# ASUS Radeon RX 6600 XT STRIX OC



## W1zzard (Aug 10, 2021)

The ASUS Radeon RX 6600 XT STRIX OC is a custom design variant with a triple-slot, dual-fan cooler. The card achieves excellent performance in Full HD, giving you 60 FPS or higher in every single game we tested. Temperatures are very low, and overclocking potential is good, too.

*Show full review*


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## Chaitanya (Aug 10, 2021)

Why is power consumption so high with V-Sync on? Also chart is missing 3060(non-Ti) in power consumption comparison.


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## newtekie1 (Aug 10, 2021)

Ouch, worse than a 3060Ti for the same money. No wonder AMD is trying to keep the reviews from coming out.  Man, can you just image the backlash if nVidia was telling reviewers they can only release nVidia sanctioned reviews?  The torches and pitchforks would be sold out just like graphics cards.


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## W1zzard (Aug 10, 2021)

Chaitanya said:


> Why is power consumption so high with V-Sync on?


Nice find, looks like V-Sync didn't engage and it ran at max FPS.. retesting



Chaitanya said:


> Also chart is missing 3060(non-Ti) in power consumption comparison.


There is no 3060 non-Ti reference design, so I didn't include it.


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## lightning70 (Aug 10, 2021)

3060 Ti better than Price/Performance.
6600XT Expensive.


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## Chomiq (Aug 10, 2021)

$550? Are they for real?


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## W1zzard (Aug 10, 2021)

Chomiq said:


> $550? Are they for real?


ASUS DUAL: $499.99 btw

Source for both: talked to ASUS USA directly


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## london (Aug 10, 2021)

if this was a 100W i would consider. but this? trash. also i want to see pcie   3.0 motherboards numbers. even bigger trash i guess.


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## Chomiq (Aug 10, 2021)

W1zzard said:


> ASUS DUAL: $499.99 btw
> 
> Source for both: talked to ASUS USA directly


This will probably end up being €650/600 in EU which is nuts.


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## Dr. Dro (Aug 10, 2021)

I had been looking forward to buying this specific card for some time as I've been without access to an AMD graphics card for the past few months, but... what is this pricing? They can't be serious, at that rate, there's absolutely no reason anyone should even remotely consider this. $550-700 for this is unacceptable, I was prepared to drop $449 on this one considering it's a ROG Strix and AMD's MSRP is $379.


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## HTC (Aug 10, 2021)

Chomiq said:


> This will probably end up being €650/600 in EU which is nuts.



I was looking forward to upgrade my RX480 4GB with the non-XT version of RX6600 but it looks like i'll be skipping yet another generation of cards ...


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## Richards (Aug 10, 2021)

The infinity  cache  helps this card at 1080 & 1440 p but at 4k the 3060 pulls level


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## Valantar (Aug 10, 2021)

W1zzard said:


> There is no 3060 non-Ti reference design, so I didn't include it.


Were there 5500 XT reference designs, or 1660 series ones? Those are in the list, after all.  Seems like a strange omission - isn't your standard procedure to also run tests at stock settings? Sure, there'll always be some variance between models depending on various design elements, but having some indication is much more useful to us as readers than none at all.

Beyond that though, thanks once again for a great review.

Overall, I like where the 6600 XT sits in terms of performance and power consumption, though those prices ... sheesh. No thanks. Still, this makes me very hopeful for what a non-XT and future 6500 series might bring to the table. A base 6500 non-XT might bring some really excellent performance at 75W, allowing for HHHL cards.


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## W1zzard (Aug 10, 2021)

Valantar said:


> Were there 5500 XT reference designs, or 1660 series ones? Those are in the list, after all. Seems like a strange omission - isn't your standard procedure to also run tests at stock settings? Sure, there'll always be some variance between models depending on various design elements, but having some indication is much more useful to us as readers than none at all.


Indeed, I picked models that I felt most closely represent the reference card. Will update the review accordingly. Thanks!



Valantar said:


> future 6500 series


I keep hearing about higher ASP (average selling price) in AMD earnings calls, and this is what drives their stock price. So I doubt they'll release a 6500 if they can make a more profitable card with the same TSMC allocation


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## bug (Aug 10, 2021)

That MSRP for a 128bit memory bus and "great 1080p performance" in 2021... The world has gone insane.


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## Chrispy_ (Aug 10, 2021)

As expected this card is incredibly underwhelming, unattractively priced at MSRP and scalper-prices alike, and of no interest compared to the previous generation.

In this messed up GPU market, a phoned-in effort is all it takes to sell GPUs. The 3060 12GB isn't exactly an appealing card either, but I'd definitely pick it over a 6600XT because the 6600XT isn't 15% faster as promised (I am _shocked_ that AMD would cherry-pick titles for its marketing slides). If there was price parity between the 3060 and 6600XT I'd maybe have to reconsider based on which titles I was intending to focus on, but NVENC, DLSS, and RTX-exclusives are enough to be swayed towards Nvidia even then...


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## Zubasa (Aug 10, 2021)

Richards said:


> The infinity  cache  helps this card at 1080 & 1440 p but at 4k the 3060 pulls level





bug said:


> That MSRP for a 128bit memory bus and "great 1080p performance" in 2021... The world has gone insane.


I feel that AMD went for 32MB cache was a huge mistake. It went from 96MB on the 6800 and 6700XT all the way down to 1/3.


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## Valantar (Aug 10, 2021)

W1zzard said:


> Indeed, I picked models that I felt most closely represent the reference card. Will update the review accordingly. Thanks!


Great, thanks 


W1zzard said:


> I keep hearing about higher ASP (average selling price) in AMD earnings calls, and this is what drives their stock price. So I doubt they'll release a 6500 if they can make a more profitable card with the same TSMC allocation


Yeah, that seems to be a huge thing for them lately - the same reasoning is likely behind not launching lower end CPUs or APUs at retail. If you're limited by component supply in how much you sell, making and selling more expensive parts is likely what will keep shareholders the happiest. It's a damn shame for customers though. If anything, it's a good lesson on where corporate allegiances lie. Still, something like a 20-24CU die with the same cache and memory interface as this would be a _killer_ budget card, and likely small enough to be mass produced very cheaply even with limited wafer supplies. Though with the chip shortage I'm guessing that we'll be seeing the previous ~1 year product family launch cycle stretch more towards two years, if not more. They might even hold off on budget RDNA2 7nm GPUs until they move on to 6/5nm for their higher end models - at that point TSMC 7nm should be plentiful, at least.

Still, it seems the RX 570 in my travel PC will live on for quite a while still. At least until we see GPUs like this back at the ~$200-250 level where they belong.


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## ppn (Aug 10, 2021)

london said:


> if this was a 100W i would consider. but this? trash. also i want to see pcie   3.0 motherboards numbers. even bigger trash i guess.



No problem just donwvolt it to its Furmakr clocks 2233 @0.966V and that results sub 100Watt for games at 7% performance loss, almost nonexistent, much like the card because of miners.
RTX 2080 at 1080p, 2070 super at 1440p, and better not think of 4K.  RTX 2070 wow the peformance hit is very sour.


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## Dr. Dro (Aug 10, 2021)

Zubasa said:


> I feel that AMD went for 32MB cache was a huge mistake. It went from 96MB on the 6800 and 6700XT all the way down to 1/3.



It was intended to keep costs low, yields high, and power consumption down. Dimgrey Cavefish (this GPU's codename) is literally a GPU at the same tier as the GTX 1050 Ti or perhaps a little more accurately, the RX 5500 XT used to be. It's quite technologically advanced in comparison, of course, but it's simply inheriting their respective generations' flagship improvements as this segment always does.

The performance is fine IMHO, even if the MSRP is already high, but at $700 tier, it's literally at what the RTX 3080 launched at about a year ago. It's pathetic, and at this point it's just abusive - nobody's buying a 6600 XT for cryptocurrency mining, buyers of this card are gamers that don't have deep pockets to build flagship systems or guys like me who buy one to keep up with the technology on the other side. I'll more than live with my RTX 3090, but I have quite a few reasons to want access to a current generation AMD GPU, especially since i'm amongst the lucky few with access to AMD's closed beta testing program.


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## HD64G (Aug 10, 2021)

Zubasa said:


> I feel that AMD went for 32MB cache was a huge mistake. It went from 96MB on the 6800 and 6700XT all the way down to 1/3.


But it didn't lose the performance increase over the 5700XT that didn't have IC. So...

@W1zzard : I can see many comments on pricing and MSRP comparisons. MSRPs don't exist and thus, it is stupid to compare them. And the street prices are crazy for all modern GPUs. So, what is the point of price discussion at all? I propose that the best thing the reviewers can do in this period is to compare performance to last gen of GPUs get the perf/$ of the same performance class, add 10% more and suggest us the highest price we should pay for this GPU at most. maybe that way many people buying those GPUs overpriced stop doing so and the street prices come back down to normal in a few months. Otherwise no point in discussing about GPUs at all.


