ASRock RX 5600 XT Phantom Gaming D3 Review

1. Introduction2. ASRock RX 5600 XT Phantom Gaming D33. Testing Methodology4. 3DMark Fire Strike & Time Spy (1080p, 1440p, 4K)5. Battlefield V (1080p, 1440p, 4K)6. The Division 2 (1080p, 1440p, 4K)7. F1 2019 (1080p, 1440p, 4K)8. Far Cry New Dawn (1080p, 1440p, 4K)9. Gears 5 (1080p, 1440p, 4K)10. Ghost Recon: Breakpoint (1080p, 1440p, 4K)11. Metro Exodus (1080p, 1440p, 4K)12. Middle Earth: Shadow of War (1080p, 1440p, 4K)13. Red Dead Redemption 2 (1080p, 1440p, 4K)14. Shadow of the Tomb Raider (1080p, 1440p, 4K)15. Total War: Three Kingdoms (1080p, 1440p, 4K)16. Clock Speed17. Temperatures18. Acoustics19. Power Consumption20. Overclocking21. Closing Thoughts22. View All Pages

It has been just over two months since AMD released its newest Navi-based GPU, the RX 5600 XT. Since then it feels like the world has been flipped upside down, but we are continuing our coverage of this GPU with a look at our fourth partner card. This model is the ASRock Phantom Gaming D3, where the D3 signifies this is a triple-fan cooler. A more compact ‘D2' model is also available, with – yep, you guessed it! – a dual-fan cooler.

ASRock is still a relative new-comer to the GPU space, and the RX 5600 XT Phantom Gaming D3 is only the third Navi-based GPU we have seen from the company – the others being the RX 5700 XT Taichi X OC+, as well as the more modest RX 5500 XT Challenger 8GB. Offering a triple-fan cooler, a thick heatsink and some relatively simple RGB lighting, how does this 5600 XT compare to the likes of the Sapphire Pulse and Gigabyte Gaming OC?

	RX 5600 XT	RX 5700	RX 5700 XT	RX Vega 56	RX Vega 64
Architecture	Navi	Navi	Navi	Vega 10	Vega 10
Manufacturing Process	7nm	7nm	7nm	14nm	14nm
Transistor Count	10.3 billion	10.3 billion	10.3 billion	12.5 billion	12.5 billion
Die Size	251mm²	251mm²	251mm²	486mm²	495mm²
Compute Units	36	36	40	56	64
Stream Processors	2304	2304	2560	3584	4096
Base GPU Clock	n/a	Up to 1465MHz	Up to 1605MHz	1156 MHz	1274 MHz
Game GPU Clock	1375MHz	Up to 1625MHz	Up to 1755MHz	n/a	n/a
Boost GPU Clock	Up to 1560MHz	Up to 1725MHz	Up to 1905MHz	1471 MHz	1546 MHz
Peak Engine Clock	n/a	n/a	n/a	1590 MHz	1630 MHz
Peak SP Performance	Up to 7.19 TFLOPS	Up to 7.95 TFLOPS	Up to 9.75 TFLOPS	Up to 10.5 TFLOPS	Up to 12.7 TFLOPS
Peak Half Precision Performance	Up to 14.4 TFLOPS	Up to 15.9 TFLOPS	Up to 19.5 TFLOPS	Up to 21.0 TFLOPS	Up to 25.3 TFLOPS
Peak Texture Fill-Rate	Up to 224.6 GT/s	Up to 248.4 GT/s	Up to 304.8 GT/s	Up to 330.0 GT/s	Up to 395.8 GT/s
ROPs	64	64	64	64	64
Peak Pixel Fill-Rate	Up to 99.8 GP/s	Up to 110.4 GP/s	Up to 121.9 GP/s	Up to 94.0 GP/s	Up to 98.9 GP/s
Memory	6GB GDDR6	8GB GDDR6	8GB GDDR6	8GB HBM	8GB HBM
Memory Bandwidth	288 GB/s	448 GB/s	448 GB/s	410 GB/s	483.8 GB/s
Memory Interface	192-bit	256-bit	256-bit	2048-bit	2048-bit
Board Power	150W	185W	225W	210W	295W

 

Original BIOS spec, left, compared with updated BIOS spec, right.

