Leaked Benchmarks Show 11 Percent Uplift On Radeon RX 5600 XT With New vBIOS

Radeon RX 5600 XT

Radeon RX 5600 XT (Image credit: AMD)

Hardware detective @TUM_APISAK has given us a sneak peek of what the Radeon RX 5600 XT can do with the graphics card's newly acquired specifications.

In case you haven't heard, AMD released a new vBIOS for the Radeon RX 5600 XT four days before its launch that reportedly increases the graphics card's performance. In summary, the updated vBIOS bumps the Radeon RX 5600 XT's TBP (Typical Board Power) from 150W to 160W, which in return allows AMD's partners to push the graphics card's core and memory clocks to higher clock speeds.

In Sapphire's case, the company has improved its Pulse Radeon RX 5600 XT's game and boost clocks from 1,560 MHz and 1,620 MHz up to 1,615 MHz and 1,750 MHz, respectively, and the memory clock from 12 GBps to 14 GBps.

Swipe to scroll horizontally
BenchmarkOriginal vBIOSNew vBIOSDifference
Time Spy6,9XX7,6XX10.1%
Fire Strike19,7XX21,9XX11.2%
Fire Strike Extreme9,7XX10,8XX11.3%
Fire Strike Ultra5,0XX5,5XX10%

Assuming that the unspecified values are zeros, we're seeing improvements of up to between 10% to 11.3%, depending on the benchmark. While the leaked results are good preview of what's to come, we should still wait for the official review as performance in generic benchmarks don't always necessarily translate over to real-world performance.

The big question on everyone's mind is who jebaited who? Some suspect that AMD intentionally announced the Radeon RX 5600 XT with lower specifications to force Nvidia's hand into lowering the pricing on the GeForce RTX 2060. Once it's said and done, AMD would release a vBIOS update afterwards to show the Radeon RX 5600 XT's true colors.

On the flipside, Nvidia could have reduced the GeForce RTX 2060's price just before the Radeon RX 5600 XT launch to lure AMD into offering the graphics card with higher specifications. It's reasonable to believe that Nvidia's plan was to have AMD spec the Radeon RX 5600 XT so close to the Radeon RX 5700 so that the first would cannibalize the sales of the latter.

Zhiye Liu
News Editor and Memory Reviewer

Zhiye Liu is a news editor and memory reviewer at Tom’s Hardware. Although he loves everything that’s hardware, he has a soft spot for CPUs, GPUs, and RAM.

  • hannibal
    I am quite sure that Nvidia have had quite good idea of how fast 5600xt would be, because it is just cut down 5700 card. So the price cut was just to make the 2060 to look better in comparison. 2060 most likely would have not looked too good in comparison without the cut.
    I don`t believe big plans and counter plans in these things. Nvidia and amd try to price their products so that They make as much Profit as possible and be reasonable priced compared to worst competitors. No more, no less!
    Reply
  • Loadedaxe
    hannibal said:
    I am quite sure that Nvidia have had quite good idea of how fast 5600xt would be, because it is just cut down 5700 card. So the price cut was just to make the 2060 to look better in comparison. 2060 most likely would have not looked too good in comparison without the cut.
    I don`t believe big plans and counter plans in these things. Nvidia and amd try to price their products so that They make as much Profit as possible and be reasonable priced compared to worst competitors. No more, no less!

    I agree, and if AMD would stop taking so long to launch Nvidia and AMD would be fighting it out in price wars, which is good for us.

    Sadly AMD is late to the table again and I already got a RTX 2060 at launch, no need for me to buy a 5600XT which I may have done had they not been so late. But instead we are getting 2060 performance from AMD a year late.

    Now there is no sense in buying AMDs cards at this time unless you just have a terrible gpu as nvidia will be releasing new cards this year.
    Reply
  • Ncogneto
    Loadedaxe said:
    I agree, and if AMD would stop taking so long to launch Nvidia and AMD would be fighting it out in price wars, which is good for us.

    Sadly AMD is late to the table again and I already got a RTX 2060 at launch, no need for me to buy a 5600XT which I may have done had they not been so late. But instead we are getting 2060 performance from AMD a year late.

    Now there is no sense in buying AMDs cards at this time unless you just have a terrible gpu as nvidia will be releasing new cards this year.
    Next time I am sure AMD will consult you on your personal upgrade schedule and plan their release's accordingly........

    Newsflash, people are building new PC all the time.
    Reply
  • Loadedaxe
    I hope they do, and I know people are building new PCs all the time, reread my post.
    Reply
  • alextheblue
    Loadedaxe said:
    I hope they do, and I know people are building new PCs all the time, reread my post.
    I did, and it made me chuckle. You act like they're not fighting a price war - Nvidia has been dropping Super cards offering more performance for less money, and slashing prices. This is all in direct response to AMD launches. They constantly go back and forth, AMD does the same thing whenever they need to.

