Launching today: AMD’s Radeon RX 6900 XT

This morning AMD is releasing the final and most insidious member of their initial Raden RX6000 series cards: the Radion RX6900 XT. The main part of AMD’s new RDNA 2 GPU architecture, 00 6900 XT can combine radon AMD for all the archives, and maybe a little more. RX6900XT is their first real shot at the very top of the market in years, marking how far ahead AMD has come in a pay generation; And while AMD doesn’t reach that goal, they still managed to put together an interesting and powerful video card for the 1000’s market.

Like the Radian RX 6800 XT and 6800, the 6900 XT was unveiled back in November at AMD’s GPU keynote speech, where AMDA gave the world the full story, Spec. So although the 6800 XT launched first, it won’t be AMD’s final word; AMD had one more video card in the pipeline – which is even more powerful than the 6800 XT – and with that they will end what has been a busy fall season for video cards.

Under the hood, AMD’s new flagship video card is based on the same new 21 Silicon that has run all the other RX6000 series cards to date. Separating the new flagship from its predecessors, the new video card uses a full-capability version of the new 21 chip, which could put AMD’s lead RDNA2 architecture GPU ahead of its best foot in terms of performance. This is coupled with some additional bindings on the AMD part which means that the 6900 XT is not only the fastest Radeon yet, but AMDA has left no stone unturned to maximize their performance.

The result is, as previously suggested, a little moonshot. AMD has the advantage of being a second mover – watching NVIDI and then reacting to them – which has helped AMD find out what it can and cannot do. NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 3090 is incredibly fast, but with the launch of the RTX 3080 and RX6800XT, it’s proven to be completely out of reach. So AMDA has decided to move towards that – to compete for the flagship spot and the famous display crown – by making the best card they can.

The flip side to that, it means that 690000 XT will be more than one radon crop cream. With the need for a fully capable and canned new 21 chip, AMD reaches deep into their yields to assemble their cards, and those chips will become relatively scarce. This is not a new problem for the GPU manufacturer by any means, but it takes an extra degree of challenge when it comes to chips 519mm.² Pieces of very precious 7nm wafer. After all, a ટ 1000 price tag means this is a video card that many want and few can afford; But that would still be enough to keep AMD and TSMC busy for months.

Diving into the specs, all we want is an exciting, original, fully capable new 21 piece. All 80 CUs and 128 ROPs are active on this card, allowing the new 21 to show just how powerful it really is. The AMD is clocking the card just like the 6800 XT, so that means a top clockspeed (boost clock) of 2250MHz, while the game’s physical game clock rating is 2015MHz. So on paper, the 6900 XT should be 11% faster in texture / count / RT-bound workload, while the pixel-bound workload should be relatively unchanged from 6800 XT. It’s not arguably the biggest jump, but it’s enough to justify a different SQ – and will run on the GeForce RTX 3090 for AMD.

Speaking of clockspeed, like other RX6000 series cards, the RX6900 also comes with some other display presets. Rage mode allows preset peak clockspeeds up to 2310 MHz and 2075 MHz game clocks (~ 3% higher), while Quiet mode dials it at a peak of 2185 MHz and a rated game clock of 1940 MHz, respectively.

Speaking of memory, since AMD is making full use of the new 21’s 8 memory channels for the 6800 XT, they don’t have the same headroom to tap here for the 6900 XT. As a result, the same GBDDR6 with 16 GB of card ships stuck at 16 Gbps / PIN, giving it a total memory bandwidth of 512 GB / sec. This means that 00 0000 XT will hit obstacles in the same position as the memory bottlen00 XT, which can limit the real-world effects of the card from what we saw on paper. AMD’s 128 MB Infinity Cache is still playing here, though like the rest of the memory subsystem, it hasn’t reached 10000 XT higher than 6800 XT.

It is worth noting that AMD’s smart access memory technology is also available for the G6900 XT. Using the resizing feature for the PCI Base Address Register (BAR), AMD is able to perform a few more operations from their cards by cutting some PCI transfer barriers. Unfortunately SAM support still needs to use AMD’s latest Pierre Raizen 5000 processor – which is hard to come by right now like AMD’s video cards – so not everyone will be able to take advantage of it right away.

Meanwhile, thanks to the AMD compartment, the company is able to maintain a power consumption of the same 0000 watts TBP (Total Board Power) equal to 680000 XT. This means that the extra performance unlocked by 000000 XT is largely “free of charge”, as the use of high-grade chips by AMD to offset the last 8 CUs of the new 21 will usually offset what the power penalty would be. Is. And while not an apple-to-apple, it gives AMD an advantage over NVIDIA, whose RTX 3080 and RTX 3090 cards rate for 320W and 350W, respectively.

AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT (Reference Card)

Given their similar TDPs and GPUs, it’s no surprise that AMD is largely reusing the board and cooler design from the 6800 XT. AMD’s latest generation design handles 300 watts very well, so there’s little need for replacement for the 6900 XT.

00 0000 XT For the launch, AMDA sent a proper picture of the PCB, confirming that this is the same board design (if not the same PCB) then what is used for the 6800 XT. One difference on the surface is that AMDA created the final VRM phase, which became unusable on the 6800 XT. As a result the 6900 XT provides 16 VRM phases, 3 of which go to VRAM while the other feeds 13 GPUs. There shouldn’t be any radical difference in another VRM phase, but it has done one more thing to squeeze a little more efficiency out of the AMDA card and hold the line at TDP at 300 watts.

As for the AMD cooler, this is the same cooler used in the 6800 XT. Which is to say the larger size 2.5-slot, triple fan open air-style cooler. Inside the steam chamber to help draw heat into the fins, it’s a tried and true design and definitely AMD’s best tri-fan cooler ever. Combined with the average height above the card (120 mm), the 6900 XT ends up as a thick card, although this is not uncommon with other 300 W + card designs. Accordingly, you want to give the cooler a larger berth for air intake. Otherwise 10.5 inches (267 mm) length means it should fit in most cases without moving to the front of the case.

And because this is based on the 6800 XT, the power and port specifications are the same. Feeding the animal is a pair of PCI 8-pin power sockets at the top of the card. Meanwhile the card offers a total of 4 display outputs: 1 HDMI 2.1 port, 2 DisplayPort 1.4 outputs, and a USB-C port that provides DisplayPort 1.4 EL mode functionality.

Product status and competition

As AMD’s flagship video card, the 000000 XT is primarily designed with 4K gaming in mind – or at least what is needed today. The 6800 XT has already performed well here, so the 6900 XT does even better; There are some games that can’t even average 60fps or better in 4K. So while AMD builds their entire RX6800/6900 product stack for 4K gaming, the RX6900XT is definitely the most capable for the task.

For today’s launch, the initial wave of cards will be AMD’s reference design. However AMD’s board partners are also designing their own custom cards, and according to AMD these will be available “soon” after today’s launch. AIB’s partners are certainly jumping on the bandwagon to offer such high-end video cards, and at least one press release has been made even before AMD’s ban. Overall, it is expected that most builders will reuse their triple-fan design from their custom 6800 XT.

On the one hand increasing the size of AMD’s product stack, on the other hand, the good thing about launching your top card last is that it won’t make your other card sales homogeneous. On the other hand, it makes a significantly more expensive part; The RX6900XT is a flagship card, and priced accordingly. X 1000 MSRP is over0% higher than RX00 6800 XT, and the increase in performance is nowhere near that height. In other words, the new 21 Silicon 6900 XT needs the very best, and AMD charges a price to match. It’s not a video card for those who think it’s economical for bargain hunters or gamers; 00 0000 XT is for a few gamers who can make AMD and drop a kilobyte to get the very best video card.

Speaking of AMD’s competitive position with the card, the 6900 XT finds itself in an interesting yet fantastic position. 00 0000 XT doesn’t really have a peer in NVIDIA’s cards; It outlays the RTX 3080, but it can’t keep up with the RTX 3090. It’s somewhere in the middle, and surprisingly the prices reflect this.

So if you look at the 6900 XT from a top-down perspective, this is the card you have Approximately The RTX 3090 is as good for the T500 less. AMD may not be able to take the crown, but they can certainly spoil NVIDIA’s own flagship card. On the flip side, looking at things from a bottom-up perspective, and a lot can be said about the RTX 3080: the RX 6900 XT is better, but it’s not $ 300 better. Workstation users can request to be separated from the end point thanks to the card’s 16GB VRAM, but for gaming it’s a little more obvious. And of course, neither of these will touch the common abstract features on both sides, such as the Radion Anti-Leg and the DLSS.

But, of course, this assumes that the latest pay generation video cards are readily available from retailers, which is not yet the case. AMD and NVIDI are facing more demand than they can supply alike, and even at $ 1000 the 6900 XT is in the same boat. So I expect to see it sell out quickly this morning, after which it will be subject to the same spot availability as other high-end video cards. Which just goes to show how many things have improved for AMD with this pay generation – they are able to make $ 1000 video cards guaranteed to sell – however, even a reminder that the current time is far from normal.