As with most 5600 XTs on the market, the Phantom Gaming D3 has received a BIOS update tweaking its core and memory speeds. Initially it looked like ASRock was going to follow MSI's stance and not update the memory speed on its cards, however just this week a new public BIOS landed pushing memory speeds to 14Gbps. This was the BIOS used for all testing and I had no issues with system stability while testing the card.

For the rest of the spec, 5600 XT uses the same 36 Compute Unit, Navi 10 GPU as the RX 5700, meaning a total of 2304 stream processors. Even with the updated BIOS, however, memory bandwidth for the RX 5600 XT is still less than the RX 5700 (336GB/s compared to 448GB/s) as the 5600 XT uses a 192-bit memory interface, compared to the 256-bit interface used by the 5700.

The ASRock RX 5600 XT Phantom Gaming D3 ships in a black box, with the large ‘PG' (Phantom Gaming) logo highly visible. There's no image of the card itself on the box.

Inside, there is a very limited accessory bundle, consisting of a humble quick start guide.

As for the graphics card itself, this is the first Phantom Gaming card we have seen from ASRock and, just like the motherboards, there is a red and black colour scheme used here – the shroud is mostly black plastic, but you can see some red stripes above and below the fans. There are also two brushed metal plates screwed onto the plastic at either end of the card.

Being the D3, this card uses a triple-fan cooler, where each fan measures 80mm. There is also a fan-stop mode, so the fans do stop spinning once the card is idling or in low-load situations.

In terms of the card's overall size, it's certainly not small, measuring in at 290.6 x 126.5 x 53.1 mm. This does mean the MSI Gaming X model is slightly larger, but at almost 30cm long you will still want to double check that the Phantom Gaming will fit in your case.

The front side of the card is mostly bare, except for the small Phantom Gaming logo which acts as the card's sole RGB zone, with support for ASRock's Polychrome Sync.

As for the backplate, the first thing you'll really notice is that it only covers the length of the PCB, which itself is quite short – meaning there's almost three inches of heatsink left uncovered. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but personally I think it would look neater if the backplate extended the full length of the card; then again, that might adversely affect thermal performance due to restricted airflow through the heatsink.

The backplate is made out of metal, though, and is mostly black with some red and silver accents. I'm not too keen on the fact that ASRock has printed the words ‘FAST / MYSTERIOUS / UNBEATABLE' on the backplate, however, as it feels a little immature in my view, but each to their own.

Elsewhere, we can see the Phantom Gaming D3 requires just a single 8-pin PCIe power connector, while we get the standard allocation of video outputs with 3x DisplayPort and 1x HDMI.

Opening up the card to get a look at the PCB, aside from the fact it measures less than 19cm long, we can see ASRock has opted for a 6-phase VRM for the GPU and a single-phase VRM for the memory. Said memory is more of Micron's D9WCW 14Gbps modules, which with the new L12 BIOS update released this week, does now run at 14Gbps.

The cooler is comprised of two aluminium fin stacks, connected by three 6mm copper heatpipes. These don't make direct contact with the GPU die, however, as ASRock has fitted a separate plate for the GPU and VRAM, while there is another plate for the VRM as well.

Our newest GPU test procedure has been built with the intention of benchmarking high-end graphics cards. We test at 1920×1080 (1080p), 2560×1440 (1440p), and 3840×2160 (4K UHD) resolutions.

We try to test using the DX12 API if titles offer support. This gives us an interpretation into the graphics card performance hierarchy in the present time and the near future, when DX12 becomes more prevalent. After all, graphics cards of this expense may stay in a gamer’s system for a number of product generations/years before being upgraded.

Driver Notes

• All AMD graphics cards (except RX 5600 XT) were benchmarked with the Adrenalin 20.1.1 public driver.
• RX 5600 XT graphics cards were benchmarked with the Adrenalin 20.1.1 driver supplied to press.
• All Nvidia graphics cards were benchmarked with the Nvidia 441.87 public driver.

Test System

We test using the Overclockers UK Germanium pre-built system, though it has been re-housed into an open-air test bench. You can read more about it over HERE.

