Best Radeon RX 5500 XT graphics cards 2024

How we choose the best graphics cards

To make sure we have the right components for our build guides, we make sure to comb through all of the latest and greatest graphics cards. Whether or not we are reviewing for a budget build or a monster system, we make sure to give the cards we review the benchmarking time they deserve.

We do this so you don’t have to. Choosing a GPU for your build can be a very time-consuming and stressful experience. If you’re not too sure what you are looking for and rush in, you might not end up with the best part for your build.

We’ve taken all the hard work off your hands and put it all into an easy to digest guide. Today we’ll be focusing on the best Radeon RX 5500 XT graphics cards by comparing some of the most popular aftermarket models.

How we test

The main bulk of the work we do on any component is testing. This allows us to be absolutely sure in what we’re recommending and that it is the best choice for the build we’re creating.

Many of the products we write about at WeJiJ have gone through a rigorous testing process that looks at all facets of the component. We’ll look at price, performance, efficiency and any additional features available when comparing these cards.

This allows us to recommend the products that we believe are truly worth it. Before we get onto the bulk of the cards today, we’ll give you a short look at what we focus on when comparing the best Radeon RX 5500 XT graphics cards.

Things to consider

When looking at graphics cards we tend to focus on a few key areas. We’ve made a quick list below so you can get an idea of what we look at. These are the main things you’ll want to look at when deciding whether to purchase a card.

Price

First and foremost, the price of a graphics card is often the main thing on people’s mind when comparing. While the Radeon RX 5500 XT is priced fairly low to begin with, some of the aftermarket editions come with a slight increase in price.

Some of these cards are worth looking at if you have a bit of breathing room in your budget but you’ll have to decide if the extra speed and/or features are worth it.

Performance

When it comes to performance, people often look at this in conjunction with the price of the unit. While more money certainly equals greater performance, it can come to the point where the price per performance gained simply isn’t worth it.

When looking at graphics cards you’ll want to have a general idea of the titles you wish to play and the performance you expect. If you want to run games at 4k resolution, the RX 5500 XT probably isn’t the card to do so. Matching these expectations to the graphics card will give you a good idea of if it’s right for you.

Make sure that the rest of your build lives up to the graphics card though. There’s no point in the GPU being the star component in your build if you don’t have an adequate CPU or even a suitable cooling solution to go with it!

Cooling

If you are going to be playing a lot of high-performance titles, you’ll need to make sure your GPU stays as cool as possible in order to extract the best performance.

While most GPUs now come with cooling solutions, these are generally only suitable for the cards rated TDP. If you are looking to overclock and push your card to the limit, you may want to look at alternative cooling solutions such as water-cooling or additional case fans.

Size

Before you get carried away and purchase a GPU, you’ll need to double-check that it fits in the case of your system for starters. You’ll be able to find dimensions on each of the main product pages.

Higher-powered GPUs are often larger than the more budget options. You’ll likely have no trouble fitting an RX 5500 XT into your case, but it’s best to double-check!

We’re going to use a bit of jargon in this article but don’t worry, we’ve made an effort to briefly explain some of the more common phrases you may see when shopping around.

If you’re going to be spending upwards of $200 on a graphics card, it’s a great idea to know what some of these improved features actually translate to.

Clock Speeds

One of the core things you’ll want to look at in your GPU is the clock speed that it can achieve.

The clock speed is simply the rate that the processor in the GPU performs instructions. While it’s generally good to have a greater clock speed, this doesn’t necessarily translate to raw performance.

VRAM

Depending on how far along you are with your build, you’ll likely have already heard of RAM. VRAM is simply the amount of RAM your GPU has on board. This has a direct impact on how well your GPU performs.

In the same way that your system uses RAM, VRAM is used to hold data that your GPU can access at any time. The more VRAM you have available, the less you’ll have to rely on going to the CPU for data.

With up to 8 GB of GDDR6 VRAM available, the RX 5500 XT offers great value performance for its price bracket.

Overclock

When we talk about overclocking, this refers to the act of pushing your component past its usual limits in order to gain greater performance. Overclocking is a great way to squeeze out some more FPS but you need to be wary of temperatures when doing so.

Now we’ve gone over the basics, let’s take a look at some of the many RX 5500 XT aftermarket cards available in the series.

There doesn’t appear to be much to go off when it comes to clock speed on the aftermarket RX 5500 XT models. You’ll notice this has been listed as ‘game clock speed’ rather than just clock speed. The base clock speed is a bit lower than the listed game clock speed, but this refers to what you’ll generally experience while gaming.