Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsBest Budget Card? Maybe!
Reviewed in the United States on March 25, 2020
The Radeon RX570 is not a brand new GPU, but it does have a reputation as being an exceptional mid-range graphics card capable of running most modern games reasonably well. at 1080p. Thus, this review is focused on the PowerColor Red Dragon as an overall card (e.g., quality, stability, noise, heat etc.). It is important to consider the components you run this with; I have this installed in a b450m Aorus board with a Ryzen 5 2600 CPU and 16gb of DDR4 3000Mhz ram.
Value: Exceptional value, IMO. I've been purchased different cards over my gaming life and I've yet to find something at such a reasonable cost that delivers in this way.
5/5 here.
Performance: I've run several modern titles with this card at 1080p. Most games will run reasonably well up to High settings (50-60FPS for more demanding games at High). Some games are totally playable at Ultra settings. On this card I've0 played Apex Legends, CS:GO, The Outer Worlds, Gears 5, FF15 and more. I've not had hiccups with any of them, except Outer Worlds, which is likely due to optimization by the developers and not due to the GPU/card itself. I've not tested any games at higher resolutions, however there are some reviewers on YouTube that have tested this card with higher resolution/refresh rates, so you can check those out to get an idea. Performance per value or performance for mid-range cards it's a 5/5.
Quality: The card feels sturdy and heavy. The two fans and the casing are decent quality. The backplate is a nice black-coated metal. It feels very solid and I've had absolutely no issues with it. In fact, I was pretty rough with it when installing it in my motherboard and thought for sure I may have even broken the card. But, it was totally fine despite the unintentional abuse and has given me absolutely no problems. I've not had any stability issues at all. UPDATE YOUR DRIVERS and you should not have any issues with display or stability. 5/5 for this.
Noise Level: This is the category that I have to be honest and give it a ding. This card can get VERY loud. On certain games that are optimized poorly or are very demanding ramp the fans get to full-speed and it sounds like a vacuum cleaner. Keep in mind, you can reduce maximum decibel level or fan speed in Radeon software, but you need to consider how this will impact the temperature of the card. 3/5 for this.
Temperature: Thus far the highest temps I've gotten the card to with demanding games at high settings was around 78 celsius. This is well within the acceptable range for a GPU under full load. So, despite the fans being loud, they seem to do a good job of controlling the temperature of the card. This is in a closed case with three 120mm exhaust fans, so the temps are pretty good considering the environment it's in. 5/5
Overclockable? Yes, I currently have the GPU clocked at 1400Mhz via Radeon's software; this is with a slight undervolt and it's been completely stable. No crashes after being tested on multiple games at high-ultra settings for hours of play. The temperature of the card that I stated above is with the overclock too. Thus, I'm confident that most will be able to achieve a stable OC of 1400Mhz. I have NOT OC'd the VRAM speeds because I don't think it will improve performance any in this context.
OVERALL: I would recommend this card to anyone looking for a well-performing card at the lowest cost. Keep in mind that it is not a $1000 card, so don't expect that level of performance. For most games at 1080p you will have a great experience, but I can't speak for higher resolutions because I haven't personally tested them. The only caveat of the card is the noise level, but you may be able to circumvent this by lowering the dB threshold within the Radeon software. GREAT PRICE-TO-PERFORMANCE!