CPU	Intel Core i7-8700K Overclocked to 5.0GHz
Motherboard	ASUS ROG Strix Z370-F Gaming
Memory	Team Group Dark Hawk RGB 16GB (2x8GB) @ 3200MHz 16-18-18-38
Graphics Card	Varies
System Drive	Samsung 960 EVO 500GB
Games Drive	Crucial M4 512GB
Chassis	Streacom ST-BC1 Bench
CPU Cooler	OCUK TechLabs 240mm AIO
Power Supply	Corsair AX1500i 80+ Titanium PSU
Operating System	Windows 10 1903

Comparison Graphics Cards List

• Palit RTX 2070 SUPER JS
• Nvidia RTX 2070 SUPER Founders Edition (FE) 8GB
• Nvidia RTX 2060 SUPER Founders Edition (FE) 8GB
• Nvidia RTX 2060 Founders Edition (FE) 6GB
• Gigabyte GTX 1660 Ti Gaming OC 6G
• EVGA GTX 1660 SUPER SC Ultra 6GB
• Palit GTX 1650 SUPER StormX OC 4GB
• Nvidia GTX 1060 Founders Edition (FE) 6GB
• Gigabyte Aorus RX 5700 XT 8GB
• Gigabyte RX 5700 XT Gaming OC 8GB
• MSI RX 5600 XT Gaming X 6GB
• Gigabyte RX 5600 XT Gaming OC 6GB
• Sapphire RX 5600 XT Pulse 6GB
• Sapphire RX 5500 XT Pulse 4GB
• ASRock RX 5500 XT Challenger OC Edition 8GB
• AMD RX 5700 8GB
• AMD RX Vega 56 8GB
• Sapphire RX 590 Nitro+ SE 8GB

Software and Games List

• 3DMark Fire Strike & Fire Strike Ultra (DX11 Synthetic)
• 3DMark Time Spy (DX12 Synthetic)
• Battlefield V (DX12)
• The Division 2 (DX11)
• F1 2019 (DX12)
• Far Cry New Dawn (DX11)
• Gears 5 (DX12)
• Ghost Recon: Breakpoint (DX11)
• Metro: Exodus (DX12)
• Middle Earth: Shadow of War (DX11)
• Red Dead Redemption 2 (DX12)
• Shadow of the Tomb Raider (DX12)
• Total War: Three Kingdoms (DX11)

We run each benchmark/game three times, and present averages in our graphs.

3DMark Fire Strike is a showcase DirectX 11 benchmark designed for today’s high-performance gaming PCs. It is our [FutureMark’s] most ambitious and technical benchmark ever, featuring real-time graphics rendered with detail and complexity far beyond what is found in other benchmarks and games today.

 

Starting off with our 3DMark results, the Phantom Gaming D3 is performing pretty much as expected here – its score are fractionally lower than the Sapphire Pulse and Gigabyte Gaming OC 5600 XTs, but the difference is barely 1%. Compared to the MSI Gaming X, with its slower 12Gbps memory, the ASRock card averages 6% higher scores.

Battlefield V is a first-person shooter video game developed by EA DICE and published by Electronic Arts. Battlefield V is the sixteenth instalment in the Battlefield series. It was released worldwide for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on November 20, 2018. (Wikipedia).

We test using the Ultra preset, DX12 API.

As our first game of the day, Battlefield V at 1080p sees the Phantom Gaming D3 less than a frame behind the other two 14Gbps RX 5600 XTs in our chart, while it outperforms the RTX 2060 Founders Edition by 5%.

At 1440p, relative performance compared to the other 5600 XTs hasn't changed, with the ASRock card just a whisker slower than the Pulse and Gaming OC. The Phantom Gaming is, however, 7% faster than the MSI Gaming X due to that card's memory only running at 12Gbps.

Tom Clancy's The Division 2 is an online action role-playing video game developed by Massive Entertainment and published by Ubisoft. The sequel to Tom Clancy's The Division (2016), it is set in a near-future Washington, D.C. in the aftermath of a smallpox pandemic, and follows an agent of the Strategic Homeland Division as they try to rebuild the city. (Wikipedia).

We test using the Ultra preset, but with V-Sync disabled, DX11 API.

