AMD is not only doing marketing slides and pulling the VRAM card against NVIDIA ahead of the GeForce RTX 4070 launch, but it is also apparently doing some discounts on its Radeon RX 6000 series graphics cards, with the Radeon RX 6800 now selling for as low $469.99. As spotted by Tom's Hardware, both the Radeon RX 6800 XT and the Radeon RX 6800 has seen some discounts from various AIB partners earlier, ranging from $30 to $50, and are now selling at $110 below MSRP, making them a decent buy at $539 and $469. To make things even more interesting, these are pretty good custom versions, including the ASRock Radeon RX 6800 XT Phantom Gaming and the Gigabyte Radeon RX 6800 Gaming OC WindForce 3X graphics cards.

Yesterday, the AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT, which was the RDNA 2 flagship, was spotted discounted down to $609.99 by Kyle Bennet, and it was the Phantom Gaming Radeon RX 6950XT from ASRock. The deal is still available over at Newegg.com, and it is the lowest price for the Radeon RX 6950 XT, which is still a great card. The newly launched NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is still widely available and there are plenty of SKUs to choose from at the MSRP of $599.99.

GIGABYTE gave its previous-generation Radeon RX 6000 graphics card series an unexpected revision even as the new RX 7000 series is out. The company released the Radeon RX 6800 XT Gaming OC Pro, a new graphics card model in the company's main GIGABYTE Gaming brand, positioned a notch below the AORUS Gaming series. The new Gaming OC Pro features a significantly larger cooler than the original RX 6800 XT Gaming OC, measuring at least 33 cm in length, up from roughly 29 cm for the original RX 6800 XT Gaming OC. It's also significantly taller, by at least 1.5 cm.

It turns out that GIGABYTE is sitting on plenty of cooling solutions it originally ordered from its suppliers for the Radeon RX 6950 XT Gaming OC, and is now reusing them for other SKUs based on the same "Navi 21" GPU, such as the RX 6800 XT. The company is also reusing the same PCB. Selling for around $550-650, the RX 6800 XT remains a formidable 1440p gaming graphics card for classic raster 3D graphics, although its ray tracing performance is closer to those of mid-range GeForce RTX 30-series models, such as the RTX 3060 Ti. A reuse of the RX 6950 XT board design means that the new RX 6800 XT Gaming OC Pro has three 8-pin power inputs instead of two on the original RX 6800 XT Gaming OC.

AMD updated its game bundle campaign for Radeon graphics cards to include "The Last of Us Part 1." The new bundle went live as the previous one for "The Callisto Protocol" and "Dead Island 2" ended on February 4. The new bundle includes the latest RX 7000 series graphics cards in its list of eligible products. Starting February 5, new purchases of AMD Radeon graphics cards or prebuilt gaming desktops with them, in select markets and through participating retailers, will be eligible to a free copy of "The Last of Us Part 1." Eligible graphics cards include Radeon RX 7900 XTX, RX 7900 XT, RX 6950 XT, RX 6900 XT, RX 6800 XT, RX 6800, RX 6750 XT, RX 6700 XT, RX 6700, RX 6650 XT, RX 6600 XT, RX 6600, RX 6500 XT, and RX 6400, so the full stack of desktop AMD Radeon RX 6000 series and RX 7000 series products, are eligible.

In a bid to clear inventory of its Radeon RX 6000 series RDNA2 graphics cards in the lead up to its next-generation, AMD is bundling two of the latest AAA game titles. Besides this, the company has significantly lowered prices of its RX 6000 series over several months now. The company is bundling "Dead island 2," and "The Callisto Protocol" with new purchases of Radeon RX 6000 graphics cards.

New purchases of the Radeon RX 6600, RX 6600 XT, RX 6650 XT, RX 6700, RX 6700 XT, RX 6750 XT, RX 6800, RX 6800 XT, RX 6900 XT, and RX 6950 XT, will receive both games. New purchases of the RX 6500 XT and RX 6400 will receive just "Dead Island 2." The bundle is only available in select markets, and through participating retailers. Find where you can grab it, from the source link below.

