Gigabyte RX 5700 XT Gaming OC 8G Review: Right Price, Solid Performance

Gigabyte's take on the RX 5700 XT is affordable, with quiet cooling.

Gigabyte RX 5700 XT Gaming OC 8G
Editor's Choice
(Image: © Gigabyte)

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The Gigabyte RX 5700 XT Gaming OC 8G takes AMD's reference design and improves upon it by using the company's Ultra Durable parts underneath as a solid foundation, as well as its Windforce 3X cooler. The latter proved to be more effective and make less noise than the reference blower. With the fans spinning around 2,000 RPM, I can hear a bit of a tone but nothing that was off-putting while the GPU was sitting on an open test bench about 3-4 feet from my ears. 

Gigabyte took the reference clock speeds of 1605/1755/1905 MHz (Base/Game/Boost, respectively) to 1650/1795/1905 MHz. Since AMD's boost clocks are rarely reached, the big one to look at is the game clock, which is 40 MHz over reference. It isn’t a big boost, but a boost nonetheless. 

When comparing the clocks to the other 5700 XT’s we’ve looked at, this has the least factory overclock and, with that, performs a bit slower. But it's nothing that will cause a settings change, and manual overclocking should easily close that gap if you need it. Just remember that you'll have to use Wattman or a some other overclocking software to increase clocks over the out-of-the-box settings.

(Image credit: Gigabyte)

Pricing on the Gigabyte RX 5700 RXT Gaming OC 8G is currently $399.99 at Newegg (and at publication included $20 promo code to bring the price down a bit further) and comes with Borderlands 3 or Ghost Recon along with three months of an Xbox Game Pass. This is the least-expensive 5700 XT we’ve looked at, as well as the cheapest on Newegg that isn’t an open box. The ASRock Taichi and Nitro+ we compared it to are a lot more expensive at $439.99 and $449.99. At around $400, this is a great deal.

The only real complaint I have is the Aorus Engine software  not being able to overclock or control fans using this GPU. That problem is easily remedied by using AMD Wattman, but I feel that Gigabyte's software should have been able to do so, even if this isn’t an Aorus model.

If you're looking for an inexpensive RX 5700 XT with good cooling, an overclock out of the box (albeit slight) and more robust power delivery, the Gigabyte RX 5700 XT Gaming OC 8G is well worth considering.

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Joe Shields
Motherboard Reviewer

Joe Shields is a Freelance writer for Tom’s Hardware US. He reviews motherboards.

  • P1nky
    Please make the charts clickable to open them in a better resolution. I can't read blurry, tiny graphs. You have this problem since for ever! Please fix it!
    Reply
  • dannyboy3210
    Are you saying we're supposed to be able to read the graphs? Heresy.
    Reply
  • danlw
    I seriously considered getting a 5700XT... but I keep reading reviews talking about stability issues with AMD drivers. I'm willing to pay an extra $100 for stability from a competitor...
    Reply
  • CLevere
    As someone who owns this card, I would say that this card has the potential to be a great card. The drivers however make it a dumpster fire.
    Reply
  • roxton
    "MSI's Windforce 3X cooler" - Gigabyte's Windforce, not MSI's.
    Reply
  • waltc3
    Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the Amazon link to the card is for the 5700--not the 5700XT. That's why it costs only $360. You guys have to be more careful....;)

    EDIT: Thought I'd check back a few days later--still can't believe they reviewed an XT but linked to the 5700 (non-XT) on Amazon! Unreal--it would be nice if you could get a an XT for $360, but you can't.

    Here is the correct link:

    https://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-Graphics-256-Bit-Gv-R57XTGAMING-OC-8GD/dp/B07W95D5V3/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1UB6FF0P2DBHW&ke
    Reply