# PowerColor Radeon RX 6800 XT Red Devil



## W1zzard (Nov 25, 2020)

PowerColor's Radeon RX 6800 XT Red Devil is a limited edition, just 1000 cards will be made. We were impressed by its noise levels and temperatures, which are better than the AMD reference. The card also comes with an increased power limit and a dual-BIOS feature.

*Show full review*


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## Chomiq (Nov 25, 2020)

@W1zzard any ETA on Red Dragon review?


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## W1zzard (Nov 25, 2020)

Chomiq said:


> @W1zzard any ETA on Red Dragon review?


Card is here, will finish ASUS STRIX LC review, then work on Red Dragon, unless that XFX arrives first


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## Mussels (Nov 25, 2020)

"test setup" shows images of an nvidia card, btw. Wanted to see what it looked like installed dangit.


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## Sandbo (Nov 25, 2020)

Just as everyone was fuming Sapphire for being 770$, now Powercolor is asking for $800.


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## Mussels (Nov 25, 2020)

This card is listed at $1300 Au, about the same as the cheapest 3080s.

No stock on launch.... jesus... only one retailer has even listed an AIB 6800 XT card, and this is it. One listing, no stock.


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## Chomiq (Nov 25, 2020)

Mussels said:


> This card is listed at $1300 Au, about the same as the cheapest 3080s.
> 
> No stock on launch.... jesus... only one retailer has even listed an AIB 6800 XT card, and this is it. One listing, no stock.


Where's that guy that said that AIB's 6800's will be widely available on launch?


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## Nater (Nov 25, 2020)

They sent a card that they're only making 1000 pieces of, and you wasted your time reviewing it?  I would have told them to piss off.

What's the point?  What percentage of buyers is your review going to influence?


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## Calmmo (Nov 25, 2020)

Chomiq said:


> Where's that guy that said that AIB's 6800's will be widely available on launch?


@ AMD HQ


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## Makaveli (Nov 25, 2020)

W1zzard said:


> Card is here, will finish ASUS STRIX LC review,



This is the review i'm waiting for.

Curious to see what you think of the cables also looks like it may be messy.


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## Count Shagula (Nov 25, 2020)

Mussels said:


> This card is listed at $1300 Au, about the same as the cheapest 3080s.
> 
> No stock on launch.... jesus... only one retailer has even listed an AIB 6800 XT card, and this is it. One listing, no stock.



PLE and PCCG both had 'stock available' momentarily. Pricing is a bit eh compared to the PLE EVGA 3080 but the wait list on that is probably till around the time the Playstation 6 launches


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## Chomiq (Nov 25, 2020)

Makaveli said:


> This is the review i'm waiting for.
> 
> Curious to see what you think of the cables also looks like it may be messy.


Hmm...







Retail product shots.


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## Makaveli (Nov 25, 2020)

That looks much cleaner.


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## Chomiq (Nov 25, 2020)

Makaveli said:


> That looks much cleaner.


It does but those fans need to be plugged in somewhere. It might be that retail shots were touched up.


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## Makaveli (Nov 25, 2020)

Chomiq said:


> It does but those fans need to be plugged in somewhere. It might be that retail shots were touched up.



I think you are right.

I hope it stays clean because i'm looking at this over the air cool models, I don't want to use up 3 slots for a gpu.


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## Sparksx (Nov 25, 2020)

Sandbo said:


> Just as everyone was fuming Sapphire for being 770$, now Powercolor is asking for $800.



$770 and $800 is a hard sell, considering nvidia, and how good the reference design of the 6800 xt is already. Such a shame.


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## Ja.KooLit (Nov 25, 2020)

what the heck is powercolor thinking. only 1000 pcs worldwide? And thats the reason why price is 800? Because of its limited edition? And more than 20 or perhaps 50 was sent for review worldwide?

