After the release of AMD’s game changing Zen 3 Ryzen 5000 Series CPUs, they have now also released their new series of RDNA 2 Radeon RX 6000 Series GPUs, which are aimed at reinstituting AMD as a top contender in the GPU market; previously dominated by Nvidia for the past few years. 

The least expensive of the three announced RDNA 2 graphics cards, the Radeon RX 6800, is looking to compete against Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 3070 – though it is slightly more expensive. This GPU includes all the new features found in the Radeon RX 6000 Series, including Radeon Anti-lag, which reduces inherent end-to-end input latency, Radeon Boost, which detects fast on-screen motion via user input and dynamically lowers the resolution in order to provide a boost to the framerate, and, perhaps the most important feature, Smart Access Memory. This Zen 3 and RDNA 2 exclusive creates an expanded memory channel between the CPU and GPU, utilizing PCIe bandwidth to provide more VRAM access to the CPU, thus removing the memory bottleneck of the GPU and enhancing its performance by up to 11%.  

In terms of specifications, the Radeon RX 6800’s reference card includes a Navi 21 XL GPU variant, with 26.8 million transistors, and a 520 mm² die size – which is built on a 7 nm TSMC FinFET processing node. It has a Base Clock frequency of 1,700 MHz, a Game Clock frequency of 1,815 MHz, and a Boost Clock Frequency of 2,105 MHz. 16 GB of GDDR6 VRAM are also included, with a memory bus of 256 bits, and a 512 GB/s bandwidth. In terms of rendering power and theoretical performance, it has 3,840 shading units, 240 TMUs, 96 ROPs, 60 compute units, 60 RT cores, and a 128 MB L3 Cache (Infinity Cache) that can output a pixel rate of 202.1 GP/s and a texture rate of 505.2 GT/s. The reference card has a dual-slot width, a length of 267 mm, a width of 120 mm, a height of 40 mm, a TDP of 250 Watts, and one HDMI 2.1 slot, two DP 1.4 slots, and one USB Type-C port for available connectivity.

These reference card specifications, as well as the cooling solution of the GPU, will vary, depending on the aftermarket manufacturer and model. Despite the recent release of the RX 6800, only a few manufacturers have announced detailed specifications and prices for their models. With the information currently available, we have created a list of each aftermarket RX 6800 for you to read, compare, and decide which is right for your new build.

AMD RX 6800 Aftermarket Card Comparison

ASUS ROG Strix RX 6800

When it was found that certain aftermarket manufacturers had used cheaper POSCAPs instead of MLCC capacitors for the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3000 Series GPUs, which resulted in instability and crashes due to interreference during boost/over clocking, ASUS really proved to be a quality-focused manufacturer. Their products were the only AIB GPUs that used an all-MLCC layout, avoiding the issue altogether.

For AMD’s Radeon RX 6800, ASUS is releasing a TUF Gaming variant. This GPU will have a larger 2.9-slot heatsink, which is situated atop a MaxContact base-plate in order to create a larger surface area. It will have three axial-tech designed fans that will be PWM controlled, with the center fan spinning in an alternate direction, designed to avoid turbulence. Two of the three fans will have 13 blades, while the third fan will have 11 blades. The ROG Strix will also have a short, custom made, PCB, with ventilation-holes in the backplate for better airflow. Another unique addition to this GPUs thermal solution, are two FanConnect II headers, which allows one to connect case fans with the GPU, so that they can operate according to its temperature fluctuations. The side-face of the ROG Strix will feature an illuminated RGB display, that appears to bleed through to the fans, so it can be mounted in either orientation without losing its flare. 

Pricing and clock speeds are not yet confirmed for this model, but should be released soon enough.

ASUS RX 6800 TUF Gaming

The second RX 6800 variant that ASUS is looking to release is the TUF Gaming. This GPU will most likely be priced similarly to the reference card, as it offers little in terms of RGB lighting (with only a small accent on the side, running across the top of the TUF Gaming logo). It will have an enlarged 2.9-slot heatsink and a tri-fan setup, with the fans once again having an axial-tech design. Like the ROG Strix, it will incorporate a counter-spinning central fan and a ventilated backplate. If this Radeon RX GPU is to be similar to other TUF Gaming models, the fans will most likely use double ball bearings and PWM controls, and it may also have a separate heatsink to dissipate heat from the VRAM.

Price and clock speeds are, once again, yet to be announced by ASUS.

