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AMD has given us the first look at their much-awaited RX 6700 XT graphics card, one day before their Nvidia rivals launch their RTX 3060 GPU.
As it turns out, however, the RX 6700 XT is not designed or priced to compete with the Nvidia RTX 3060, but instead the more powerful RTX 3070 graphics card.
Read below to find out more!
The Relative Price Of The RX 6700 XT
In this time of low stock and scalpers going wild inflating prices to ridiculous levels on the secondary market, many hoped that the 6700XT would be the panacea for those wanting, but not able, to upgrade their old GPUs.
Unfortunately, those hoping for the 6700XT to RRP at $400 or thereabouts were left disappointed: the starting value for the vanilla 6700XT was given as $479, which is well above what price we can expect the Nvidia RTX 3060 to retail for.
Still, $479 for the Radeon RX 6700 XT 12GB is still cheaper than $499, as charged by NVIDIA for their RTX 3070 8GB, and this is the graphics card that AMD is directly competing against.
AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT Specifications
Shown above is the specifications of the RX 6700 XT versus the more expensive RX 6800 card – the next most powerful in the series. Unsurprisingly the newer card has less computer units (40 vs 60) and less VRAM (12GB vs 16GB) than the RX 6800, however it does come with a faster game clock (2424Mhz vs 1815Mhz – a 25% increase).
How this will actually affect performance remains to be seen (as ever – always wait for independent third-party testing!), though we can assume the lower VRAM and computer units will mean worse performance for Ray Tracing and 4K gaming. The gap may not be so narrow however on the 1440p display gamers AMD is primarily targeting with this release.
AMD Radeon 6700 XT Benchmark Performance
As ever, until third-party, independent benchmarking can take place, take any information about the performance of this graphics card with a pinch of salt, however, above we can see the data AMD provided us with about the 6700XT versus the Nvidia graphics cards of a similar price point.
As you can see, according to AMD’s data the RX 6700 XT 12GB outcompetes the RTX 3060 Ti 8GB on most titles, coming slightly ahead of the RTX 3070 8GB overall on the games tested. Whether this is a transferable sample to other games we do not yet know.
Although no new information was released on this subject, we can expect the RX 6700 XT to not be as good as Nvidia’s cards when it comes to crypto mining, something that will hopefully mean its stock levels aren’t impacted quite so much.
Where And When You Will Be Able To Buy The 6700 XT- Plus Stock Levels
You will be able to purchase the AMD Radeon 6700XT on March 18th 2021, but whether you will actually be able to get yourself a product on the day is a different story. No information was revealed about what the expected stock levels will be, so we’ll just have to cross our collective fingers (but assume the worst).
AMD announced that they will be selling the base model of the 6700XT directly from their website, in the hope that this will at least slightly minimize bulk buying by crypto currency farmers, scalping and bot buyers. How successful this will be remains to be seen.
Additionally, AMD’s partners (as listed in the image above) will also be selling their own stock of the card on the same date – hopefully this means slightly better availability, but don’t hold your breath!
So there we have it – another day, another exciting release, and another lot of unanswered questions about stock levels!
Stay tuned to WePC for all the latest leaks and updates regarding the AMD Radeon 6700 XT graphics card, and all the other big releases from the players of the computer gaming world!
Gaming laptop reviewer, tech specialist, lifelong gamer, cantankerous wordsmith. A big fan of writing and laptops, Aaron is the in-house laptop and gaming laptop expert, dabbles in the world of tablets and keyboards, and also serves as a Senior Editor on the team, using his eye for detail to make sure our review content is up to scratch.
Summary
From halcyon days playing Sonic 2 on the Megadrive, to trying to work out how to make the 'TOASTY!' man appear on Mortal Kombat 3, many of Aaron’s fondest childhood memories are associated with gaming. He regrets nothing. First getting into PC gaming through exposure to Drug Lord 2.0 and then the original Half Life, he has been a fiend ever since.
The only thing Aaron loves more than history, gaming, laptops, and writing is finding a good deal, so look out for his laptop deals pages this year.
Experience
With jobs ranging from working the tills in a bookies to running administration at a political think tank in Westminster, plus a stint in investment management, Aaron has had a varied career. What has remained constant however has been his eagerness to learn new things, his ability to do in-depth research, his eye for detail, and his talent for editing (words and video). All of these skills he utilises in his job - making sure the consumer has the very best idea as to whether a laptop is worth their time and money, and working hard to ensure no detail is missed in his in-depth reviews.
Education
Investment Management Certificate
MA Filmmaking
BA History
A Levels: Biology, Chemistry, Medieval History
AS Levels: Psychology, Philosophy