Anyway, with that asking price, i think id rather get reference or even a 3080


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## Xzibit (Nov 25, 2020)

der8auer got his to 2700mhz with 55% fan speed


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## Warsaw (Nov 25, 2020)

These AIB price increases are a joke. I could see maybe $50 above MSRP of the stock card but when cards are slowing up to $230 above MSRP that is just ridiculous. Screw them on that


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## mechtech (Nov 25, 2020)

Warsaw said:


> These AIB price increases are a joke. I could see maybe $50 above MSRP of the stock card but when cards are slowing up to $230 above MSRP that is just ridiculous. Screw them on that



Who knows, maybe it's to get the profit 'margins' they want?


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## kiddagoat (Nov 25, 2020)

Looking at the prices of these..... that ASUS LC looks to be about $200-$250 over MSRP..... I was looking at an AIO instead of  a custom loop...  Looking at the prices of ASUS LC and EVGA Hybrid.... I might be better served getting the custom loop.....  granted its been 10 years since I have done one, it has probably gotten easier yeah?


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## Makaveli (Nov 25, 2020)

kiddagoat said:


> Looking at the prices of these..... that ASUS LC looks to be about $200-$250 over MSRP..... I was looking at an AIO instead of  a custom loop...  Looking at the prices of ASUS LC and EVGA Hybrid.... I might be better served getting the custom loop.....  granted its been 10 years since I have done one, it has probably gotten easier yeah?



The other option i'm looking at is reference card + Alpha Cool Eiswolf 2 AIO for 6800 series.

But the combined cost may not be much lower than the ASUS LC.


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## W1zzard (Nov 25, 2020)

kiddagoat said:


> Looking at the prices of these..... that ASUS LC looks to be about $200-$250 over MSRP


It's listed for 1063 € at Caseking, including 16% german tax


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## Deleted member 193596 (Nov 25, 2020)

So...
it consumes (when overclocked) more power than a 3090, is slower than a 3080, has even worse performance in 4K, has less Raytracing Performance than a 3070, runs hot as hell and costs more than a 3080?

Plus it is from AMD that means fundamentally broken drivers for atleast a full year. (already has issues in early tests like getting stuck in 2D Mode)

i'd love to have one just because it is a high end AMD GPU... but there is no point in even considering one. (except it costs 150 bucks less than a 3080)


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## Makaveli (Nov 25, 2020)

WarTherapy1195 said:


> So...
> it consumes more power than a 3090 (when overclocked), is slower than a 3080, has even worse performance in 4K, has less Raytracing Performance than a 3070, runs hot as hell and costs more than a 3080?



How much power does the 3090 consume when overclocked?


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## Deleted member 193596 (Nov 25, 2020)

Makaveli said:


> How much power does the 3090 consume when overclocked?


i talk about the 6800xt when i say "When Overclocked".


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## Makaveli (Nov 25, 2020)

WarTherapy1195 said:


> i talk about the 6800xt when i say "When Overclocked".


i'm aware of what you meant however I want you to show me that an overclocked 6800XT consumes more than an overclocked 3090. All of the reviews don't show this.

Unless of course you are comparing an overclocked 6800XT to stock 3090 ?


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## sweet (Nov 25, 2020)

WarTherapy1195 said:


> So...
> it consumes (when overclocked) more power than a 3090, is slower than a 3080, has even worse performance in 4K, has less Raytracing Performance than a 3070, runs hot as hell and costs more than a 3080?
> 
> Plus it is from AMD that means fundamentally broken drivers for atleast a full year. (already has issues in early tests like getting stuck in 2D Mode)
> ...


Mother of cherry picking. Your comparison has more flaws than apple-to-orange.

Yes it can consume more than 3090 when overclocked, but it can even pull ahead of 3090 in such cases.

At stock it is a tiny bit slower than 3080, but also at stock it consumes less power than the nVidia counterpart.

You are right about RTX performance, but it is not a deal breaker for many people here. Meanwhile, $150 does be significant enough though.


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## KrazedOmega (Nov 25, 2020)

Why the hell are they limiting this to 1k units? 

I was looking forward to this card but now with the limited supply and the probable price, I'm out.


