that the graphics card offered. The fps were in line with the other graphics cards of this calibre from the competition and we did not notice any lag or frame drops even with the extended gaming sessions.

Verdict

All in all, the AMD RX 580 ATX GPU from MSI seems like a great performer with an affordable price tag. It offers a huge selection of customization options and it can handle most of the games in 1080p resolution with impressive frame rates.

However, the thermal issues on the RX 580 seem like a major problem, as the performance might go done over the years due to overheating. If you are in the market for a graphics card under Rs 30,000 price tag, then the RX 580 seems like a nice option.

To conclude, AMD has made a stellar GPU which offers rock-solid performance, but it still needs refinement when it comes to a thermal solution.