MSI RX 6800 Gaming X Trio

Of course, MSI couldn’t be absent from the Radeon RX 6800 AIB market, as they are primed to release their Gaming X Trio model. Named after its triple-fan design, which will most likely include double ball bearings, this GPU will feature a TRI FROZR 2 cooling system – with TORX Fan 4.0 fan-blades that are linked in pairs on the outer ring for more concentrated airflow – and PWM controls called Zero Frozr. The Gaming X Trio’s 2.5-slot heatsink will most likely utilize a Wave-Curved 2.0 fin design, meaning that the fins will have angled edges to allow the air to drift through smoothly, eliminating any unnecessary noise. The backplate will be ventilated, in order to optimize airflow, and RGB-lit accents will run across the front and side of the GPU – including an illuminated MSI logo. Unlike the reference card, this GPU will be slightly larger, with a length of 324 mm, a width of 141 mm, and a 55 mm height. It will also not feature a USB Type-C port. 

MSI has yet to release any information in regards to the price and the clock speeds of this GPU.

ASRock RX 6800 Challenger Pro OC

The Taiwanese manufacturer best known for their motherboards, ASRock, will also be joining the Radeon RX 6800 AIB market with two new models; one being the Challenger Pro OC.

Though the clock speeds have not been released for this model, the “OC” in its name indicates it will have slightly faster frequencies than the reference card. The cooling solution of the Challenger Pro OC features a tri-fan design, with Striped Axial Fans that have a “stripe structure” on each blade, as well as a polished surface underneath. These fans will be PWM controlled as well, while the backplate will have four thin ventilation holes to enhance system airflow. Also, noteworthy, is that the backplate is actually shortened; to the point where it does not cover the entire length of the 2.75-slot heatsink. Like most announced aftermarket variants, the dimensions of the GPU will be slightly larger than the reference card: 305 mm in length, 131 mm in width, and 55 mm in height. Another difference is that it will be missing the USB Type-C port, but, in its place, it will have a third DP 1.4 slot. 

Important to mention, is that the Challenger Pro OC will have an integrated Dr.MOS 60-amp power stage, and premium 90-amp power chokes – so it will be optimized for overclocking. Finally, in terms of RGB displays, the Challenger Pro OC will have an illuminated strip with ASRock’s logo on the side.

The prices of ASRock’s aftermarket Radeon RX 6800 GPUs are TBC.

ASRock RX 6800 Phantom Gaming D OC

The other Radeon RX 6800 variant that ASRock will be offering is the Phantom Gaming D OC. Though the OC part of its name references the increased clock speeds it will feature, what the “D” stands for is a mystery.

This GPU has a very similar cooling system to the Challenger Pro OC, with a tri-fan design that utilizes PWM controls, and a shortened backplate that leaves about 20% of the heatsink uncovered – though this backplate does not have the ventilation holes of the Challenger Pro OC. The Phantom Gaming D OC will also include a reinforced metal frame, to prevent the PCB from bending. The dimensions, the integrated power stage, the 90 Amp power chokes, the Nichicon 12K black caps, the 2 oz copper PCB, the high-density glass fabric PCB design, and the overall connectivity will be identical to the Challenger Pro OC.

Where the Phantom Gaming D OC differs to the Challenger Pro OC, is its external design. It has an RGB display on the side, illuminating the Phantom Gaming logo, and the middle fan features translucent blades that will also be RGB-illuminated. These displays can be synchronized via ASRock’s Polychrome software.

As for price and exact clock speeds, these are yet TBD.

The post An Overview of All RX 6800 Aftermarket Cards Announced (So far..) appeared first on PremiumBuilds.

AMD’s RX 6800 hits the shelves on 18^th November. With the new RDNA2 architecture and 16Gb GDDR6 VRAM they are top-performing GPU’s aimed at very high fidelity 1440p gaming, and more than capable at 4K as well. To take advantage of this level of GPU power you need an excellent monitor to pair with the RX 6800.

In this article, we’ll recommend our favourite monitors that pair well with the RX 6800 and maintain the value offering of this GPU.

Things to consider when choosing your perfect monitor for the RX 6800:

The Monitor you use defines many characteristics of the PC. Primarily resolution dictates how well matched it is to the GPU power, with higher resolution being more demanding to run. Secondly refresh rate is important because high frame rates need more GPU power to render frames fast enough. You can trade resolution for the frame rate to an extent: An RX 6800 will run 1440p (QHD) monitors faster than 4K because there are around half as many pixels per frame. 

