The XFX Radeon RX 6800 XT Speedster Merc 319 Black is the company's flagship for the RX 6800 XT Navi 21 generation. That name is quite a mouthful. When I see such names, I sometimes wonder how Apple is able to sell "iPhone 12" and make billions; XFX also forgot to add "Gaming" to the name. Kidding aside, the idea behind "319" is that the card is a triple-fan design, using two 1(00) mm fans in combination with a 9(0) mm fan in the middle. I'm still not convinced. Out of the box, the card runs at a rated boost of 2360 MHz, which is the highest boost setting available on any custom design. ASUS STRIX, Sapphire Nitro+, and ASRock Taichi (review coming soon) run the same clock speed, too. In terms of relative performance, this makes the RX 6800 XT Merc 319 4% faster than the RX 6800 XT reference at 4K resolution. Actually, the XFX Merc 319 is faster than any other RX 6800 XT card we've tested before, even the watercooled ASUS RX 6800 XT LC OC; that said, differences are below 1%. Still, it shows that you don't need watercooling to achieve high factory overclocks. NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 3080 is only 2% faster, the RTX 3090 is 13% faster and much more expensive, and AMD's new RX 6900 XT costs upwards of $1000 and is only 4% faster. Compared to the Radeon RX 6800 non-XT, the Merc 319 gives you 16% more FPS, and the RTX 3070 is even slower at -26%. Performance uplifts compared to older cards are impressive as well, as it is almost twice as fast as the RX 5700 XT and more than three times as fast as the RX 590.

With these performance numbers, the Radeon RX 6800 XT is the perfect choice for 4K gaming at 60 FPS. It achieved that mark in nearly all titles in our test suite. Things are different once you turn on raytracing. Just like on NVIDIA, there's a hefty performance hit when running with the DirectX Raytracing API. We only tested two games so far, but it seems the loss in performance is bigger than on NVIDIA, who improved in that area with Ampere. Remember, this is AMD's first-generation raytracing implementation. Performance is still very respectable, reaching roughly RTX 2080 Ti levels. Now that RT hardware is available for both AMD and NVIDIA and game developers are making console games on AMD's new RDNA 2 architecture, it'll be interesting to see how raytracing performance evolves in the coming months.

In our review, AMD's RX 6800 XT reference cooler impressed us with good temperatures and even better noise levels. It's finally a large triple-slot design with three fans. This definitely sets the bar high for AMD's partners and their own cooler designs. XFX's heatsink does a great job keeping the card cool and looks great. Unlike many other cards, the top cooler shroud is made out of metal, which helps avoid that plasticky feel. We measured noise levels that match the AMD reference cooler, but with a few degrees less. With 31 dBA, the card is almost whisper-quiet in heavy gaming—4K is no problem, very impressive. Just like other custom designs, XFX includes a dual BIOS feature with their Merc 319, but it's not as well thought out as on the competition. The differences are almost negligible, you only get an 8 W higher power limit, which really is nothing. Personally, I would have opted for a really quiet BIOS that runs the fans significantly slower, allowing higher temperatures. Just like on the AMD reference design, idle fan stop is included on the card, which provides the perfect noise-free experience during desktop work, Internet browsing, media playback, and light gaming.

AMD surprised us with the energy efficiency of their new Navi 21 RDNA 2 graphics processor, beating even NVIDIA's Ampere lineup. Despite the large factory overclock, XFX did not go overboard with power consumption; the typical gaming average matches the AMD 6800 XT almost exactly, but the card achieves 4% better performance. This means energy efficiency is actually improved over the AMD reference, with the incredibly strong 16-phase GPU VRM made up of premium components definitely playing a role here. Only short-lived power spikes are a bit higher, but not alarming in any way; 353 W—any decent 650 W PSU will be sufficient to power an RX 6800 XT gaming rig.

Back in my original review of the reference design, I had to increase the power limit on the AMD RX 6800 XT to see any meaningful performance gains from overclocking. This is not the case on the XFX Merc 319 because of a generously increased board power limit, even at stock. Actually, the card achieved the best OC out of all air-cooled RX 6800 XT cards I've tested. Only the ASUS STRIX LC with its watercooler ended up a bit higher, but differences are small. What's even more impressive is that the hand-overclocked RX 6800 XT Merc 319 is faster than the hand-overclocked RX 6900 XT because that card doesn't have a sufficient power limit adjustment range despite costing much more.

The Radeon RX 6800 XT launched exactly a month ago, and there is still zero stock anywhere. Scalpers are listing these cards at way above $1000—let's hope nobody gives in to such obscene pricing. AMD's reference design comes at an MSRP of $650, which is just as much a fantasy. It seems fake pricing was made up to lure potential buyers away from NVIDIA, who aren't much more realistic with their prices either. With almost no stock, everybody in the supply chain is raising their prices, so I doubt we'll ever see pricing close to $650 for the new 6800 XT. The XFX RX 6800 XT Merc 319 MSRP is $800, which is a $150 increase over the AMD MSRP and impossible to justify even though the cooler is much bigger—thermals and noise levels are just too similar. Performance is 4% higher, which is nice, definitely close enough to the RTX 3080 to call the "same," probably close enough to the RX 6900 XT, too. I'm still not sure if I would pay +$150 over the AMD MSRP, maybe if I felt I could benefit from the more powerful VRM and higher power limit. Don't get me wrong, the XFX RX 6800 XT is an awesome RX 6800 XT custom design, definitely in one league with ASUS, Sapphire, and PowerColor, which is quite an achievement for XFX. The RX 6800 XT by itself is also a fantastic card that's finally able to compete with NVIDIA's high-end offerings, but the whole supply and pricing situation is so terrible. Fingers crossed that we'll see better volume in 2021, so everyone can get one of these cards.