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## IceShroom (Aug 10, 2021)

All the meltdown of Nvidia fans. 
PCI-e 4.0 is with us from 2019 and according to this review there is only 4% difference between PCI-e 2x16 and PCI-e 4x16 using RTX 3080[as could not found PCI-e test for high end AMD card] https://www.techpowerup.com/review/nvidia-geforce-rtx-3080-pci-express-scaling/26.html


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## W1zzard (Aug 10, 2021)

@Valantar: the review has been updated with correct numbers for RX 6600 XT V-Sync, I also added RTX 3060 non-Ti power numbers, using the original reference BIOS from NVIDIA (which I also used for the RTX 3060 performance numbers)



HD64G said:


> I can see many comments on pricing and MSRP comparisons. MSRPs don't exist and thus, it is stupid to compare them


and that's why I'm listing MSRP but also street price and talk about both in conclusion.


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## TomTomTom (Aug 10, 2021)

I think the F1 2020 game should be removed or replaced in the testing suite. 110FPS at 4K with a midrange card, that doesn't contribute anything and just skews the averages at the end or the review, giving the appearance that this card is more capable at 4K than it really is.


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## W1zzard (Aug 10, 2021)

TomTomTom said:


> F1 2020


It'll be replaced by F1 2021 when I do my next full rebench, in a couple of weeks


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## medi01 (Aug 10, 2021)

This, ladies and gentlemen:


london said:


> if this was a 100W i would consider. but this? trash.


is a comment made about GPU wish groundbreaking, nothing comes close, perf/$:


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## Zubasa (Aug 10, 2021)

london said:


> if this was a 100W i would consider. but this? trash. also i want to see pcie   3.0 motherboards numbers. even bigger trash i guess.


In most games its around ~3%
Worst case scenario: This
https://www.techspot.com/review/2305-amd-radeon-rx-6600-xt/


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## john_ (Aug 10, 2021)

If MSRP had any meaning today, this should be a $299-$329 card.


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## HTC (Aug 10, 2021)

john_ said:


> If MSRP had any meaning today, this should be a $299-$329 card.



If this card were @ that price, then a REFERENCE 6600 non-XT would go for around $219 or so: @ such a price i would probably buy one to replace my aging RX480 4GB.

@ these ridiculous prices, i'll wait for the next generation of cards ...


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## pokazene_maslo (Aug 10, 2021)

Hey @W1zzard, you have a mistake in the second paragraph on first page. You state there that this card has 32 ROPs, while in the rest of the review you mention 64 ROPs. BTW. thank you for a great review!


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## bug (Aug 10, 2021)

Zubasa said:


> I feel that AMD went for 32MB cache was a huge mistake. It went from 96MB on the 6800 and 6700XT all the way down to 1/3.


It's just a cache, even if AMD left the full 96MB in there, it would still overflow in the right scenario.


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## Chrispy_ (Aug 10, 2021)

W1zzard said:


> It'll be replaced by F1 2021 when I do my next full rebench, in a couple of weeks


Do you have plans to test this at PCIe 3.0 x8?
That seems to impact performance by ~5% and is relevant for any Intel user who hasn't jumped on Rocket Lake.


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## W1zzard (Aug 10, 2021)

Chrispy_ said:


> Do you have plans to test this at PCIe 3.0 x8?


Might be worth a separate article


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## Valantar (Aug 10, 2021)

Zubasa said:


> I feel that AMD went for 32MB cache was a huge mistake. It went from 96MB on the 6800 and 6700XT all the way down to 1/3.


Why, when performance is what it is? Outside of 2160p gaming, which this GPU isn't reasonably capable of anyhow, the IC seems perfectly adequate.


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## gasolina (Aug 10, 2021)

a mid end card and pcie4 8x really nice to force mid range user to have the crappy pcie 4.0 which is very short lived ...... stay away from sub 500$ graphic card is kinda a standard nowsaday since they offer really no value at all ( i'm saying about msrp price though )


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## Pumper (Aug 10, 2021)

Not surprised at how bad the performance/dollar is, after all, AMD does not have the ability to grow their revenue by selling more stuff (they are already at max. supply), so the only way to keep the stock holders happy is to fleece the customer by selling overpriced trash in a seller's market. Way to fuck over all the people who where keeping the company afloat for all those years when AMD did not have any competetive products.


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## Operandi (Aug 10, 2021)

W1zzard said:


> and that's why I'm listing MSRP but also street price and talk about both in conclusion.


Does an MSRP have any correlation to what AMD (or any other manufacture for that matter) sell the raw GPU for?

I mean prices are obviously still insane but if MSRP represents a price floor for cards and this is AMD taking more profit at the expense of resellers and scalpers then I get why they are doing it as the market is ultimately going set the real price regardless of what MSRP is.  If supply is still super constrained a lower MSRP would just be AMD or nVidia leaving money on the table which would just be foolish on their part.

I have no idea if thats how it works or not but kinda devils advocate argument.  Either way I'm not sure pointing the finger any MSRPs right now makes any sense until there is real supply to support competitive prices, they should defiantly be in the review though for historical purposes.


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## W1zzard (Aug 10, 2021)

Operandi said:


> Either way I'm not sure pointing the finger any MSRPs right now makes any sense until there is real supply to support competitive prices, they should defiantly be in the review though for historical purposes.


Agreed, that's what I'm doing



Operandi said:


> AMD


I have no idea how they decided on their pricing, I suspect they looked at NVIDIA's 3060 and 3060 Ti MSRP, looked where their card is in perf relative to that, and set a price point that looks nice as number


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## Solid State Soul ( SSS ) (Aug 10, 2021)

8Gb is cool for 380$ but 128 bit bus ...eh... am not sure. 

also why 8 phase design for a 165w TDP ?

My 980Ti is a 250w and is comfortably powered by a 6 phase design, why is this trend of over specing AMD boards but stick to refrence for Nvidia ?


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## london (Aug 10, 2021)

ppn said:


> No problem just donwvolt it to its Furmakr clocks 2233 @0.966V and that results sub 100Watt for games at 7% performance loss, almost nonexistent, much like the card because of miners.
> RTX 2080 at 1080p, 2070 super at 1440p, and better not think of 4K.  RTX 2070 wow the peformance hit is very sour.


is not my job  to fix this shity overpriced crap,


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## MrDweezil (Aug 10, 2021)

Hypothetically, if AMD set MSRP for these at $1 and Asus priced their fancy STRIX version at $2, wouldn't these still end up selling for $600+?


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## RedelZaVedno (Aug 10, 2021)

ASUS RX 6600 XT STRIX OC MSPR = $500 /Street price = 700$? OMG! Polaris and 5600XT replacement for 230% more???
It's DOA. Poor retailers, cleaning all the dust off these cards will be tedious work.


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## Operandi (Aug 10, 2021)

RedelZaVedno said:


> ASUS RX 6600 XT STRIX OC MSPR = $500 /Street price = 700$? OMG! Polaris and 5600XT replacement for 230% more???
> It's DOA. Poor retailers, cleaning all the dust off these cards will be tedious work.


Not how it works at all dude.  Street price is not some % of MSRP, supply & demand sets the price MSRP has zero impact whatsoever.  AMD is going to sell every one of these they make; anytime, in any market where the _real _price, _street _price whatever you want to call it is higher than the _retail _price shit is selling out.


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## RedelZaVedno (Aug 10, 2021)

Operandi said:


> Not how it works at all dude.  Street price is not some % of MSRP, supply & demand sets the price MSRP has zero impact whatsoever.  AMD is going to sell every one of these they make; anytime, in any market where the _real _price, _street _price whatever you want to call it is higher than the _retail _price shit is selling out.


Well maybe elsewhere they do, but not in Germany. My neighbor and his wife work at Mindfactory, largest German retailer and they're saying Amperes are flying off shelves like crazy despite inflated prices, but Radeons are collecting dust now that 3060(TI), 3070(TI) and 3080TI are in stock again. The problem Mindfactory is having it that it can't lower prices on RDNA2 GPUs because they themselves bought them either directly from AIBs or from distributers at highly inflated prices. But they both said they'll have to bite in the bitter apple and lower prices until the end of the fiscal year if mining craze doesn't return.


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## kruk (Aug 10, 2021)

newtekie1 said:


> Ouch, worse than a 3060Ti for the same money. No wonder AMD is trying to keep the reviews from coming out.  Man, can you just image the backlash if nVidia was telling reviewers they can only release nVidia sanctioned reviews?  The torches and pitchforks would be sold out just like graphics cards.


AMD is trying to keep the reviews from coming out? Any proof for this or is it just FUD? They don't even have a reference card and their MSRP is clearly far far away from the pricing of this card (which simply looks like a cashgrab by ASUS).


