You will probably already have read and digested the HEXUS review of the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT and RX 5700 reference design graphics cards. These are now available in various re-packaged forms from the likes of Asus, Gigabyte, MSI, Sapphire and others. However, in our review we noted that the reference cooler, even among blower style designs, wasn't the best - and many people would prefer a custom partner design non-blower cooler as seen on previous AMD GPU-based products.
Rebadged, reboxed
Cooler design is very important to a graphics card's temperatures, noise, and performance. So it is likely and understandable that many of those with their interest piqued by the launch and availability of the first AMD Navi GPU based cards will be waiting to see how well a Strix or Nitro+ model might perform. However, it previously hasn't been clear how long the delay would be before these third party design Radeon RX 5700 graphics cards appear.
In a Reddit PSA a few hours ago, AMD Radeon CVP and GM Scott Herkelman revealed the timescale we should be looking at. Herkelman says that the "custom AIB designs will be hitting the market ~mid August."
What an MSI Radeon RX 5700 series card might look like
Interestingly the AMD Radeon exec went on to defend the use of a blower style design for a reference card as "not everyone cools their PC as good as a reviewer," or PC enthusiast. Going forward he indicated criticism has been taken on board so that "If blower design is used also offer dual/tri-axial options at launch for the enthusiasts." Furthermore, based on the feedback, Herkelman said AMD will also work to have reviews published "before shelf date", and will "Keep jebaiting NV".
Cobbled together retro-custom RX5700 cooler designs.
While we wait for the third party cooler design Radeon RX 5700 GPUs to arrive some are already testing alternative coolers in the wild. For example, some twitterers have claimed temperatures of 65°C / 67°C under load after bolting on old AMD Radeon coolers to the new Radeon RX 5700 (see images above). For reference, our RX 5700 review sample hit 82°C under load.