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## Badelhas (Nov 25, 2020)

kiddagoat said:


> Looking at the prices of these..... that ASUS LC looks to be about $200-$250 over MSRP..... I was looking at an AIO instead of  a custom loop...  Looking at the prices of ASUS LC and EVGA Hybrid.... I might be better served getting the custom loop.....  granted its been 10 years since I have done one, it has probably gotten easier yeah?


I would love to do a custom loop to my PC to make it quiet but apart of being expensive it looks super difficult. I would love to have a someone who could do it for me... Or with me. But I don't know anyone who has done it, to be honest.


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## Makaveli (Nov 25, 2020)

Badelhas said:


> I would love to do a custom loop to my PC to make it quiet but apart of being expensive it looks super difficult. I would love to have a someone who could do it for me... Or with me. But I don't know anyone who has done it, to be honest.



Having someone do it for you means taking it to them for yearly maintenance.

From what I'm been told a custom loop should be drained like every 6 months.

It would be better to have someone teach you for the long run. You would be better served learning it.


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## Lionheart (Nov 26, 2020)

WarTherapy1195 said:


> So...
> it consumes (when overclocked) more power than a 3090, is slower than a 3080, has even worse performance in 4K, has less Raytracing Performance than a 3070, runs hot as hell and costs more than a 3080?
> 
> Plus it is from AMD that means fundamentally broken drivers for atleast a full year. (already has issues in early tests like getting stuck in 2D Mode)
> ...



Yeah keep crying Nvidia fanboy


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## outpt (Nov 26, 2020)

Holy Cow Bat Wizzard can’t buy a amd card why bench one? By the time you can purchase you will have to redo your article.


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## looks (Nov 26, 2020)

Lionheart said:


> Yeah keep crying Nvidia fanboy



sorry but i don't think they are the ones crying.


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## Mussels (Nov 26, 2020)

Count Shagula said:


> PLE and PCCG both had 'stock available' momentarily. Pricing is a bit eh compared to the PLE EVGA 3080 but the wait list on that is probably till around the time the Playstation 6 launches


i was smashing refresh, never saw any indication of stock


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## ratirt (Nov 26, 2020)

Where does it say what the power consumption is for this card while OC? I must say the AIB cards for the 6800 series are awesome. The OC potential is very good.
The price for this in my area is $73 higher than the nitro+/ Damn PowerColor. Not to mention the prices for this listed are just of the charts. $1245 for PowerColor Red Devil and $1172 for the Sapphire Nitro+ HOLY CRAP :O. And of course stock availability date - unknown


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## W1zzard (Nov 26, 2020)

ratirt said:


> Where does it say what the power consumption is for this card while OC?


I don't test this. But considering that temps are like 1°C higher, it can't be much more power


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## lukart (Nov 26, 2020)

Xzibit said:


> der8auer got his to 2700mhz with 55% fan speed



Damn thats a beast of a card indeed! Would be crazy if we see 3Ghz on LN2...


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## ratirt (Nov 26, 2020)

W1zzard said:


> I don't test this. But considering that temps are like 1°C higher, it can't be much more power


That's what I got out of this but wanted to ask. I'm sure there will be reviews checking this so I will have my answer.
I got a 750W PSU and just wanted to know what should I expect when I OC one of these and if my PSU can handle it without a sweat. That is, if I get one of these for a reasonable price.
The chances are slim to non at this point.


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## W1zzard (Nov 26, 2020)

ratirt said:


> and if my PSU can handle it without a sweat.


yes, won't be a problem


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## altermere (Nov 27, 2020)

the AMD fleecing has officially begun, first Zen, now this. by the looks of it most gamers would have to either get a pricey prebuilt or settle for last gen parts. gone are the glory days of "cheap" and plentiful 1080ti's and 8700k's. hell, even 1440p is becoming a premium resolution again, and 4K is still a pipe dream.


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## BLu3HaZe (Nov 27, 2020)

Nater said:


> They sent a card that they're only making 1000 pieces of, and you wasted your time reviewing it?  I would have told them to piss off.
> 
> What's the point?  What percentage of buyers is your review going to influence?





