AMD Radeon RX 5700: What Real Users Say After Years of Use

Name: AMD Radeon RX 5700
Brand: Amd

Mar 2026

Last Analyzed

6/10

Overall Rating

Positive Reviews

Negative Reviews

Summary

The AMD Radeon RX 5700 is a mid-range RDNA 1 GPU that earned a solid reputation for price-to-performance at 1080p and entry-level 1440p gaming. Reddit sentiment is generally positive for users who picked it up at a low price, with many still running it years later with no major issues. The card's main weaknesses are its notorious blower-style reference cooler and the fact that it lacks hardware mesh shader support, which has started to matter in a handful of newer titles. It's no longer in production — AMD discontinued the non-XT model before the XT — but used units still circulate and owners report it handles most everyday gaming well. The consensus is that at today's used prices around $100–$150, it's a reasonable stopgap, but spending slightly more to land a 6600 XT or 6700 XT is the smarter long-term play.

Pros

Still handles 1080p gaming well in the majority of titles, including demanding games like Cyberpunk 2077 at 60–80 fps on high settings with FSR assistance
Can be flashed with the 5700 XT BIOS to unlock performance within 5% of the XT model, giving users an effective free upgrade with the right aftermarket cooler
RDNA 1 architecture delivers strong performance-per-watt for its generation, particularly compared to Nvidia's Turing cards built on older 12nm process
Aftermarket AIB versions like the Sapphire Pulse and MSI Gaming X run cool and quiet, with users reporting stable daily operation for 5–6+ years
8GB VRAM is still adequate for most 1080p and light 1440p workloads in current titles
Competitive used pricing around $100–$150 makes it a viable stopgap while saving for a more modern GPU

Cons

No hardware mesh shader support means it cannot run certain newer titles at all — Indiana Jones (requires RT) is one example, and more games are expected to follow this trend
FSR 4 support is limited to RDNA 3+ (RX 9000 series), leaving 5700 users stuck on older upscaling methods with noticeably lower quality
Reference blower cooler was widely panned as one of the worst stock coolers reviewers had seen — loud, hot, and throttling under sustained load
At $150 used, alternatives like the RX 6600 XT or Intel Arc B580 offer longer driver support, mesh shader support, and better future-proofing for a similar or slightly higher price
Overclocking is artificially capped on the non-XT model at the driver level, limiting enthusiast tuning potential compared to the XT
Struggles at native 1440p in demanding modern titles — Silent Hill 2, UE5 games, and newer AAA releases require significant settings compromises or FSR to stay playable

Five Years In and Still Gaming — With Caveats

Owners who picked up aftermarket versions of the 5700 consistently report smooth daily use years later, but the growing list of games that outright refuse to run on RDNA 1 hardware is becoming harder to ignore.

The $100 Used Card That Almost Makes Sense

At rock-bottom used prices the 5700 is hard to dismiss for budget builders, but Reddit's consensus is clear: spend an extra $50–80 to land a 6600 XT or B580 and you get mesh shaders, better upscaling support, and a longer useful life.

Flash It and Forget It

A surprisingly popular Reddit trick involves flashing the non-XT with the 5700 XT BIOS, effectively closing most of the performance gap for free — a quirk that made the plain 5700 arguably the better buy at launch for users willing to tinker.

User Reviews (42 of 256 analyzed)

317

Firefox72r/Amd21d agopositive

Meanwhile Polaris is still chuging along and being made 4 years later.