Radeon RX 5500 announced: Navi comes to the mainstream

AMD announced the RX 5500 today, expanding the Navi family to a new line of mainstream graphics cards. The new series includes both desktop and mobile form factors and should offer similar performance to the RX 590, but there's still a lot we don't know about these new graphics cards on the eve of their launch.

Most critically, full pricing and availability information hasn't yet been released, making it hard to judge how much value these cards provide ahead of our full review. AMD's informational materials suggest the card is targeted to beat the (underwhelming) GTX 1650, so we expect the prices for entry-level models to start at around £140/$150. There's no reference card from AMD this time, so expect custom designs from long-time AMD partners like Asus, Sapphire and XFX.

AMD has also declined to offer a firm release date for standalone graphics cards, merely stating that availability is "Q4 2019", aka some time between today and the end of the year. However, RX 5500 cards will be available in prebuilt desktops and laptops from Acer, HP and Lenovo starting from November and December.

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