Next up is The Division 2, and at 1080p the Phantom Gaming 3 holds a 4% lead over the RTX 2060. There is, however, a 2% gap between the Phantom Gaming and the Sapphire Pulse, but that works out as just a 1.4FPS difference.

RTX 2060 catches up at 1440p, to the point where performance between itself and the Phantom Gaming D3 is essentially identical. The ASRock card is still just 2% behind the Sapphire Pulse.

F1 2019 is a racing video game based on the 2019 Formula One and Formula 2 Championships. The game is developed and published by Codemasters and is the twelfth title in the Formula One series developed by the studio. The game was announced by Codemasters on 28 March 2019. (Wikipedia).

We test using the Ultra High preset, with TAA and 16x Anisotropic Filtering, DX12 API.

It's more of the same in F1 2019, with the ASRock GPU sitting marginally behind the Sapphire Pulse and Gigabyte Gaming OC 5600 XT cards at both 1080p and 1440p. Relative to the RTX 2060, the Phantom Gaming D3 is 5% faster at 1080p and 8% faster at 1440p.

Far Cry New Dawn is an action-adventure first-person shooter developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. The game is a spin-off of the Far Cry series and a narrative sequel to Far Cry 5. It was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on February 15, 2019. (Wikipedia).

We test using the Ultra preset, with the  HD Textures pack, DX11 API.

Things are very close between all three of our 14Gbps RX 5600 XTs when playing Far Cry New Dawn, with just a 1.2FPS gap between all three. Compared to the MSI's Gaming X, however, the ASRock is 3% faster at 1080p and 6% faster at 1440p due to its increased memory speed.

Gears 5 is a third-person shooter video game developed by The Coalition and published by Xbox Game Studios for Microsoft Windows and Xbox One. It is the sixth instalment of the Gears of War series, and is the second Gears of War game not to be developed by Epic Games.

We test using the Ultra preset, with Best Animation Quality (instead of Auto), DX12 API.

Gears 5 sees the RX 5600 XT take its biggest win over the RTX 2060 across all of the games we tested, with a 12% performance advantage at 1080p. At this resolution, the Phantom Gaming is neck-and-neck with the Sapphire Pulse, but 6% faster than the MSI Gaming X.

Up at 1440p, the RTX 2060 recovers slightly but the ASRock card is still 10% faster. Once more, the Phantom Gaming outperforms the Gaming X by 6% while it is fractionally slower than the Sapphire Pulse.

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint is an online tactical shooter video game developed by Ubisoft Paris and published by Ubisoft. The game was released worldwide on 4 October 2019, for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, (Wikipedia).

We test using the Very High preset, with AA disabled, DX11 API.

Ghost Recon Breakpoint is another competitive title, with the RTX 2060 sitting very close to the RX 5600 XTs in our chart. The ASRock Phantom Gaming is just 2% faster than its Nvidia rival at 1080p, though it does fall behind at 1440p even if the difference is less than 3FPS.

Metro Exodus is a first-person shooter video game developed by 4A Games and published by Deep Silver in 2019. It is the third instalment in the Metro video game series based on Dmitry Glukhovsky's novels, following the events of Metro 2033 and Metro: Last Light. (Wikipedia).

We test using the Ultra preset, but with Hairworks and Advanced PhysX turned off, DX12 API.

Moving onto Metro Exodus, this is another strong showing for RX 5600 XT versus RTX 2060, with the Phantom Gaming outperforming the Nvidia card by 10% and 9% at 1080p and 1440p, respectively. Compared to the Sapphire Pulse, the ASRock GPU is 1% slower across the board, but it maintains a 5% performance advantage over the MSI Gaming X 5600 XT.

Middle-earth: Shadow of War is an action role-playing video game developed by Monolith Productions and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. It is the sequel to 2014’s Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, and was released worldwide for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on October 10, 2017. (Wikipedia).

We test using the Very High preset, DX11 API.