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## N3M3515 (Aug 10, 2021)

W1zzard said:


> The generation-over-generation performance improvement, compared to RX 5600 XT, is an impressive 35%


You forgot the most important metric, generation-over-generation *price icrease*, compared to RX 5600 XT, is an impresive 35% LOL!! (35% minus 35% = zero improvement)
This is not an upgrade over the RX 5600 XT at all. At most this is a *side grade* over the RX 5700 XT.


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## neatfeatguy (Aug 10, 2021)

I'm glad I was able to snag a 3060Ti a few days ago for $460. I'm going to move my 3060 to my other computer and officially retire both my 980Ti cards. I was contemplating the idea of trying to get a 6600XT since it was supposed to be 15% faster than a 3060 and have a similar price, but after seeing the review I'm glad I took the win off a newegg shuffle for a 3060Ti last Friday.

With the nearly $900 retail cost for 6700XT cards, plus the fact you can still find 5700XT cards in the $550 range, I'd venture to guess a lot of the 6600XT cards are going to be in the $600-700 range for AIB. Only the AMD released version of the 6600XT will ever be at the MSRP that's advertised.

I wouldn't spend my money on a 6600XT unless it was trading blows with 3060Ti and was priced the same - around $400.


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## btk2k2 (Aug 10, 2021)

N3M3515 said:


> You forgot the most important metric, generation-over-generation *price icrease*, compared to RX 5600 XT, is an impresive 35% LOL!! (35% minus 35% = zero improvement)
> This is not an upgrade over the RX 5600 XT at all. At most this is a *side grade* over the RX 5700 XT.



If you have a 5700XT then you could sell it for a lot more than the 6600XT and even 6700XT sells for and do a side/upgrade and get some money on top.

If you are upgrading and sell old hardware then the price is really the delta between current and new which is probably somewhat favourable for 6xxx series hardware because it is comparatively rubbish at mining.


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## Chrispy_ (Aug 10, 2021)

W1zzard said:


> Might be worth a separate article


HWU touched on it very lightly - some 3-5% difference in some games and huge performance penalty in Doom Eternal (which was the game that made me upgrade from the 6GB 2060 I had at the time).
I'd definitely be interested in a more in-depth look at that.



btk2k2 said:


> If you have a 5700XT then you could sell it for a lot more than the 6600XT and even 6700XT sells for and do a side/upgrade and get some money on top.


No longer true. 

As someone with multiple mining rigs of 5700-series and looking to acquire more cards, the going rate on ebay etc is not what it once was. I sold some 5700XT cards that I didn't have motherboards for at almost £1000/$1400 each in May, and have picked up some vanilla 5700 cards for <£400 each in the last week. 5700XT cards listed at £500-550 aren't selling and get relisted lower by the week so they're worth less than half what they were four months ago.


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## _Flare (Aug 10, 2021)

As is said in the last weeks:
There is no way it will be cheaper than the RTX 2060 6GB wich start at 450,-€ incl Shipping here in Germany.
And i also said it will likely cost at least as much as the next RT cappable card above that, wich shuffle between 2060S 2070 and 3060 here, the cheapest of those begin at 560,-€ incl Shipping here.
So i am not suprised in any kind by the sad status quo, induced by mining and scalpers wich are responsible at least 99% for the status quo.


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## Chrispy_ (Aug 10, 2021)

N3M3515 said:


> You forgot the most important metric, generation-over-generation *price icrease*, compared to RX 5600 XT, is an impresive 35% LOL!! (35% minus 35% = zero improvement)
> This is not an upgrade over the RX 5600 XT at all. At most this is a *side grade* over the RX 5700 XT.


You get raytracing that's mostly too slow to bother with because most titles with raytracing are Nvidia-sponsored RTX titles and run like ass, but you're forgetting the most important part; The model number is 900 numbers bigger. That's a 16% improvement in model number alone so I don't know why you consider this just a _sidegrade_!!!1


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## Turmania (Aug 10, 2021)

It is not a bad card, just very bad pricing.


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## HTC (Aug 10, 2021)

W1zzard said:


> Might be worth a separate article






Are you aware of this?

It *appears* PCIe scaling can vary quite wildly depending on the title.


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## W1zzard (Aug 10, 2021)

HTC said:


> Are you aware of this?


Of course, I've been doing PCIe scaling articles for more than a decade


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## oxrufiioxo (Aug 10, 2021)

The sad thing is once the dust settles given current real pricing not fake msrp this might end up the best value current gen gpu.


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## HTC (Aug 10, 2021)

W1zzard said:


> Of course, I've been doing PCIe scaling articles for more than a decade



Perhaps that Doom Eternal difference comes from testing an x8 card instead of a x16 card. Dunno: just an hypothesis.

I've been seeing your PCIe scaling reviews and this much of a difference ... i don't recall seeing it before, hence the question.


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## Operandi (Aug 10, 2021)

RedelZaVedno said:


> Well maybe elsewhere they do, but not in Germany. My neighbor and his wife work at Mindfactory, largest German retailer and they're saying Amperes are flying off shelves like crazy despite inflated prices, but Radeons are collecting dust now that 3060(TI), 3070(TI) and 3080TI are in stock again. The problem Mindfactory is having it that it can't lower prices on RDNA2 GPUs because they themselves bought them either directly from AIBs or from distributers at highly inflated prices. But they both said they'll have to bite in the bitter apple and lower prices until the end of the fiscal year if mining craze doesn't return.


Its still just supply and demand economics.  Smaller regions might get screwed over because AMD or nVidia can't get the pricing structure right but that just means its lost in the aggregate of the overall market.  If thats the case its still a supply and demand problem that will sort itself out or the retailer will just not buy those and any other similar SKUs from the distributor.  Or are you saying that Germans are willing to overpay for nVidia but not AMD?


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## N3M3515 (Aug 10, 2021)

Chrispy_ said:


> You get raytracing that's mostly too slow to bother with because most titles with raytracing are Nvidia-sponsored RTX titles and run like ass, but you're forgetting the most important part; The model number is 900 numbers bigger. That's a 16% improvement in model number alone so I don't know why you consider this just a _sidegrade_!!!1


I think FSR will step on DLSS eventually.


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## W1zzard (Aug 10, 2021)

HTC said:


> Perhaps that Doom Eternal difference comes from testing an x8 card instead of a x16 card. Dunno: just an hypothesis.


The 3080 is physically a x8 card when i test it, i'm taping off the lanes, with actual tape, not just switch the bios to x8

haven't tested doom eternal in pcie scaling, but my frametime charts show some spikes for the 6600 xt, so maybe it's that


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## Chrispy_ (Aug 10, 2021)

N3M3515 said:


> I think FSR will step on DLSS eventually.


DLSS's current advantage is that it has motion vector reprojection which makes it much cleaner on moving objects, something that FSR cannot really handle as well because it's a (very fancy, very capable) upscaler only.

This is FSR v1.0 vs DLSS v2.0 and we're all well aware of the ass-dribble that Nvidia delivered with DLSS v1.0.

IMO, DLSS 2.0 is the superior upscaler but I have no doubt that FSR will improve in future versions too; It's definitely a better first bite at the cherry than Nvidia's attempt was, and it's far more versatile too.


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## W1zzard (Aug 10, 2021)

Chrispy_ said:


> which makes it much cleaner on moving objects, something that FSR cannot really handle as well because it's a (very fancy, very capable) upscaler only.


otoh FSR has zero problems with moving objects, because it's not temporal


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## Xuper (Aug 10, 2021)

AMD 5600 XT Price at launch : *$279* , AMD 6600 XT Price at launch : *$379* ~ 35.8%
AMD 6600 XT Performance = *100%* , AMD 5600 XT Performance=* 74%* ~ 35.1% ( 1080p res)

By looking at Spec (5600 XT / 6600 XT ) , It's really impressive that L3 cache does improve massive performance and avoid massive GPU bottleneck with 128bit memory interface.
anyway , due to global crisis , I don't blame them until 2023 !


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## Shatun_Bear (Aug 10, 2021)

Most important stats:

- 12% faster than 3060
- More efficient than 3060

Will lose in RT. So if you can eventually get this nearer msrp, it's good value compared to the 3060.


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## N3M3515 (Aug 10, 2021)

Shatun_Bear said:


> Most important stats:
> 
> - 12% faster than 3060
> - More efficient than 3060
> ...


More important than that, for 20 more you get a superior gpu 3060Ti (MSRP).



Chrispy_ said:


> It's definitely a better first bite at the cherry than Nvidia's attempt was, and it's far more versatile too.


Definitely. And easier to implement. Works on older gpus.


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## HolyCowImAnoOb (Aug 10, 2021)

Nice review,

I noticed on the Hardware Unboxed review that pcie3 x8 vs pcie4 x8 there is a pretty large performance hit on some titles?










Would you guys be keen to take a deeper dive into the review and look into it?


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## Oasis (Aug 10, 2021)

22c difference between Edge Temp and Hotspot Temp, is this normal?