KrazedOmega said:


> Why the hell are they limiting this to 1k units?
> 
> I was looking forward to this card but now with the limited supply and the probable price, I'm out.


Red Devil is not limited to 1000 units, the Red Devil *Limited Edition* will only have 1K units worldwide. Difference to the retail card being aluminium keycaps included in the box, a Type C port which the retail card replaces with a standard DP port and _possibly_ (probably) binned GPU dies allowing higher clocks at lower voltages. Retail card should be very similar to the Nitro+ in clocks, OC and power draw, except maybe run a bit cooler given the massive cooler on the PowerColor card compared to the Sapphire.

Honestly, the price increase on AIB cards is way too much and reference design is so good it doesn't make sense getting any other card above $675. Similar to the FE model for Nvidia this time, but I believe that will be much more limited than AMD reference models.


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## KrazedOmega (Nov 27, 2020)

BLu3HaZe said:


> Red Devil is not limited to 1000 units, the Red Devil *Limited Edition* will only have 1K units worldwide. Difference to the retail card being aluminium keycaps included in the box, a Type C port which the retail card replaces with a standard DP port and _possibly_ (probably) binned GPU dies allowing higher clocks at lower voltages. Retail card should be very similar to the Nitro+ in clocks, OC and power draw, except maybe run a bit cooler given the massive cooler on the PowerColor card compared to the Sapphire.



Fair enough. 

This review should probably be updated to state that this is an additional SKU and not the normal version of the card.


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## W1zzard (Nov 27, 2020)

BLu3HaZe said:


> Red Devil is not limited to 1000 units, the Red Devil *Limited Edition* will only have 1K units worldwide. Difference to the retail card being aluminium keycaps included in the box, a Type C port which the retail card replaces with a standard DP port and _possibly_ (probably) binned GPU dies allowing higher clocks at lower voltages. Retail card should be very similar to the Nitro+ in clocks, OC and power draw, except maybe run a bit cooler given the massive cooler on the PowerColor card compared to the Sapphire.





KrazedOmega said:


> This review should probably be updated to state that this is an additional SKU and not the normal version of the card.


I added a sentence about that to the intro, but I doubt they even have 1000 ASICs to make the Limited Edition, maybe next year.


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## BLu3HaZe (Nov 27, 2020)

W1zzard said:


> I added a sentence about that to the intro, but I doubt they even have 1000 ASICs to make the Limited Edition, maybe next year.



Red Devil 6800 XT Limited Edition part number is AXRX 6800XT 16GBD6-*2DHCE*/OC (Link)

Retail (Standard) Red Devil 6800 XT is AXRX 6800XT 16GBD6-*3DHE*/OC (Link)







Somewhat disingenuous on the part of PowerColor to not provide these details to reviewers and only send Limited Edition SKUs, especially because of the difference in port configuration. While I don't care for USB C personally, owners of VR headsets might.

Agreed on the apparent lack of availability of Navi 21 GPUs, because AMD only AIBs like TUL and Sapphire would have been dying to get as many cards as possible to cover the graphics card vacuum. While the market where I am currently based is extremely small, we did get _some_ Nvidia cards at launch but none for AMD, which seems to be the case worldwide.


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## W1zzard (Nov 27, 2020)

BLu3HaZe said:


> While the market where I am currently based is extremely small, we did get _some_ Nvidia cards at launch but none for AMD, which seems to be the case worldwide.


Yeah it looks like there we no custom design cards at all available for sale, no matter the mfgr. I know of one AIB who expects shipments to arrive at stores next week, but no comment about volume


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## owen10578 (Nov 29, 2020)

Just thought about this, but maybe comparing different GPU coolers for the cooler comparison chart isn't right. The AMD has a higher heat density than Nvidia GPUs so it will naturally look like Nvidia's cards' coolers cool better since they run cooler at the same wattage by the lower heat density.


