Earlier than the AMD Radeon RX 6800, AMD graphics playing cards didn’t compete an excessive amount of with the perfect Nvidia graphics playing cards within the high-performance vary, leaving Staff Inexperienced to dominate the fanatic area for years. AMD did make a try with the Radeon VII in 2019 to compete with the RTX 2080. And, whereas 2080 finally got here out on high, it was an indication of issues to return.
In July of 2019, AMD got here out with the primary of their RDNA GPUs, the Radeon RX 5700 XT and RX 5700, offering the primary actual competitors to the Nvidia playing cards in the identical worth vary. And, although these offered nice options for 1080p gaming, the top quality, like RTX 2080 Tremendous and RTX 2080, Ti nonetheless went unopposed.
With the Radeon RX 6800, it’s now not the finances playing cards that might be actually viable options to Staff Inexperienced. This card is ready to outperform the RTX 3070, although it does price $80 extra, coming in at $579 (possible round £579, AU$800) to the RTX 3070’s $499 (£469, AU$809). It’s too dangerous AMD didn’t hold their common worth benefit, charging 10% extra for about 5-15% extra efficiency. Nvidia’s providing remains to be extra feature-rich, dropping out solely inefficiency. However, with the RX 6800, you can now activate ray tracing when enjoying Cyberpunk 2077.
The AMD Radeon RX 6800 is out there as we speak, beginning at $549 $579 (possible round £579, AU$800) for AMD’s reference board and going up from there for aftermarket board accomplice designs. At this worth, its closest competitors are the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070, which has half the VRAM however prices much less at $499 (£469, AU$809).
The subsequent step up from right here, assuming you are sticking with Staff Crimson, is the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT, which can set you again $649 (possible round £649, AU$960), which goes after the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 on the identical worth.
Each of those graphics playing cards is greater than able to delivering glorious 4K gaming efficiency, nevertheless, and we anticipate that efficiency to get even higher over time as drivers begin to mature.
The AMD Radeon RX 6800 is predicated on AMD’s RDNA 2 graphics structure, which is conveniently the identical graphics tech behind each the PS5 and the Xbox Collection X. Virtually talking, this implies little to nothing proper now. However, it has the potential to impression PC recreation optimization over the subsequent technology of the perfect PC video games.
Related: AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT Graphics Card is OUT! Price and Specifications
Nevertheless, it is essential to needless to say each the PS4 and Xbox One additionally used AMD graphics, and it did not drastically impact PC recreation optimization over the past technology, so this might find yourself being a moot level – solely time will inform on this, although. There are two large variations from the primary technology of RDNA, regardless that they have been each constructed utilizing the identical 7nm (nanometer) manufacturing course.
The primary of those is the Infinity Cache. Basically, that is is a worldwide cache for the GPU, which boosts bandwidth for the video reminiscence (VRAM). This makes the GDDR6 reminiscence on the 256-bit bus much more environment friendly than GDDR6X, whereas consuming much less energy. This leads to a theoretical 2.4x bandwidth per watt enhance over having straight GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus.
Then, in fact, AMD has included Ray Accelerators – one in every of the 60 Compute Items. By way of uncooked ray tracing efficiency, in Metro Exodus with Ray Tracing on and DLSS off (Deep Studying Tremendous Sampling) – know-how unique to Nvidia, which AMD would not have an actual reply for – the Radeon RX 6800 is considerably slower than RTX 3070. And the hole widens considerably with DLSS on. Past that, the format could be very related. Every Compute Unit has 64 Stream Processors, for a grand complete of three,840 on the Radeon RX 6800. AMD has been onerous at work, boosting effectivity, although, and has managed to spice up the frequency by an enormous quantity.
The best way AMD specs out the frequency on its graphics playing cards is a tad complicated, but it surely’s really fairly useful. If you have a look at the spec sheet, you will see two frequencies laid out – the Sport Clock and the Enhance Clock. The Enhance Clock is simply the height frequency – you will solely see this frequency throughout brief bursty workloads. The Sports Clock is about the place AMD expects the graphics card to take a seat more often than not.
The AMD Radeon RX 6800 has a Sport Clock of 1,815MHz and an Enhance Clock of as much as 2,105MHz. Throughout our testing, nevertheless, we noticed clock speeds over the Enhance Clock. They usually have been sustained there. This is perhaps right down to the pre-release driver we reviewed the graphics card on, nevertheless.
Due to the brand new cooler design, nevertheless, temperatures decrease for probably the most half. All through our testing, temperatures peaked at 75C, with the GPU hotspot temp reaching simply 88C. If you’re watching your temperatures, it is essential to notice that the previous is what you have to be involved with. AMD has instructed us that these new GPUs are anticipated to see the hotspot temp hit as much as 110C throughout regular gaming utilization and that it is inside spec and will not trigger issues. If you happen to see that quantity, don’t fret, your graphics card is not about to soften.
AMD can be providing two methods to spice up the efficiency of its Ryzen 6000-class processors: Rage Mode and Good Entry Reminiscence. The previous is inexplicably not out there on the Radeon RX 6800, but it surely boosts energy limits and the sport clock to offer a slight edge inefficiency. If you go to allow this, a window pops up warning you that messing with GPU tuners will void your guarantee. However, don’t fret: so long as you do not do handbook overclocking and follow Rage Mode, AMD has assured us that Rage Mode will not void the guarantee.
