If you are a fan of blower-style coolers and are in the market for a Navi card, good news, every available Radeon RX 5700 XT and RX 5700 model employs them right now. For everyone else, custom Navi cards are coming, including new factory overclocked Challenger models from ASRock.
AMD previously said that its hardware partners will start launching custom RX 5700 XT and 5700 cards around the middle of August. It's not clear if that's when ASRock's new Challenger variants will show up, or, if like Asus, its custom models will arrive in September (or even later). Anticipation is a bit high, given that these have taken residence among the best graphics cards.
Either way, ASRock has posted product pages for its Challenger models. Here's how the specs break down, with comparison to reference clocks:
- RX 5700 XT Challenger—1,650MHz base, 1,905MHz boost, 1,795MHz game clocks
- RX 5700 XT (reference)—1,605MHz base, 1,905MHz boost, 1,755MHz game clocks
- RX 5700 Challenger—1,515MHz base, 1,725MHz boost, 1,675MHz game clocks
- RX 5700 (reference)—1,465MHz base, 1,725MHz boost, 1,625MHz game clocks
In both cases, ASRock goosed the base and rated 'game' clocks, and left the boost clocks alone.
As you can see in the photo at the top of this article, the Challenger models ditch the blower-style cooler and roll with dual axial fans. It remains to be seen how temps and noise will compare to AMD's stock shroud design.
The Challenger models also feature a die-casted metal backplate. Underneath it all sits a three separate chunks of finned aluminum blocks, with four .08mm copper heatpipes snaking from front to back.
Pricing has not yet been announced. As points of reference, MSRPs for stock models are currently set at $399 for the RX 5700 XT and $349 for the RX 5700.
