Tag Archives: AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT

NVIDIA Resizable BAR : What You Need To Know!

NVIDIA finally released Resizable BAR support, and it is currently limited to RTX 30 series graphics cards only.

Here is what you need to know about Resizable BAR, and how to get your FREE performance boost!

 

NVIDIA Resizable BAR : What Is It?

Resizable BAR is an optional PCI Express feature, that can deliver a small but free boost in performance for the graphics card.

CPUs are traditionally limited to a 256 MB I/O memory address region for the GPU frame buffer. This of it as an “data dump” for stuff like textures, shaders and geometry.

Since this “data dump” is limited to 256 MB, the CPU can only send texture, shader and geometry data as and when the GPU requires them.

This introduces some latency – delay from when the GPU requires the data, and the CPU send them.

Turning on Resizable BAR or Smart Access Memory greatly expands the size of that data dump, letting the CPU directly access the GPU’s entire frame buffer memory.

Instead of transferring data when requested by the GPU, the CPU processes and stores the data directly in the graphics memory.

Graphics assets can be transferred to graphics memory in full, instead of in pieces. In addition, multiple transfers can occur simultaneously, instead of being queued up.

Do note that Resizable BAR will not increase memory bandwidth.

What it does is let the CPU directly access the entire GPU frame buffer memory, instead of using the usual 256 MB “dump”. That reduces latency because the graphics assets are now accessible by the GPU at all times.

 

NVIDIA Resizable BAR : Delayed From February 2021!

AMD was first out the door with Resizable BAR in November 2020, launching it as Smart Access Memory.

It gave their Radeon RX 6800 XT graphics card a free performance boost of up to 16% in some games, but no effect in other games.

You can check out the performance difference in our article, RX 6800 XT Smart Access Memory Performance Comparison!

On 12 January 2021, NVIDIA announced that they will be able to introduce Resizable BAR support in GeForce drivers from Late February 2021 onwards.

They finally released Resizable Bar support on 30 March 2021, through GeForce Game Ready Driver 465.89.

It will be limited to their GeForce RTX 30 series graphics cards and laptops, but will work with both Intel and AMD CPUs.

However, it’s not as simple as just installing GeForce Game Ready Driver 465.89.

The newly announced GeForce RTX 3060 will ship with support for Resizable BAR. However, older GeForce RTX 30 series cards will need to have their VBIOS updated from March 2021 onwards.

The motherboard must also be updated with Resizable BAR support. According to Intel, this will be limited to 11th Gen platforms, and select 10th Gen platforms.

So ironically, Resizable BAR will first work on GeForce RTX 30 series graphics cards paired with AMD Ryzen 5000 processors and AMD 500-series motherboards!

 

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AMD Smart Access Memory (Resizable BAR) Guide

Find out what AMD Smart Access Memory is all about, and how to turn it on for a FREE BOOST in performance!

 

Smart Access Memory : PCIe Resizable BAR for AMD!

Smart Access Memory is AMD’s marketing term for their implementation of the PCI Express Resizable BAR (Base Address Registers) capability.

What does that mean exactly?

CPUs are traditionally limited to a 256 MB I/O memory address region for the GPU frame buffer. This of it as an “data dump” for stuff like textures, shaders and geometry.

Since this “data dump” is limited to 256 MB, the CPU can only send texture, shader and geometry data as and when the GPU requires them.

This introduces some latency – delay from when the GPU requires the data, and the CPU send them.

Turning on Resizable BAR or Smart Access Memory greatly expands the size of that data dump, letting the CPU directly access the GPU’s entire frame buffer memory.

Instead of transferring data when requested by the GPU, the CPU processes and stores the data directly in the graphics memory.

Graphics assets can be transferred to graphics memory in full, instead of in pieces. In addition, multiple transfers can occur simultaneously, instead of being queued up.

While this AMD graphic above suggests that Smart Access Memory will widen the memory path (and thus memory bandwidth) between the CPU and GPU, that is not true.

Smart Access Memory / Resizable BAR will not increase memory bandwidth.

What it does is let the CPU directly access the entire GPU frame buffer memory, instead of using the usual 256 MB “dump”. That reduces latency because the graphics assets are now accessible by the GPU at all times.

 

AMD Smart Access Memory : Performance Gains

According to AMD, enabling Smart Access Memory will give you a small but free boost of 5% to 11% in gaming performance.

Here is a summary of the test results from our article, RX 6800 XT Smart Access Memory Performance Comparison!

You can expect up to 16% better performance in some games, but no effect in certain games. But overall, you get a free boost in performance. There is simply no reason not to enable Smart Access Memory.

1080p Resolution (1920 x 1080)

1440p Resolution (2560 x 1440)

2160p Resolution (3840 x 2160)

 

AMD Smart Access Memory : Requirements

Since Smart Access Memory is just an AMD implementation of PCI Express Resizable BAR. Therefore, it can be be implemented for all PCI Express 3.0 and PCI Express 4.0 graphics cards and motherboards.

However, AMD is currently limiting it to a small subset of components, having validated it only for their new Ryzen 5000 series CPUs, select Ryzen 3000 Series Processors and Radeon RX 6000 series graphics cards.

So this is what you currently require to enable AMD Smart Access Memory :

Hardware

Software

  • AMD Radeon Software Driver 20.11.2 or newer
  • Latest Motherboard BIOS (AMD AGESA 1.1.0.0 or newer)

AMD currently recommends these X570 motherboards, because they have updated BIOS available :

 

AMD Smart Access Memory : How To Enable It?

If you have all of those supported components above, and updated your motherboard BIOS, you need to manually enable Smart Access Memory.

Now, the method will vary from motherboard to motherboard, and it probably won’t even be called Smart Access Memory.

Instead, look for variations of Above 4G Decoding, or Resizing BAR, or Resizable BAR, or Re-Size BAR Support.

AMD Generic Method

AMD has provided these generic steps to enable Smart Access Memory :

  1. Enter the System BIOS by press <DEL> or <F12> during the system startup.
  2. Navigate to the Advanced Settings or Advanced menu.
  3. Enable “Above 4G Decoding” and “Re-Size BAR Support“.
  4. Save the changes and restart the computer.

Step-by-Step Method For ASUS Crosshair VIII Hero

In our guide, we are using the ASUS CROSSHAIR VIII Hero (AMD X570) motherboard, as an example :

  1. First you will need to turn off CSM (Compatibility Support Module), or make sure it’s disabled.Go to the Boot menu and look for a CSM / Compatibility Support Module option.

  1. Set CSM (Compatibility Support Module) to Disabled.

  1. Go to the Advanced menu and look for the PCI Subsystem. In other motherboards, look for PCIe / PCI Express configuration options.

  1. Enable Above 4G Decoding.

  1. This will give you access to the Re-Size BAR Support option. Set it to Auto.

  1. Now go to the Exit menu, and select Save Changes & Reset.

  1. It will ask you to confirm the changes. Just verify both, and click OK.

After the motherboard reboots, AMD Smart Access Memory (PCIe Resizable BAR) will be enabled for your Ryzen 5000 series CPU and Radeon RX 6000 series graphics card!

 

CSM Warning For GIGABYTE AORUS X570 Master

AMD currently recommends these X570 motherboards, because they have updated BIOS available :

CSM is disabled by default for the ASUS, ASRock and MSI motherboards. However, it is enabled by default in the GIGABYTE AORUS X570 Master.

If you installed Windows without first turning CSM off, it will be configured as non-UEFI. It will NOT boot if you enable Resizable BAR Support (Smart Access Memory).

You will need to reinstall Windows with CSM support disabled.

 

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Smart Access Memory Now Enabled For Ryzen 3000 CPUs!

AMD just enabled Smart Access Memory for select Ryzen 3000 desktop processors!

Find out what Smart Access Memory does, and how to enable it for a FREE boost in performance!

 

Smart Access Memory Now Enabled For Ryzen 3000 CPUs!

When AMD launched the Radeon RX 6700 XT graphics card, they also mentioned that Smart Access Memory is now enabled for Ryzen 3000 desktop processors, except :

  • AMD Ryzen 5 3400G
  • AMD Ryzen 3 3200G

This would give those older processors a small but FREE boost in performance, when paired with Radeon RX 6000 series graphics cards and AMD 500 series motherboards.

To enable Smart Access Memory for your Ryzen 3000 / 5000 series PC, please follow the steps! 

Unfortunately, AMD has not enabled Smart Access Memory for Radeon RX 5000 series graphics cards, or AMD 400 series motherboards yet.