AMD today released the Adrenalin 22.9.2 drivers. These drivers add support for the Radeon Graphics iGPU of the new Ryzen 7000 desktop processors that go on sale today. Game optimization is added for "Grounded." A handful of issues have been identified with the release. Radeon Super Resolution failing to trigger after changing resolution in games such as Nioh 2, has been identified. Improper rendering of Oculus dashboard menus with RX 6000-series graphics cards has been identified. GPU utilization being stuck at 100% in Performance Metrics after closing games in some cards such as the RX 570, has been identified. Display briefly showing corruption when switching between video and games in some GPUs such as the RX 6700 XT, has been identified. Vertical Refresh Sync being set to "off" globally causing stuttering or driver timeouts, has been identified. Dropped frames in video playback have been identified.

DOWNLOAD: AMD Software Adreanlin 22.9.2 beta

AMD has come up with new MSRPs for its Radeon RX 6000 series RDNA2 graphics cards, in a bid to better compete against NVIDIA's RTX 30-series high-end cards, as the product lifecycles of both companies draw to a close. The new price list was finalized on September 15, and is beginning to take effect in popular online retailers. The latest prices see the top Radeon RX 6950 XT at $949, and the RX 6900 XT $699. The latter offers better value, as it's within 5% of the RX 6950 XT, while being $250 cheaper. The RX 6800 XT drops to $599, which makes it $100 cheaper still than the RX 6900 XT, while being within 5% relative performance. If you can find an RX 6800 (non-XT), its MSRP is set at $549.

MSRP cuts also take effect on performance-segment and mid-range SKUs. The RX 6750 XT is now a $419 SKU, and the RX 6700 XT is just $379. Both cards perform in the league of the RTX 3060 Ti and RTX 3070, making them interesting SKUs to consider. The RX 6650 XT, which replaces the RX 6600 XT from the product stack, is priced at $299. If you can find an RX 6600 XT, it should start around the $239-mark. The entry-level RX 6500 XT and RX 6400 are finally under the $200-mark where they belong, with the RX 6500 XT going for $169, and the RX 6400 at $149. NVIDIA already debuted its RTX 40-series "Ada" graphics cards, but only at the very high-end, with the RTX 4090 expected to go on sale mid-October, at $1,600. AMD's next generation will be unveiled on November 3.

NVIDIA's upcoming GeForce RTX 4080 "Ada," a successor to the RTX 3080 "Ampere," reportedly comes in two distinct variants based on memory size, memory bus width, and possibly even core-configuration. MEGAsizeGPU reports that they have seen two reference designs for the RTX 4080, one with 12 GB of memory and a 10-layer PCB, and the other with 16 GB of memory and a 12-layer PCB. Increasing numbers of PCB layers enable greater density of wiring around the ASIC. At debut, the flagship product from NVIDIA is expected to be the RTX 4090, with its 24 GB memory size, and 14-layer PCB. Apparently, the 12 GB and 16 GB variants of the RTX 4080 feature vastly different PCB designs.

We've known from past attempts at memory-based variants, such as the GTX 1060 (3 GB vs. 6 GB), or the more recent RTX 3080 (10 GB vs. 12 GB), that NVIDIA turns to other levers to differentiate variants, such as core-configuration (numbers of available CUDA cores), and the same is highly likely with the RTX 4080. The RTX 4080 12 GB, RTX 4080 16 GB, and the RTX 4090, could be NVIDIA's answers to AMD's RDNA3-based successors of the RX 6800, RX 6800 XT, and RX 6950 XT, respectively.

AMD for long has been perceived as lagging behind NVIDIA in OpenGL API graphics performance, as is evident in synthetic benchmarks that let you choose between various APIs, such as DirectX 11, DirectX 12, Vulkan, and OpenGL. It's being reported that the company has made a technical breakthrough that could significantly improve OpenGL application performance, bringing Radeon GPUs on par with GeForce in GL applications. Besides a few old games, several productivity applications continue to use OpenGL, such as Adobe Creative Cloud suite; as well as certain 3D renderers.