Middle Earth: Shadow of War is one of four games today where the RTX 2060 outpaces the RX 5600 XT, as the Phantom Gaming falls behind by 3% at 1080p and 6% at 1440p. Relative to the Sapphire Pulse, the ASRock is 1% slower at 1080p and 2% slower at 1440p.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is a 2018 action-adventure game developed and published by Rockstar Games. The game is the third entry in the Red Dead series and is a prequel to the 2010 game Red Dead Redemption. Red Dead Redemption 2 was released for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in October 2018, and for Microsoft Windows and Stadia in November 2019. (Wikipedia).

 

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Red Dead Redemption 2 is another strong title for the RX 5600 XT. At 1080p, for instance, this ASRock card is averaging 7% higher frame rates, which works out as a 5FPS difference. We can also see the Phantom Gaming sitting just behind the other two 5600 XTs, with just 0.9FPS separating this card from the Sapphire Pulse.

At 1440p, the Phantom Gaming maintains its 7% lead over RTX 2060, while it is also a mere 1% slower than the Pulse. Bringing in the MSI Gaming X, the ASRock 5600 XT runs 5% faster at this resolution.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider is an action-adventure video game developed by Eidos Montréal in conjunction with Crystal Dynamics and published by Square Enix. It continues the narrative from the 2013 game Tomb Raider and its sequel Rise of the Tomb Raider, and is the twelfth mainline entry in the Tomb Raider series. The game released worldwide on 14 September 2018 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. (Wikipedia).

We test using the Highest preset, with AA disabled, DX12 API.

While Red Dead Redemption 2 may be a strong game for AMD, Shadow of the Tomb Raider swings the opposite way, though the margins are not as large – the ASRock Phantom Gaming is 2% slower at 1080p, and 3% slower at 1440p.

Total War: Three Kingdoms is a turn-based strategy real-time tactics video game developed by Creative Assembly and published by Sega. As the 12th mainline entry (the 13th entry) in the Total War series, the game was released for Microsoft Windows on May 23, 2019.

We test using the Ultra preset, DX11 API.

As our final game of the day, we take a look at Total War: Three Kingdoms. Here it's another strong showing for Nvidia, as the Phantom Gaming proves 7% slower than the RTX 2060 at 1080p. The ASRock GPU sits 1% behind the Sapphire Pulse, too.

Up at 1440p, the Phantom Gaming is still 7% slower than the RTX 2060, so no change there. It is, however, now 2% slower than the Pulse, although to put that into perspective, it's a difference of just 1.2FPS.

Here we present the average clock speed for each graphics card while running the 3DMark Time Spy stress test for 30 minutes. We use GPU-Z to record the GPU core frequency during the Time Spy runs. We calculate the average core frequency during the 30 minute run to present here.

If you read through all of our game testing, you will have noticed that, across the board, the ASRock Phantom Gaming D3 proved marginally slower than the Sapphire Pulse or Gaming OC. This is explained when looking at the card's average clock speed under load, as despite having the same 1750MHz boost clock as the other models, the ASRock average 1712MHz across our Time Spy test. This is 21MHz slower than the Gaming OC, and 30MHz slower than the Sapphire Pulse, so really not much of a difference at all but just enough to explain the fractionally slower frame rates we saw today.

For our temperature testing, we measure the peak GPU core temperature under load. A reading under load comes from running the 3DMark Time Spy stress test for 30 minutes.

Looking at the temperature testing for the Phantom Gaming, there's no doubt this is a capable cooler from ASRock. It may not be the outright best we have seen, as the Gigabyte Gaming OC and MSI Gaming X do post lower temperatures – but even so, an edge temperature under 70C is great, as is the 81C junction temp and 78C memory figure.

There's nothing to worry about in terms of hot spots, either, with a peak of just under 80C on the front side where the camera picked up on one of the exposed chokes. The hot spot behind the GPU core came in at just over 62C.

We take our noise measurements with the sound meter positioned 1 foot from the graphics card. I measured the noise floor to be 32 dBA, thus anything above this level can be attributed to the graphics cards. The power supply is passive for the entire power output range we tested all graphics cards in, while all CPU and system fans were disabled. A reading under load comes from running the 3DMark Time Spy stress test for 30 minutes.