Recommended : AMD Smart Access Memory (Resizable BAR) Guide

 

Smart Access Memory : How Does It Boost Ryzen 3000 Performance?

Smart Access Memory is AMD’s marketing term for their implementation of the PCI Express Resizable BAR (Base Address Registers) capability.

What does that mean exactly?

CPUs are traditionally limited to a 256 MB I/O memory address region for the GPU frame buffer. This of it as an “data dump” for stuff like textures, shaders and geometry.

Since this “data dump” is limited to 256 MB, the CPU can only send texture, shader and geometry data as and when the GPU requires them.

This introduces some latency – delay from when the GPU requires the data, and the CPU send them.

Turning on Resizable BAR or Smart Access Memory greatly expands the size of that data dump, letting the CPU directly access the GPU’s entire frame buffer memory.

Instead of transferring data when requested by the GPU, the CPU processes and stores the data directly in the graphics memory.

Graphics assets can be transferred to graphics memory in full, instead of in pieces. In addition, multiple transfers can occur simultaneously, instead of being queued up.

While this AMD graphic above suggests that Smart Access Memory will widen the memory path (and thus memory bandwidth) between the CPU and GPU, that is not true.

Smart Access Memory / Resizable BAR will not increase memory bandwidth.

What it does is let the CPU directly access the entire GPU frame buffer memory, instead of using the usual 256 MB “dump”. That reduces latency because the graphics assets are now accessible by the GPU at all times.

 

Smart Access Memory For Ryzen 3000 : Requirements

This is what you currently require to enable AMD Smart Access Memory for Ryzen 3000 desktop processors :

Hardware

Software

  • AMD Radeon Software Driver 20.11.2 or newer
  • Latest Motherboard BIOS (AMD AGESA 1.1.0.0 or newer)

AMD currently recommends these X570 motherboards, because they have updated BIOS available :

 

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NVIDIA To Introduce Resizable BAR In February 2021!

NVIDIA just announced that they will introduce Resizable BAR support at the end of February 2021!

Find out what Resizable BAR is all about, and why it matters!

 

Resizable BAR : What Is It?

Resizable BAR is an optional PCI Express feature, that can deliver a small but free boost in performance for the graphics card.

CPUs are traditionally limited to a 256 MB I/O memory address region for the GPU frame buffer. The CPU can only transfer data like textures, shaders and geometry to the GPU through that small 256 MB “window”.

Turning on Resizable BAR expands that small access window, letting the CPU directly access the GPU’s entire frame buffer memory.

Those graphics assets can thus be sent in full, instead of in pieces. In addition, multiple transfers can occur simultaneously, instead of being queued up.

 

NVIDIA To Introduce Resizable BAR In February 2021!

AMD was first out the door with Resizable BAR in November 2020, launching it as Smart Access Memory.

It gave their Radeon RX 6800 XT graphics card a free performance boost of up to 16% in some games, but no effect in other games.

You can check out the performance difference in our article, RX 6800 XT Smart Access Memory Performance Comparison!

On 12 January 2021, NVIDIA announced that they will be able to introduce Resizable BAR support in GeForce drivers from Late February 2021 onwards.

It will be limited to their GeForce RTX 30 series graphics cards and laptops, but will work with both Intel and AMD CPUs.

The newly announced GeForce RTX 3060 will ship with support for Resizable BAR. However, older GeForce RTX 30 series cards will need to have their VBIOS updated from March 2021 onwards.

The motherboard must also be updated with Resizable BAR support. According to Intel, this will be limited to 11th Gen platforms, and select 10th Gen platforms.

So ironically, Resizable BAR will first work on GeForce RTX 30 series graphics cards paired with AMD Ryzen 5000 processors and AMD 500-series motherboards!

 

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Vulkan Ray Tracing (Quake 2 RTX) On AMD Radeon RX 6800!

Take a look at the AMD Radeon RX 6800’s Vulkan Ray Tracing performance in Quake 2 RTX – the world’s first cross-vendor Vulkan Ray Tracing game!

 

Vulkan Ray Tracing : What Is It?

Vulkan is an open-source and cross-platform graphics API. It offers better performance to graphics APIs like OpenGL, DirectX and Metal.

In November 2020, The Khronos Group released the final Vulkan Ray Tracing extension specifications, followed by an upgraded Vulkan SDK with full Ray Tracing support on 15 December 2020.

This allows developers to easily integrate ray tracing into their games for any GPU that supports the “VK_KHR_ray_tracing_pipeline” extension.

 

Vulkan Ray Tracing (Quake 2 RTX) On AMD Radeon RX 6800!

On 15 December 2020, Quake 2 RTX was updated to support Vulkan Ray Tracing, becoming the world’s first game to support it!

With support for Vulkan Ray Tracing, not only can NVIDIA RTX cards run Quake 2 RTX, so can the new AMD Radeon 6000 series graphics cards!

So we thought – what the heck, let’s give the Radeon RX 6800 a spin, and see how well it does in Quake 2 RTX!

1080p Resolution

At the 1080p resolution, the Radeon RX 6800 was able to maintain an average frame rate of between 55-65 fps. Definitely the best resolution to play.

1440p Resolution

At the 1440p resolution, the Radeon RX 6800 was able to maintain an average frame rate of between 35-42 fps. Quite playable.

4K Resolution

At the 4K resolution, the Radeon RX 6800 was only able to deliver an average frame rate of between 15-18 fps. Real jerky!

 

Quake 2 RTX : Vulkan Ray Tracing Requirements

This is what you require :

  • Download and install Quake 2 RTX 1.4.0 or newer
  • AMD
    – Requires Radeon RX 6000 series, or future RDNA 2, cards.
    – Upgrade to Radeon Software Adrenalin 2020 Edition 20.11.2 Beta or newer
  • NVIDIA
    – Requires GeForce RTX / Quadro RTX graphics cards.
    – Upgrade to Game Ready Driver 460.89 (Windows) or 460.27.04 (Linux), or newer

 

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Quake 2 RTX Now Supports Vulkan Ray Tracing!

Quake 2 RTX now supports Vulkan Ray Tracing, which means it will also work on AMD graphics cards! Here are the details!

 

Quake 2 RTX : What Is It?

Initially released in June 2019, Quake II RTX revamps the classic first-person shooter game with ray-traced lighting, shadows and reflections.

In addition to the ray tracing effects, NVIDIA also introduced new path-traced visual effects, improved texturing and dozens of other changes and improvements.

 

Quake 2 RTX Now Supports Vulkan Ray Tracing!

Quake 2 RTX originally supported only NVIDIA RTX cards, but the newly-released version 1.4.0 adds support for the new Vulkan Ray Tracing API.

Quake 2 RTX 1.4.0 will dynamically between the pre-existing NVIDIA VKRay and the new Khronos Vulkan ray tracing extension, making it the world’s first cross-vendor ray tracing Vulkan game!

This means it can now run on any GPU that supports the “VK_KHR_ray_tracing_pipeline” extension, including the recently-launched AMD Radeon RX 6000 series graphics cards.

The Quake 2 RTX 1.4.0 also adds temporal upscaling, TAAU, for improved image quality at lower resolution scales.

 

Quake 2 RTX : Vulkan Ray Tracing Requirements

To try out its new Vulkan Ray Tracing capability, this is what you require :

  • Download and install Quake 2 RTX 1.4.0 or newer
  • AMD
    – Requires Radeon RX 6000 series, or future RDNA 2, cards.
    – Upgrade to Radeon Software Adrenalin 2020 Edition 20.11.2 Beta or newer
  • NVIDIA
    – Requires GeForce RTX / Quadro RTX graphics cards.
    – Upgrade to Game Ready Driver 460.89 (Windows) or 460.27.04 (Linux), or newer

 

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RTX 3070 / 3080 / 3090 Availability Not The BIG Problem…

The availability of GeForce RTX 3070, RTX 3080 and RTX 3090 graphics cards is not really the BIG problem for most gamers…

There are actually many RTX 3070, RTX 3080 and RTX 3090 graphics cards for sale… if you can afford them!

 

RTX 3070 / 3080 / 3090 Availability Not The BIG Problem…

Together with the newly-launched Radeon RX 6800 XT, the GeForce RTX 3070, RTX 3080 and RTX 3090 are the most popular gaming upgrades this holiday season.

Many gamers are gripping about how difficult it is to buy one, but a quick check reveals that there are really quite a lot of RTX 3070, RTX 3080 and RTX 3090 graphics cards for sale.

