[SOLVED] Should I return my ‘base’ 5700XT and get a ‘custom’ one?

[justxjack]

Apostrophes because I’m not sure about the correct terms.

I just recently bought a MSI 5700xt and was ignorant to the fact that custom cards of the same GPU can run cooler and more quite (e.g the Red Devil). Should I return it buy a custom one for between 30-60 bucks more? I got the card for 430 euros btw.

 

[Metal Messiah.]

YES. Please buy one of the custom AIB Models, if you can afford to pay some extra money. The reference blower-style cooler GPUs are not that good. They run hot and perform poorly as well.

RED DEVIL is an excellent GPU model, featuring advanced PCB cooling as well. BUILD quality is also rock solid. Much better than those reference models.

 

[justxjack]

Unfortunately the Red Devil doesn’t have a vendor that sells in my country (Holland), yet. Should I wait until it does or buy a different model?

Edit: I just realised you answered my question and I went ahead and asked another one. Thank you for your advice ​

 

[Metal Messiah.]

Just get any of custom AIB models.

 

[Joakim Agren]

YES. Please buy one of the custom AIB Models, if you can afford to pay some extra money. The reference blower-style cooler GPUs are not that good. They run hot and perform poorly as well.

RED DEVIL is an excellent GPU model, featuring advanced PCB cooling as well. BUILD quality is also rock solid. Much better than those reference models.

The reference blower style cooler can be improved upon as demonstrated by Gamers nexus by replacing the included thermal pad with some proper thermal paste and mounting some thin plastic washers between the rear mounting bracket and the back plate. The problem with this cooler is the poor mounting pressure between the cooler and the chip and in combination with uneven surface on the chip the thermal pad can not provide efficient cooling. With the modifications Gamers Nexus did it runs significantly cooler and more quiet. If you combine that with under-volting it the temps and noise levels go down even further. With that said though, it is still not as good as one of the good AIB cards.

The most economic and still with great cooling is the Sapphire Pulse version. That one is only $10 more then reference model in the US. But have great performance. The more expensive Strix and Red Devil cards is mostly a aesthetic choice at this point since the over clocking potential of these RX5700XT cards are rather poor. From a performance stand point you are mostly wasting money with those. Performance difference between those and the Pulse version is rather negligible (if you live in the US).

 

[Metal Messiah.]

The reference blower style cooler can be improved upon as demonstrated by Gamers nexus by replacing the included thermal pad with some proper thermal paste and mounting some thin plastic washers between the rear mounting bracket and the back plate. The problem with this cooler is the poor mounting pressure between the cooler and the chip and in combination with uneven surface on the chip the thermal pad can not provide efficient cooling. With the modifications Gamers Nexus did it runs significantly cooler and more quiet. If you combine that with under-volting it the temps and noise levels go down even further. With that said though, it is still not as good as one of the good AIB cards.

Yeah, I know this. I've watched Steve's video as well. But modding a GPU isn't that much of a simple task., IMO. I don't think an average user can do this easily do ? I cannot do all this, to be honest.

 

[justxjack]

I'm not going to open a GPU, especially a $430 one. I'll leave that kind of stuff to the more experienced users and people who live and breath tech.