If you haven't already done so, I suggest you read Jarred's article where AMD's last-minute 5600 XT BIOS update feels like a bait and switch of sorts. I don't mean to rehash the whole thing, because the BIOS update he discusses is happening right now.

The short summary is this: AMD announced the Radeon RX 5600 XT at CES 2020, and Nvidia dropped AMD's thunder by lowering the price of the GeForce RTX 2060.

This is the gist of things. Reviews (including a review of the 5600 XT) have shown performance based on updated clocks with updated BIOS. However, since all cards already shipped to retailers still have the original clock, AIB is now beginning to provide updated VBIOS files for end users. Therefore, AIB is now beginning to provide updated VBIOS files for end-users.

ASRock offers three 5600 XT cards, each with their own VBIOS updates available. Below are the faster clocks that will be unlocked:

Note that none of them change the memory speed from 12Gbps to 14Gbps, only the GPU clock is improved. It is unknown if later models will ship with the faster 14Gbps memory.

Gigabyte currently lists two 5600 XT models, the 5600 XT Gaming OC 6G and 5600 XT Windforce OC 6G. However, there is only one VBIOS update available, and that is for the Gaming OC 6G model.

The FA0 BIOS for the Gaming OC 6G model (available here) sets the game clock from 1,560MHz to 1,670MHz and the boost clock from 1,620MHz to 1,750MHz. In addition, GDDR6 memory has been increased to 14 Gbps (up from 12 Gbps).

MSI is providing a BIOS update that requires the Dragon Center utility (download here) to be installed. Interestingly, the memory speed increase is not included in any VBIOS update. Why; MSI explained why in the latest episode of MSI Insider, basically stating that AMD provided memory chips that were verified to work at 12Gbps. So it is hit or miss whether a particular card can run memory at 14Gbps without problems. Some can, some just can't. [AMD's last-minute specification changes create a headache for AIB and a confusing situation for consumers, this is what Jarred spoke of. Nevertheless, MSI will release a specific model with 14 Gbps memory next month:

Not all MSI 5600 XT cards will receive the VBIOS update. Unless something changes, both regular models and Mech versions will not be updated. The Gaming X, Mech OC, and Gaming Z, on the other hand, will be updated. I don't have these cards to test, so I don't know if they are currently available, but if they are, they should show up in the Dragon Center software.

PowerColor has a number of 5600 VBIOS updates for XT graphics cards are now also available.

The respective BIOS updates can be found here. However, the updated clocks are not the same. After the update, the Red Devil will have an overall speed increase, while the Red Dragon will only have an increase in game clocks in OC mode and both clocks in silent mode. See:

Both cards are already running at 14 Gbps memory, so no change there. As for the regular model, PowerColor is making a VBIOS update available as well, but there is no mention of where the clock speeds will end up. It ships with a 1,560MHz game clock, 1,620MHz boost clock, and 12Gbps memory; the VBIOS update can be found at the link above. [The update utility for PowerColor's Red Dragon and Red Devil models is based on DOS. There is a PDF outlining how to create bootable DOS media so users can update their VBIOS. 1990s, hello.

The last one (in alphabetical order) is Sapphire, which is relatively easy since Sapphire only offers a single model of the 5600 XT, the Pulse edition. I wrote about this earlier in the week, and since then Sapphire has uploaded more new VBIOS files and seems to have simplified the process through the TriXX utility.

Both the updated BIOS and the TriXX utility can be downloaded here.