Sure, they are not as abundant as the RTX 2080 SUPER, RTX 2070 SUPER and RTX 2060 SUPER when they were launched; but you can still find quite a few of them online.

Here is a list of RTX 3070, RTX 3080 and RTX 3090 graphics cards available online, as of 27 November 2020 :

MALAYSIA

SINGAPORE

UNITED STATES

United Kingdom

AUSTRALIA

 

RTX 3070 / 3080 / 3090 : Their Price Is The BIG Problem!

As the list above shows, there are many shops selling all three cards. The only country where there appears to be some shortage would be the UK.

The bigger problem really is the absurd prices some of these cards are selling for at these online shops.

The GeForce RTX 3070 has a starting price of $499, while the GeForce RTX 3080 has a starting price of $699. Yet they are both selling for 2-3X that in the US and the UK, and 50-100% more in other countries.

Only the GeForce RTX 3090, with its astronomical starting price of $1,499, has not seen ridiculous price scalping. It is only 20-30% more expensive around the world.

Of course, price is highly-dependent on supply and demand, but that is partly because NVIDIA and their partners appear to be closing an eye on scalping.

Until there is some price control, it appears to be profitable for some retailers to hold onto their cards, and offer them at high price points.

The only way around this is for consumers to hold off on buying overpriced cards, and opt for older cards with far better value instead.

What’s wrong with the RTX 2080 SUPER, RTX 2070 SUPER and RTX 2060 SUPER? Absolutely nothing.

So they are not the fastest cards in the world, but they are still very powerful graphics cards in their own right. Heck, are you buying a graphics card to play games, or to show off?

Instead of getting frustrated at scalpers, buy the best value graphics card you can afford and go play some games!

 

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RX 6800 XT Smart Access Memory Performance Comparison!

Find out what AMD Smart Access Memory is all about, and how much of a performance effect it really has on the Radeon RX 6800 XT graphics card!

 

RX 6800 XT Smart Access Memory : How Does It Improve Performance?

Smart Access Memory is really a marketing term for AMD’s implementation of the PCI Express Resizable BAR (Base Address Registers) capability.

CPUs are traditionally limited to a 256 MB I/O memory address “window” for the GPU frame buffer.

Turning on Resizable BAR or Smart Access Memory removes that small access window, letting the CPU directly access the Radeon RX 6800 XT‘s graphics memory.

While the AMD graphics above suggest that Smart Access Memory will widen the memory path, and thus memory bandwidth, between the CPU and GPU, that’s not true.

It does not increase memory bandwidth. Instead, it speeds up CPU to GPU communications, by letting the CPU directly access more of GPU memory, instead of using the usual 256 MB “window”.

Recommended : AMD Smart Access Memory – How To Enable It?

 

RX 6800 XT Smart Access Memory : 3DMark

The 3DMark benchmark results don’t show any significant performance difference, with Smart Access Memory enabled.

 

RX 6800 XT Smart Access Memory : Game Performance Summary

But let’s look at its effect on the real world gaming performance…

Let’s start with a bird’s eye look at the performance effect of Smart Access Memory on the Radeon RX 6800 XT‘s performance.

For more detailed look at Smart Access Memory’s effect on each game, please click to the next page.

1080p Resolution (1920 x 1080)

At 1080p, Smart Access Memory improved frame rates by about 4.33%, and does not always give a performance boost to the Radeon RX 6800 XT.

It had virtually no performance effect in World War Z, The Division 2 and Star Control : Origins.

On the other hand, it delivered up to 16% better frame rates in Total War : Troy.

1440p Resolution (2560 x 1440)

Smart Access Memory had a bigger (5.22% average) effect on the Radeon RX 6800 XT at 1440p.

It had no effect in four games – Metro Exodus, World War Z, The Division 2 and Star Control : Origins.

But it has a large 10%-11% performance boost in F1 2019, Total War : Troy, Dirt 5 and Gears Tactics.

2160p Resolution (3840 x 2160)

At the 4K resolution though, the average performance boost from Smart Access Memory dropped to just 3.11%.

Most of the games had insignificant boosts in frame rates of 2-3%. Oddly enough, World War Z received a significant 4% boost in frame rate at 4K.

F1 2019 received the biggest boost from Smart Access Memory – a large 14% boost in frame rate!

Next Page > RX 6800 XT Smart Access Memory Game Performance

 

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RX 6800 XT Smart Access Memory : Gaming Performance

F1 2019

F1 2019 really benefited from Smart Access Memory, with significant boosts in frame rates :

  • 1080p : +6.0%
  • 1440p : +10.8%
  • 2160p : +14.0%

Metro Exodus

On the other hand, Smart Access Memory had no effect on Metro Exodus.

World War Z

World War Z had uneven results with Smart Access Memory, with the greater effect at 4K :

  • 1080p : -1.3%
  • 1440p : +0.5%
  • 2160p : +4.0%

Total War : Troy

Total War : Troy benefited greatly from Smart Access Memory, especially at the 1080p and 1440p resolutions.

  • 1080p : +15.7%
  • 1440p : +10.0%
  • 2160p : +4.0%

The Division 2

The Division 2 actually performed slightly worse with Smart Access Memory enabled :

  • 1080p : -0.6%
  • 1440p : No difference
  • 2160p : -1.5%

Dirt 5

Dirt 5 benefited the most at the 1440p resolution :

  • 1080p : +4.0%
  • 1440p : +10.3%
  • 2160p : +2.5%

Shadow of the Tomb Raider

Shadow of the Tomb Raider 5 benefited the most at the 1080p and 1440p resolutions :

  • 1080p : +7.9%
  • 1440p : +5.5%
  • 2160p : +4.0%

Gears Tactics

Gears Tactics benefited the most at the 1080p and 1440p resolutions :

  • 1080p : +5.7%
  • 1440p : +9.6%
  • 2160p : +3.3%

Star Control: Origins

Smart Access Memory had no effect on Star Control: Origins.

 

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Cyberpunk 2077 : AMD Ray Tracing NOT Available At Launch!

Sadly, it has now been confirmed that Cyberpunk 2077 will NOT support ray tracing on AMD RDNA 2 graphics cards when it launches… 😥

 

Cyberpunk 2077 Ray Tracing on AMD Cards : Yes? No? Maybe?

Back in October 2020, CD PROJEKT RED art director Jakup Knapik confirmed, in a PC Gamer interview, that only NVIDIA GeForce cards will support ray tracing at launch.

However, CD PROJEKT RED lead PR manager Radek Adam Grabowski, later clarified that Cyberpunk 2077 ray tracing is based on DirectX Raytracing (DXR).

“CP2077’s implementation of ray tracing is based on fully standard DirectX Raytracing (DXR)”

Even NVIDIA’s Brian Burke noted that Cyberpunk 2077 uses the industry-standard DirectX Raytracing API :

“Cyberpunk 2077 uses the industry standard DirectX Ray Tracing API. It will work on any DXR-compatible GPU. Nothing related to Cyberpunk 2077 ray tracing is proprietary to NVIDIA”

 

Cyberpunk 2077 : Ray Tracing NOT Available For AMD Cards At Launch!

When CD PROJEKT RED announced updated system requirements for Cyberpunk 2077, many noticed something odd.

While they listed the new Radeon RX 6800 XT, it was for Cyberpunk 2077 without ray tracing. It was not mentioned in the “ray tracing enabled” section.

CD PROJEKT RED later confirmed that AMD Radeon RX 6000 series cards, which are based on the new RDNA 2 architecture, will NOT support ray tracing on Cyberpunk 2077 when it launches on 10 December 2020.

“We are working together with AMD to integrate ray tracing options for their graphics cards as quickly as possible,” CD PROJEKT RED wrote. “However, this will not be the case when the game launches.”

As Cyberpunk 2077 uses the industry-standard DirectX Raytracing (DXR) API, gamers are wondering – why isn’t it being implemented for AMD RDNA 2 cards?

Technically, they should be able to support ray tracing through the DXR API without any special modification in the. game.

Rumours have it that ray tracing for AMD RDNA 2 cards will be introduced via a patch in 2021.

Is it possible that CD PROJEKT RED worked out a deal with NVIDIA to reserve ray tracing support for GeForce cards for the first few months? 🤔

Tell us what you think!

 

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 Series : Where To Buy?