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## Sithaer (Aug 10, 2021)

Eh, performance is about where I expected it to be which is fine with me but that pricing oh boyo thats a big no no. _'not even trying to imagine what its gonna cost in my country'_
Also not exactly fan of that x8 pcie3 design cause I'm still rocking a B350 mobo, even if it only causes performance differences in specific games I rather wouldn't want that to be honest cause whatever I buy its gonna be longer term for 3-4 years.

As it stands right now, for my use case a 3060/2060 Super would be still better and cheaper too + I happen to like DLSS as a tech.

Idk gonna wait till early December or so and see how the GPU market is in my country but I'm leaning towards Nvidia at this point and price range. _'talking about new-ish second hand market'_


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## W1zzard (Aug 10, 2021)

Oasis said:


> 22c difference between Edge Temp and Hotspot Temp, is this normal?


Yes, around 20°C is normal


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## Rebe1 (Aug 10, 2021)

@W1zzard 

"Sapphire RX 6600 XT Pulse  Not allowed yet by AMD" in cooler performance section. 

Any particular reasoning why we cannot see Sapphire Pulse results? Are we waiting for similar to 5600 XT premiere day 1 firmware update?


----------



## W1zzard (Aug 10, 2021)

Rebe1 said:


> Any particular reasoning why we cannot see Sapphire Pulse results?


It's explained in the conclusion. AMD doesn't allow reviews yet for cards other than the card they sent themselves


----------



## Rebe1 (Aug 10, 2021)

I somehow missed that, thank you! 

This is very strange premiere...


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## TheinsanegamerN (Aug 10, 2021)

Even if it turns out to be some OC beast, charging the same price as the 6800xt msrp for a 6600 is pure highway robbery.


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## Shatun_Bear (Aug 10, 2021)

Pumper said:


> Not surprised at how bad the performance/dollar is, after all, AMD does not have the ability to grow their revenue by selling more stuff (they are already at max. supply), so the only way to keep the stock holders happy is to fleece the customer by selling overpriced trash in a seller's market. Way to fuck over all the people who where keeping the company afloat for all those years when AMD did not have any competetive products.



Who kept the 'company afloat all those years'? Their marketshare at the time you frame was diabolical to reflect their competiveness.



N3M3515 said:


> *More important than that, for 20 more you get a superior gpu 3060Ti (MSRP).*
> 
> 
> Definitely. And easier to implement. Works on older gpus.



No no no I keep seeing this, tell us all where we can buy 3060 Ti's for $400? I would buy one right now. The fact is that price is total fantasy (but I think you know that already).

The cheapest you can get a 3060 Ti here is £600 if you're lucky.


----------



## neatfeatguy (Aug 11, 2021)

Shatun_Bear said:


> Who kept the 'company afloat all those years'? Their marketshare at the time you frame was diabolical to reflect their competiveness.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Get lucky on newegg shuffle or a local retailer here, like Micro Center, and you can get a 3060Ti for around $460 (give or take a little). It's not MSRP, but it sure is a whole hell of a lot closer than the $700-800 they were going for not too long ago.


----------



## Akkedie (Aug 11, 2021)

What if I told you...


----------



## wolf (Aug 11, 2021)

Even @ MSRP this card isn't good value, let alone current market pricing, yikes. Really looks like AMD barely wants to sell any, at least in any volume which would make sense. Buttering us up for mental RDNA3 pricing?



Chrispy_ said:


> the 6600XT isn't 15% faster as promised (I am _shocked_ that AMD would cherry-pick titles for its marketing slides)


 Tell me that's sarcasm...


----------



## Ravenas (Aug 11, 2021)

newtekie1 said:


> Ouch, worse than a 3060Ti for the same money. No wonder AMD is trying to keep the reviews from coming out.  Man, can you just image the backlash if nVidia was telling reviewers they can only release nVidia sanctioned reviews?  The torches and pitchforks would be sold out just like graphics cards.



Not arguing the performance comment, but find me a MSRP 3060 ti.


----------



## wolf (Aug 11, 2021)

Ravenas said:


> Not arguing the performance comment, but find me a MSRP 3060 ti.


At least there is a 'reference' model that does exist and it is possible to buy it at MSRP for some people/locations. Yeah it's a stretch but there is at least that possibility.


----------



## Minus Infinity (Aug 11, 2021)

128 bit bus is a joke. The infinity cache cannot cover the starvation it suffers above 1080p. This is AMD's achilles heel. The 6600XT could have easily been on par with 3060Ti at 1440p even with a 160 bit bus, but should have been 192 bit.

The whole line-up is bjorked and they shot themselves in the foot. 6800XT/6900XT would have easily had the performance crown with 320 bit bus, 6700 series should have been 256 bit, 6600 series 192 bit and if they release a 6500 series that should be 128 bit. 

Prices are a joke even at MSRP.

I'm AMD all the way on cpu but on GPU I'll stick with Nvidia. AMD also announced it's sticking with this bus width gimping for RDNA3 and 256 bit for monster Navi 31. Lovelace is looking better all the time.


----------



## arbiter (Aug 11, 2021)

So yea 128bit isnt gonna cut it above 1080p. I know AMD wants to save $ by doing this 8x pci thing but what really is cheaper 8x pci4 or just using a 16x pci 3.0 chip? Seems like be better to use 3.0 since everyone has it and it would work on older boards without the penalty that rears its head in some games like Doom which is in the area of 20%. As for infinite cache yea Kinda seems like now days its usefulness isn't really useful maybe 10+ years ago it would been better with smaller bus and such but now with cards that can get 500+ GB/s pretty easy seems like a to little to late thing.


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## N3M3515 (Aug 11, 2021)

Shatun_Bear said:


> No no no I keep seeing this, tell us all where we can buy 3060 Ti's for $400? I would buy one right now. The fact is that price is total fantasy (but I think you know that already).


You think i don't know?, i'm comparing MSRP vs MSRP, apples to apples, if you want to go by street prices then wait a couple of weeks and let's compare street price vs street price, 3060Ti will win hands down.


----------



## Ravenas (Aug 11, 2021)

wolf said:


> At least there is a 'reference' model that does exist and it is possible to buy it at MSRP for some people/locations. Yeah it's a stretch but there is at least that possibility.



Just stating if you want to use a graphics card or if you want to cross your fingers waiting for a MSRP graphics card. 6600 XT will likely be available at MSRP, maybe not on launch day but tremendously less scalping will occur.


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## mechtech (Aug 11, 2021)

“, wasn't there a time when you could buy a decent graphics card to play games for $200?”

ya the RX 580 8GB and 5500XT 8GB

I wish these cards were on the charts for comparison.

guess we’ll just keep waiting…………


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## Minus Infinity (Aug 11, 2021)

arbiter said:


> So yea 128bit isnt gonna cut it above 1080p. I know AMD wants to save $ by doing this 8x pci thing but what really is cheaper 8x pci4 or just using a 16x pci 3.0 chip? Seems like be better to use 3.0 since everyone has it and it would work on older boards without the penalty that rears its head in some games like Doom which is in the area of 20%. As for infinite cache yea Kinda seems like now days its usefulness isn't really useful maybe 10+ years ago it would been better with smaller bus and such but now with cards that can get 500+ GB/s pretty easy seems like a to little to late thing.


They might save dollars but it's not passed onto the consumer. I wouldn't pay more than $299 for this card.


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## newtekie1 (Aug 11, 2021)

Ravenas said:


> Not arguing the performance comment, but find me a MSRP 3060 ti.


Find me an MSRP 6600XT. No one said anything about MSRP, we are talking about actual street prices, this review is talking actual street prices. We are basing our opinion on the $700 street price of the 3060Ti, as listed in the table on the very first page of this review. And at those prices, this card is a turd.


----------



## Valantar (Aug 11, 2021)

newtekie1 said:


> Find me an MSRP 6600XT. No one said anything about MSRP, we are talking about actual street prices, this review is talking actual street prices. We are basing our opinion on the $700 street price of the 3060Ti, as listed in the table on the very first page of this review. And at those prices, this card is a turd.


At those prices every card is a turd.


arbiter said:


> So yea 128bit isnt gonna cut it above 1080p. I know AMD wants to save $ by doing this 8x pci thing but what really is cheaper 8x pci4 or just using a 16x pci 3.0 chip? Seems like be better to use 3.0 since everyone has it and it would work on older boards without the penalty that rears its head in some games like Doom which is in the area of 20%. As for infinite cache yea Kinda seems like now days its usefulness isn't really useful maybe 10+ years ago it would been better with smaller bus and such but now with cards that can get 500+ GB/s pretty easy seems like a to little to late thing.





Minus Infinity said:


> 128 bit bus is a joke. The infinity cache cannot cover the starvation it suffers above 1080p. This is AMD's achilles heel. The 6600XT could have easily been on par with 3060Ti at 1440p even with a 160 bit bus, but should have been 192 bit.
> 
> The whole line-up is bjorked and they shot themselves in the foot. 6800XT/6900XT would have easily had the performance crown with 320 bit bus, 6700 series should have been 256 bit, 6600 series 192 bit and if they release a 6500 series that should be 128 bit.
> 
> ...


