The new generation of AMD graphics cards

AMD, a household name in the world of gamers, has recently launched the iterative successors to last year’s immensely popular Polaris lineup of GPUs with the 500 series of graphics cards. Most interestingly, it would seem that AMD is yet again targeting the budget conscious gamer with the 500 series as they have launched at the exact same price point as their predecessor barring one new card that we will get in just a little while.

Starting with the best, the 500 series of GPUs will feature the RX 580, the immediate successor to the king of the mid range GPU market in my opinion, the RX 480. From a specs point of view the RX 580 is almost identical to the RX 480 apart from the fact that the reference model is clocked 100 MHz higher. It is of course at par for the course for most board partners to push this overclock much higher which is facilitated by the various aftermarket cooling solutions they employ.

The second card on the list is the RX 570, again, as you would have guessed, will replace the RX 470, and will initially ship with only the 4 GB variant. There is no word as of yet on any 8 GB variant as was available with the RX 470. The third entry into the new lineup of GPUs is the RX 560, which will be subbing in for the RX 460. The brand new entry into the series is the RX 550. This 2 GB GPU holds an unique spot and AMD is trying to capture that segment of the market who still try to game on intel integrated graphics by giving them a slight upgrade at a very reasonable price. Moreover, this would be an ideal GPU for those looking to build a home theatre PC with support for 4K 60 FPS video capability.

So, the question on everyone’s mind right now is, should I upgrade to the 500 series or not? Well, the simple answer is, if you already own a Polaris card, then hold off unless you want to move one tier higher. However, if you are on a R9 380X or older card then the time is ripe for you to take the plunge. Considering the fact that the 500 series of cards is launching at the exact price point as their predecessors, it is a huge incentive for those on older AMD hardware, who still want to stay with Team Red given their recent upping of the driver game should definitely look towards picking one of these up.