Malaysia

RTX 3070 : ZOTACZOTAC | MSI | Colorful | GIGABYTE | ASUS
RTX 3080 :
ZOTAC | GIGABYTE | ASUS |
RTX 3090 : ZOTAC | ZOTAC | GALAX | Leadtek | PNY | INNO 3D | MSI | EVGA | ASUS

Singapore

RTX 3070 : ZOTAC | MSI | ASUS | ASUS
RTX 3080 : PALIT
| PALIT | PALIT | GIGABYTE | MSI | GIGABYTE | MSI | AORUS | AORUS
RTX 3090 : ZOTAC
| ZOTAC | ZOTAC | ASUS | GIGABYTE

United States

RTX 3070 : MSI | MSI | ZOTAC | MSI | GIGABYTE | EVGA | ASUS | ZOTAC | ASUS
RTX 3080 : EVGA | ASUS | ZOTAC | MSI | ZOTAC | MSI | ASUS | MSI | NVIDIA | ASUS
RTX 3090 : EVGA | ASUS | MSI | ASUS | MSI | ZOTAC | EVGA | NVIDIA | PNY | GIGABYTE

United Kingdom

RTX 3070 : MSI | PNY | GIGABYTE | GIGABYTE | GIGABYTE | MSI | ZOTAC | MSI | GIGABYTE | ASUS
RTX 3090 : MSI | MSI | ZOTAC | ASUS | GIGABYTE | PALIT | PNY

Australia

RTX 3070 : GIGABYTE | GIGABYTE | MSI | MSI | MSI | ASUS | GIGABYTE | ASUS | ZOTAC | Palit
RTX 3080 : MSI | ASUS | MSI | MSI | NVIDIA | EVGA
RTX 3090 : MSI | MSI | GALAX | MSI | ASUS | MSI

 

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AMD RDNA 2 Architecture : Tech Highlights!

The success of the AMD Radeon RX 6000 series graphics cards is entirely due to the new RDNA 2 architecture.

Take a look at what’s new in the AMD RDNA 2 architecture!

 

AMD RDNA 2 Architecture : Tech Highlights!

The AMD Radeon RX 6000 series graphics cards are built on the new AMD RDNA 2 architecture, which features an enhanced Compute Unit, a new visual pipeline with Ray Accelerators, and the new AMD Infinity Cache.

AMD Infinity Cache

The AMD Infinity Cache is a new and very large 128 MB data cache. Think of it as an L3 cache for the GPU.

AMD added it to dramatically increase memory bandwidth, which reducing memory latency and power consumption.

They claim it delivers up to 3.25X the bandwidth of the 256-bit GDDR6 memory, and up to 2.4X more effective bandwidth per watt.

Recommended :AMD Infinity Cache Explained : L3 Cache Comes To The GPU!

New Ray Accelerator

RDNA 2 introduces a new Ray Accelerator – one for each Compute Unit.

The Ray Accelerator is a fixed-function ray tracing acceleration engine to deliver real-time lighting, shadow and reflection realism through DirectX Raytracing (DXR).

It will calculate the intersections of the rays with the scene geometry as represented in a Bounding Volume Hierarchy, sort them, and return the information to the shaders for further scene traversal or result shading.

Each Ray Accelerator can calculate up to 4 rays per box intersections or 1 ray per triangle intersection per clock cycle.

Variable Rate Shading

Variable rate shading allows the GPU to better use its limited processing capability by focusing on the most important parts of the frame.

AMD RDNA 2 has variable rate shading built throughout the entire pixel pipeline, with 1 x 1, 2 x 1, 1 x 2 and 2x 2 shading rates.

RDNA 2 also allows for very fine granularity – a different shading rate can to be selected for every 8 x 8 pixels region.

Hardware Decoding + Encoding

RDNA. 2 also introduces support for hardware 8K and AV1 decoding, allowing you to stream and watch video with virtually no performance impact.

Codecs Decode Encode
VP9 4K @ 90 fps
8K @ 24 fps
H.264 1080p @ 600 fps
4K @ 150 fps
1080p @ 360 fps
4K @ 90 fps
H.265 1080p @ 360 fps
4K @ 90 fps
8K @ 24 fps
1080p @ 360 fps
4K @ 60 fps
AV1 8K @ 30 fps

 

Recommended Reading

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AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT Review : RDNA 2 Rocks!

Thanks to the new RDNA 2 architecture, AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT is a killer graphics card, with serious raytracing chops!

Find out why we gave the Radeon RX 6800 XT our Editor’s Choice Award!

 

AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT : Powered By RDNA 2!

  • DirectX 12 Ultimate – offering support for the next-generation games with DirectX Raytracing and Variable Rate Shading.
  • New Ray Accelerator – delivers real-time lighting, shadow and reflection realism through DirectX Raytracing.
  • Variable Rate Sharing (VRS) – dynamically reduces shading rate for better performance at little to no loss in image quality.
  • DirectStorage Support – delivers faster load times and high-quality textures in the future.

 

AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT : Price + Availability

The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT has a RRP of US$649, and will be available for sale starting 18 November 2020.

Custom boards will be available from brands like ASRock, ASUS, Gigabyte starting in November 2020.

 

AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT : Specifications

This table summarises how the RX 6800 XT compares against the RX 6900 XT and the RX 6800.

Specifications Radeon RX
6900 XT
Radeon RX
6800 XT
Radeon RX
6800
Transistors 26.8 billion
Fab Process 7 nm
Die Size 519 mm²
Total Graphics Power 300 W 250 W
Compute Units 80 72 60
Ray Accelerators 80 72 60
Stream Processors 5120 4608 3840
Game Clock 2015 MHz 2015 MHz 1815 MHz
Boost Clock 2250 MHz 2250 MHz 2105 MHz
TFLOPS 23.04 20.74 16.17
TMUs 320 288 240
Max. Texture Rate 720 GT/s 648 GT/s 505 GT/s
ROPs 128 96
Max. Pixel Rate 288 GP/s 202 GP/s
Infinity Cache 128 MB
Graphics Memory 16 GB GDDR6 (16 Gbps)
Bus Width 256-bit
Bandwidth 512 GB/s
PCIe Interface PCIe 4.0 x16

 

Unboxing The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT!

The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT comes in a large and heavy cardboard box. Very heavy duty, with thick foam packaging.

AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT : Hands-On Experience!

Let’s take a closer look at the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT in our hands-on video, and pictures.

Be careful when you handle it, because it is a rather bulky and heavy card.

That’s partly because it comes with a large (and heavy) 2.5-slot cooler with triple axial fans.

The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT is kept cool by a really thick heatsink, covered by a shroud with triple axial fans.

Part of the reason why it’s so heavy – it has a full-length die-cast aluminium backplate at the back.

Here you can see its thick heatsink, and how its cooler is designed to suck in air from the front of the card, and exhaust the hot air from the top and the bottom of the card.

It has four display connectors. From left to right : one USB Type C port, two DisplayPort 1.4 ports, and one HDMI 2.1 port.

The card uses up to 300 watts of power, and comes with two 8-pin PCI Express power connectors.

It should work with two 6-pin power cables though – both 8-pin and 6-pin cables deliver 150 watts.

AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT supports PCI Express 4.0, which offers double the bandwidth of PCI Express 3.0.

However, that requires you to use a PCI Express 4.0 motherboard, like the recommended AMD X570 motherboards.

But do not fret if you are on the Intel platform. It is backward-compatible with PCI Express 3.0, and will work just fine with PCIe 3.0 motherboards.

Next Page > Acoustics, Temperature, 3DMark Performance

 

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AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT : Benchmarking Notes

In this review, we will take a look at its gaming performance (with and without Smart Access Memory), and compare it to seven other graphics cards :

Here is a quick comparison of their key specifications:

Min. Texture
Fill Rate
Min. Pixel
Fill Rate
Graphics
Memory
Memory
Bandwidth
Radeon RX 6800 XT 580.3 GT/s 257.9 GP/s 16 GB GDDR6 512 GB/s
GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 331.5 GT/s 130.2 GP/s 11 GB GDDR5X 484 GB/s
GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER 316.8 GT/s 105.6 GP/s 8 GB GDDR6 496 GB/s
Radeon RX 5700 XT 256.8 GT/s 102.7 GP/s 8 GB GDDR6 448 GB/s
GeForce GTX 2070 SUPER 256.8 GT/s 102.7 GP/s 8 GB GDDR6 448 GB/s
GeForce GTX 1070 Ti 224.3 GT/s 102.8 GP/s 8 GB GDDR5 256 GB/s
Radeon RX 5700 211 GT/s 93.8 GP/s 8 GB GDDR6 448 GB/s
GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER 199.9 GT/s 94.1 GP/s 8 GB GDDR6 448 GB/s

Here are the specifications of the AMD testbed we used.