    Now on to the second part which reads "AMD needs to release on the same schedule as Nvidia otherwise I will only buy Nvidia, I can't wait for AMD's next release". Then you immediately contradict your own logic, as the last part reads "But don't buy AMD today wait for the next Nvidia release lulzzz".

    I think there's a lot of really good Nvidia cards on the market. The 1660 Super is a great value, for example, and the 2060 after price cuts is pretty solid too. If money is no object they have the TOP cards on the market. There's nothing wrong with being a little bit of a fanboy, but don't act like you're not, and then tell people to wait for Nvidia in the next breath.
    Reply
  • Loadedaxe
    I did not say "AMD needs to release on the same schedule as Nvidia otherwise I will only buy Nvidia, I can't wait for AMD's next release"

    Stop taking something said and twisting it into something you want to argue about, we call that trolling.
    Reply
  • spongiemaster
    Ncogneto said:
    Next time I am sure AMD will consult you on your personal upgrade schedule and plan their release's accordingly........

    Newsflash, people are building new PC all the time.
    Nice unprovoked dick response there. Especially considering he is right. The early bird dictates the price. The 2060 was released a year ago (January 15th). Everyone in the last year that bought a 2060, (the 6th most used card on Steam currently, and most popular current gen Nvidia gpu) is out of the market for a 5600XT. 5600XT is launching at $280. Meanwhile, the 2060 has been at $350 for a year. Nvidia has no problem dropping the price to $300 now as they have already made their money, eliminating most for the price advantage AMD had before the card even launches. That's a great way to do business. Let the competition siphon off all the people willing to pay top dollar, then sweep in a year late and pick up the cheapskates table scraps.
    Reply
  • spongiemaster
    alextheblue said:
    I did, and it made me chuckle. You act like they're not fighting a price war - Nvidia has been dropping Super cards offering more performance for less money, and slashing prices. This is all in direct response to AMD launches. They constantly go back and forth, AMD does the same thing whenever they need to.

    What was the the original RTX line released in response to? AMD released nothing of note in 2018.

    What was Nvidia's response to the Radeon VII? Silence. Maybe laughter behind the scenes.

    Nvidia works on its own product schedule and will release products regardless of what AMD is doing. The Super cards were not a response product to AMD. AMD may have helped decide the exact release date, but they played no role in their existence. Nvidia was not going to go an entire calendar year without releasing a new series of cards, so even if AMD had not released the 5000 series, we still would have seen the Super line last year.

    AMD didn't play any role in the Super cards being cheaper either. In a rare case of honesty in a quarterly report last January, Jen-Hsun admitted that initial RTX sales were disappointing because "some customers may have delayed their purchase while waiting for lower price points and further demonstrations of RTX technology in actual games." Translation, customers demand was lower than we predicted because prices were too high, and there were no games. Nvidia knew they had to drop prices even without competition from AMD. Nvidia pricing has been creeping up for a few generations, and with the RTX series they crossed the line that gamers weren't willing to pay. Nvidia isn't going to make that mistake again because they answer to shareholders not AMD.
    Reply
  • alextheblue
    OK you're right, pricing has nothing to do with what the competition releases. The release of (or impending release of) competitive GPUs likewise doesn't influence the timing and pricing of enhanced variants. Even when the competition releases new products, Nvidia operates in a vacuum. Irrefutable logic. You know I've heard from Intel fanboys brilliant independent journalists that Intel is the same way. AMD's releases haven't affected them in the slightest.

    I will absolutely give Nvidia credit for not resting on their laurels... at least not for several generations.
    Loadedaxe said:
    Stop taking something said and twisting it into something you want to argue about, we call that trolling.
    I don't think you understand actual trolling in the slightest. Anyway I don't think I've done much twisting. Here, I'll quote you.
    Loadedaxe said:
    Sadly AMD is late to the table again and I already got a RTX 2060 at launch, no need for me to buy a 5600XT which I may have done had they not been so late. But instead we are getting 2060 performance from AMD a year late.

    Now there is no sense in buying AMDs cards at this time unless you just have a terrible gpu as nvidia will be releasing new cards this year.
    You stated that you got a 2060 (at launch, naturally) because AMD was "late". I guess they can't operate on their own release schedule. Otherwise you "may" have bought a 5600 XT. OK. Then you also state that even TODAY, people should still not buy AMD if possible, but rather should hold out for Nvidia's next launch. Got it.
    Reply
  • spongiemaster
    alextheblue said:
    OK you're right, pricing has nothing to do with what the competition releases. The release of (or impending release of) competitive GPUs likewise doesn't influence the timing and pricing of enhanced variants. Even when the competition releases new products, Nvidia operates in a vacuum. Irrefutable logic. You know I've heard from Intel fanboys brilliant independent journalists that Intel is the same way. AMD's releases haven't affected them in the slightest.

    Your deeply condescending tone adds nothing to the conversation. Rather than responding point by point, I'll save time and quote someone else from this thread.

    Loadedaxe said:
    Stop taking something said and twisting it into something you want to argue about, we call that trolling.
    Reply