Comments like these fascinate me. I mean, the numbers are pretty clear: outside of a few outliers (where it still performs well, mind you), Infinity Cache clearly makes up for the bandwidth deficit at resolutions where the rest of this gpu can keep up. It consistently outperforms an Nvidia offering with a 50% wider bus by a significant margin. The margin is bigger at 1080p than 1440p, but it's clearly ahead in both. So what's the problem? An on-paper spec "deficit" with no real-world performance loss is not a deficit. Talk about looking for a problem where one doesn't exist.


----------



## Charcharo (Aug 11, 2021)

bug said:


> It's just a cache, even if AMD left the full 96MB in there, it would still overflow in the right scenario.



To be fair to IC, as long as it keeps the ROPs fed and geometry in cache, it is already pulling its weight fully. 96 mb on the 6700 XT ensure it has more raw bandwidth than a 5700 XT even at 5K. The 6900 XT is basically not bandwidth limited either, it loses to 3090 (on average) due to being compute bound, not bandwidth bound.

The 6600 XT obviously has a lot less IC, but the fact that it does good at 1440p surprises me. 32mb goes a VERY long way it seems.


----------



## arbiter (Aug 11, 2021)

Minus Infinity said:


> They might save dollars but it's not passed onto the consumer. I wouldn't pay more than $299 for this card.


You miss understood a little what getting and somewhat asking. Wondered if price of 3.0 x16 would be compared to the 4.0 8x option. If they are same or near it then would seem 3.0 be a better option since you have all these boards that support doing it at 16x instead of cripleing the cards to 8x 3.0.


Valantar said:


> At those prices every card is a turd.
> 
> 
> Comments like these fascinate me. I mean, the numbers are pretty clear: outside of a few outliers (where it still performs well, mind you), Infinity Cache clearly makes up for the bandwidth deficit at resolutions where the rest of this gpu can keep up. It consistently outperforms an Nvidia offering with a 50% wider bus by a significant margin. The margin is bigger at 1080p than 1440p, but it's clearly ahead in both. So what's the problem? An on-paper spec "deficit" with no real-world performance loss is not a deficit. Talk about looking for a problem where one doesn't exist.


Cause 1080p that 128bit bus might be fine but if you look at 1080 to 1440p the gap performance boost the 256bit has shows and even when you look 1440 to 4k you can see gap widen. Look at relative performance, where they use 6600xt has base line 100%. At 1080p the 3060ti is 12% faster, then at 1440p it increases to almost 20% gap, then 4k it grows to 36%.


----------



## Hargema (Aug 11, 2021)

This settles it, the 3060 is a better pick,
the wait was for nothing.


----------



## Chomiq (Aug 11, 2021)

Hargema said:


> This settles it, the 3060 is a better pick,
> the wait was for nothing.


Neither of those are better pick at anything.


----------



## Xuper (Aug 11, 2021)

5700 XT with higher numbers ( This Spec ) is still slower than 6600 XT with low number. Fascinating? some comments about 128 bit are stupid. on the paper AMD Card with hype number was slower than nvidia , example ? Radeon R9 290X vs Geforce GTX 970.


----------



## W1zzard (Aug 11, 2021)

mechtech said:


> ya the RX 580 8GB and 5500XT 8GB
> 
> I wish these cards were on the charts for comparison.


I have the data, but they are so much slower it really doesn't make sense to include them. I cut off the comparison list at 75% and 125%, or the charts will get insanely long


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## Shatun_Bear (Aug 11, 2021)

N3M3515 said:


> You think i don't know?, i'm comparing MSRP vs MSRP, apples to apples, if you want to go by street prices then wait a couple of weeks and let's compare street price vs street price, 3060Ti will win hands down.



What's going to happen in a couple weeks? I havent seen a 3060 Ti in stock since release all that time ago unless its for ridiculous prices then its gone again. Street price of both will remaim insane for a while.



Ravenas said:


> Not arguing the performance comment, but find me a MSRP 3060 ti.



Yeh he doesnt make any sense. You cant get any card for MSRP. What you get is a hugely inflated price, how insanely inflated is dependent on where you live. US slightly less worse than elsewhere.


----------



## Valantar (Aug 11, 2021)

arbiter said:


> Cause 1080p that 128bit bus might be fine but if you look at 1080 to 1440p the gap performance boost the 256bit has shows and even when you look 1440 to 4k you can see gap widen. Look at relative performance, where they use 6600xt has base line 100%. At 1080p the 3060ti is 12% faster, then at 1440p it increases to almost 20% gap, then 4k it grows to 36%.


But... those comparisons are meaningless. Utterly meaningless. The absolute performance isn't there for 2160p gaming with this card, so whether it lags there doesn't matter whatsoever. Not at all. Zero. And it's still faster than the 3060 at 1440p. This obviously means this GPU is worse value at 1440p than at 1080p - which is likely why AMD is marketing it as a high-end 1080p GPU. That's reasonable. Does it matter that the 3060 Ti is 36% faster at 2160p? Not whatsoever. Does it matter that it's faster at 1440p? A bit, sure, as it would be a better value proposition there if both were available at MSRP. Does it matter at 1080p? Nope.

You're working really hard to make an issue where none exists.


W1zzard said:


> I have the data, but they are so much slower it really doesn't make sense to include them. I cut off the comparison list at 75% and 125%, or the charts will get insanely long


Have you considered developing a benchmark data comparison engine like Anandtech's Bench? Of course this would no doubt be a major development (and data entry!) effort, but it would be an immensely useful tool for your readers.


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## W1zzard (Aug 11, 2021)

Valantar said:


> Have you considered developing a benchmark data comparison engine like Anandtech's Bench? Of course this would no doubt be a major development (and data entry!) effort, but it would be an immensely useful tool for your readers.


We have something similar (and much more complex) internally, to build the charts, but not ready to expose it to public, and not much time atm. Maybe a project for 2022


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## nguyen (Aug 11, 2021)

Valantar said:


> But... those comparisons are meaningless. Utterly meaningless. The absolute performance isn't there for 2160p gaming with this card, so whether it lags there doesn't matter whatsoever. Not at all. Zero. And it's still faster than the 3060 at 1440p. This obviously means this GPU is worse value at 1440p than at 1080p - which is likely why AMD is marketing it as a high-end 1080p GPU. That's reasonable. Does it matter that the 3060 Ti is 36% faster at 2160p? Not whatsoever. Does it matter that it's faster at 1440p? A bit, sure, as it would be a better value proposition there if both were available at MSRP. Does it matter at 1080p? Nope.
> 
> You're working really hard to make an issue where none exists.



6600XT is just a pointless GPU, no need to defend so hard. So many compromises for a 380usd GPU that it's funny.

1440p 60FPS gaming? Nope, not possible with new AAA games




1080p 60FPS gaming with RT? Nope
1080p high refresh gaming? Yeah sure like people can tell the difference between 120FPS and 140FPS without looking at the FPS counter, even the 5600XT is getting 100FPS average.


----------



## Jism (Aug 11, 2021)

> PCI-Express interface limited to x8



I mean, even on PCI-E 3.0 the thing is still 99% vs PCI-E 4.

Shoudnt cause any issues with this 1080p card.


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## Valantar (Aug 11, 2021)

nguyen said:


> 6600XT is just a pointless GPU, no need to defend so hard. So many compromises for a 380usd GPU that it's funny.
> 
> 1440p 60FPS gaming? Nope, not possible with new AAA games
> View attachment 212090
> ...


Well, sure, but at this point you're drawing mostly arbitrary lines just to do so. The 3060 and 3060 Ti are equally pointless by all of those metrics after all. IMO the fault lies in taking pricing into consideration at all. GPU pricing is insane, ergo _all_ GPUs are pointless and terrible value currently. Singling out one for that is arbitrary and weird. One has two choices: either accepting that GPU pricing is insane, or not accepting it. Either way the outcome is the same: the only way to afford a GPU is to be lucky _and_ have a lot of money. There is no winning in this situation.

As for that 1440p60 chart - sure, it fails to reach 60fps in a few games. But going from Ultra to High in those games would likely far exceed 60 with little to no perceptible drop in quality. The same would of course apply to equally powerful (or weak) competitors - but that's exactly as it should be. Everything at this performance level is a good 1440p60 GPU, though with some _extremely_ minor compormises. Which is perfectly fine for this tier of card - the main issue there is that this should be a $300 MSRP card, not a $380 one. But again, that's not something that can be meaningfully taken into consideration currently.

As for 1080p60 RT, it's behind the 3060, sure, but not meaningfully so. Neither are very playable in Control or Watch Dogs, and both are in Metro. The 3060 Ti is notably faster, but even that only manages 60fps in two out of three tested games (though the 55fps of the third title is also perfectly playable). But overall ... meh. Still fine, still mostly competitive, if a bit behind.

