Thursday, November 19th 2020

AMD to Produce Reference Design RX 6800 XT and RX 6800 Only Until "Early 2021"

by
btarunr
 Discuss (29 Comments)
AMD is expected to manufacture its reference-design Radeon RX 6800 XT and RX 6800 graphics cards only "through early 2021," according to a tweet by Scott Herkelman, Corporate VP and GM for the AMD Radeon brand, in response to a question by Daniel Rohrpasser. The "MBA" (made by AMD) reference-design cards will undergo production runs only until early 2021, beyond which the company will rely entirely on sales of custom-design boards by its add-in-board (AIB) partners to sell the RX 6800 and RX 6800 XT.

Launch of custom-design RX 6800 series cards are closely following that of the MBA cards, which opened to sales on November 18. Most AMD AIB partners have already announced their custom-design RX 6800 series products. This isn't particularly unusual, as AMD tends to produce MBA cards only for the initial few months following a new GPU launch, beyond which custom-design cards are expected to take over sales. The MBA cards are sold through AIB partners, with negligible modifications such as brand stickers.
Source: Scott Herkelman (Twitter)

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29 Comments on AMD to Produce Reference Design RX 6800 XT and RX 6800 Only Until "Early 2021"

#1
Chomiq
I've only seen official announcement from powercolor.
Posted on Reply
#3
Vayra86
Good more of this pls. We ain't got time for reference underperformers.

Because they always do. Even the good ones.

Still missing the 'Company releases 16 versions of Radeon' announcement spree on release day with AMD. Wake up guys, this shit's important.
Posted on Reply
#5
ne6togadno
sapphire's were on their site last week. i guess they havent made official press release yet
xfx models were teased as well.
Posted on Reply
#6
Vya Domus
Vayra86Good more of this pls. We ain't got time for reference underperformers.

Because they always do. Even the good ones.

Still missing the 'Company releases 16 versions of Radeon' announcement spree on release day with AMD. Wake up guys, this shit's important.
It's not good news at at all. The reference models are really good but the biggest problem is that custom models are inevitably going to be more expensive. I do not look forward to paying more for something that will hardly be any different.
Posted on Reply
#7
Vayra86
Vya DomusIt's not good news at at all. The reference models are really good but the biggest problem is that custom models are inevitably going to be more expensive. I do not look forward to paying more for something that will hardly be any different.
Market determines the price eventually. If AMD needs a limited availability period to get a better deal with the AIBs for releasing their stuff timely... so be it.

I do agree its even more ideal if they all just keep pushing out product.
Posted on Reply
#8
windwhirl
So, basically reference design is at this point a limited edition produced in nearly massive quantities. I want one now :D
Posted on Reply
#9
delshay
windwhirlSo, basically reference design is at this point a limited edition produced in nearly massive quantities. I want one now :D
That make's them even more valuable, as reference design normally have better quality capacitors & MOSFETS. This is going to push the price up for sure for whoever want's the reference design.
Posted on Reply
#10
turbogear
I hope I can get a reference 6800XT card at some point. :rolleyes:
I own custom water loop currently with 3700x and Radeon VII.
I will replace Radeon VII with 6800XT reference design and get EK waterblock for it. :D

5800x is replacing the 3700x. I was lucky to get 5800x (Tray version) from Alternate yesterday with Farcry 6 included. :clap: Otherwise these are sold out everywhere.

Now only waiting to get 6800XT, but I will not buy one from eBay dealers who sell it for higher prices after they scalped away these from genuine online Shops. :kookoo:
Posted on Reply
#11
bug
Are reference cards actually a thing?

Nvidia, with their FE, insists they are and that various users (like those water cooling) absolutely need them. And their latest FE cards seem to be better than many (most?) custom designs.
AMD seems to treat reference designs as... reference designs.

Having never bought any such card, from either team, I'm genuinely curious.
Posted on Reply
#12
Yoshi
This is a bit confusing... Does this mean, there won't be any cards in reference design or does this mean, that AIBPs CAN produce reference cards if they like to?
Posted on Reply
#13
btarunr
Editor & Senior Moderator
ChomiqThat makes 2 out of 6-7?
www.techpowerup.com/274873/powercolor-unveils-radeon-rx-6800-xt-red-devil-graphics-card

www.techpowerup.com/274857/msi-launches-its-radeon-rx-6800-series-graphics-cards

www.techpowerup.com/274756/asrock-announces-its-radeon-rx-6800-xt-and-rx-6800-series-custom-design-graphics-cards

www.techpowerup.com/274414/sapphire-radeon-rx-6800-xt-nitro-pictured-too
www.techpowerup.com/274412/sapphire-radeon-rx-6800-xt-pulse-pictured

(the Sapphire Nitro/Pulse are launched, btw, product pages up)

www.techpowerup.com/273985/asus-announces-rog-strix-and-tuf-gaming-amd-radeon-rx-6800-series-graphics-cards

Again, custom-design availability begins "later" (I'm not at liberty to disclose the exact date), but partners are free to announce their custom-design cards.
Posted on Reply
#14
Fouquin
Vayra86We ain't got time for reference underperformers.

