Earlier today, AMD announced their newest member of the RX 6000 series GPUs, the 6600 XT. This more budget-focused card uses a smaller GPU die than its bigger brothers and sisters and is based on the new Navi 23 instead of Navi 21. The smaller die, in theory, could mean more availability, but I wouldn’t hold my breath just yet. Between scalpers and chip shortages, will any of us get our hands on one for the $379.00USD MSRP remains to be seen.
AMD is targetting 1080p high refresh-rate gamers with the 6600 XT, claiming that 2/3s of monitors sold in the last year were 1080p and120Hz. You might be saying to yourself $379.00 US seems a bit high for the budget class GPU, and I would agree, but AMD has a rebuttal for that, blaming memory cost as the reason for higher prices. AMD claims memory prices have gone up considerably lately, which they had to factor into the overall cost of the ‘budget’ GPU.
I am looking forward to reading benchmark reviews of the 6600 XT when they become available to see how the 6600 XT stacks against its closest competitor, the RTX 3060. The 6600 XT is roughly 15% more expensive, but AMD also claims the 6600 XT to be 15% more powerful than the 3060. We will have to wait and see August 11 is less than two weeks away, so the wait isn’t long. Actual availability and scalpers is another story. Can we actually buy them at MSRP?
The AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT graphics card offers up to 15 percent higher performance on average with max settings across select AAA titles compared to the competition1. It also provides 125 FPS on average across a wide range of modern AAA titles2, pushing the boundaries of mainstream gaming by enabling incredible, high-refresh rate 1080p performance and breathtaking visual fidelity.
“1080p has long been the most popular resolution for PC gaming, and in 2020 more than two-thirds of the gaming monitors shipped were at this resolution3,” said Scott Herkelman, corporate vice president and general manager, Graphics Business Unit at AMD. “However, the most popular older-generation 1080p graphics cards can struggle to even hit 60 FPS in modern games. The Radeon RX 6600 XT raises the bar for 1080p gaming. It was specifically designed to deliver the ultimate 1080p gaming experience for all gamers, offering powerhouse performance and advanced features to bring beautiful, complex and hyper-realistic worlds to life.”
Specifications, Pricing and Availability
| Model | Compute Units | GDDR6 | Game Clock8 (MHz) | Boost Clock9 (MHz) | Memory Interface | Infinity Cache | TBP | Price (USD SEP) |
| AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT | 32 | 8 GB | 2359 | Up to 2589 | 128 bit | 32 MB | Starting at 160 W | $379 |