Processor AMD Ryzen 9 5950X
Motherboard ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Hero
Memory Speed G.SKILL Sniper X DDR4-3400 (8 GB x 2)
Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4-3200 (8 GB x 2)
Monitor Dell P2415Q Ultra HD Monitor
Storage 1TB SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD
Operating System Microsoft Windows 10 (64-bit)
Graphics Drivers NVIDIA GameReady Driver 457.30
AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 20.45.01.12-11.6 Beta

 

AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT : In Action!

Our testbed pairs the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X processor with the ASUS CROSSHAIR VIII Hero (AMD X570) motherboard, with 32 GB of DDR4 memory.

Take a look at the Radeon RX 6800 XT in action, and listen to how quiet it sounds… even when it revs up during the strenuous part of the test!

 

AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT : Peak Exhaust Temperature

We recorded the peak exhaust temperatures of those cards, to see how much heat they throw out. Take a look…

Note that these are not the recorded temperatures, but how much hotter the exhaust air is above ambient temperature.

Rated for 300 watts, AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT is definitely a hot card, blowing out really hot air like a hairdryer. The good news is – its triple axial fans are quiet even during the most strenuous tests.

But please make sure your case is well-ventilated, as the hot air is expelled from the top and bottom of the card, and will recirculate within the case.

It will get really, REALLY hot inside the chassis if you don’t ventilate well!

 

AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT Performance : 3DMark

We used 3DMark’s Time Spy and Time Spy Extreme synthetic benchmarks, which offers a great approximation of gaming performance in general.

The Time Spy and Time Spy Extreme benchmarks support DirectX 12, and the latest features like asynchronous compute, and multi-threading support.

Time Spy – 2560 x 1440

Look at that! The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT was about 52% faster than the RTX 2080 SUPER, and 73% faster than the RTX 2070 SUPER!

In the overall gaming score, the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT ends up about 42% faster than the RTX 2080 SUPER, and 58% faster than the RTX 2070 SUPER. Very impressive!

Time Spy Extreme – 3840 x 2160

At the higher 4K resolution, the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT did even better – it was about 56% faster than the RTX 2080 SUPER, and 77% faster than the RTX 2070 SUPER!

In the overall score, the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT was about 48% faster than the RTX 2080 SUPER, and 65% faster than the RTX 2070 SUPER!

Port Royal (Ray Tracing)

Nice! The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT was about 29% faster than the RTX 2080 SUPER, and 49% faster than the RTX 2070 SUPER in ray tracing!

DirectX Raytracing Test

We ran the standalone DirectX Raytracing test too, and it confirmed that the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT was about 22% faster than the RTX 2080 SUPER, and 47% faster than the RTX 2070 SUPER in ray tracing!

PCI Express Bandwidth

The AMD cards all support PCI Express 4.0, which gives them an edge over the NVIDIA cards.

Next Page > Game Tests : F1 2019, World War Z, Division 2

 

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AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT Performance : F1 2019

F1 2019 is a racing game by Codemasters, released on 28 June 2019.

We tested it on three resolutions at the Ultra High settings :

  • 1080p : 1920 x 1080
  • 1440p : 2560 x 1440
  • 2160p : 3840 x 2160

1080p Gaming Resolution

Very impressive! The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT was about 48% faster than the RTX 2080 SUPER, and 53% faster than the RX 5700 XT!

When we turned on Smart Access Memory, it was about 58% faster than the RTX 2080 SUPER, and 62% faster than the RX 5700 XT!

1440p Gaming Resolution

At 1440p, the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT pulled further ahead – it was about 57% faster than the RTX 2080 SUPER, and 64% faster than the RX 5700 XT!

When we turned on Smart Access Memory, it was about 74% faster than the RTX 2080 SUPER, and 82% faster than the RX 5700 XT!

2160p Gaming Resolution

Look at that! It was far ahead of the competition at 4K!

The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT was about 61% faster than the RTX 2080 SUPER, and 77% faster than the RX 5700 XT!

With Smart Access Memory enabled, it was about 84% faster than the RTX 2080 SUPER, and 2X faster than the RX 5700 XT!

 

AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT Performance : World War Z

Based on the 2013 movie, World War Z is a relatively new third-person shooter game, released in April 2019.

We tested it on three resolutions using the Vulkan API at the Ultra High settings :

  • 1080p : 1920 x 1080
  • 1440p : 2560 x 1440
  • 2160p : 3840 x 2160

1080p Gaming Resolution

At 1080p, the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT was only 11% faster than the RTX 2080 SUPER, and 21% faster than the RX 5700 XT and RTX 2070 SUPER.

Smart Access Memory did not make much of a difference – it was about 13% faster than the RTX 2080 SUPER, and 23% faster than the RX 5700 XT and RTX 2070 SUPER.

1440p Gaming Resolution

But when we ramped up the resolution, the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT showed its real mettle!

With or without Smart Access Memory, it was 52% faster than the RTX 2080 SUPER70% faster than the RTX 2070 SUPER, and 75% faster than the RX 5700 XT.

2160p Gaming Resolution

The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT further extended its lead at the 4K resolution.

It was now 69% faster than the RTX 2080 SUPER92% faster than the RTX 2070 SUPER, and 2X faster than the RX 5700 XT.

With Smart Access Memory enabled, it was 76% faster than the RTX 2080 SUPER2X faster than the RTX 2070 SUPER, and 2.1X faster than the RX 5700 XT.

 

AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT Performance : The Division 2

Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 is a new third-person shooter game released in March 2019.

We tested it on three resolutions using the Extreme settings :

  • 1080p : 1920 x 1080
  • 1440p : 2560 x 1440
  • 2160p : 3840 x 2160

1080p Gaming Resolution

Nice! The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT was 49% faster than the RTX 2080 SUPER68% faster than the RTX 2070 SUPER, and 74% faster than the RX 5700 XT.

1440p Gaming Resolution

At the higher 1440p resolution, the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT was 49% faster than the RTX 2080 SUPER75% faster than the RTX 2070 SUPER, and 85% faster than the RX 5700 XT.

2160p Gaming Resolution

At 4K, the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT was 44% faster than the RTX 2080 SUPER71% faster than the RTX 2070 SUPER, and 97% faster than the RX 5700 XT.

Next Page > Game Tests : Dirt 5, Metro Exodus, Gears Tactics

 

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AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT Performance : Dirt 5

Dirt 5 is a brand new off-road racing game by Codemasters, released on 6 November 2020.

We tested it on three resolutions using the Ultra High settings :

  • 1080p : 1920 x 1080
  • 1440p : 2560 x 1440
  • 2160p : 3840 x 2160

Note : This game appears to be highly-optimised for AMD graphics cards.

1080p Gaming Resolution

 

Look at that! The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT was 70% faster than the RX 5700 XT72% faster than the RTX 2080 SUPER, and 97% faster than the RX 5700 and RTX 2070 SUPER.

Smart Access Memory gave it a small boost, making it 77% faster than the RX 5700 XT79% faster than the RTX 2080 SUPER, and 2X faster than the RX 5700 and RTX 2070 SUPER.

1440p Gaming Resolution

At this higher resolution, the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT was 64% faster than the RTX 2080 SUPER73% faster than the RX 5700 XT, and 87% faster than the RTX 2070 SUPER.

With Smart Access Memory enabled, it was 80% faster than the RTX 2080 SUPER91% faster than the RX 5700 XT, and 2X faster than the RTX 2070 SUPER.

2160p Gaming Resolution

At 4K, the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT was the only card capable of delivering frame rates in excess of 60 fps with maximum image quality.

It was 65% faster than the RTX 2080 SUPER, and 88% faster than the RX 5700 XT and the RTX 2070 SUPER.

With Smart Access Memory enabled, it was 69% faster than the RTX 2080 SUPER, and 93% faster than the RX 5700 XT and the RTX 2070 SUPER.

 

AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT Performance : Metro Exodus

Metro Exodus is a first-person shooter game released in February 2019.

We tested it on three resolutions using the Extreme settings :

  • 1080p : 1920 x 1080
  • 1440p : 2560 x 1440
  • 2160p : 3840 x 2160

1080p Gaming Resolution

Nice! The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT was 44% faster than the RTX 2080 SUPER, and 63% faster than the RTX 2070 SUPER, and 71% faster than the GTX 1080 Ti and the RX 5700 XT.

1440p Gaming Resolution

At 1440p, the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT was 45% faster than the RTX 2080 SUPER, and 67% faster than the RTX 2070 SUPER72% faster than the GTX 1080 Ti, and 77% faster than the RX 5700 XT.

