AMD updates list of Radeon RX 5600 XT AIB cards with the 14 Gbps VBIOS update; offers free games and 3-month Game Pass for new buyers

AMD announced the Radeon RX 5600 XT back during CES 2020 and a few weeks later, started offering a new VBIOS that offered 14 Gbps GDDR6 data rate and increased clock speeds. Initially, AMD's add-in board (AIB) partners offered split SKUs — some cards came with the new VBIOS out-of-the-box while others required a separate firmware update. Now, AMD is making available an updated list of RX 5600 XT units that can either be flashed with the new firmware or are available updated by default.

The new list is largely unchanged from the one that was available back in January except that two new GPUs have now been added — the Asus TUF Gaming X3 Radeon RX 5600 XT EVO TOP and the PowerColor Radeon RX 5600 XT ITX. Both these cards will offer the enhanced VBIOS features by default when purchased. 

Owners of other RX 5600 XT cards can check for VBIOS updates at the card OEM's support page (direct links are available via the Source link below). In the rare event the OEM offers just a .BIN or .ROM image without a flash tool, you can use the AMDVbFlash utility to flash the updated BIOS. Just be sure to save a backup of the current BIOS image from within the utility for safety in case the flash fails. 

For those not in the know, AMD announced the Radeon RX 5600 XT for US$279 to take on the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti. NVIDIA responded in kind by dropping the price of the RTX 2060 Founders Edition to US$299, which in turn prompted AMD to release a VBIOS update to AIB cards that unlocked a higher 160 W or 180 W TDP, increased boost clock up to 1,750 MHz, increased GDDR6 data rate to 14 Gbps, and memory bandwidth to 336 Gbps. These improvements resulted in a pretty significant performance uptick compared to the original configuration.

Additionally, that gamers who purchase an AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT card before May 30, 2020 also stand to receive free copies of Resident Evil 3 and Monster Hunter World: Iceborne Master Edition (including base game and expansion) via the Radeon Raise the Game Offer. Also included is a three-month free subscription to Xbox Game Pass for PC that gives access to more than 100 PC titles. These codes need to be redeemed before June 30, 2020.