MSI GeForce RTX 5070 SHADOW 12GB GDDR7
QTHREE Radeon RX 550 4GB GDDR5
What Buyers Say
MSI GeForce RTX 5070 SHADOW 12GB GDDR7
The MSI RTX 5070 Shadow 2X OC is widely praised as an excellent budget GPU for 1440p gaming, offering strong performance and a compact dual-fan design that fits smaller cases like the Alienware Aurora R11. Users report smooth frame rates on ultra settings in demanding titles like MSFS 2020/2024 and above-average 3D Mark scores. However, some note the price is steep for a mid-range card, with a recent markup from $880 to $902, and a few express concerns about cooling with only two fans.
Pros
- Excellent 1440p gaming performance
- Compact dual-fan design fits small cases
- Smooth frame rates on ultra settings
- Above-average 3D Mark scores
- Great value for the price
Cons
- High price for a mid-range card
- Recent price increase ($880 to $902)
- Only two fans may limit cooling
- No LED lights mentioned
- Only 12GB GDDR7 memory
QTHREE Radeon RX 550 4GB GDDR5
This budget-friendly graphics card is a great fit for upgrading older small form factor PCs, with several verified 5-star reviews praising its multi-monitor support and plug-and-play ease on Linux. However, a few serious issues stand out: one verified buyer got repeated blue-screen lockups, the fan speed sensor is non-functional on another unit, and the lack of a driver disc forces users to hunt down updates online. Overall, it is a capable low-end card for light gaming and office work, but reliability and support documentation are hit-or-miss.
Pros
- Excellent multi-monitor support up to 3 displays
- Plays Minecraft and Roblox smoothly on i5-8500
- Easy plug-and-play installation on Linux
- Great for reviving older small form factor PCs
- Works well for light gaming and office tasks
Cons
- Causes BitLocker blue screen lockups on some systems
- Fan speed sensor does not work or show readings
- No driver disc included in package
- Requires bracket modification for VGA in small cases
- Does not support Meta VR headsets
Scores
Specifications
| MSI GeForce RTX 5070 SHADOW | QTHREE Radeon RX 550 | |
|---|---|---|
| Chipset | ||
| GPU Chipset | GeForce RTX 5070 | Radeon RX 550 |
| Brand | NVIDIA | AMD |
| Architecture | Blackwell | Polaris |
| Class | consumer | consumer |
| Process | 5★ | 14 |
| Memory | ||
| VRAM | 12 GB★ | 4 GB |
| Memory Type | GDDR7★ | GDDR5 |
| Memory Bus | ||
| Bandwidth | No data | |
| Compute | ||
| CUDA Cores | No data | |
| Stream Processors | No data | |
| Tensor Cores | No data | |
| RT Cores | 48★ | — |
| Base Clock | ||
| Boost Clock | ||
| FP16 TFLOPS | 30.8700008392334★ | — |
| FP32 TFLOPS | 30.8700008392334★ | — |
| Performance | ||
| PassMark G3D | ||
| GPU Compute | ||
| Power & Cooling | ||
| TDP | 250 | 50★ |
| Recommended PSU | 650 | 450★ |
| Power Connectors | 1 x 16-Pin | None |
| Cooler | Dual Fan★ | Single Fan |
| Fans | 2★ | 1 |
| Connectivity | ||
| Interface | PCI Express 5.0 | PCI Express 3.0 X8 |
| DisplayPort | 3★ | 1 |
| HDMI | 1 | 1 |
| USB-C | — | 0★ |
| Max Displays | 4★ | 3 |
| Max Resolution | 7680 x 4320 | 4096x2160 |
| Physical | ||
| Length | 231 | 170★ |
| Slot Width | 2.5 | 2★ |
| Form Factor | Full Height | Low Profile |
| Weight | 1.15 kg | 0.33 kg★ |
| Features | ||
| Ray Tracing | ✓★ | ✗ |
| Upscaling | DLSS 4 | — |
| AV1 Encode | ✓★ | — |
| VR Ready | ✓★ | — |
| DirectX | 12 Ultimate | 12 |
| RGB | ✗ | — |
Pros & Cons
MSI GeForce RTX 5070 SHADOW 12GB GDDR7
- Strong social proof (95th percentile)95th %ile
- Strong connectivity (94th percentile)94th %ile
- Strong feature (90th percentile)90th %ile
- Strong rt (82nd percentile)82nd %ile
QTHREE Radeon RX 550 4GB GDDR5
- Strong affordability (89th percentile)89th %ile
- Below average compute (4th percentile)4th %ile
- Below average feature (12th percentile)12th %ile
- Below average rt (12th percentile)12th %ile
- Below average ai (13th percentile)13th %ile
Pricing
MSI GeForce RTX 5070 SHADOW 12GB GDDR7
No current pricing available
QTHREE Radeon RX 550 4GB GDDR5
Verdict
Scores 85 overall, wins 8 of 8 usage categories and 21 of 40 specs.