For people who have an AMD Ryzen 5000 processor, a 500-series AMD motherboard, and both the Radeon RX 6800 or RX 6800 XT, Good Entry Reminiscence provides your CPU full entry to GPU reminiscence, moderately than simply pre-mapped reminiscence. This will enhance efficiency by as much as 10% in choose titles. That is a thrilling characteristic. However, it is a bit of an ache to allow.
You are going to must replace your BIOS, then go in there and disable CSM – which suggests you may need to reinstall Home windows 10 to even use it for those who’re not utilizing a UEFI-compatible setup. Then you are going to have to enter the superior tab of your BIOS and allow each Above 4G Decoding and Re-Dimension BAR Assist. This can be a characteristic that we solely advise superior customers even attempt to mess with, so it is one thing we did not check in-depth for this evaluation. We can be doing a full deep-dive on the characteristic at a later date.
Fortunately, even without SAM enabled, the Radeon RX 6800 offers a superb stage of efficiency so that you’re actually not lacking out on a lot by not enabling it. However, for people who need to reap the benefits of the superior characteristic – it is there. Past that, AMD’s glorious FidelityFX suite of options remains to be right here, together with a ton of quality-of-life choices, like Radeon Enhance, which lowers decision whereas transferring, boosting framerates whilst you’re transferring too shortly to note the discount in picture high quality.
The one characteristic that we missed probably the most, particularly with the introduction of ray tracing this time round, is equal to Nvidia’s DLSS (Deep Studying Tremendous Sampling). If you’re enjoying video games with ray tracing enabled, this tech is beneficial because it helps make up the large efficiency differential that ray tracing brings. AMD has instructed us it is engaged on another. Hopefully, it will Show up in time for RDNA 3.
The absence of Tensor Cores does extra than omit DLSS, although. You additionally do not get a substitute for Nvidia Broadcast. And, as a result of we’re all working from dwelling because of the ongoing pandemic, which is beneficial know-how, particularly for those who’re working from loud or messy surroundings. AMD has lastly deserted the blower that plagued the Reference designs of the RX 5700 XT and RX 5700, opting as a substitute for a beefy triple-fan shroud design. This isn’t solely far more environment friendly at maintaining the graphics card cool. However, it can be a lot quieter below load.
For output, we’ve got two DisplayPort, one HDMI 2.1, and one USB-C. This covers mainly each kind of show output you can want in 2020, and props to AMD for not slicing out USB-C like Nvidia inexplicably did with its Ampere playing cards. For energy, you’ve got two 8-pin connectors, which is nice {news} for anybody that lamented Staff Inexperienced’s transfer to a 12-pin connector with an adaptor.
Aesthetically, nevertheless, individuals are most likely going to be divided. AMD’s board design this time round has a really 2012 gaming aesthetic. The facet of the shroud, or what you will see when the GPU is definitely plugged into your system, is all black with pink trim and lettering. And, in fact, the Radeon emblem lights up brilliant pink.
On the entrance of the cardboard, the black trim is interrupted by a silver stripe surrounding the three followers – every of which has an ‘R’ emblem, for Radeon. On again, the silver stripe is larger, and you may as well see the underside of the GPU itself. This is not one thing we typically like on graphics cards because it’s simpler to break, even when this manner is marginally higher for cooling.
When AMD introduced that the Radeon RX 6800 can be dearer than the RTX 3070, we thought it was a daring technique and weren’t certain it would work out. Nevertheless, with regards to uncooked efficiency, it looks like AMD has earned that worth enhance – for probably the most half. Relating to conventional rasterization efficiency, the AMD Radeon RX 6800 beats the GeForce RTX 3070 throughout our total testing suite, and by a fairly vital quantity. Within the 3DMark Fireplace Strike Extremely check, which measures 4K efficiency.
In video games, this hole naturally is determined by the title. In Metro Exodus at 4K Extremely settings with RT off, the RX 6800 is simply Three fps sooner than the RTX 3070, which a measly 6% efficiency distinction. Nevertheless, that distinction widens considerably in DirectX 11 video games, as that Fireplace Strike Extremely check hints at.
Also Read: NVIDIA 3060 Ti; they Saved the Best-Value GPU for Last!
The Radeon RX 6800 is 27% sooner in Far Cry 5 and 25% sooner in Murderer’s Creed Odyssey. These are each video games that might be optimized for AMD {hardware}, in fact, however, the numbers are nonetheless spectacular. That efficiency lead is decreasing in most of the different video games in our testing suite. In Crimson Lifeless Redemption 2, as an example, the RX 6800 is simply 10% sooner than the RTX 3070. And, in Closing Fantasy XV, it is simply 5% sooner.
For people that need one thing that delivers increased framerates in conventional gaming workloads, the AMD Radeon RX 6800 is completely higher than the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070; there is no argument there.
Nevertheless, for those who have been ready for an AMD graphics card that may do ray tracing simply as nicely and even higher than Nvidia, Staff Crimson is not there but. It is nonetheless attainable that AMD will have the ability to hammer out higher ray tracing efficiency because the graphics card ages, although.
One factor is for certain, although: with Large Navi, AMD is again within the high-end GPU recreation. It hasn’t identically toppled Nvidia it has with Intel, but we may positively see Staff Crimson proceed in that route over a subsequent couple of years.