I'm not defeding the 6600 XT so much as I'm trying to bring some desperately needed nuance to this discussion. There are far too many black-and-white takes here.


----------



## nguyen (Aug 11, 2021)

Jism said:


> I mean, even on PCI-E 3.0 the thing is still 99% vs PCI-E 4.
> 
> Shoudnt cause any issues with this 1080p card.



Wait until there are games with MS DirectStorage, 8x PCIe lanes is gonna flunk hard. Games that rely on texture streaming heavily like Doom Eternal shows what is gonna happen with PCIe 8x.


----------



## W1zzard (Aug 11, 2021)

nguyen said:


> MS DirectStorage


The thought did cross my mind, but I wouldn't want to make comments without any data. 

DirectStorage will be optimized for PCIe 3.0 SSDs, so x4 3.0 at maximum, also taking into account lower end SSDs that don't even reach that speed. Data gets unpacked on the GPU, so only compressed data travels across the PCIe bus of the GPU. x4 3.0 == 4 GB/s, there's no way you even have enough assets to need that for more than a few seconds. If you're constantly swapping assets in and out at that rate then your engine is fundamentally flawed and it will stutter like no tomorrow on any hardware.

I'm not convinced that it will be a huge issue


----------



## Chrispy_ (Aug 11, 2021)

wolf said:


> Tell me that's sarcasm....


You have to ask? 
I can count using the toes on one hand the number of times Nvidia/Intel/AMD marketing slides have represented performance fairly and accurately.


----------



## RedelZaVedno (Aug 11, 2021)

AMD clearly doesn't care about DIY dGPU market all that much, 6600XT just proofs that. All AMD had to do, to win A LOT of good will from the PC gaming community, was to set MSRP at $279 and sell some FE variants through AMD website. They would have been praised by the tech media instead they opted for higher margins and GamersNexus' review summary: _"Midrange is dead"_...6600XT's MSRP is _"a joke and an insult"_.


----------



## nguyen (Aug 11, 2021)

W1zzard said:


> The thought did cross my mind, but I wouldn't want to make comments without any data.
> 
> DirectStorage will be optimized for PCIe 3.0 SSDs, so x4 3.0 at maximum, also taking into account lower end SSDs that don't even reach that speed. Data gets unpacked on the GPU, so only compressed data travels across the PCIe bus of the GPU. x4 3.0 == 4 GB/s, there's no way you even have enough assets to need that for more than a few seconds. If you're constantly swapping assets in and out at that rate then your engine is fundamentally flawed and it will stutter like no tomorrow on any hardware.
> 
> I'm not convinced that it will be a huge issue



Current MS Directstorage implementation is not between SSD and GPU though, it's between RAM and VRAM





DDR4-3600 bandwidth is ~ 50 000MB read/write, almost saturating PCIe 4.0 16x, so yeah...
And you did point out there is some stuttering with 6600XT in Doom Eternal, a game engine that is hailed as the most optimized out there


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## Mussels (Aug 11, 2021)

I feel so lost without the 1080/1080ti in the performance comparison


----------



## oxrufiioxo (Aug 11, 2021)

Mussels said:


> I feel so lost without the 1080/1080ti in the performance comparison



Just got to let go bruh.


----------



## Valantar (Aug 11, 2021)

Mussels said:


> I feel so lost without the 1080/1080ti in the performance comparison


I mean, it's just two generations old, so it's not an unreasonable expectation. Just because GPU generations these days last way longer than they used to (and contain a crapton of SKUs) doesn't invalidate the value of that as a reference point.


----------



## W1zzard (Aug 11, 2021)

nguyen said:


> Current MS Directstorage implementation is not between SSD and GPU though, it's between RAM and VRAM


But the amount of data stays constant along that path. Decompression happens in the GPU only, not the CPU.

The CPU really doesn't do anything with the data, Google: Direct Storage Bounce Buffer, to find the actual technical bits, so you don't have to rely on PCGamer


----------



## Valantar (Aug 11, 2021)

W1zzard said:


> But the amount of data stays constant along that path. Decompression happens in the GPU only, not the CPU.
> 
> The CPU really doesn't do anything with the data, Google: Direct Storage Bounce Buffer, to find the actual technical bits, so you don't have to rely on PCGamer


I guess they could technically pre-cache some compressed data in RAM, though that sounds contrary to the purpose of DirectStorage in the first place.


----------



## bug (Aug 11, 2021)

Valantar said:


> I guess they could technically pre-cache some compressed data in RAM, though that sounds contrary to the purpose of DirectStorage in the first place.


Unrelated, but as usual, till DirectStorage actually becomes relevant, current cards will be obsolete anyway.
PCIe x8 has been benchmarked time and again, it barely affects high end GPUs. This card has many issues, but PCIe lanes is not one of them.


----------



## wolf (Aug 11, 2021)

Mussels said:


> I feel so lost without the 1080/1080ti in the performance comparison


Would legitimately help me judge perf tbh.


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## nguyen (Aug 11, 2021)

W1zzard said:


> But the amount of data stays constant along that path. Decompression happens in the GPU only, not the CPU.
> 
> The CPU really doesn't do anything with the data, Google: Direct Storage Bounce Buffer, to find the actual technical bits, so you don't have to rely on PCGamer



Yeah I'm not sure about Nvidia own implementation of DirectStorage (RTX I/O API) is relevant to an AMD GPU, but who knows .
MS DirectStorage is not any different to now, just that the decompression is at the GPU and not the CPU, tweaktown source this time
Direct SSD to VRAM is being considered, but not included in the current DirectStorage API


----------



## ppn (Aug 11, 2021)

RedelZaVedno said:


> AMD clearly doesn't care about DIY dGPU market all that much, 6600XT just proofs that. All AMD had to do, to win A LOT of good will from the PC gaming community, was to set MSRP at $279 and sell some FE variants through AMD website. They would have been praised by the tech media instead they opted for higher margins and GamersNexus' review summary: _"Midrange is dead"_...6600XT's MSRP is _"a joke and an insult"_.



Well, in every foolproof system at some point the fools will exceed the proofs. But there will be the 6600 non XT at $299, that will deliver results almost as good. At least AMD is doing something right with the cache. 32MB fits perfectly the front and back buffer size for 1440p 32bit color at 28MB total. And It's a small beast, considering that with only 256MB/s it equals RTX 2080 448MB/s and 3060 360 MB/s. Now if they asked $199 for it that would be great, but scalpers won't allow it.


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## W1zzard (Aug 11, 2021)

ppn said:


> fits perfectly the front and back buffer size for 1440p 32bit color at 28MB total


The problem is the gazillion rendertargets that modern engines use


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## Anymal (Aug 11, 2021)

Mindfactory has plenty of 6600xt model from 379eur, nice.


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## W1zzard (Aug 11, 2021)

Anymal said:


> Mindfactory has plenty of 6600xt model from 379eur, nice.


I see nothing listed there? These aren't supposed to go live until 3 pm I think


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## Valantar (Aug 11, 2021)

The MSRP including VAT here in Sweden seems to be ~4100 SEK, and the cheapest models I can see (which are, for now, in decent stock in several stores) start around 4500. That's not _terrible_, but ... meh. The XFX QICK 308 seems to be the cheapest with wide availability.


----------



## Anymal (Aug 11, 2021)

W1zzard said:


> I see nothing listed there? These aren't supposed to go live until 3 pm I think





			https://www.mindfactory.de/Hardware/Grafikkarten+(VGA)/Radeon+RX+Serie/RX+6600+XT.html


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## Charcharo (Aug 11, 2021)

nguyen said:


> 6600XT is just a pointless GPU, no need to defend so hard. So many compromises for a 380usd GPU that it's funny.
> 
> 1440p 60FPS gaming? Nope, not possible with new AAA games
> View attachment 212090
> ...



Lower one setting and it is a 1440p 60+ fps gaming GPU. 
With that said - I dislike the 6600 XT. But the MSRP is meaningless either way and the Western World killed the 100 USD mid-range GPU (that people "miss" 250 USD mid-range GPUs actually annoys me, they themsleves upped the price several times already).


----------



## IceShroom (Aug 11, 2021)

RedelZaVedno said:


> AMD clearly doesn't care about DIY dGPU market all that much, 6600XT just proofs that. All AMD had to do, to win A LOT of good will from the PC gaming community, was to set MSRP at $279 and sell some FE variants through AMD website. They would have been praised by the tech media instead they opted for higher margins and GamersNexus' review summary: _"Midrange is dead"_...6600XT's MSRP is _"a joke and an insult"_.


Well AMD tried that with RX 480/580 and look how much market share they got. Answer is 0. People will not buy the RX 6600 XT even priced it at 200$. People bought 4GB 1650 Super over 8GB 5500XT which was only 20$-30$ more expensive. Tech media praise means nothing when you dont have money to invest in more engineer and to run a profitiable business. 