2160p Gaming Resolution

At 4K, the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT was 45% faster than the RTX 2080 SUPER, and 60% faster than the RTX 2070 SUPER68% faster than the GTX 1080 Ti, and 78% faster than the RX 5700 XT.

 

AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT Performance : Gears Tactics

Gears Tactics is a turn-based tactical combat game, released on 28 April 2020.

We tested it on three resolutions using the Extreme settings :

  • 1080p : 1920 x 1080
  • 1440p : 2560 x 1440
  • 2160p : 3840 x 2160

1080p Gaming Resolution

At 1080p, the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT was 10% faster than the RTX 2080 SUPER19% faster than the RX 5700, and 26% faster than the RTX 2070 SUPER.

With Smart Access Memory enabled, it was 16% faster than the RTX 2080 SUPER25% faster than the RX 5700, and 33% faster than the RTX 2070 SUPER.

1440p Gaming Resolution

At 1440p, the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT was 2% faster than the RTX 2080 SUPER14% faster than the RX 5700, and 18% faster than the RTX 2070 SUPER.

With Smart Access Memory enabled, it was 12% faster than the RTX 2080 SUPER25% faster than the RX 5700, and 30% faster than the RTX 2070 SUPER.

2160p Gaming Resolution

That changed at the 4K resolution. Suddenly, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER managed to edge out the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT.

The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT was 5% slower than the RTX 2080 SUPER22% faster than the RTX 2070 SUPER, and 30% faster than the RX 5700 and the RTX 2060 SUPER.

With Smart Access Memory enabled, it was 2% slower than the RTX 2080 SUPER27% faster than the RTX 2070 SUPER, and 35% faster than the RX 5700 and the RTX 2060 SUPER.

Next Page > Game Tests : Star Control, Tomb Raider, TROY

 

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AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT Performance : Star Control : Origins

Star Control : Origins is a procedurally-generated action adventure game, released on 20 September 2018.

We tested it on three resolutions using the Great Graphics settings :

  • 1080p : 1920 x 1080
  • 1440p : 2560 x 1440
  • 2160p : 3840 x 2160

1080p Gaming Resolution

The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT was 27% faster than the RTX 2080 SUPER, 38% faster than the RX 5700 XT, 41% faster than the GTX 1080 Ti, and 42% faster than the RTX 2070 SUPER.

1440p Gaming Resolution

The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT was 30% faster than the RTX 2080 SUPER, 43% faster than the RX 5700 XT, 44% faster than the GTX 1080 Ti, and 48% faster than the RTX 2070 SUPER.

2160p Gaming Resolution

At 4K, the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT was 34% faster than the RTX 2080 SUPER, 51% faster than the RTX 2070 SUPER, 53% faster than the RX 5700 XT, and 55% faster than the GTX 1080 Ti.

 

AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT Performance : Shadow of the Tomb Raider

Shadow of the Tomb Raider is an action adventure game released on 14 September 2018.

We tested it on three resolutions using the Ultra High settings :

  • 1080p : 1920 x 1080
  • 1440p : 2560 x 1440
  • 2160p : 3840 x 2160

1080p Gaming Resolution

At 1080p, the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT was 22% faster than the RTX 2080 SUPER, 40% faster than the RTX 2070 SUPER, 55% faster than the GTX 1080 Ti, and 67% faster than the RX 5700 XT.

With Smart Access Memory enabled, it was 32% faster than the RTX 2080 SUPER, 51% faster than the RTX 2070 SUPER, 67% faster than the GTX 1080 Ti, and 80% faster than the RX 5700 XT.

1440p Gaming Resolution

At 1080p, the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT was 34% faster than the RTX 2080 SUPER, 52% faster than the RTX 2070 SUPER, 69% faster than the GTX 1080 Ti, and 82% faster than the RX 5700 XT.

With Smart Access Memory enabled, it was 41% faster than the RTX 2080 SUPER, 60% faster than the RTX 2070 SUPER, 78% faster than the GTX 1080 Ti, and 92% faster than the RX 5700 XT.

2160p Gaming Resolution

At 4K, the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT was 40% faster than the RTX 2080 SUPER, 63% faster than the RTX 2070 SUPER, 75% faster than the GTX 1080 Ti, and 96% faster than the RX 5700 XT and the RTX 2060 SUPER.

With Smart Access Memory enabled, it was 43% faster than the RTX 2080 SUPER, 67% faster than the RTX 2070 SUPER, 79% faster than the GTX 1080 Ti, and 2X faster than the RX 5700 XT and the RTX 2060 SUPER.

 

AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT Performance : Total War Saga : TROY

Total War Saga : TROY is a new turn-based strategy game released on 13 August 2020.

We tested it on three resolutions using the Ultra settings :

  • 1080p : 1920 x 1080
  • 1440p : 2560 x 1440
  • 2160p : 3840 x 2160

1080p Gaming Resolution

At 1080p, the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT was 20% faster than the RTX 2080 SUPER, 26% faster than the GTX 1080 Ti, 32% faster than the RTX 2070 SUPER, and 47% faster than the RX 5700 XT.

With Smart Access Memory enabled, it was 39% faster than the RTX 2080 SUPER, 46% faster than the GTX 1080 Ti, 53% faster than the RTX 2070 SUPER, and 71% faster than the RX 5700 XT.

1440p Gaming Resolution

At 1440p, the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT was 34% faster than the RTX 2080 SUPER, 43% faster than the GTX 1080 Ti, 48% faster than the RTX 2070 SUPER, and 58% faster than the RX 5700 XT.

With Smart Access Memory enabled, it was 48% faster than the RTX 2080 SUPER, 57% faster than the GTX 1080 Ti, 62% faster than the RTX 2070 SUPER, and 74% faster than the RX 5700 XT.

2160p Gaming Resolution

At 4K, the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT was 36% faster than the RTX 2080 SUPER, 40% faster than the GTX 1080 Ti, 53% faster than the RTX 2070 SUPER, and 69% faster than the RX 5700 XT.

With Smart Access Memory enabled, it was 42% faster than the RTX 2080 SUPER, 46% faster than the GTX 1080 Ti, 59% faster than the RTX 2070 SUPER, and 76% faster than the RX 5700 XT.

Next Page > Radeon RX 6800 XT : Our Verdict + Award

 

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AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT : Our Verdict + Award!

The new RDNA 2 architecture delivered what AMD promised – a serious threat to NVIDIA’s dominance in gaming performance.

The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT is an impressive piece of work, offering seriously good gaming performance, with really competitive ray tracing performance.

Pundits may have been worried about its relatively narrow 256-bit memory bus, but the new Infinity Cache appears to have solved that problem.

The proof is in the pudding, as they say… and our benchmarks have shown that the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT is a leap forward in gaming performance!

Here is a quick summary of its gaming performance over the last-generation Radeon RX 5700 XT.

  • Time Spy | Time Spy Extreme : +91%
  • The Division 2 : +82%
  • Shadow of the Tomb Raider : +77%
  • Metro Exodus : +75%
  • Dirt 5 : +75%
  • F1 2019 : +61%
  • Total War Saga TROY : +55%
  • World War Z : +53%
  • Star Control Origins : +44%
  • Gears Tactics : +27%

And here is how it compares against NVIDIA’s last-generation GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER.

  • Dirt 5 : +68%
  • Time Spy | Time Spy Extreme : +55%
  • F1 2019 : +54%
  • The Division 2 : +49%
  • Metro Exodus : +45%
  • World War Z : +36%
  • Star Control Origins : +30%
  • Shadow of the Tomb Raider : +29%
  • Total War Saga TROY : +28%
  • Gears Tactics : +12%

As you can see, we are talking about a completely new level of gaming performance. Significant enough that it’s worth upgrading from the last-generation cards, never mind older cards!

But we do have to caution you about one thing – its considerable heat output. With a board power of 300 watts, the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT produces A LOT of heat.

Fortunately, the triple axial fans are more than capable of keeping it cool… while remaining very quiet.

However, the heat it produces may interfere with CPU performance, if you are pairing it with powerful but hot 16-core AMD Ryzen 9 5950X processor.

If you do not ensure that there is adequate ventilation inside the case, the heat build-up could result in thermal throttling of the CPU and/or graphics card.

That issue aside, we would like to applaud AMD for a job well done! The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT is an awesome graphics card, and it deserves no less than our Editor’s Choice Award!

 

AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT : Price + Availability

The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT has a RRP of US$649, and will be available for sale starting 18 November 2020.

