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REVIEWS               SAPPHIRE PULSE RADEON RX 5700













                   • Asus Maximus X Hero motherboard               vendor-specific technologies—like AMD TressFX,
               ($420 on Amazon at go.pcworld.com/c240)             Nvidia GameWorks options, and FreeSync/G-

                   • 64GB HyperX Predator RGB DDR4/                Sync—disabled, and temporal anti-aliasing (TAA)
               2933 ($420 on Amazon)                               enabled to push these high-end cards to their

                   • EVGA 1200W SuperNova P2 power                 limits. If anything differs from that, we’ll mention
               supply ($230 on Amazon at go.pcworld.               it. We run each benchmark at least three times
               com/mxmc)                                           and list the average result for each test.

                   • Corsair Crystal 570X RGB case, with               Because the Sapphire Pulse is just a slightly
               front and top panels removed and an extra           faster Radeon RX 5700 at its core, we’re going to
               rear fan installed for improved airflow ($130       skip our usual commentary after each benchmark

               on Amazon at go.pcworld.com/crst)                   and let the testing speak for itself, aside from in
                   • 2x 500GB Samsung 860 EVO SSDs ($78            the Trixx Boost and thermals sections.

               each on Amazon at go.pcworld.com/smev)
                   We’re comparing the $359 Sapphire Pulse         GAMING BENCHMARKS
               RX 5700 against AMD’s $350 Radeon RX 5700           The Division 2

               and $400 Radeon RX 5700 XT reference                Let’s start with the latest games. The Division 2 is
               models, as well as Nvidia’s $350 GeForce RTX        one of the best looter-shooters ever created, and
               2060, $400 GeForce RTX 2060

               Super, and $500 GeForce RTX              The Division 2
               2070 Super. If you want to see how       (Frames per second)

               AMD’s new GPUs stack up against          Nvidia GeForce RTX                 83
                                                        2060 (FE)                       55
               a wider range of cards, be sure to                              28
               check out our original Radeon RX                                                    90
                                                        Radeon RX 5700                   60
               5700 series review. (Spoiler:                                    31
               They’re great options, and the                                                      90
                                                        Sapphire Radeon RX
                                                                                         60
               $350 Radeon RX 5700 won an               5700 Pulse              32
               Editors’ Choice award.)                  Nvidia GeForce RTX                            97
                                                        2060 Super (FE)                    64
                   All prices cited are launch                                  33
               MSRP; you can sometimes find                                                            103
                                                        Radeon RX 5700 XT                   67
               these cards cheaper on the streets.                               35

                   Each game is tested using its                                                             119
                                                        Nvidia GeForce RTX
                                                                                                79
                                                        2070 Super (FE)
               in-game benchmark at the highest                                    41
               possible graphics presets, with                            1080p    1440p   4K
                                                                              LONGER BARS INDICATE BET TER PERFORMANCE
               VSync, frame rate caps, and all GPU



               42   PCWorld   SEPTEMBER 2019
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