AMD is incorporating its OpenGL performance enhancement in drivers bound for Windows 11 22H2 (the major release bound for the second half of 2022). With this release, Microsoft is debuting WDDM 3.1, and AMD is already out with a Preview driver meant for Windows Insiders, bearing version 31.0.12000.20010. A quick Unigine Valley benchmark run with the OpenGL renderer reveals an incredible 49.5% increase in frame-rates, bringing the RX 6800 XT sample to performance-levels you'd expect from the RTX 3080. An identical 49.5% frame-rate increase was seen in Unigine Superposition.

AMD today released Radeon Software Adrenalin 21.12.1. These drivers add optimization for "Halo Infinite," with up to 17% increase in frame-rates measured on the RX 6900 XT, at 4K Ultra settings over the previous driver version; up to 19% increase measured with the RX 6800 XT, and up to 16% measured with the RX 6700 XT. Optimization is also added for "Icarus" and Blender 3.0 on RX 6000 series graphics cards. Among the fixes include a SteamVR Home noticed on the Radeon VII; driver time-outs noticed with the RX 5500 XT in "Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy;" Radeon Software becoming unresponsive with PUBG on multi-display mode with extended display; and artifacting noticed in "Forza Horizon 5" with the car models on cards such as the RX 500 series.

DOWNLOAD: AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 21.12.1

Alphacool today presents the Eiswolf 2 All-in-One solution for GeForce RTX 3080 NVIDIA Founders Edition and Radeon RX 6800/6800XT MSI Gaming X Trio graphics cards. The Eiswolf 2 uses the Alphacool 360 mm NexXxoS ST30 full copper radiator. For the fans, we use the 120 mm Alphacool Aurora Rise. The AIO is completed by the Eisblock Aurora water cooler. This not only cools the GPU chip, but actively cools all relevant components such as the memory and VRAM. It also has brilliant aRGB lighting.

All components used (radiator, fan, cooler, DC-LT 2 pump) including fittings and tubing are part of the Alphacool DIY range and are therefore available separately. The combination of all components results in a solution that is as easy to install as an AIO, but offers the performance of a pre-assembled and pre-filled custom loop.

AMD today released Radeon Software Adrenalin 21.11.2 drivers, which come just in time for the Early Access release of "Battlefield 2042" later today. The game's general release is slated for November 19. Tested at 4K UHD with Ultra settings, the new drivers up to 14% higher performance over previous drivers for the RX 6900 XT, up to 15% higher performance for the RX 6800 XT, and up to 11% higher for the RX 6700 XT. The company did not put out any bug-fixes with this release. Grab it from the link below.

DOWNLOAD: AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 21.11.2 beta

Alphacool today presents the Eiswolf 2 "All-in-One" solution for Geforce RTX 3080/3090 Gigabyte Aorus Master/Xtreme and Radeon RX 6800XT/6900XT Sapphire Nitro+graphics cards. The Eiswolf 2 uses the Alphacool 360 mm NexXxoS ST30 full copper radiator. For the fans, we use the 120 mm Alphacool Aurora Rise. This impressive fan with a max. static pressure of 3.17 mm/H2O, offers a max. air flow of 119.8m³/h. The speed range of the fan, from 0-2500rpm, is adjustable via PWM. The AIO is completed by the Eisblock Aurora water cooler. This not only cools the GPU chip, but actively cools all relevant components such as the memory and VRAM. It also has brilliant aRGB lighting.

All components used (radiator, fan, cooler, DC-LT 2 pump) including fittings and tubing are part of the Alphacool DIY range and are therefore available separately. The combination of all components results in a solution that is as easy to install as an AIO, but offers the performance of a pre-assembled and pre-filled custom loop. Only the pump housing for the DC-LT 2 pump is a custom-made item that is only part of the scope of delivery of the AIO solution and is therefore not available separately.

The prices for NVIDIA Ampere and AMD RDNA 2 GPUs have increased 6% - 7% in Germany since August according to the latest report from 3DCenter. The report covers the period from January 2021 to September 2021 where prices reached 304% and 214% of MSRP for NVIDIA RTX 30 and AMD RX 6000 cards earlier this year before coming down to 150% and 153% respectively. We had hoped that this trend might continue downwards but these reductions have started to reverse with prices steadily increasing since early August. The latest period from August 29th to September 19th saw NVIDIA RTX 30 series prices increase from 159% of MSRP to 170% while AMD RX 6000 cards rose from 164% to 174%.

