GPU-Graphic Cards

AMD is launching RDNA 2 with TSMC N6 for $ 199

Even if AMD's focus is on the upcoming RDNA-3 graphics cards in 2022, a new model with the current RDNA-2 technology will be launched in January.

Jan 6, 2022 - 08:18

AMD is launching RDNA 2 with TSMC N6 for $ 199

Even if AMD's focus is on the upcoming RDNA-3 graphics cards in 2022, a new model with the current RDNA-2 technology will be launched in January. AMD's CEO Lisa Su announced the Radeon RX 6500 XT and thus the new entry-level model at the CES will cost around $ 199. Small Navi 24 from TSMC's 6 nm process

The Radeon RX 6500 XT offers a premiere: It relies on the new GPU Navi 24, which, unlike Navi 21, Navi 22 and Navi 23, is no longer manufactured in TSMC's N7P process, but in the more modern N6 process. AMD is still hiding exactly what effects this will have, but there will be minor advantages.

The Radeon RX 6500 XT will be able to fall back on only 16 compute units and thus 1,024 FP32-ALUs, which corresponds to a halving of the 32 CUs on Navi 23. The game clock is specified at 2,610 MHz, so that the theoretical computing power is not quite halved compared to the larger configuration level. The maximum boost is specified as 2,815 MHz.

Speaking of halved: This also applies to the Infinity Cache, which is shortened on Navi 24 from 32 MB to just 16 MB. This significantly reduces the hit rate of the fast cache even in Full HD. The 64-bit memory interface is also only half as wide as the Radeon RX 6600, but the memory clock is slightly higher at 18 Gbps. This is interesting insofar as the Navi 24 actually has a 128-bit interface and also uses it in the notebook. It is unclear why AMD intentionally deactivates half in the desktop and thus automatically halves the bandwidth.

The memory expansion of the Radeon RX 6500 XT is also a maximum of 4 GB, variants with 8 GB should not be available. The typical power consumption is 107 watts. Performance between RX 580 and RX 590

According to AMD, the Radeon RX 6500 XT should be between 20 and 60 percent faster than the GeForce GTX 1650 in current games and also clearly beat a Radeon RX 570 . Based on the benchmark results, it can be assumed that the performance ends up somewhere between a Radeon RX 580 and a Radeon RX 590 - as long as the memory lasts. Both Polaris graphics cards already had 8 GB.

The Radeon RX 6500 XT should be available in stores on January 19, with AMD giving a recommended retail price of 199 US dollars before taxes. There is not yet a euro price, although this will probably not play any role in retail anyway, because the graphics card prices are far removed from the manufacturer's price recommendations these days . A reference design is not to be expected, the sale will only take place via the custom designs. The EIA could thus be completely wasted. The Radeon RX 6000 models in comparison

	Radeon RX 6900 XT	Radeon RX 6800 XT	Radeon RX 6800	Radeon RX 6700 XT	Radeon RX 6600 XT	Radeon RX 6600	Radeon RX 6500 XT
Architecture	RDNA 2	RDNA 2	RDNA 2	RDNA 2	RDNA 2	RDNA 2	RDNA 2
GPU	GPS 21	GPS 21	GPS 21	GPS 22	GPS 23	GPS 23	GPS 24
Process	TSMC N7P	TSMC N7P	TSMC N7P	TSMC N7P	TSMC N7P	TSMC N7P	TSMC N6
Chip size	519 mm²	519 mm²	519 mm²	336 mm²	237 mm²	237 mm²	?
Transistors	approx. 26.8 billion	approx. 26.8 billion	approx. 26.8 billion	17.2 billion	11.1 billion	11.1 billion	5.4 billion
Compute units	80	72	60	40	32	28	16
FP32 ALUs	5,120	4,608	3,840	2,560	2,048	1,792	1,024
RT acceleration	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Game clock	2,015 MHz	2,015 MHz	1,815 MHz	2,424 MHz	2,359 MHz	2,044 MHz	2,600 MHz
Maximum boost clock	2,250 MHz	2,250 MHz	2,105 MHz	2,581 MHz	2,589 MHz	2,491 MHz	2,815 MHz
Texture units	320	288	240	160	128	112	64
ROPs	128	128	96	64	64	64	32
Storage	16 GB GDDR6	16 GB GDDR6	16 GB GDDR6	12 GB GDDR6	8 GB GDDR6	8 GB GDDR6	4 GB
Storage speed	16 Gbps	16 Gbps	16 Gbps	16 Gbps	16 Gbps	14 Gbps	18 Gbps
Memory interface	256 bit	256 bit	256 bit	192 bits	128 bit	128 bit	64 bit
Memory bandwidth	512 GB / s	512 GB / s	512 GB / s	384 GB / s	256 GB / s	224 GB / s	144 GB / s
Infinity cache	128 MB	128 MB	128 MB	96 MB	32 MB	32 MB	16 MB
IC bandwidth	2.0 TB / s	2.0 TB / s	2.0 TB / s	1.5 TB / s	0.92 TB / s	0.92 TB / s	?
L2 cache	4 MB	4 MB	4 MB	3 MB	2 MB	2 MB	?
TBP	300 watts	300 watts	250 watts	230 watts	160 watts	132 watts	107 watt
Slot connection	PCIe 4.0 × 16	PCIe 4.0 × 16	PCIe 4.0 × 16	PCIe 4.0 × 16	PCIe 4.0 × 8	PCIe 4.0 × 8	?
DirectX 12 Ultimate	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Price	$ 1700	$ 1500	$ 1500	$ 1000	$ 600	$ 500	$ 200

RX 6400 is only available for the OEM computer

Aside from the Radeon RX 6500 XT, AMD has quietly released the Radeon RX 6400 . The graphics card will only be available from OEM retailers and does not play a role in the retail market. With only 12 CUs and a game clock of 2,039 MHz, the computing power is significantly lower, but the graphics card only needs 53 watts. There is also 4 GB here, but the clock rate is even lower at 16 Gbps.