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## HenrySomeone (Dec 1, 2020)

WarTherapy1195 said:


> So...
> it consumes (when overclocked) more power than a 3090, is slower than a 3080, has even worse performance in 4K, has less Raytracing Performance than a 3070, runs hot as hell and costs more than a 3080?
> 
> Plus it is from AMD that means fundamentally broken drivers for atleast a full year. (already has issues in early tests like getting stuck in 2D Mode)
> ...


Yup, sounds about right; slightly better card on paper, but in reality more ram will never prove beneficial as in 4k where that might eventually happen (although even that is highly unlikely), they are already doing the worst compared to 3080, power consumption of those cards that come close to the level of the latter is also surprisingly similar and perhaps most importantly, if Nvidia's was a paper launch then this is vaporware as you simply can't get them end even when you will, they'll actually be more expensive for months at the minimum. Hard pass for anyone with more than two brain cells still functioning if you ask me...


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## W1zzard (Dec 1, 2020)

owen10578 said:


> Just thought about this, but maybe comparing different GPU coolers for the cooler comparison chart isn't right. The AMD has a higher heat density than Nvidia GPUs so it will naturally look like Nvidia's cards' coolers cool better since they run cooler at the same wattage by the lower heat density.


How does heat density matter if both cards emit 200 W for example? The cooler has to dissipate 200 W in both cases


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## owen10578 (Dec 1, 2020)

W1zzard said:


> How does heat density matter if both cards emit 200 W for example? The cooler has to dissipate 200 W in both cases



It matters, if a processor outputs say the same 200W and uses the same cooler but one is smaller and the other is larger in area. The smaller area one will be harder to cool and therefore run hotter than the larger area one. This is why CPUs which are usually smaller than GPUs in die size are harder to cool with lower TDPs than GPUs even when delidded and direct die cooling negating the impact of an IHS being used.


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## W1zzard (Dec 1, 2020)

owen10578 said:


> It matters, if a processor outputs say the same 200W and uses the same cooler but one is smaller and the other is larger in area. The smaller area one will be harder to cool and therefore run hotter than the larger area one. This is why CPUs which are usually smaller than GPUs in die size are harder to cool with lower TDPs than GPUs even when delidded and direct die cooling negating the impact of an IHS being used.


You are right, any ideas how to determine how big this effect is?


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## EsaT (Dec 1, 2020)

owen10578 said:


> It matters, if a processor outputs say the same 200W and uses the same cooler but one is smaller and the other is larger in area. The smaller area one will be harder to cool and therefore run hotter than the larger area one. This is why CPUs which are usually smaller than GPUs in die size are harder to cool with lower TDPs than GPUs even when delidded and direct die cooling negating the impact of an IHS being used.


Also distribution of heat output inside that "raw" size of of silicon die has effect.
In case of CPUs big part of the problem is that actual cores/execution units are getting constantly smaller with shrinking transistor size.


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## HenrySomeone (Dec 1, 2020)

owen10578 said:


> Just thought about this, but maybe comparing different GPU coolers for the cooler comparison chart isn't right. The AMD has a higher heat density than Nvidia GPUs so it will naturally look like Nvidia's cards' coolers cool better since they run cooler at the same wattage by the lower heat density.


That's just not true for the current gen cards;
6800XT: 280W / 520mm2 = 0.538 W/mm2 
6800: 225W / 520mm2 = 0.433 W/mm2 
3090: 365W / 628mm2  = 0.581 W/mm2 
3080: 340W / 628mm2  = 0.541 W/mm2 
3070: 235W / 393mm2  = 0.598 W/mm2 
3060Ti: 200W / 393mm2  = 0.509 W/mm2 

It's clear that of all the current gen cards the only pair where AMD has a higher heat density is 6800XT vs 3060Ti, in all other cases, Nvidias are above.


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## Mussels (Dec 1, 2020)

W1zzard said:


> How does heat density matter if both cards emit 200 W for example? The cooler has to dissipate 200 W in both cases



my 5800x says "by not sending the heat to the cooler, no matter how awesome the cooler is"

200W over twice the physical area is heaps easier to cool... but in the case of my CPU, they simply designed it to work within the higher operating temperatures.