This days most tech media praises if you just give them $$$. Many of the time tech media is responsible for suggesting the bad product. In many places RX 6600 XT is cheaper then the slower RTX 3060, but the tech media still insisting it is worse buy.

Dont worry though if this trend continoues in future when AMD gets out of PC gaming market just pay 500$+ for basic display adapter. And if you thinks other will fill the market then you are only living in fools paradise, pc gamer only wants other Nvidia, so they will not buy other maker gpu, and without sale revenue other gpu maker will also get out of the baised pc gaming market.
And looks like Console and Macbooks are still AMD's profitable market then the pc gaming market.

If 128-bit bus is really problem, then why RX 6600 XT is still faster then the 192-bit RTX 3060 at both 1080p and 1440p????? Shouldn't it be slower.


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## newtekie1 (Aug 11, 2021)

Valantar said:


> At those prices every card is a turd.


Yeah, but this one is a bigger turd.


----------



## Chrispy_ (Aug 11, 2021)

Mussels said:


> I feel so lost without the 1080/1080ti in the performance comparison


That's easy - 

1080 = 2060
1080Ti = 2070 Super


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## Valantar (Aug 11, 2021)

newtekie1 said:


> Yeah, but this one is a bigger turd.


How so? It outperforms the 3060 equal to its MSRP increase, with the 3060 Ti providing slightly better value. The differences are _tiny_.


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## Operandi (Aug 11, 2021)

W1zzard said:


> I have the data, but they are so much slower it really doesn't make sense to include them. I cut off the comparison list at 75% and 125%, or the charts will get insanely long


Dosn't make sense to include them in all the graphs but I think it would be useful to have a page with a few benchmarks with older cards like that for people that keep systems for 4-5+ years (myself included) otherwise it gets super hard to keep track of where your card stands.


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## mechtech (Aug 11, 2021)

W1zzard said:


> I have the data, but they are so much slower it really doesn't make sense to include them. I cut off the comparison list at 75% and 125%, or the charts will get insanely long


Thanks.   Yes it makes it longer. However if the 1060 and 1660 are included then it’s good to have these 2 amd cards included for comparison.

thanks again.  It makes a big difference for all us 470/480/470/580 owners!!


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## 95Viper (Aug 11, 2021)

Stay/Get on topic and cut the crap.
Last word on it...
Take it to PMs.

Thank You and Enjoy the Day


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## london (Aug 11, 2021)

ok cutting. by by!


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## Chrispy_ (Aug 11, 2021)

RedelZaVedno said:


> AMD clearly doesn't care about DIY dGPU market all that much, 6600XT just proofs that. All AMD had to do, to win A LOT of good will from the PC gaming community, was to set MSRP at $279 and sell some FE variants through AMD website. They would have been praised by the tech media instead they opted for higher margins and GamersNexus' review summary: _"Midrange is dead"_...6600XT's MSRP is _"a joke and an insult"_.


The sky-high pricing of GPUs means that someone is going to get the money and AMD would prefer it was them instead of scalpers.

I expect heavy official price cuts to both Nvidia and AMD cards once Etherium completes the transition to Proof-of-stake (slated to be December this year, but that's not set in stone yet). Miners will be dumping hundreds of thousands of 6000-series and 3000-series cards onto the used market and a $380 6600XT isn't going to be attractive against a $300 used 3060Ti. Perhaps then you'll see your $279 MSRP on the 6600 and 3060 cards.

The last time ETH miners dumped all their stock onto the used market, AMD and Nvidia couldn't sell what they had in inventory. I was picking up dozens of RX570 8GB cards for £115 each to refurbish older workstations, little more than 50% of their original MSRP. That time it was compounded by delayed overproduction during the first mining boom. This time there was no such overproduction due to COVID-induced supply chain disruption that are still ongoing, so the effect of surplus inventory won't drive prices quite as low, but the used market will still be a far more attractive proposition to many people who would otherwise only touch new cards.


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## Dr. Dro (Aug 11, 2021)

Valantar said:


> How so? It outperforms the 3060 equal to its MSRP increase, with the 3060 Ti providing slightly better value. The differences are _tiny_.



This model is particularly expensive amongst the whole batch of already hilariously overpriced GPUs released today. It arrived in Brazil for about triple what I expected to pay for it; and about 10% less expensive than most RX 6700 XT models. That being said; *the Strix 6600 XT is more expensive than what the RTX 3080 launched for 11 months ago.* I've basically canceled my plans regarding this card, I guess i'll just have to skip this generation altogether, unless I find someone willing to part with their RX 6800 for an attractive price because they have to pay off some debt or whatever.

I also can't help but point out, budget products like the 6600 XT have one express purpose: to incorporate advances in technology and make them affordable. When you take the affordability out of the equation, reasons to own this product quickly begin to diminish, even within certain niches it could otherwise fulfill.


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## Akkedie (Aug 11, 2021)

People were crying their sad little hearts out about MSRP but I'm looking at real prices and a 6600 XT is still 30% cheaper than a 3060. Mining efficiency is also insane. This card is an absolute BANGER atm!  Get your order in while you can, this won't last.


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## neatfeatguy (Aug 11, 2021)

Folks, lots of MSRP 6600XT on the Newegg Shuffle.

Still got about 30 minutes to sign up there if you want a chance to get one. Who knows what prices will go up to after today.
Sorry, shuffle entry ended. Good luck to those that may have entered!


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## Operandi (Aug 11, 2021)

Dr. Dro said:


> This model is particularly expensive amongst the whole batch of already hilariously overpriced GPUs released today. It arrived in Brazil for about triple what I expected to pay for it; and about 10% less expensive than most RX 6700 XT models. That being said; *the Strix 6600 XT is more expensive than what the RTX 3080 launched for 11 months ago.* I've basically canceled my plans regarding this card, I guess i'll just have to skip this generation altogether, unless I find someone willing to part with their RX 6800 for an attractive price because they have to pay off some debt or whatever.
> 
> I also can't help but point out, budget products like the 6600 XT have one express purpose: to incorporate advances in technology and make them affordable. When you take the affordability out of the equation, reasons to own this product quickly begin to diminish, even within certain niches it could otherwise fulfill.


Yeah, this whole generation is broken thats for sure.  This is supposed to be a entry level enthusiast, mid-level ish card depending how you look at the specs and where it performs but no matter how you look at it though it does really well compared to competition which uses a bigger GPU and bus so AMD built a good GPU.  The problem is the market in general but AMD isn't helping themselves by setting the MSRP where they did.


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## Valantar (Aug 11, 2021)

Dr. Dro said:


> This model is particularly expensive amongst the whole batch of already hilariously overpriced GPUs released today. It arrived in Brazil for about triple what I expected to pay for it; and about 10% less expensive than most RX 6700 XT models. That being said; *the Strix 6600 XT is more expensive than what the RTX 3080 launched for 11 months ago.* I've basically canceled my plans regarding this card, I guess i'll just have to skip this generation altogether, unless I find someone willing to part with their RX 6800 for an attractive price because they have to pay off some debt or whatever.
> 
> I also can't help but point out, budget products like the 6600 XT have one express purpose: to incorporate advances in technology and make them affordable. When you take the affordability out of the equation, reasons to own this product quickly begin to diminish, even within certain niches it could otherwise fulfill.


The comment I was responding to was about 6600 XTs (in general) at MSRP, not this specific SKU from Asus (and most discussion here seems to be about the GPUs in general, which is logical given that this was TPU's day 1 review for the whole series), and not street pricing either. I entirely agree that the Asus is ridiculously overpriced - but the review itself points that out. $170 on top of an already way too high MSRP is unacceptable. But that also means your comment is arguing against something I have never said.


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## HTC (Aug 11, 2021)

Valantar said:


> The comment I was responding to was about 6600 XTs (in general) at MSRP, not this specific SKU from Asus (and most discussion here seems to be about the GPUs in general, which is logical given that this was TPU's day 1 review for the whole series), and not street pricing either. *I entirely agree that the Asus is ridiculously overpriced* - but the review itself points that out. $170 on top of an already way too high MSRP is unacceptable. But that also means your comment is arguing against something I have never said.



Don't be ridiculous:




ASUS is the EXACT SAME PRICE as all the rest ...


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## Valantar (Aug 11, 2021)

HTC said:


> Don't be ridiculous:
> 
> View attachment 212211
> 
> ASUS is the EXACT SAME PRICE as all the rest ...


Yeah, is there a difference? I can't see it


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## kruk (Aug 12, 2021)

Contrary to all the pricing misinformation in this thread, the 6600 XT is actually *100€ cheaper* in Germany than the RTX 3060. Gigabyte 6600 XT starts at 459,90€, while the cost of Palit RTX 3060 is way higher at 559€:






						rx 6600 Geizhals Deutschland
					

Preisvergleich und Testberichte für rx 6600




					geizhals.de
				








						rtx 3060 Geizhals Deutschland
					

Preisvergleich und Testberichte für rtx 3060




					geizhals.de
				




If you *desperately* need a card and the used market is dry, then 6600 XT would be the one to get. 3060 is way overpriced and slower.