Custom boards will be available from brands like ASRock, ASUS, Gigabyte starting in November 2020.

 

Recommended Reading

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AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT Preview : RDNA 2 In Action!

We have been playing around with the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT and here is our preview of the first RDNA 2 graphics card!

Take a look at our unboxing and hands-on videos, as well as the Radeon RX 6800 XT in action!

 

AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT : A Quick Primer!

The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT is one of three Radeon RX 6000 series graphics cards. Based on the new AMD RDNA 2 architecture, they offer these key features :

  • AMD Infinity Cache – a large 128 MB data cache that dramatically reduces memory latency and power consumption.
  • AMD Smart Access Memory – offers the Ryzen 5000 series processor greater access to its GDDR6 graphics memory for better gaming performance.
  • DirectX 12 Ultimate – offering support for the next-generation games with DirectX Raytracing and Variable Rate Shading.
  • New Ray Accelerator – delivers real-time lighting, shadow and reflection realism through DirectX Raytracing.
  • Variable Rate Sharing (VRS) – dynamically reduces shading rate for better performance at little to no loss in image quality.
  • DirectStorage Support – delivers faster load times and high-quality textures in the future.

 

AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT : Price + Availability

The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT has a RRP of US$649, and will be available for sale starting 18 November 2020.

Custom boards will be available from brands like ASRock, ASUS, Gigabyte starting in November 2020.

 

AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT : Specifications

This table summarises how the RX 6800 XT compares against the RX 6900 XT and the RX 6800.

Specifications Radeon RX
6900 XT
Radeon RX
6800 XT
Radeon RX
6800
Transistors 26.8 billion
Fab Process 7 nm
Die Size 519 mm²
Total Graphics Power 300 W 250 W
Compute Units 80 72 60
Ray Accelerators 80 72 60
Stream Processors 5120 4608 3840
Game Clock 2015 MHz 2015 MHz 1815 MHz
Boost Clock 2250 MHz 2250 MHz 2105 MHz
TFLOPS 23.04 20.74 16.17
TMUs 320 288 240
Max. Texture Rate 720 GT/s 648 GT/s 505 GT/s
ROPs 128 96
Max. Pixel Rate 288 GP/s 202 GP/s
Infinity Cache 128 MB
Graphics Memory 16 GB GDDR6 (16 Gbps)
Bus Width 256-bit
Bandwidth 512 GB/s
PCIe Interface PCIe 4.0 x16

 

Unboxing The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT!

The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT comes in a large and heavy cardboard box. Very heavy duty, with thick foam packaging.

Next Page > Radeon RX 6800 XT Hands-On + In Action!

 

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AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT : Hands-On Experience!

The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT is a rather bulky and heavy card, because it comes with a large 2.5-slot cooler with triple axial fans.

Take a closer look at it in our hands-on video, followed by pictures of the card.

It features a die-cast aluminium backplate at the back.

Here you can see its thick heatsink, and how its cooler is designed to suck in air from the front of the card, and exhaust the hot air from the top and the bottom of the card.

It has four display connectors. From left to right : one USB Type C port, two DisplayPort 1.4 ports, and one HDMI 2.1 port.

The card uses up to 300 watts of power, and comes with two 8-pin PCI Express power connectors.

It should work with two 6-pin power cables though – both 8-pin and 6-pin cables deliver 150 watts.

AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT supports PCI Express 4.0, which offers double the bandwidth of PCI Express 3.0.

However, that requires you to use a PCI Express 4.0 motherboard, like the recommended AMD X570 motherboards.

But do not fret if you are on the Intel platform. It is backward-compatible with PCI Express 3.0, and will work just fine with PCIe 3.0 motherboards.

 

AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT : In Action!

Our testbed pairs the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X processor with the ASUS CROSSHAIR VIII Hero (AMD X570) motherboard, with 32 GB of DDR4 memory.

Our benchmark results will be released tomorrow, but in the meantime, you can take a look at the Radeon RX 6800 XT in action, running 3DMark Time Spy Extreme.

Be sure to come back and check our comprehensive review tomorrow, with benchmark results!

 

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AMD Infinity Cache Explained : L3 Cache Comes To The GPU!

Infinity Cache is a brand new feature being introduced in the new Radeon RX 6000 Series graphics cards.

Find out what Infinity Cache does, and how much of an effect it has on gaming performance!

 

AMD Infinity Cache : Part Of RDNA2 Architecture

The new AMD RDNA 2 architecture introduces an enhanced compute unit, a new visual pipeline, and the all-new AMD Infinity Cache.

Thanks to these new features, RDNA 2 promises to deliver up to 54% better performance per watt over the last-generation RDNA, and up to 2.17X more bandwidth with its new Infinity Cache.

 

AMD Infinity Cache : L3 Cache Comes To The GPU!

AMD Radeon GPUs based on GCN and RDNA architectures have both L1 and L2 caches to keep the compute cores “fed” with data.

In the last-generation RDNA architecture, the per-core L1 cache was combined into a new 128 KB L1 cache that is shared by two Compute Units.

The 4 MB graphics L2 cache is shared globally by all of the Compute Units in the GPU.

In the new RDNA 2 architecture, AMD added Infinity Cache – a 128 MB on-die cache. This is obviously a very large L3 cache.

Even their recently announced Ryzen 9 5950X and Ryzen 9 5900X processors only come with 64 MB L3 caches.

While common in modern CPUs, this is probably the first time an L3 cache is used in a GPU.

The new NVIDIA Ampere, in comparison, uses larger L2 caches instead – 40 MB in the A100 and 6 MB in the GA102.

 

AMD Infinity Cache : Performance Implications

When AMD revealed the Radeon RTX 6000 series, many people noticed that all three cards only came with a 256-bit memory interface and still use GDDR6 memory.

That’s hardly competitive against the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 Series graphics cards, with their GDDR6X memory and much wider 384-bit and 320-bit memory interfaces.

That’s where Infinity Cache comes in – it lets AMD double the memory bandwidth and reduce power consumption, while using a narrower 256-bit interface and slower GDDR6 memory.

Of the 54% boost in performance-per-watt AMD reported, it appears that more than a third of that improvement can be attributed to Infinity Cache.

Do note though that AMD is talking about performance-per-watt, not performance improvement per se.

Keeping that in mind, AMD says RDNA 2 offers twice the performance of the last-generation RDNA architecture, represented here by the Radeon RX 5700 XT.

While AMD has not shared exactly how much that performance improvement is due to Infinity Cache, we have no doubt it will be substantial, especially in high memory bandwidth use cases like 4K gaming.

We will update this article when we learn more about AMD Infinity Cache, so check back for more information!

 

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Radeon RX 6000 vs GeForce RTX 30 : Faster + Cheaper!

AMD claims that their Radeon RX 6000 graphics cards are faster and cheaper than the GeForce RTX 30 graphics cards NVIDIA recently launched.

Take a look at the performance results comparing their Radeon RX 6000 cards against the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 cards!

 

Radeon RX 6000 vs GeForce RTX 30 : Faster + Cheaper!

The AMD Radeon RX 6000 Series is built upon the new RDNA 2 architecture, which introduces an enhanced compute unit, a new visual pipeline, and the all-new AMD Infinity Cache!

RDNA 2 promises to deliver up to 54% better performance per watt over the last-generation RDNA, and up to 3.25X more bandwidth with its new Infinity Cache.

In this video, Dr. Lisa Su, Scott Kerkelman and Laura Smith shares how the new Radeon RX 6000 cards beat NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 30 cards in performance, power efficiency and yes, price!

 

Radeon RX 6000 vs GeForce RTX 30 : Performance Comparison

Caveats

  • These results were provided by AMD, and have yet to be verified by independent reviewers / end users.
  • The games were tested with different APIs (DX12, Vulkan) and the best results were used. They are therefore, not directly comparable.
  • The AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT and RX 6800 cards were tested with Rage Mode and/or Smart Access Memory enabled, which may not reflect real world performance.

Radeon RX 6900 XT vs GeForce RTX 3090 : 4K Gaming Performance

According to AMD, their Radeon RX 6900 XT will match or beat the GeForce RTX 3090, at a much lower price point and significantly lower power consumption.

Radeon RX 6800 XT vs GeForce RTX 3080 : 4K Gaming Performance

At 4K, AMD promises that their Radeon RX 6800 XT will match or beat the GeForce RTX 3080, at a lower price point and with a lower power consumption.

Radeon RX 6800 XT vs GeForce RTX 3080 : 1440p Gaming Performance

At 1440p, the Radeon RX 6800 XT is roughly equal to GeForce RTX 3080 in performance, at a lower price point and with a lower power consumption.

