AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT 12 GB Reference Edition Review

AMD showcased some impressive performance uplifts with its first outing of the RDNA 2 graphics architecture in the form of Big Navi but those cards are aimed at the ultra-enthusiast segment. It’s time now that AMD focuses its efforts on the sub-$500 US segment with its second RDNA 2 Navi-based GPU, the Navi 22.

The 2nd Generation RDNA 2 architecture delivers an impressive leap in performance per watt while offering a range of new features. Now, these features and the same performance uplift are coming to the mainstream segment in the form of the Radeon RX 6700 series graphics cards which we will be testing today.

MSI Radeon RX 6700 XT Gaming X 12 GB GDDR6 Graphics Card Review – Compact & Fully Loaded Twin Frozr Design

The AMD RDNA 2 architecture for its Big Navi Radeon RX 6800/RX 6900 & mainstream Radeon RX 6700 series graphics cards has a lot to offer. In addition to architectural enhancements, you can expect hardware-accelerated ray tracing, smart access memory, Infinity Cache, and a lot more features on-deck which make the lineup one of the most competitive enthusiast families that AMD has ever positioned against NVIDIA.

Some of the main features for the AMD Radeon RX 6000 series graphics cards include:

• AMD Infinity Cache – A high-performance, last-level data cache suitable for 4K and 1440p gaming with the highest level of detail enabled. 128/96 MB of on-die cache dramatically reduces latency and power consumption, delivering higher overall gaming performance than traditional architectural designs.
• AMD Smart Access Memory – An exclusive feature of systems with AMD Ryzen 5000 Series processors, AMD B550 and X570 motherboards, and Radeon RX 6000 Series graphics cards. It gives AMD Ryzen processors greater access to the high-speed GDDR6 graphics memory, accelerating CPU processing and providing up to a 13-percent performance increase on an AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT graphics card in Forza Horizon 4 at 4K when combined with the new Rage Mode one-click overclocking setting.
• Built for Standard Chassis – With a length of 267mm and 2×8 standard 8-pin power connectors, and designed to operate with existing enthusiast-class 650W-750W power supplies, gamers can easily upgrade their existing large to small form factor PCs without additional cost.

AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT “Navi 22 XT” GPU Powered 12 GB Graphics Card Specifications

The AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT will come packed with the Navi 22 XT GPU which is the full-fat SKU featuring 40 Compute Units or 2560 SPs. The card will also feature 12 GB of GDDR6 memory across a 192-bit bus interface, a 384 GB/s total bandwidth, and clock speeds of 2321 MHz base and 2581 MHz boost at reference specs. The AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT also packs 40 Ray Accelerators which are dedicated to real-time raytracing workloads. The card will feature a based TBP of 230W with factory-overclocked models pushing it above 250W.

SAPPHIRE Nitro+ Radeon RX 6700 XT 12GB Review

In addition to the standard memory, the Radeon RX 6700 series graphics cards will also feature 96 MB of Infinity Cache on the GPU die. The cache will help boost bandwidth for higher performance at resolutions beyond 1080p HD. The 96 MB Infinity Cache boosts the standard 384 GB/s bandwidth by 3.25x, delivering an effective bandwidth of up to 1.248 TB/s across all Navi 22 GPU-based graphics cards.

In terms of performance, the AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT is shown to compete against the GeForce RTX 3070 graphics card. The card features a 10 higher total board power & delivers better GPU performance in several AAA titles using the best API (Vulkan / DirectX 12). AMD is also bringing its Rage-mode back which is an automatic overclocking tool within its Radeon Software suite that delivers even higher performance along with a nifty new feature known as Smart Access. Gains of up to 13% were showcased with the said features as can be seen below.

So for this review, I will be taking a look at the AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT reference edition that will be available from AMD for the MSRP of $479.

AMD Radeon RX 6000 Series “RDNA 2” Graphics Card Lineup:

In case you want to read our full AMD RDNA 2 GPU architecture deep dive and Radeon RX 6800 XT reference model review, head over to this link.