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AMD launches OEM-specific Radeon RX 500X-series GPUs for desktop and mobile

The Radeon RX 500X series now have OEM-specific variants. (Source: AMD)
The Radeon RX 500X series now have OEM-specific variants. (Source: AMD)
AMD has released OEM-specific variants of RX 500 GPUs for both desktop and mobile. Dubbed the RX 500X, this is a simple re-badging exercise for OEMs help in advertising new systems. The RX 500X series are exactly the same as their corresponding base parts but OEMs can tune their clock speeds for thermal and power reasons.

The highest-end SKU of the just announced HP Pavilion Gaming notebook saw an interesting revelation. The notebook comes with the option of an AMD Radeon RX 560X GPU. A few days ago, a Reddit user spotted a series of RX 500X-series cards on AMD's website leading to speculation as to what they could be. Now, we know that the 500X-series cards are rebadged versions of their non-X counterparts and are exclusively available to OEMs to be bundled with desktops and notebooks.

The Polaris-based 500X-series is part of a rebadging exercise that GPU manufacturers do for their PC OEM clients. The rebadging helps OEMs to advertise a new offering for marketing purposes even though there is actually no change to the base specifications. Generally, OEMs have a shorter product refresh cycle compared to that of GPU manufacturers i.e. we see many iterations of a notebook or desktop featuring the same GPU generation. To help OEMs with advertising their latest product offerings, GPU manufacturers often rebadge or redesignate their existing product offerings. 

The current reveal of the RX 500X-series does not imply an add-in board (AIB) refresh or availability of these parts off the shelf. AMD has confirmed to Anandtech that the new parts have the "same nominal specifications as the old parts", which means no clock speed adjustments or difference in hardware. AMD lists the maximum speeds of these parts in the documentation but they can be altered by OEMs depending on thermal and power requirements. Even though the X-series will not see any retail outing, it helps OEMs to project minor advances such as improved driver features as a selling point to non-technical buyers.

While almost all 500X-series cards have an equivalent non-X part, the (non-RX) 550X seems to have no direct equivalent so we do not yet know how it actually stacks up against the RX 550X, RX 540X, and 540X. 

Apart from the new HP Pavilion Gaming notebook, Acer's French site also lists the Ryzen 5 2500U-powered Nitro 5 AN515-42 as a notebook that features the AMD Radeon RX 560X. Expect to see other OEMs to follow suit during the course of the year.

Comparison of various AMD Radeon OEM-specific desktop and mobile GPUs. (Source: Anandtech)
Comparison of various AMD Radeon OEM-specific desktop and mobile GPUs. (Source: Anandtech)

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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > News > News Archive > Newsarchive 2018 04 > AMD launches OEM-specific Radeon RX 500X-series GPUs for desktop and mobile
Vaidyanathan Subramaniam, 2018-04-11 (Update: 2018-04-11)