These price trends can be fairly closely attributed to the changes in supply as shown with the addition of an availability trend line to the graph in this latest report. The card which has experienced the largest price increase relative to MSRP is the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT which now sells for double the recommended € 649 price at € 1299. The least affected card is the NVIDIA RTX 3080 Ti retailing for 26% above it's € 1199 MSRP at € 1511.

Watercool today released the HEATKILLER V watercooling block, now made compatible with the latest and greatest from AMD - the RX 6800, RX 6800 XT, and RX 6900 XT graphics cards. Due to the increased performance profile (and heat output) on AMD's latest-gen RDNA 2 graphics cards, the company has redesigned the base plate's channel routing, and improved the cooling structure along the Z axis - higher heat dissipation area means that watercooling now has more ways to transfer heat from the card to your radiator of choice, The company has also redesigned the backplate, adding a curved design that helps in hiding all the electronic bits and pieces that are usually visible in AMD's cards, further streamlining users' builds.

The baseplate is built out of nickel-plated electrolytic copper, while the cover is made of the generally abundant plexiglas. The cover itself is built out of annealed stainless steel, improving rigidity and resistance of the overall block, while the connection terminal is built out of the also usual Acetal. The block makes use of the standard 4x G ¼ inch sockets. Dimensions of the block stand at 270 mm length, 128 mm width (including the connection terminal) and 28.5 mm height (including the backplate). The HEATKILLER V is available in black and light metal gray for €164,95.

"The focus of our development has always been to improve the deliverable performance." (Rico Weber, WATERCOOL CEO, Sep.2020). This quote marked the beginning of the development of the new HEATKILLER V VGA cooler. In addition to an increase of performance, the focus also lay on improvements in handling and durability. The HEATKILLER VGA coolers, known for their outstanding workmanship, have also been visually enhanced. In the latest revision for AMD graphics cards of the RX 6800/6900XT series, the HEATKILLER V has been further optimized.

The inflow to the cooling structure has been completely reworked. It now is placed with a vertical offset above a second level. The inlet and outlet channels cross each other, but are spatially separated from each other. The new design allows a symmetrical arrangement of the cooling channels. The advantage of the symmetrical design is a steady flow through the heat sink. Dead zones and hotspots are thus effectively avoided. At the same time the windage is reduced. The HEATKILLER V for RX 6800/6900XT features a vertical cooling structure, which significantly improves the cooling performance even more. The enlarged cooling surface ensures exceptionally low GPU temperatures. To reduce turbulences, all cooling channels were manufactured in a rounded design.

EK, the leading computer cooling solutions provider, is launching the new EK-Quantum Vector Red Devil water block made for the PowerColor Red Devil version of the AMD Radeon RX 6800, RX 6800 XT, and 6900 XT graphics cards. This 2nd-generation EK-Quantum Vector water block implements an Open Split-Flow cooling engine design, which proved to be a superior solution for GPU water blocks. It is characterized by low hydraulic flow restriction, meaning it can be used with weaker water pumps or pumps running on low-speed settings and still achieve top performance. The jet plate and the fin structure geometry have been optimized to provide even flow distribution with minimal losses and optimal performance when used in any given coolant flow orientation, unlike some currently available products on the market.

The base of the block is CNC-machined out of nickel-plated electrolytic copper, while its top is CNC-machined either out of glass-like cast acrylic or durable black POM acetal. The watertight seal is ensured by high-quality EPDM O-rings, while brass standoffs are already pre-installed and allow for a safe and easy installation procedure.

AMD today released the latest version of Radeon Software Adrenalin. Version 21.7.1 beta introduces optimization for F1 2021, with a 6% performance improvement seen at 4K UHD on an RX 6800 XT, over the previous drivers. Support is also introduced for the new Radeon RX 6700M and RX 6600M mobile GPUs.

