Custom Radeon RX 5500 XT Graphics Card Listed for $259 Before AMD Release

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This is what a high-end Radeon RX 5500 XT graphics card might cost.

Sapphire Radeon Nitro+ RX 5500 XT (Image credit: Amazon)

Amazon has put Sapphire's Radeon Nitro+ RX 5500 XT SE gaming graphics card up for pre-order for $259. According to the retailer, the third-party version of AMD's Radeon RX 5500 XT will be available on December 12.

At first glance, the price might seem pretty steep for a graphics card that's going to compete in the mid-range segment, but the Sapphire Nitro line is on the higher end of the spectrum. Amazon doesn't reveal the specifications for the Sapphire Radeon Nitro+ RX 5500 XT SE, but we expect the graphics card to come with a generous factory overclock, just like any other Nitro offering. In addition, the listed SKU is a special edition model (hence the "SE"). 

The Radeon RX 5500 XT graphics card is rumored to arrive with capacities of 4GB or 8GB. This Sapphire model in particular carries 8GB of GDDR6 memory.

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Sapphire Radeon Nitro+ RX 5500 XT SE
Sapphire Radeon Nitro+ RX 5500 XT SE(Image credit: Amazon)

The Sapphire Radeon Nitro+ RX 5500 XT SE features the brand's characteristic Dual-X cooling system, which might be a bit overkill for AMD's mid-range GPU. This is evident as the cooler extends far beyond the graphics card's tiny PCB. Amazon lists the Sapphire Radeon Nitro+ RX 5500 XT SE with dimensions of 12.5 x 8.5 x 2.8 inches (31.75 x 21.59 x 7.11cm).

The Dual-X cooler consists of robust heatsink that hides underneath the shroud and two translucent cooling fans with addressable RGB lighting. The fans should carry Sapphire's Zero dB Cooling feature, meaning they won't spin unless there is a heavy load on the graphics card. The graphics card also comes with a beautiful full-cover backplate.

The Sapphire Radeon Nitro+ RX 5500 XT SE only relies on a single 8-pin PCIe power connector, which is placed near the middle of the graphics card. Display outputs include two HDMI ports and two DisplayPort outputs.

Zhiye Liu
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.

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6 Comments Comment from the forums
  • larkspur
    I realize it's a special edition and very pretty and all but $260 for an RX 5500XT? I've seen RX5700 going for $290 (although not currently)...

    For similar performance to this $260 RX 55000XT you can get this MSI Radeon RX 580 8gb for $145 after $20 mail-in rebate: https://www.newegg.com/msi-radeon-rx-580-rx-580-8gt-oc/p/N82E16814137479?Description=radeon%20rx%20580&cm_re=radeon_rx_580-_-14-137-479-_-Product
    Reply
  • digitalgriffin
    Rx570 performance for $260?
    Dead on arrival
    Reply
  • King_V
    larkspur said:
    I realize it's a special edition and very pretty and all but $260 for an RX 5500XT? I've seen RX5700 going for $290 (although not currently)...

    For similar performance to this $260 RX 55000XT you can get this MSI Radeon RX 580 8gb for $145 after $20 mail-in rebate: https://www.newegg.com/msi-radeon-rx-580-rx-580-8gt-oc/p/N82E16814137479?Description=radeon rx 580&cm_re=radeon_rx_580--14-137-479--Product
    I agree, that's a pretty outrageous price. Though, there are some overpriced RX 580s out there, too. Still, even for the super special stuff, I think this price is going to have to come down. Awesome overkill cooler and addressable RGB are going to be a very small niche for a mid-range card.

    I really can't wait to see what the mainstream cards go for, and actual test results comparing them to the RX 570, 580, 590, and probably the 1650 Super and 1660 Super.

    digitalgriffin said:
    Rx570 performance for $260?
    Dead on arrival

    Where did you get that? The one test showed about 580 performance, or slightly under. If the 570 was as close to the 580 as that, it would be hard to sell the 580 over the 570.
    Reply
  • larkspur
    King_V said:
    I agree, that's a pretty outrageous price. Though, there are some overpriced RX 580s out there, too. Still, even for the super special stuff, I think this price is going to have to come down. Awesome overkill cooler and addressable RGB are going to be a very small niche for a mid-range card.

    I really can't wait to see what the mainstream cards go for, and actual test results comparing them to the RX 570, 580, 590, and probably the 1650 Super and 1660 Super.
    Yeah only 2 more days and we should see some real benchmarks. We discussed this a bunch over at the following thread (and the $109 RX570 4gb deal is still going): https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/asrock-radeon-rx-570-card-falls-to-just-109.3552268/
    Reply
  • digitalgriffin
    King_V said:
    I agree, that's a pretty outrageous price. Though, there are some overpriced RX 580s out there, too. Still, even for the super special stuff, I think this price is going to have to come down. Awesome overkill cooler and addressable RGB are going to be a very small niche for a mid-range card.

    I really can't wait to see what the mainstream cards go for, and actual test results comparing them to the RX 570, 580, 590, and probably the 1650 Super and 1660 Super.



    Where did you get that? The one test showed about 580 performance, or slightly under. If the 570 was as close to the 580 as that, it would be hard to sell the 580 over the 570.
    Im seeing about 7% slower on early benchmarks. So somewhat closer to a 570 than a 580 give or take.
    Reply
  • larkspur
    digitalgriffin said:
    Im seeing about 7% slower on early benchmarks. So somewhat closer to a 570 than a 580 give or take.
    That was a RX5500 4gb OEM. Depending on how much higher clocked the RX5500 XT cards are and whether a particular game benefits from 8gb of vram, the RX5500 XT 8gb should be much closer to the RX580 8gb. We'll know soon.
    Reply