The RDNA2 architecture has shown its potential on several
occasions but with the announcement of the RX 6600XT the time has finally come
to cover the bulk of the market. We talk about FullHD gaming and here we invade
a territory dominated for years by the excellent GTX 1060 .
NVIDIA has already expanded its lineup with two interesting
proposals to play at 1080p, with the RTX 3060 and 3060 Ti, but the high demand
has once again left many fans in awe looking for a solution that is up to par.
to carry out the desired upgrade.
Did we need the RX 6600XT?
Before continuing, let's try to understand what kind of
product we have on our hands, assuming that it is the first real RDNA2 desktop
GPU marketed for this target resolution . The reasons why the 6600XT is by no
means to be underestimated go far beyond actual performance.
Availability and price have now become the most important
parameters in the choice and unfortunately the market will speak, but something
is starting to move. We have followed with interest the progressive decline in
the street price due to the Chinese government's blockade of mining. Also for
this reason, many will find in the launch of the 6600XT a unique opportunity to
be able to play in FullHD .
There are those who argue that the small die of this GPU,
which occupies about 30% less surface area than that of the Navi 22 on the RX
6700XT, could be the solution to shortage . It is true that it physically takes
up less space and that more GPUs can be made for each wafer, but we cannot
think in watertight compartments.
The raw materials that will be used for its realization are
and will continue to be the same as the other production lines . It is
reasonable to think instead that the resources will be divided in proportion
and we can only hope that the market will be flooded with these chips, but only
time will provide us with an answer.
What do we expect from Navi 23?
The Radeon RX 6600XT is equipped with a 32 Compute Unit Navi
23 GPU, eight less than its big sister 6700XT and four less than the PS5 .
Over 10 instead the TeraFlops on single precision. These
data speak to us of a much more powerful configuration than we could have
imagined. The stream processors are 2048 and the declared frequency is 2359MHz,
while the maximum reference clock stands at 2589MHz, one of the highest we have
ever observed.
The data sheet is completed by 8GB of GDDR6 video memory on
128-bit bus for 16Gbps of bandwidth. The declared TBP is instead of 160W and the
card will be powered by a single 8-pin input.
If the proximity to the PlayStation 5 intrigues, even more
interesting is the comparison with the previous generation. The 5700XT, with
its 40CUs and an FP32 capacity of 9.75 TeraFlop, was offered as the standard
for 1440p gaming .
We are talking about a solution launched at the time as a
true champion in target resolution and the field test showed that in fact, net
of the total lack of support for Ray Tracing, the segment was the correct one.
With this information in mind, AMD's message appears perhaps
slightly cautious. Today we have hardware dedicated to Ray Tracing and this
could actually limit the room for maneuver but why not dare beyond the relevant
segment?
The Gigabyte Gaming OC Pro variant
During the official presentation, AMD announced that there
will not be a Reference solution , despite the fact that there were designs and
projects ready for realization. The reference price, on the other hand, has
been announced, and is 379 dollars.
We showed the Gigabyte RX 6600XT Gaming OC Pro variant in
our unboxing preview, but today we will find out how it behaves and try to draw
conclusions based on the model considered.
Gigabyte has produced a generously sized card for this GPU,
with a Windforce design with three 80mm fans , five heatpipes and a metallic
backplate. An aspect not exactly inspired, with aggressive but not daring
lines, which makes it suitable even for more formal contexts. Instead, the
window on the backplate stands out , which allows the perpendicular passage of
air for more efficient dissipation.
RGB lighting present, but nothing bulky. Only the Gigabyte
logo, visible on the profile, will be backlit. The customization will take
place through the proprietary RGBFusion 2.0 software .
Our field test
Judging a custom video card without first having had the
opportunity to test the reference model forces us to leave our comfort zone ,
aware that what we have experimented with on this variant may not necessarily
match what is expressed by more or less equipped models.
Just think, for example, of a card with a single fan design,
with higher temperatures and a more conservative clock: the difference would
also have been with a Reference model, but probably the margin would have been
smaller.
But how does the 6600XT perform in gaming? Well, we oiled
the engine with a few laps on TimeSpy, just to start placing it in the
reference landscape, detecting 9634 points on the GPU, perfectly straddling the
5700XT and the RTX 2080 . An interesting score, which clearly indicates what
its performance will be in classical rasterization.
And in fact she does not contradict herself even in the
opening titles and keeps a safe distance from the RTX3060 in all three
reference resolutions. Noteworthy is the turnaround on Forza Horizon 4, where
it also manages to unseat the RTX 3060 Ti, superior practically across the
board.
We will be frank, at the beginning we winked at the 5700XT
and the 2K precisely because it is the resolution we were aiming for. The
6600XT not only easily excels at maximum details in FullHD, but it is precisely
at 1440p that it manages to surprise , with averages nimbly above 60 FPS on
almost every title tested.
Only Metro Exodus manages to worry her, but we can be
satisfied with the average 56 FPS achieved due to the particular benchmark
methodology made available on this title.
Ray Tracing would dramatically drop performance even to the
most performing cards on the market, yet at high details even with real-time
lighting you remain steadfast above the playability thresholds , with scores
above 30 and 60 FPS, respectively. 1440p and 1080p.
The implementation of Ray Tracing has been postponed for an
entire generation at AMD and some uncertainties due to the young age are still
felt. The unlined performances are satisfactory, but in this specific context
the difference in wheelbase compared to the RTX 3060 is, albeit slightly, still
relevant.
Curiosities about the Gigabyte model
The maximum frequency recorded, without manual intervention,
was 2653MHz, a jump of just 64MHz compared to the reference values.
As for the temperatures instead, we find a dissipation
system that, at first glance, we would have defined overkill . It must be said,
however, that the feeling of being able to play even for hours below 60 degrees
and with a noise level close to zero is satisfying, to say the least.
Steady temperatures below 60 degrees in the middle of summer
make it a suitable choice for those who want to try to push it beyond the limit
. There is space available and she shouldn't be particularly offended.
We had the opportunity to browse the official website of the
parent company where, probably due to a typo, a 16-line PCI Express Gen 4.0 bus
is indicated. In fact, the 6600XT arrives on the market with an 8-lane limit ,
equivalent to 16 on PCI-E 16x, and the Adrenalin software confirms this.
