It’s been over a year and a half since AMD introduced its RX 6000 line of GPUs, so it’s no surprise that the company felt it was time for a refresh. In the lower mid-range, AMD is introducing the RX 6650 XT to replace the 6600 XT, which is actually one of the newer upcoming RX 6000 GPUs, which launched last August. The RX 6650 XT is marketed to gamers playing at 1080p resolution like the RX 6600
While we have the 6650 XT’s specs and price, we don’t yet have its own benchmarks. Previously, we compared the RX 6650 XT with the RTX 3060 to see how they stacked up. The test data below is AMD’s own, so don’t take it at face value.
Price and availability
In most cases, the hardware is refreshed at a lower price, increased performance, or does a combination of both. The RX 6600 XT launched for $379 last August and the RX 6650 While AMD feels that its competitor on Team Green is the RTX 3060, which launched in February 2021 for $329, a much closer competitor is the RTX 3060 Ti, which launched in December 2021. 2020 for $399.
However, the RTX 3060 Ti generally doesn’t sell at $399, so AMD is focusing on the RTX 3060, which tends to sell for around $400-500 (at the time of writing). Keep in mind that AMD’s cards will also likely sell for more than list price, so the RTX 3060 Ti comparison is fair.
As of 2020, MSRP has been largely meaningless due to GPU shortages, but shortages appear to be almost gone as prices are dropping near MSRP. Currently, the 6650 XT does not have many improvements in terms of usability. Although there is still a shortage, it is not as serious as last year.
Specifications
The RX 6650 XT is a bit more expensive than the RX 6600 The RTX 3060 is also included in this specs comparison, but a direct comparison with an AMD card isn’t very informative and can be misleading.
| RX 6600XT | RX 6650XT | RTX 3060 | |
| GPU | Navigation 23 | Navigation 23 | GA106 |
| Display | PCIe 4.0 | PCIe 4.0 | PCIe 4.0 |
| CUDA core/thread processor | 2,048 | 2,048 | 3,584 |
| Tensor core | do not apply | do not apply | 112 |
| Ray tracing accelerator | 32 beam accelerator | 32 beam accelerator | 28 RT cores |
| Base clock | do not apply | do not apply | 1,320 MHz |
| Booster clock | 2.539 MHz | 2.635 MHz | 1.777 MHz |
| Memory | 8GB GDDR6 | 8GB GDDR6 | 12GB GDDR6 |
| Bandwidth | Up to 256Gbps | Up to 432Gbps | 360Gbps |
| Memory bus | 128-bit | 128-bit | 192-bit |
| TDP | 160W | 180W | 170W |
The 6650 XT has a slightly higher boost clock of 2,635 MHz, a 4% increase over the 6600 XT’s boost clock of 2,539. The refreshed model is also equipped with 18Gbps GDDR6 memory, up from 16Gbps memory on the 6600 XT and other 6000 series GPUs. Otherwise, the 6650 XT is identical to its predecessor: Same CU, same amount of VRAM, and same amount of Infinity Cache.
Higher clock speeds and memory bandwidth tend to lead to higher performance. However, these specifications are not quite at the same level. Higher GPU clock speeds typically result in correspondingly higher frame rates, and since clock speeds only increased by 4%, we’d expect much higher performance. Conversely, memory bandwidth can be a limit to performance if it is too low, so while high memory bandwidth is certainly a good thing, increasing it can only improve performance. if there wasn’t enough in the first place.
Efficiency
Before we get into the data, we need to point out that it comes from AMD, as we haven’t conducted our own benchmarks yet. However, since this is a fairly simple refresh, we expect the RX 6650 XT to be slightly ahead of the RX 6600 XT, based on specs alone. And since we tested the RX 6600 XT against the RTX 3060, it’s pretty easy to judge whether AMD’s benchmarks are realistic or not.
AMD provided us with 1080p benchmarks from 16 games, showing off the performance of the 6650 XT compared to the 3060 and 6600 XT. These benchmarks were run on a system using the Ryzen 7 5800X3D (generally considered the best gaming CPU) and 16GB of DDR4 memory at 3600MHz. In the table below, we compare AMD’s data with ours.
| AMD benchmarks: RX 6650 XT vs. RTX 3060 | Our benchmarks: RX 6600 XT vs. RTX 3060 | ||
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | +21% | +5% | |
| Fortress | +7% | +4% | |
| Assassin’s Creed Valhalla | +37% | +30% | |
| V battlefield | +27% | +13% |
Before comparing our data with AMD’s data, we need to know the difference between the RX 6650 XT and RX 6600 XT. According to AMD’s own testing, it is consistently faster than the RX 6600 XT. However, at best it’s only 6.5% faster, and in most benchmarks the lead is around 1-2%. The two GPUs have practically the same performance, so we can say that AMD’s benchmarks are quite favorable for their GPUs, which is not surprising.
Since the MSRP of the RX 6650 XT is 5% higher than the RX 6600 XT, the profit margins for both GPUs are the same. By AMD’s own standards, not much will change with the launch of the RX 6650 XT, which is somewhat unusual for a refresh.
Where does the RX 6650 XT fit in?
Because it’s nearly identical to the RX 6600 XT, the RX 6650 XT doesn’t really change the dynamic between AMD and Nvidia in the $300-400 segment. Perhaps it could be said that the refresh could improve graphics card supply and reduce prices, but prices and availability have been improving for months, regardless of the RX 6000 refresh.
Users at r/BuildAPCSales, a subreddit that tracks good deals on PC parts and other related items, discovered the RX 6600 XT being sold for less than MSRP, despite including discounts. It’s hard to know how the RX 6650 XT will stand out in a market that’s finally recovering from severe shortages.
Editor’s recommendation
Category: GAMINGSource: newstars.edu.vn