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## owen10578 (Dec 4, 2020)

HenrySomeone said:


> That's just not true for the current gen cards;
> 6800XT: 280W / 520mm2 = 0.538 W/mm2
> 6800: 225W / 520mm2 = 0.433 W/mm2
> 3090: 365W / 628mm2  = 0.581 W/mm2
> ...



Yes but W1zzard was testing all at the same wattage so the heat density will vary per different die size and again any small difference will make the results kinda useless in isolating just cooler performance. 



W1zzard said:


> You are right, any ideas how to determine how big this effect is?



Don't get me wrong I think its still an interesting data point for the review. I'm not sure how to compensate for that but I think just calculating the heat density and showing a disclaimer to readers about that fact would be good.


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## Night (Dec 23, 2020)

Listed in Links for as little as 980€, "it's a steal", also rightfully labeled as 'Limited Edition'.


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## RichF (Feb 4, 2021)

BLu3HaZe said:


> Red Devil 6800 XT Limited Edition part number is AXRX 6800XT 16GBD6-*2DHCE*/OC (Link)
> 
> Retail (Standard) Red Devil 6800 XT is AXRX 6800XT 16GBD6-*3DHE*/OC (Link)
> 
> Somewhat disingenuous on the part of PowerColor to not provide these details to reviewers and only send Limited Edition SKUs, especially because of the difference in port configuration. While I don't care for USB C personally, owners of VR headsets might.


Micro Center near Cleveland has these in stock at the moment but the part number listed is OC/AXRX6800XT16. The price is $1100, which appears to be a bargain when compared with the $1400 and up pricing I've been seeing on 6800 XTs. And, of course, $2200 MSI 3090s.

I wonder if the cooler is the same quality? The low noise does seem to be a nice thing.


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## Mussels (Feb 4, 2021)

These came in stock near me yesterday

Sold out in 45 seconds, so i can only assume there was very little stock and bots got in.


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## notaburner (Oct 23, 2022)

Just picked one of these up (not the limited edition) with gpu prices cratering, though the performance is spot on to this review, I'm getting quite a bit of coil whine. Wondering if this is a trend with this card or if I'm an outlier and if there is a chance that an RMA would result in a card with better "acoustic" performance.


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## Mussels (Oct 24, 2022)

notaburner said:


> Just picked one of these up (not the limited edition) with gpu prices cratering, though the performance is spot on to this review, I'm getting quite a bit of coil whine. Wondering if this is a trend with this card or if I'm an outlier and if there is a chance that an RMA would result in a card with better "acoustic" performance.


Most likely an issue with your PSU

And before you say "but my PSU is great" - yeah we know. but these new cards can spike power requirements way higher than anything ever used to.


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## notaburner (Oct 24, 2022)

Mussels said:


> Most likely an issue with your PSU
> 
> And before you say "but my PSU is great" - yeah we know. but these new cards can spike power requirements way higher than anything ever used to.



Thanks for your reply! 

I'm running a EVGA Supernova G5 750w which I know is a pretty average PSU so I'll look into upgrading it to something more suitable. I appreciate the response on this old thread.


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## Mussels (Oct 25, 2022)

I had an 750W corsair platinum that was fantastic for several years, but with a 3080 it had *insane* coil whine
Moved to a 3090 after an RMA and it got better despite higher power draw but got worse and worse over the following year until i upgraded to a fractal unit (860W)


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## notaburner (Oct 25, 2022)

Mussels said:


> I had an 750W corsair platinum that was fantastic for several years, but with a 3080 it had *insane* coil whine
> Moved to a 3090 after an RMA and it got better despite higher power draw but got worse and worse over the following year until i upgraded to a fractal unit (860W)


I ended up picking up a Corsair HX1200 so hopefully that does the trick. It's absolute overkill but at least I can tick the PSU off the troubleshooting checklist, plus no worries about upgrading on the graphics front in the future. After a decade of GPUs, my previous card (EVGA 2060 XC Ultra) was the first one I ever encountered with coil whine so after getting this new card I thought I just had back luck twice in a row. Here's hoping that isn't the case.


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