Radeon RX 6800 vs GeForce RTX 2080 Ti : 4K Gaming Performance

Depending on the game, the Radeon RX 6800 will match or be significantly faster than the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti, at a significantly lower price point.

Radeon RX 6800 vs GeForce RTX 2080 Ti : 1440p Gaming Performance

At 1440p, the Radeon RX 6800 is significantly faster than the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti, at a significantly lower price point.

 

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RX 6900 XT, RX 6800 XT, RX 6800 : Features + Specifications!

The AMD Big Navi cards are here – Radeon RX 6900 XT, Radeon RX 6800 XT and Radeon RX 6800!

Take a look at their key features and specifications!

 

Radeon RX 6900 XT | RX 6800 XT | RX 6800 : Key Features

Thanks to its new RDNA 2 architecture, the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT, Radeon RX 6800 XT and Radeon RX 6800 graphics cards offers these key features :

AMD Infinity Cache

This is a large 128 MB last-level data cache built into the die to dramatically reduce memory latency and power consumption.

AMD Smart Access Memory

This is an exclusive feature that is enabled when a Radeon RX 6000 series graphics card is paired with the Ryzen 5000 series processor and an X570 motherboard.

The Ryzen 5000 series processor is given greater access to its GDDR6 graphics memory, providing up to 13% better performance when combined with the new Rage Mode one-click overclocking setting.

DirectX 12 Ultimate Support

They will support the next-generation games with greater realism through DirectX Raytracing (DXR) and Variable Rate Shading.

New Ray Accelerator

Every RDNA 2 computer unit has a new fixed-function Ray Accelerator engine to deliver real-time lighting, shadow and reflection realism through DirectX Raytracing (DXR).

It can be paired with AMD FidelityFX to enable hybrid rendering, offering a combination of rasterised and ray-traced effects for a blend of better image quality and higher performance.

Variable Rate Shading (VRS)

Variable Rate Shading dynamically reduces the shading rate for areas of the frame that do not require a high level of visual quality, improving performance at little to no perceptible loss in image quality.

Microsoft DirectStorage Support

They will support the future DirectStorage API for faster load times, and high-quality textures.

 

Radeon RX 6900 XT | RX 6800 XT | RX 6800 : Design

AMD used the same design for all three models, with the same triple-fan cooler, and dual 8-pin PCIe power connector.

The only difference really is the thicker heatsink for the RX 6900 XT and RX 6800 XT, which results in a bulkier 2.5 card profile.

The Radeon RX 6800 has a thinner heatsink, and a slimmer 2-slot card profile :

 

Radeon RX 6900 XT | RX 6800 XT | RX 6800 : Specifications

Here is a table comparing their key specifications :

Specifications Radeon RX
6900 XT
Radeon RX
6800 XT
Radeon RX
6800
Transistors 26.8 billion
Fab Process 7 nm
Total Graphics Power 300 W 250 W
Compute Units 80 72 60
Ray Accelerators 80 72 60
Stream Processors 5120 4608 3840
Game Clock 2015 MHz 2015 MHz 1815 MHz
Boost Clock 2250 MHz 2250 MHz 2105 MHz
TFLOPS 23.04 20.74 16.17
TMUs 320 288 240
Max. Texture Rate 720 GT/s 648 GT/s 505 GT/s
ROPs 128 96
Max. Pixel Rate 288 GP/s 202 GP/s
Infinity Cache 128 MB
Graphics Memory 16 GB GDDR6 (16 Gbps)
Bus Width 256-bit
Bandwidth 512 GB/s
PCIe Interface PCIe 4.0 x16
PCIe Power 2 x 8-pin

 

Radeon RX 6900 XT | RX 6800 XT | RX 6800 : Price + Availability

All three Radeon RX 6000 series graphic cards will be available at these prices :

  • Radeon RX 6900 XT : US$999 (8 December 2020)
  • Radeon RX 6800 XT : US$649 (18 November 2020)
  • Radeon RX 6800 : US$579 (18 November 2020)

It looks like the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT will only be built using the AMD reference design.

Custom Radeon RX 6800 XT and Radeon RX 6000 boards will be available from brands like ASRock, ASUS, Gigabyte starting in November 2020.

 

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AMD Radeon RX 6000 Series : What You Need To Know!

AMD just revealed the Radeon RX 6000 Series, featuring the Radeon RX 6900 XT, Radeon RX 6800 XT and Radeon RX 6800 graphics cards.

Here is what you need to know about these AMD Big Navi graphics cards, built on the new RDNA 2 architecture!

 

AMD Radeon RX 6000 Series : New RDNA 2 Architecture

The AMD Radeon RX 6000 Series is built upon the new RDNA 2 architecture, which introduces an enhanced compute unit, a new visual pipeline, and the all-new AMD Infinity Cache!

RDNA 2 promises to deliver up to 54% better performance per watt over the last-generation RDNA, and up to 2.17X more bandwidth with its new Infinity Cache.

The enhanced RDNA 2 compute unit also comes with a Ray Accelerator, which offers hardware acceleration of ray tracing workloads.

 

AMD Radeon RX 6000 Series : Key Features

Thanks to its new RDNA 2 architecture, the AMD Radeon RX 6000 Series graphics cards offers these key features :

AMD Infinity Cache

This is a large 128 MB last-level data cache built into the die to dramatically reduce memory latency and power consumption.

AMD Smart Access Memory

This is an exclusive feature that is enabled when a Radeon RX 6000 series graphics card is paired with the Ryzen 5000 series processor and an X570 motherboard.

The Ryzen 5000 processor is given greater access to its GDDR6 graphics memory, providing up to 13% better performance when combined with the new Rage Mode one-click overclocking setting.

DirectX 12 Ultimate Support

They will support the next-generation games with greater realism through DirectX Raytracing (DXR) and Variable Rate Shading.

New Ray Accelerator

Every RDNA 2 computer unit has a new fixed-function Ray Accelerator engine to deliver real-time lighting, shadow and refection realism through DirectX Raytracing (DXR).

It can be paired with AMD FidelityFX to enable hybrid rendering, offering a combination of rasterised and ray-traced effects for a blend of better image quality and higher performance.

Variable Rate Shading (VRS)

Variable Rate Shading dynamically reduces the shading rate for areas of the frame that do not require a high level of visual quality, improving performance at little to no perceptible loss in image quality.

Microsoft DirectStorage Support

They will support the future DirectStorage API for faster load times, and high-quality textures.

 

AMD Radeon RX 6000 Series : Models + Specifications

AMD is introducing three models in the Radeon RX 6000 series :

  • Radeon RX 6900 XT : 80 CUs, 80 RAs, 320 TMUs, 128 ROPs, 16 GB DDR6
  • Radeon RX 6800 XT : 72 CUs, 72 RAs, 288 TMUs, 128 ROPs, 16 GB DDR6
  • Radeon RX 6800 : 60 CUs, 60 RAs, 240 TMUs, 96 ROPs, 16 GB DDR6

Here is a table comparing their key specifications :

Specifications Radeon RX
6900 XT
Radeon RX
6800 XT
Radeon RX
6800
Transistors 26.8 billion
Fab Process 7 nm
Total Graphics Power 300 W 250 W
Compute Units 80 72 60
Ray Accelerators 80 72 60
Stream Processors 5120 4608 3840
Game Clock 2015 MHz 2015 MHz 1815 MHz
Boost Clock 2250 MHz 2250 MHz 2105 MHz
TFLOPS 23.04 20.74 16.17
TMUs 320 288 240
Max. Texture Rate 720 GT/s 648 GT/s 505 GT/s
ROPs 128 96
Max. Pixel Rate 288 GP/s 202 GP/s
Infinity Cache 128 MB
Graphics Memory 16 GB GDDR6 (16 Gbps)
Bus Width 256-bit
Bandwidth 512 GB/s
PCIe Interface PCIe 4.0 x16
PCIe Power 2 x 8-pin

 

AMD Radeon RX 6000 Series : Price + Availability

All three Radeon RX 6000 series graphic cards will be available at these prices :

  • Radeon RX 6900 XT : US$999 (8 December 2020)
  • Radeon RX 6800 XT : US$649 (18 November 2020)
  • Radeon RX 6800 : US$579 (18 November 2020)

It looks like the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT will only be built using the AMD reference design.

Custom Radeon RX 6800 XT and Radeon RX 6000 boards will be available from brands like ASRock, ASUS, Gigabyte starting in November 2020.

 

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