AMD has just revealed the new RX 6600 graphics card. Starting at $329 (depending on the configuration), this entry-level 1080p GPU is perfect for budget-minded gamers. Different configurations are available from board partners such as MSI, Gigabyte, Sapphire, Asus, and more.
The RX 6600 is similar to the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT released during the summer, though less powerful. It features 28 compute units, 1792 stream processors, 32MB of AMD’s Infinity Cache, and up to 8GB of GDDR6 vRAM. It consumes 132 watts of power, making it pair well with a 450-watt power supply. AMD says the RX 6600 is, on average, 23% faster than an Nvidia RTX 2060. It supports AMD’s FidelityFX Super Resolution upsampling tech. High-res monitors will receive better image quality without impacting performance and many games will see 60 frames per second and higher.
As noted by The Verge, many of AMD’s GPU board partners aren’t taking full advantage of the RX 6600’s reduced power consumption, at least at the moment. All graphics cards offered by board partners take up a minimum of two slots in a case and require an 8-pin PCIe power connector. Despite that, the graphics card is solid for less power-hungry gaming rigs.
The RX 6600 is an enticing card for those on a budget. However, the ongoing global chip shortage will make it difficult to find at MSRP. Having to (potentially) pay exorbitant prices would negate the point of buying a budget graphics card in the first place. AMD is aware of the situation and tells The Verge:
“AMD is working closely with board partners, OEMs, SIs and etail/retail partners to ensure as many graphics cards are available to gamers as possible, and we expect that a healthy supply of AMD Radeon RX 6600 graphics cards will be available at launch.”
That’s an optimistic claim, one we’re not sure AMD can deliver on. Even AMD CEO Lisa Su suggested that the chip shortage could extend well into the second half of 2022.
We’ll have to wait and see how things pan out.
In the meantime, AMD is rumored to be releasing a less powerful and more affordable Radeon RX 6500 XT GPU, which could arrive as soon as January. According to a posting from Videocardz, the RX 6500 XT will arrive in January, with the Radeon RX 6400 following in March.
Both cards will apparently have 4GB of GDDR6 VRAM, and the cheaper RX 6400 won’t require hooking up to your PSU thanks to its sub-75W power draw. Previous rumors have pointed to Navi 24 GPUs with 1,024 cores on the RX 6500 XT and 768 on the RX 6400.
