In Search Of A Small Form-Factor AMD RX 5700XT
A discouraging cheat-sheet for small form-factor PC builders
November 16, 2019
My gaming PC belongs to a category called small form-factor (SFF) PCs. The definition of this category is somewhat debated, some drawing the line at 20L or less. To me, SFF means building a PC that uses at most an ITX board, an SFX PSU, a 2-slot GPU, and a case that barely fits all of these - a configuration that's common on all popular SFF cases like the Dan Case A4-SFX, Loque Ghost S1, Fractal Design Node 202, and more.
Building SFF PCs is all about trade-offs. Processing power, silence, compactness - choose two. There's also power density - how much processing power you can pack in the smallest space possible. And of course, physical compatibilty starts becoming an issue. Doing extensive research is very important. Buy the wrong components, and you'd easily have expensive paperweights.
I was curious if it would be possible to upgrade my GPU to an RX 5700XT. However, my case has a console-style layout (i.e. components lie on the same plane) that can only fit a 2-slot reference-sized card. After some data gathering, I've compiled a list of custom, pre-overclocked 5700XT cards with their clocks, dimensions, and power requirements.
Brand Model Base Game Boost L W H PWR Product page
ASRock Challenger D OC 1650 1795 1905 281 42 137 8+8 https://www.asrock.com/Graphics-Card/AMD/Radeon%20RX%205700%20XT%20Challenger%20D%208G%20OC/index.us.asp
ASRock Phantom Gaming D OC 1690 1835 1945 287 54 127 8+8 https://www.asrock.com/Graphics-Card/AMD/Radeon%20RX%205700%20XT%20Phantom%20Gaming%20D%208G%20OC/index.us.asp
ASRock Taichi X OC+ 1810 2025 1935 325 54 146 8+8 https://www.asrock.com/Graphics-Card/AMD/Radeon%20RX%205700%20XT%20Taichi%20X%208G%20OC+/index.us.asp
Asus STRIX Gaming OC 1840 1965 2035 305 54 130 8+8 https://www.asus.com/Graphics-Cards/ROG-STRIX-RX5700XT-O8G-GAMING/
Asus TUF Gaming X3 OC 1730 1870 1980 270 54 125 8+6 https://www.asus.com/Graphics-Cards/TUF-3-RX5700XT-O8G-GAMING/
Gigabyte AORUS 1770 1905 2010 290 58 123 8+8 https://www.gigabyte.com/Graphics-Card/GV-R57XTAORUS-8GD#kf
Gigabyte GAMING OC 1650 1795 1905 280 50 115 8+6 https://www.gigabyte.com/Graphics-Card/GV-R57XTGAMING-OC-8GD#kf
HIS IceQ X² 1650 1755 1905 307 51 147 8+6 http://www.hisdigital.com/un/product2-969.shtml
MSI EVOKE OC 1690 1835 1945 254 51 129 8+6 https://www.msi.com/Graphics-card/Radeon-RX-5700-XT-EVOKE-OC
MSI GAMING X 1730 1870 1980 297 58 140 8+8 https://www.msi.com/Graphics-card/Radeon-RX-5700-XT-GAMING-X
MSI MECH OC 1670 1815 1925 232 46 126 8+6 https://www.msi.com/Graphics-card/Radeon-RX-5700-XT-MECH-OC
PowerColor AXRX 5700XT 8GBD6-3DH 1605 1755 1905 230 41 111 8+6 https://www.powercolor.com/product?id=1565842787
PowerColor Red Devil 1770 1905 2010 300 53 132 8+8 https://www.powercolor.com/product?id=1565160726
PowerColor Red Dragon 1650 1795 1905 240 41 132 8+6 https://www.powercolor.com/product?id=1565953800
Sapphire PULSE 1670 1815 1925 254 47 135 8+6 https://www.sapphiretech.com/en/consumer/pulse-radeon-rx-5700-xt-8g-gddr6
Sapphire NITRO+ 1770 1905 2010 306 49 135 8+8 https://www.sapphiretech.com/en/consumer/nitro-radeon-rx-5700-xt-8g-gddr6
XFX RAW II Ultra 1730 1870 1980 278 58 140 8+6 https://www.xfxforce.com/gpus/radeon-tm-rx-5700-xt-8gb-gddr6-raw-ii-ultra
XFX THICC II Ultra 1730 1870 1980 293 55 130 8+6 https://www.xfxforce.com/gpus/radeon-tm-rx-5700-xt-8gb-gddr6-thicc-ii-ultra
XFX THICC III Ultra 1810 1935 2025 315 57 131 8+8 https://www.xfxforce.com/gpus/radeon-tm-rx-5700-xt-8gb-gddr6-thicc-iii-ultra
Actual 2-slot cards:
MSI Reference 5700XT 1605 1755 1905 270 40 110 8+6 https://www.msi.com/Graphics-card/Radeon-RX-5700-XT-8G
MSI Radeon VII 1400 1750 N/A 267 40 121 8+8 https://www.msi.com/Graphics-card/Radeon-VII-16G/
Regular 2-slot cards are about ~40mm wide and ~110mm tall. For reference, I threw in both reference model 5700XT and the previously released Radeon VII from MSI, both of which I know fit my build.
As you can see, most 5700XTs are chunky. In this table, only one card fits the description of a reference-sized, custom-cooled card: PowerColor's AXRX 5700XT 8GBD6-3DH. All the rest are either too tall or too wide or both. This is bad news for SFFPC builders who want to use this specific generation of cards for their builds.
Hopefully, a 2-slot, 3-fan card is in the works. Something along the lines of the Radeon VII. Board partners are also known to do a limited release of a rare ITX variant, like the Vega Nano or OEM releases. But until these happen, I guess there will be no upgrading for me.
PS: Vanilla markdown never had tables, you had to use embedded HTML (which markdown allows). Extended versions of markdown incorporated a syntax for tables. However, something as simple as aligned data in code blocks does the job just fine.