Also, the availability seems great: https://www.hardwaretimes.com/amd-r...cross-most-global-markets-ample-availability/

Maybe the era of high prices is over and at the end of the year this card will go to 350€ and below?


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## big_glasses (Aug 12, 2021)

kruk said:


> Contrary to all the pricing misinformation in this thread, the 6600 XT is actually *100€ cheaper* in Germany than the RTX 3060. Gigabyte 6600 XT starts at 459,90€, while the cost of Palit RTX 3060 is way higher at 559€:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


it's same here in Norway.
The cheapest 6600 XT is 452€ and the cheapest 3060 (non-TI)  (in storage) seems to be 674€ with prices going up very quickly (to 900+ range) 
(For ref: these are with taxes on (25% I believe))


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## HTC (Aug 12, 2021)

big_glasses said:


> it's same here in Norway.
> The cheapest 6600 XT is 452€ and the cheapest 3060 (non-TI)  (in storage) seems to be 674€ with prices going up very quickly (to 900+ range)
> (For ref: these are with taxes on (25% I believe))



Roughly the same here in Portugal, judging by the store i posted that pic from, except the difference is slightly higher, with 134€. All prices in Portugal include taxes, always.

I'm not counting those out of stock: only those that have an expected delivery date.


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## bug (Aug 12, 2021)

big_glasses said:


> it's same here in Norway.
> The cheapest 6600 XT is 452€ and the cheapest 3060 (non-TI)  (in storage) seems to be 674€ with prices going up very quickly (to 900+ range)
> (For ref: these are with taxes on (25% I believe))


So... 6600XT is good (buy) because it's only bad (buy), not worse, like the competition. Does this sum it up?


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## neatfeatguy (Aug 12, 2021)

Here's something shitty.

My local Mirco Center has a Powercooler model of the 6600XT in stock, yesterday when I was checking prices online they had it priced at $389 and showed 25+ in stock.

I looked again today and they still show 25+ in stock, but the card is now priced at $439. Not even 24 hours has passed and the price already went up $50 on that particular model. WTF Micro Center.....WTF?


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## HTC (Aug 12, 2021)

neatfeatguy said:


> Here's something shitty.
> 
> My local Mirco Center has a Powercooler model of the 6600XT in stock, yesterday when I was checking prices online they had it priced at $389 and showed 25+ in stock.
> 
> I looked again today and they still show 25+ in stock, but *the card is now priced at $439. Not even 24 hours has passed and the price already went up $50 on that particular model.* WTF Micro Center.....WTF?



Just checked and the only one that had it's price raise from the pic i posted yesterday was the Pulse model from Sapphire: from 429.90€ to 448.90€, so a 19€ increase.


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## nguyen (Aug 12, 2021)

Well since the news that 6600XT being an efficient little miner came out after all.


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## Dr. Dro (Aug 12, 2021)

Valantar said:


> The comment I was responding to was about 6600 XTs (in general) at MSRP, not this specific SKU from Asus (and most discussion here seems to be about the GPUs in general, which is logical given that this was TPU's day 1 review for the whole series), and not street pricing either. I entirely agree that the Asus is ridiculously overpriced - but the review itself points that out. $170 on top of an already way too high MSRP is unacceptable. But that also means your comment is arguing against something I have never said.


I know. Apologies if it came out that way - I think I expressed myself about the point of budget hardware not being met, but it might have come off as secondary. Cheers mate! 



Operandi said:


> Yeah, this whole generation is broken thats for sure.  This is supposed to be a entry level enthusiast, mid-level ish card depending how you look at the specs and where it performs but no matter how you look at it though it does really well compared to competition which uses a bigger GPU and bus so AMD built a good GPU.  The problem is the market in general but AMD isn't helping themselves by setting the MSRP where they did.



I agree with you, man. It's fantastic processor for what it is, but end of the day, it's the argument I was making for budget GPUs such as this one: if everyone could have the latest and greatest with no regards to cost, everyone would have a 3090 or 6900 XT, the point of cards like the 6600 XT and an eventual RTX 3050 Ti with similar characteristics would be to bring these features and technological advancements to an affordable price point, in order to sate a market with lower purchasing power and/or a keen interest in a competing brand's progress and technology.


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## Valantar (Aug 12, 2021)

Dr. Dro said:


> I know. Apologies if it came out that way - I think I expressed myself about the point of budget hardware not being met, but it might have come off as secondary. Cheers mate!
> 
> 
> 
> I agree with you, man. It's fantastic processor for what it is, but end of the day, it's the argument I was making for budget GPUs such as this one: if everyone could have the latest and greatest with no regards to cost, everyone would have a 3090 or 6900 XT, the point of cards like the 6600 XT and an eventual RTX 3050 Ti with similar characteristics would be to bring these features and technological advancements to an affordable price point, in order to sate a market with lower purchasing power and/or a keen interest in a competing brand's progress and technology.


Yeah, completely agree on everything here. Some price creep is expected - inflation makes every price point be worth less over time after all - but this is just not a $380 GPU in a sane world, and the 60/600 tier really ought to be exactly what you describe - where high end tech gets mass market pricing. And mass market pricing is still in the $200-300 range. This would have been a fantastic $280-300 GPU, with the non-XT slotting in at $200-220. Instead, it's now at what was the crossover point of upper midrange and high end just a couple of generations back. At best, it's upper midrange, though it's pushing it for that categorization. $20 down from the previous gen top end GPU is hardly impressive, especially when that GPU was a full product tier higher up in naming. I _really_ hope that MSRPs will drop when the chip crunch and mining eventually taper out, but I still fear that these inflated prices are here to stay - GPU makers _love_ those high average sales prices, after all. It makes shareholders happy, and whatever does that tends to be the opposite of that makes customers happy.

In my dream world, this drops to $280-300, the 6600 arrives at/drops to $200-220, and the 6500XT arrives at 75W (no power cable, HHHL designs likely) for ~$150 with 20-24 CUs and the same memory/IC config. But I don't think that's a particularly realistic dream, sadly.


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## Selaya (Aug 12, 2021)

Valantar said:


> [ ... ] the 6500XT arrives at 75W (no power cable, HHHL designs likely) [ ... ]


Seriously, can we throw out the 1650 already ...


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## Valantar (Aug 12, 2021)

Selaya said:


> Seriously, can we throw out the 1650 already ...


Oh I would so love that. It was underwhelming when it launched, and that there are still no better options is just depressing.


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## HenrySomeone (Aug 12, 2021)

newtekie1 said:


> Ouch, worse than a 3060Ti for the same money. No wonder AMD is trying to keep the reviews from coming out.  Man, can you just image the backlash if nVidia was telling reviewers they can only release nVidia sanctioned reviews?  The torches and pitchforks would be sold out just like graphics cards.


Yup, AMD in its finest form at it again...but then they aren't really going for any sales numbers anyway (as all the recent market penetration surveys show). It just needs to exist (in theory) and the couple actual specimens will be frantically grabbed by fanboys anyway...


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## Zubasa (Aug 13, 2021)

neatfeatguy said:


> Here's something shitty.
> 
> My local Mirco Center has a Powercooler model of the 6600XT in stock, yesterday when I was checking prices online they had it priced at $389 and showed 25+ in stock.
> 
> I looked again today and they still show 25+ in stock, but the card is now priced at $439. Not even 24 hours has passed and the price already went up $50 on that particular model. WTF Micro Center.....WTF?


As if AMD did their market research and knew what they cold get away with.


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## Valantar (Aug 13, 2021)

Zubasa said:


> As if AMD did their market research and knew what they cold get away with.


Uh... How likely would you say it is that AMD is directly adjusting pricing at an individual retailer level? I'd say chances of that are zero.


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## B-Real (Jan 12, 2022)

newtekie1 said:


> Ouch, worse than a 3060Ti for the same money. No wonder AMD is trying to keep the reviews from coming out.  Man, can you just image the backlash if nVidia was telling reviewers they can only release nVidia sanctioned reviews?  The torches and pitchforks would be sold out just like graphics cards.



On paper: $380 vs $400. So there is a 5% difference in price.

In real life: 682 EUR for a 6600 XT Strix (the cheapest 6600 XT at Caseking) vs. 967 EUR for a 3060 Ti (Zotac Twin Edge, which has a much cheaper cooler compared to the Strix). So from a 5% difference you get a 41% difference in price (and I didn't even consider the price difference between the models - Strix 3060 Ti is 1016 EUR). And you will never see launch prices maybe at least for the next generation.

Performance difference is 23%. So that sits nearly in the mid between that 5 and 41% price difference. But, as I said, in reality, you can only buy 3060 Ti cards starting at around 1000 $/EUR, while you can buy 6600 XTs from around 700 $/EUR.


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