Tag Archives: AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT

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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Get 16 FREE Mercedes-AMG F1 Wallpapers From AMD!

AMD partnered with The Pixelary to create a series of awesome 3D rendered images of the Mercedes-AMG F1 W11 EQ Performance car.

Watch how they managed to cut the rendering time by half using Radeon ProRender 2.0, and get those high-resolution desktop wallpapers!

 

Watch AMD Radeon ProRender 2.0 Render Mercedes-AMG F1 Car!

The 2020 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix marked the end of the 2020 Formula One season, and the first year of the AMD partnership with the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team.

To showcase that relationship, AMD worked with the team, and The Pixelary to create a series of 3D renders of the Mercedes-AMG F1 W11 EQ Performance car.

When the new Radeon ProRender 2.0 was released, they rendered them again using the new Radeon RX 6900 XT, and discovered that it cut their rendering time by half!

Mike Pan of The Pixelary explained how much faster the new combination proved to be :

In some tests performed by AMD, when using the “Full” Radeon ProRender 2.0 render quality mode with the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT graphics card that supports hardware ray tracing, the image above rendered in 516 sec, compared to 1065 sec when rendered with the AMD Radeon VII graphics card that does not support hardware ray tracing.

That is up to a 2.1x reduction in render time [3], which is quite an improvement! On top of that, Radeon ProRender 2.0 also has improved multi-GPU scaling so if we were able to render the same image with two Radeon RX 6900 XT’s, the render times would improve even more.

 

FREE Mercedes-AMG F1 W11 EQ Performance Wallpapers From AMD!

AMD and The Pixelary also made available these incredible photorealistic images of the Mercedes-AMG F1 W11 EQ Performance as high-resolution wallpapers for FREE!

Every download comes with the wallpaper in six different resolutions :

  • 1920 x 1080 pixels
  • 2560 x 1440 pixels
  • 3440 x 1440 pixels
  • 3840 x 1600 pixels
  • 3840 x 2160 pixels
  • 5120 x 2160 pixels

Wallpaper #1 : Click to download

Wallpaper #2 : Click to download

Wallpaper #3 : Click to download

Wallpaper #4 : Click to download

Wallpaper #5 : Click to download

Wallpaper #6 : Click to download

Wallpaper #7 : Click to download

Wallpaper #8 : Click to download

Wallpaper #9 : Click to download

Wallpaper #10 : Click to download

Wallpaper #11 : Click to download

Wallpaper #12 : Click to download

Wallpaper #13 : Click to download

Wallpaper #14 : Click to download

Wallpaper #15 : Click to download

Wallpaper #16 : Click to download

 

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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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AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT : Ultimate Big Navi @ Just $999!

The AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT is here, and it only costs $999… if you can find one!

Here is what you need to know about the ultimate Big Navi graphics card!

 

AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT : Official Tech Briefing + Q&A Session

AMD claims that the Radeon RX 6900 XT is the ultimate 4K graphics card, thanks to its new RDNA 2 architecture with 80 enhanced Compute Units and 16 GB GDDR6 memory.

Let’s start with the official tech briefing and Q&A session with Nish Neelalojanan, Senior Manager of Gaming Product Management at the AMD Radeon Technologies Group.

 

AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT : Key Features

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

Recommended : AMD RDNA 2 Architecture : Tech Highlights!

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.

Recommended : AMD Smart Access Memory (PCIe Resizable BAR) Guide

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!

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 6900 XT : Specifications

The AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT headlines 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 RX
6900 XT
RX
6800 XT
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 6900 XT : Price + Availability

At launch, the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT has a SEP (Suggested E-tail Price) of US$999, which is approximately £749 / A$1,349 / S$1,339 / RM4,069.

As far as we can tell, it will only be available in the AMD reference design, although custom designs may be available at a later date.

 

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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

 

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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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Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support us by visiting our sponsors, participating in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donating to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!