Radeon RX 590 Review – An absolute beast at 1080p Gaming

AMD has just released their all-new Radeon RX 590 GPU, targeting the GTX 1060. The RX 590 is based on a new  12nm Manufacturing Process, so it’s not just a refresh. But a look at the specs sheet reveals very similar specs to the RX 580. Let’s have a look at how it performs, and why it’s an absolute beast at 1080p Gaming!

Pricing & Availability

The Radeon RX 590 GPU is priced at $279 USD in the US. In India, the launch pricing is 27,200 INR. The GPU has been released worldwide and will start shipping accordingly with the available stocks. You can have a look at AMD’s website for retailers that sell the RX 590 in your region.

The GPU is available through many retailers like Newegg and Amazon in the US. In India, you’ll be able to buy it through many retailers like Amazon India, MDComputers, and PrimeABGB.

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New 12nm Manufacturing Process, Increased Clock Speeds and TDP

The new Radeon RX 590 GPU has been built on a 12nm Manufacturing Process, based on the Polaris architecture. This is the same manufacturing process found on NVIDIA’s RTX 20 Series GPUs, and is more efficient compared to previous GPUs which allows for higher clock speeds.

Compared to the RX 580, the clock speeds have been increased marginally by around 15%. A bigger change is in the TDP, which goes from 185W to 225W. The RX 590 hits around 80C on load. While this isn’t too much of an issue, it shows that the RX 590 just isn’t a very good power efficient GPU and the performance per watt ratio is poor. I recommend a quality 550W PSU if you’re planning on buying this GPU.

Raise The Game Fully Loaded Bundle – $180 worth of free games included with every RX 590 GPU

Yes, you read that right. With every eligible purchase of an RX 590 or RX Vega GPU, you get three games including Resident Evil 2, Devil May Cry 5 and Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 which totals to $180 USD worth in retail value. This might just be one of the best game bundles in history!

Performance Review & Comparision

The Radeon RX 590 GPU intends to target the mid-range to high-end GPU market, for playing games at 1080p and beyond. And so the GPU absolutely crushes it at 1080p, delivering more than 60FPS on the latest games. The GTX 1060 still barely manages the same levels of performance, but the RX 590 has marginal gains compared to it.

As for 2K 1440p Gaming, the RX 590 is still very capable of delivering over 45FPS at Ultra Settings on the latest games. It should be able to pull off more than 60FPS by dialling down the settings to Medium-High. Competitive esports titles like CS:GO, Dota 2, Fortnite and PUBG run like a dream on this GPU.

AMD says that this GPU is able to get over 100FPS in many popular eSports titles

The power consumption on this GPU peaks around 240W, which is pretty high especially for a mid-range card. In comparision, the GTX 1070 peaks around 160W, even though it has better performance and is based on a 16nm manufacturing process. Make sure your power supply is ready for the GPU if you’re planning to buy it.

The RX 590 is also ready for Virtual Reality, and supports FreeSync Monitors which reduces tearing and ensures a smoother gaming experience. This is important as FreeSync Monitors are more affordable than NVIDIA’s G-Sync monitors, although there are some FreeSync monitors that now also support G-Sync.