Because they always do. Even the good ones.
R9 Fury and Fury X reference designs were unimproved by AIBs, the reference was already as good as it could be. R9 295X2 reference design was cooled better and clocked higher than the unofficial dual 290X card.

Just some examples. Obviously go further back and reference is all you got.
Posted on Reply
#15
Flanker
So these will be like limited editions. More potential for price hikes?
Posted on Reply
#16
Vayra86
FouquinR9 Fury and Fury X reference designs were unimproved by AIBs, the reference was already as good as it could be. R9 295X2 reference design was cooled better and clocked higher than the unofficial dual 290X card.

Just some examples. Obviously go further back and reference is all you got.
That doesn't really translate well to the lower models in the stack of every gen. Nvidia also has a throttling ref cooler, or had, at least. Its getting better now though, I agree.
Posted on Reply
#17
Tomorrow
I call bs on this news. You can still buy reference 5700's. So they are/were manufactured long after release. Same with models that never received custom models such as Radeon VII.
Posted on Reply
#18
Steevo
YoshiThis is a bit confusing... Does this mean, there won't be any cards in reference design or does this mean, that AIBPs CAN produce reference cards if they like to?
AIB partners will usually use the reference board if its built well ( this one seems to be) and then change the cooler, and allow for voltage adjustment. But the big sell point for reference boards is a reference water cooler will fit the GPU die, memory chips, VRMs etc.. without needing a quarter inch of thermal pads everywhere or touching components they shouldn't.
Posted on Reply
#19
bonehead123
Can yaz smell what Da Rock is cookin ?????

$10-20K reference cards....thats what....

Coming soon to a store near you in January 2021, right when everyone is trying to figure out how much longer they will be in 'Rona lockdown AND how to pay off all of their xmas bills.... OH MY F'n GAWD....:fear:..:cry:..:eek:

Smooth move AMD...
Posted on Reply
#20
medi01
Stock 6800 series seem to have amazing coolers, a pity if they stop producing them.
Posted on Reply
#21
docnorth
TomorrowI call bs on this news. You can still buy reference 5700's. So they are/were manufactured long after release. Same with models that never received custom models such as Radeon VII.
Reference 5700's probably remained unsold, we all know why. The 6800 series will (deserved) sell out and, if discontinued, there will be no reference price to keep AIBs prices down...
Posted on Reply
#22
Steevo
bonehead123Can yaz smell what Da Rock is cookin ?????

$10-20K reference cards....thats what....

Coming soon to a store near you in January 2021, right when everyone is trying to figure out how much longer they will be in 'Rona lockdown AND how to pay off all of their xmas bills.... OH MY F'n GAWD....:fear:..:cry:..:eek:

Smooth move AMD...
I can read poorly drawn and explained schematics, but I don't understand what you are on about....
Posted on Reply
#23
SIGSEGV
good. open the cooling shroud and put in the water. WIN!
Posted on Reply
#24
Fluffmeister
This is a shame, because it's gonna be early 2021 before anyone can buy one.
Posted on Reply
#25
Jism
bugAre reference cards actually a thing?

Nvidia, with their FE, insists they are and that various users (like those water cooling) absolutely need them. And their latest FE cards seem to be better than many (most?) custom designs.
AMD seems to treat reference designs as... reference designs.

Having never bought any such card, from either team, I'm genuinely curious.
An common argument about reference vs AIB's would be the cooling or exotic VRM setup; but reference cards are'nt bad anymore. These days the VRM's are overbuild and knowing how big that heatsink is with a vapor chamber and 3 fans; it's no longer a selling argument on why a AIB is better then reference. Solely depends on what you want todo with it.

When you buy a reference, you are guaranteed to find a suitable waterblock for it. When you buy a AIB, the PCB's layout could be different. Left or right the chips are guaranteed to function at the given clocks. If your looking for a LN2 model; your better off with a custom made one, one with pimped up VRM's and better capacitors. But any hardcore overclocker just solders on the caps themself (if they need it).

Appearantly AMD is using the line for proberly the MI100 cards.
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