Page 50 - PCWorld (September 2019)
P. 50

REVIEWS               SAPPHIRE PULSE RADEON RX 5700













                                                                                out-of-the-box performance, but
                  Whole System Power Draw                                       the greatly enhanced cooler,

                  (Watts)
                                                                                dual-BIOS switch, metal
                  Nvidia GeForce RTX                           284
                  2060 (FE)         54.3                                        backplate, and beefed-up
                                                                                internal components easily
                                                            259
                  Radeon RX 5700
                                    56.1
                                                                                justify the card’s itty-bitty $9
                  Sapphire Radeon RX                          279               markup. Nine. Dollars.
                  5700 Pulse        57.6
                                                                                    There’s no reason to buy a
                  Nvidia GeForce RTX                             300
                  2060 Super (FE)   55.2                                        Radeon RX 5700 reference
                                                                   318          design anymore unless you need
                  Radeon RX 5700 XT  56.5
                                                                                the blower-style fan for a small
                  Nvidia GeForce RTX                                  344
                  2070 Super (FE)    56                                         form factor system, full stop.
                                    Load     Idle
                                                                                    The $359 Sapphire Pulse RX
                                        SHORTER BARS INDICATE BET TER PERFORMANCE
                                                                                5700 is faster than the similarly
                                                                                priced GeForce RTX 2060. Once

               Radeon RX 5700 review, it’s worth                   the company releases its Trixx software
               highlighting again that AMD’s new RDNA              upgrade with the new Trixx Boost feature in
               architecture on the 7nm manufacturing               early September, it should come within

               process has managed to pull ahead of                spitting distance of the $500 GeForce RTX
               Nvidia’s vaunted power efficiency, delivering       2070 Super’s performance by pairing a slight,

               more performance at less peak power.                practically unnoticeable resolution
                                                                   downgrade with AMD’s superb Radeon
               BOTTOM LINE                                         Image Sharpening technology. It’s a shame

               Should you buy the Sapphire Pulse RX 5700?          Trixx Boost won’t be available when
               Yes. Definitely.                                    Sapphire’s graphics card hits the streets

                   The reference Radeon RX 5700 earned             today, but if you buy this graphics card, hop
               4.5 stars (go.pcworld.com/0rig), our                on it the moment it becomes available.
               Editors’ Choice award, and our                          Sapphire deserves major props for seizing

               recommendation as the best 1440p graphics           advantage of the current upscaling trend so
               card f (go.pcworld.com/card) or most                effectively—and for making it so easy for

               people on the back of its GeForce RTX               gamers to tap into the significant potential
               2060-beating performance and stellar value.         performance advantages.
               The Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 5700 is only               There’s no reason to buy the $350

               slightly faster than the reference card in          GeForce RTX 2060 over the Sapphire Pulse



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