The card's temperature results look even more impressive when we get to the acoustic testing. That's because the Phantom Gaming's three fans spun at just over 30% during our testing, typically between 1000-1100rpm, making it a fantastically quiet card, edging out even the MSI Gaming X according to our sound meter. If you value low noise, the Phantom Gaming ticks that box emphatically.

We measure system-wide power draw from the wall while running the 3DMark Time Spy stress test for 30 minutes.

As for total system power draw, it's hardly a surprise to see the Phantom Gaming on level pegging with the other 5600 XTs in our chart, with barely any difference between the ASRock, Sapphire and Gigabyte models. The MSI Gaming X does pull around 20W less, but it also runs with slower memory.

Finally we come to manual overclocking. There's no real headroom here with the 5600 XT, as its BIOS update effectively means the card is already at its limits. Still, we maximised the core, memory and power sliders and tested the results.

Average clock speed under load

Average clock speed increased by 41MHz, or just 2%.

Games

Not surprisingly, adding an extra 2% to the GPU frequency, with a 6% memory overclock, doesn't do a whole lot for our frame rates – Gears 5 saw performance improve by 4.5%, while the figure was 3% in Metro Exodus as 2% in Total War: Three Kingdoms.

Back with our fourth RX 5600 XT review, today we have assessed the ASRock RX 5600 XT Phantom Gaming D3. There's no RX 5600 XT Taichi model, so this is ASRock's flagship solution for this GPU. There is also a Phantom Gaming D2, which is a dual-fan cooler, while the D3 uses a triple-fan cooler.

Just this week, the Phantom Gaming D3 received a new BIOS, updating its memory speed to 14Gbps, in line with cards like the Sapphire Pulse and Gigabyte Gaming OC. From a pure performance perspective, this means essentially all three 5600 XTs with 14Gbps memory are on equal footing, with average frame rates almost identical to one another.

That said, I did notice the Phantom Gaming run about 20-30MHz slower than the aforementioned Pulse and Gaming OC cards, enough to make it 1% slower on average across all 11 games we tested. However, that difference is so trivial it is almost not worth mentioning – the simple fact of the matter is, any 5600 XT with 14Gbps memory and a 1750MHz boost clock is going to deliver the same gaming experience, and that is the case here.

ASRock has also built a very effective cooler for the Phantom Gaming. The overall look of the thing may not be to everyone's taste, but it runs cool, with edge temperature coming in under 70C which is always good to see. Even more impressive, however, is the fact it can maintain those temperature with such low noise levels. In my testing the fans barely spun past 1000rpm, resulting in a card that is, for all intents and purpose, inaudible unless your ear is mere centimetres from the fans.

In my view, that means the Phantom Gaming D3 is a very proficient card. I'll be honest, I'm not too keen on the aesthetic and I'd rather the backplate covered the full length of the card, but those are subjective points. On a technical level, performance is the same as other 5600 XTs, and it is an incredibly quiet cooler.

The main problem appears when we get to pricing. ASRock told us the D3 has a UK MSRP of £320, and currently CCL is selling it for a whisker under £318. This is £50 more expensive than the Pulse at £279, and RTX 2060 models are also available around £280. There's no denying the Phantom Gaming is very impressive from a technical standpoint, but is it £50 better than the Pulse? That price needs to come down for me, ideally to no more than £290.

Ultimately, that does govern my recommendation – if you find the ASRock RX 5600 XT Phantom Gaming D3 on sale, it is a very good card, with its low noise levels being a particular highlight. However, the Sapphire Pulse remains a continuous problem for more expensive 5600 XT partner cards due to its aggressive pricing and still very solid performance.

If you do want to pick up the Phantom Gaming D3, we found it for £317.97 from CCL HERE. Update: the PG D3 is currently £299.64, making it a more competitive option.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

Pros

• Very quiet.
• Runs cool, despite fans spinning so slowly.
• Solid 1080p and 1440p gaming performance.
• Improved power efficiency compared to previous AMD GPUs.

Cons

• More expensive than the Sapphire Pulse 5600 XT and some RTX 2060s.
• RTX 2060 offers ray tracing.

KitGuru says: The Phantom Gaming is an impressive card no doubt about it, but its high price lets it down when you could buy the Sapphire Pulse, or competing RTX 2060 cards, for a fair bit less.

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