Among the issues fixed are an Oculus service error preventing the Oculus Link setup from running on machines with RX 5000 and RX 6000 series graphics cards; lighting corruption noticed in Apex Legends with Radeon Boost enabled; AMD User Experience Program consuming abnormally high memory; driver version mismatch between Windows Store and AMD Support versions; high memory usage on some running 3DMark Time Spy; and an image corruption in Carrion with AF enabled.

DOWNLOAD: AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 21.7.1 beta

The German media outlet, 3D Center, has today published an updated report for July, measuring graphics card pricing in Germany and Austria, showing some pretty interesting results. The report is only measuring the pricing index of these two countries and their retailers, so it does not apply to other regions. An interesting discovery is that GPU prices have now hit the lowest point since February of this year when the sharp price incline started. At the time of reporting, GPU prices are exaggerated by around 53% over the MSRP listed prices. Not only did the prices drop, but the supply of GPUs like AMD Radeon RX 6800, Radeon RX 6800 XT, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti became much better, as consumers can get their hands on these now.

When looking at the graph below, note that MSRP is listed as 100%, and the percentage shown is the increase over that MSRP. When it comes to complete price reduction to the MSRP, 3D Center expects it to happen in 3-4 weeks possibly. If current data is to be believed, MSRP is slowly decreasing and supply is increasing rapidly. For more details and per-card pricing situation, head over to 3D Center website here. Here is an important statement from 3D Center about the current situation:

3D Center (translated from German)Of course, this means that current street prices for graphics cards are (mostly) still exaggerated - and above all that this is the worst possible time to buy a graphics card. Because the (now clearly verifiable) tendency points to clearly lower graphics card prices in the next few weeks, with a similar pace, street prices at list price level could be in sight in 3-4 weeks. It is possible that there will be a certain braking effect in the downward price movement beforehand - but at least the way up to that point should definitely be taken with you. Apparently the delivery quantities are currently sufficient, maybe the need is a bit lower because of the summer times (and no longer available on the part of the crypto miners)so that retailers receive more cards than they sell. Since the retailers usually bought their cards from the distributors at an exaggerated price, the big game is now about who can get rid of the expensive stock goods in time to make a profit at all in the face of constantly falling sales prices.

TechN adds a new cooler and new materials to the portfolio of high-end water cooling components. AMDs Radeon RX 6000 graphics cards with reference design receive a full-cover water block made from POM with a pure copper coldplate. For the best in class CPU cooler for AMD AM4, there is also a new pure copper version available. The TechN GPU Waterblock RX 6800/6900 (XT) marks the start of a totally new product line with the combination of the materials POM / Acetal and a pure copper coldplate. The new precision crafted cooler fits AMDs reference PCBs for Radeon RX 6800, RX 6800 XT and RX 6900 XT. It shares the modern industrial design DNA as well as the striving for uncompromised cooling performance with the rest of the product family.

An optional aluminum backplate with sophisticated black anodized finish further demonstrates the relationship with the TechN CPU water blocks, which are now also available in a pure copper version. Pre-orders for the TechN GPU water block for AMD 6000 series are starting now with delivery estimated for mid july. The price for the water block is 136.90 Euros, the TechN GPU backplate for AMD 6000, which improves the performance and gives the cooler a full enclosure look, costs 34.90 Euros. All TechN products are available at www.techn.de and selected partners.

EK, is launching the new EK-Quantum Vector Master water blocks made for the AORUS Master version of the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT and 6900 XT graphics cards. These 2nd-generation EK-Quantum Vector water blocks implement an Open Split-Flow cooling engine design, which proved to be a superior solution for GPU water blocks. It is characterized by low hydraulic flow restriction, meaning it can be used with weaker water pumps or pumps running on low-speed settings and still achieve top performance. The jet plate and the fin structure geometry have been optimized to provide even flow distribution with minimal losses and optimal performance when used in any given coolant flow orientation, unlike some currently available products on the market.

The base of the block is CNC-machined out of nickel-plated electrolytic copper, while its top is CNC-machined either out of glass-like cast acrylic or durable black POM acetal. The watertight sealing is ensured by high-quality EPDM O-rings, while brass standoffs are already pre-installed and allow for a safe and easy installation procedure.

