ASRock Unveils Radeon RX 5500 XT Challenger ITX 8 GB Graphics Card
by Gavin Bonshor on April 16, 2020 2:00 PM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
- Radeon
- ASRock
- Mini ITX
- Navi
- 7nm
- RX 5500 XT
- Challenger ITX
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ASRock has announced its latest ITX graphics card for small form factors, the Radeon RX 5500 XT Challenger ITX. This new mini-ITX card is based on AMD's Navi 14 GPU and offers 8 GB of GDDR6 memory attached to a 128-bit bus, with the same core and memory clock speeds as a reference model.
Finding a graphics card for a small form factor system can be tiresome with very little on the market to choose from. One of the big trade-offs of graphics cards designed for small form factor systems is that beefier models such as AMD's RX 5700 XT, and NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 2080 Ti are too large in design to accommodate such a small PCB, which is where smaller cards designed particularly for the ITX form factor come in.
Focusing on the ASRock RX 5500 XT Challenger ITX 8G, it is very small for its power with dimensions of 190 x 139 x 42 mm, meaning that it is just under 7.5 inches in length. It features a single 10 cm cooling fan on its front, embedded in a white and silver dual-slot cooler, which is designed to direct hot air out of the rear of a chassis. The cooler on the ASRock RX 5500 XT Challenger ITX 8 G is actually longer than a reference model (7.5 vs 7.1 inches) but is still much smaller than most aftermarket designs from other vendors.
Physical size aside, the card is very similar in specifications to other 5500 XT cards on the market. The Challenger ITX ships with a base core clock of 1607 MHz and acn boosts up to 1845 MHz. Meanwhile the effective memory core clock speed of 14 Gbps. Unsurprisingly then, with its reference-like clocks, the card is targeted towards 1080p gaming.
As for display outputs, ASRock has outfitted the card a trio of DisplayPort 1.4 connectors as well as a single HDMI 2.0b port. Feeding the mini monster is a single 8-pin 12 V ATX PCIe power connector, which is more than sufficient to meet its 130 W TDP.
ASRock hasn't announced when the Radeon RX 5500 XT Challenger 8G will be available at retailers, nor has it provided any information about its price.
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Source: ASRock
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Selicos - Friday, April 17, 2020 - link
The advances in power usage and heat generation specifically with Intel 14nm and AMD Ryzen was a game changer as well as the efficiency of Pascal GPUs (NVidia 10 series). In laptops this was great for battery life but in desktop it means my i7-7700 generates significantly less heat than my old i7-4790 inside an ITX system using a Noctua L9i. I picked up a Sentry 2.0 by Zaber last year and had issues with the 4790 as it ran too hot for comfort peaking at about 80C. I went back to a 120mm AIO on that which is now with my partner. But the L9i on the 7700 peaks at about 65C in the Sentry. AS I no longer needed to cram the AIO in there, I could go up to a full size dGPU if needed though I'm running an ITX EVGA 1050ti for now.I may be limited in expansion but I already have a 1tb SSD, capable SFX power supply for a beefier full size dGPU, plenty of USB ports including Type C, and solid temps. Many of us who build our own computers are able to do 99% of our tasks on an ITX system like this and many can go even smaller than typical ITX as there are capable high end mini GPUs like the Zotac 1080ti Mini and successors. They may run a little warmer than their triple fan counter parts but with efficiency improvements in the 20 series it's an even better ITX setup and still within safe operating temps.
If you need capture cards, disk space, expansion cards, etc, then ITX and super SFF isn't the best option. But for the majority of builders this isn't the case. You can get great temps even under 10L plus I find it more fun and challenging to build in sub 20L systems and see how far I can push the form factor. It's easy to offload tasks or just disk space to an old or second PC as a NAS too, if you have one, which may end up as a better long term setup overall.
29a - Friday, April 17, 2020 - link
My current computer is uATX.xenol - Monday, April 20, 2020 - link
Take a look at the Dancase A4-SFX or Silverstone's FTZ-01 (or its cousins like the RVZ or ML-08).It proves you can build something small without sacrificing performance. I should know, I built a gaming PC in one.
MASSAMKULABOX - Tuesday, April 28, 2020 - link
Not really .. I would say that most ITX cases will accommodate all but the the very largest /3 slot cards. So even 5700, 2070 will fit in many itx cases. These super small cards are for v small cases and those who are "wary" of getting an unsuitable card. I love itx and you''ll pry it out of my undervolted dead hands( see CH)sunshinerevans55 - Sunday, May 3, 2020 - link
I basically make about $12,000-$18,000 a month online. It’s enough to comfortably replace my I was amazed how easy it was after I tried it . This is what I’ve been doing old jobs income, especially considering I only work about 10-13 hours a week from home… www.iⅭash68.ⅭomKohlhagen - Tuesday, May 12, 2020 - link
Why do you think low end cards are the only options? I've got a GTX 1070 in my Mini-ITX build, and since most mini-itx boards have wifi/bluetooth integrated, along with being able to utilize my CPUs integrated graphics as an encoder. It's capable of streaming 1440P reduced to 810 @ 50 FPS just fine.The only reason I use 810 @ 50fps is due to anyone watching the stream is probably not full screen on a 1080 or larger monitor. Most viewers are on an ipad / smartphone or laptop and sometimes limited by bandwidth.
Kohlhagen - Tuesday, May 12, 2020 - link
Here is an example of some of my Mini-ITX builds over the past few years.<blockquote class="imgur-embed-pub" lang="en" data-id="a/m9pAbRZ"><a href="//imgur.com/a/m9pAbRZ">Mini-ITX Build Examples</a></blockquote><script async src="//s.imgur.com/min/embed.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Kohlhagen - Tuesday, May 12, 2020 - link
Example of some of my Mini-ITX Buildshttps://imgur.com/a/m9pAbRZ
Valantar - Friday, April 17, 2020 - link
While I do applaud OEMs making more ITX GPUs, calling this "very small for its power" is a bit misleading. There are RTX 2060s in the same size class after all. Nonetheless good to see some AMD ITX GPUs hit the market, as they have been few and far between since the (amazing for its time) R9 Nano.StrangerGuy - Friday, April 17, 2020 - link
ITX or not the only reason 5500XT with wonky PCIe 8x only and driver issues can even move stock now is only because NV GPUs has mostly become unobtanium thanks to COVID. During normal times I for one would gladly pay the $50 extra for a 1660S in a heartbeat.