EK, the leading computer cooling solutions provider, is launching the new EK-Quantum Vector Nitro+ water block made for the SAPPHIRE NITRO+ version of the AMD Radeon RX 6800XT and RX 6900 XT graphics cards. This 2nd-generation EK-Quantum Vector water block implements an Open Split-Flow cooling engine design, which proved to be a superior solution for GPU water blocks. It is characterized by low hydraulic flow restriction, meaning it can be used with weaker water pumps or pumps running on low-speed settings and still achieve top performance. The jet plate and the fin structure geometry have been optimized to provide even flow distribution with minimal losses and optimal performance when used in any given coolant flow orientation, unlike some currently available products on the market.

The base of the block is CNC-machined out of nickel-plated electrolytic copper, while its top is CNC-machined either out of glass-like cast Acrylic or durable black POM acetal. The watertight sealing is ensured by high-quality EPDM O-rings, while brass standoffs are already pre-installed and allow for a safe and easy installation procedure.

AMD finally made a big announcement on its ambitious FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) technology, the company's rival to NVIDIA's popular DLSS. Much like it, FSR aims to significantly improve gaming performance with minimal loss in image quality, through a sophisticated supersampling algorithm. At this point, AMD did not detail the nuts and bolts of the feature, but mentioned how the feature could look to gamers.

There are four FSR presets typically available to a supported game—Ultra Quality, Quality, Balanced, and Performance, which AMD claims offer performance gains of 59% for "Ultra Quality," 102% for "Quality," 153% for "Balanced," and 206% for "Performance." These should come particularly handy when playing games with raytracing on; and were measured on "Godfall" with RX 6800 XT, with 4K "epic" preset, and raytracing enabled. As of now, the company is working with over 10 game studios and game engine developers to integrate FSR, and the technology is expected to support "over 100 CPUs and GPUs."Update Jun 22nd: We have now posted our in-depth review of AMD Radeon FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR).

The FSR slide-deck follows.

AMD's upcoming professional graphics card based on the 7 nm "Navi 21" silicon, the Radeon Pro W6800, will feature 32 GB of GDDR6 memory, according to a new leaked validation on the Userbenchmark database. The card was pictured and detailed in an older article that you can read here. It's likely that AMD achieved 32 GB over the chip's 256-bit wide memory bus using sixteen 16 Gbit memory chips, with two chips piggy-backed per 32-bit path. The picture leak from April also reveals a heatspreader over the reverse side of the otherwise bare PCB that points to the likelihood of memory chips being located there. On the client-segment Radeon RX 6800 XT, 16 GB is achieved using eight 16 Gbit chips, all of which are located on the obverse side. The exact specifications of the Pro W6800 remain unknown, but is expected to be comparable to the RX 6800 series.

Aqua Computer today introduced its Kryographics NEXT full-cover waterblocks, which are compatible with RX 6800, RX 6800 XT and RX 6900 XT graphics cards that use AMD's reference layout. The blocks, which are produced in Germany and weigh 880 grams, are available in bare or nickel-plated copper. The GPU and RAM modules are connected via thermal paste, while thermal pads are used for the voltage regulators.

The cover is made of acrylic glass and is surrounded by a black anodized aluminium frame. An integrated strip with 13 addressable LEDs allows the illumination of the block. The accessory includes a suitable connection cable for RGBpx enabled Aqua Computer devices and an adapter plug which also allows the connection to most modern mainboards that feature a port for addressable RGB LEDs.

AMD has today updated its Radeon Software Adrenalin 2020 Edition version 21.5.1 drivers, bringing many features on board as well as fixing a lot of issues that have appeared in the past. Starting with support for the Resident Evil Village PC game, AMD promises to deliver up to 13% better frame rate at 4K maximum settings, while using the Radeon RX 6800 XT graphics card. The comparison was conducted with a reference to the previous driver, 21.4.1, which didn't allow the card to reach as high FPS as it is now possible with the proper support for the game. Another game that is added to the support list is Metro Exodus PC Enhanced Edition. Some fixes have been implemented, as the incorrect performance metrics that may have incorrectly reported temperatures on Ryzen 5 1600 series processors. For a detailed list of bug fixes, please take a look at the list below.DOWNLOAD: AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 2020 Edition 21.5.1