Not all games will run at 144 FPS or more even with the power of an RX 6800. To combat this AMD developed ‘Freesync’. This adaptive sync technology refreshes the monitor when there is a new frame ready to display, smoothing out framerates and eliminating ugly tearing in the image as you play. Any gaming monitor should be equipped with this technology for optimum performance, and it has evolved over the years with ‘Freesync Premium’ being introduced for a higher level of performance. AMD GPUs cannot drive adaptive sync on Nvidia’s proprietary ‘G-Sync’ system and whilst the monitor will work, adaptive sync will not. To confuse matters further, many monitors as now certified as ‘G-sync compatible’ which means that whilst they use the AMD Freesync standard they are in fact certified to work well with Nvidia GPUs. Look for Freesync compatibility in any form to be sure. 

Monitor panel technology is evolving all the time, but the most common types of gaming monitors are ‘VA’ and ‘IPS’ types. Both can produce excellent panels for gaming. VA panels have better contrast and deeper blacks, but cheaper models may suffer ghosting or smearing in fast action as they are not as responsive as IPS. IPS panels have vibrant colours and excellent response times but sometimes struggle to show true blacks and may have some minor backlight bleeding on cheaper panels. It really comes down to preference as either can be fantastic when properly implemented. There are also variants on these types and ‘OLED’ as used in LG and Samsung monitors. Whilst TN has long been popular thanks to its very fast response times, the lack of vibrancy and poor viewing angles make us hesitant to recommend it as a showcase for a high-end Graphics card like the RX 6800.

There are also other features you may want to consider such as whether the monitor has speakers if you need an inbuilt USB hub to tidy up peripheral cables, how many inputs it has, and that it has VESA mounting options is you intend to mount it on a monitor arm. 

For a Radeon RX 6800, the monitors that will work best are 1440p 144Hz for general gaming and esports, 1440p ultrawide for AAA gaming and general use, and 4K if you want to experience AAA games in full 4K glory and are willing to accept slightly lower frame rates for higher visual fidelity. We’ll make our selections based on high quality and good reviews, a good native pairing with the RX 6800, and a strong value proposition to match AMD’s best value of their RDNA2 GPUs.

So, let’s move on to our monitor recommendations for the RX 6800:

Best Monitors for RX 6800 – Our Recommendations

Award	Design	Model	Size	Panel
Best 1440p Gaming Monitor for RX 6800		Gigabyte G27QC	27"	VA
Best High-end 1440p 240Hz Monitor for RX 6800		Samsung Odyssey G7	27"	VA
Best 1440p Ultrawide Monitor for RX 6800		AOC CU34G2X	34"	VA
Best Budget 4K Monitor for RX 6800		ASUS TUF Gaming VG289Q	28"	IPS
Best 4K 144Hz Monitor for RX 6800		LG 27GN950	27"	IPS

Best 1440p Gaming Monitor for RX 6800

The G27QC is newly released from Gigabyte and sets a new standard in features and performance at the price. It uses a VA panel for vibrant colours and deep blacks, and whilst response times aren’t cutting edge they’re plenty for AAA gaming and general use. It has 165Hz refresh rate and is ‘Freesync Premium’ certified meaning you get great adaptive sync performance.  This eliminates screen tearing and smooths out frame delivery for a fluid gaming experience even if you’re not quite hitting 165 FPS. The response times are excellent at max refresh rate with a ‘balance’ setting providing best results without smearing or ghosting. As for physical features, there’s a 2 port USB hub, handy for moving your headphones or other peripherals to be close to hand. The stand is basic but functional with height and tilt but no twist. A curved vs flat panel is a matter of personal preference but for gaming and general use the 1500R curve leads a degree of immersion, whilst thin bezels look slick and make a multi-monitor set up seamless. 27” display size is the sweet spot for pixel density for this resolution, making text easy to read without pixels becoming individually visible at standard viewing distances. Make sure you use the display port connection for the full 165Hz refresh rate as HDMI can’t carry the necessary bandwidth.

Best High-end 1440p 240Hz Monitor for RX 6800

Samsungs recently released Odyssey G7 monitors are targeted at the high-end gaming market with a suite of features backing up an excellent panel. It’s rare that a monitor can hit 240Hz in addition to offering ‘WQHD’ or 2560x1440p resolution, but the G7 manages that with excellent success. The panel response times are exceptionally low and this combines with minimal input lag to offer one of the snappiest playing experiences available. Samsung uses its own QLED Quantum Dot panel technology for a sharp, vibrant image and the monitors are renowned for an even and pleasing image quality and excellent consistency. The aggressive 1000R Curve radius means the monitor wraps tightly around you: This isn’t a monitor for people who prefer flat screens but the immersion in gaming is a bonus most players prefer. The overall styling is sharp and modern, with inbuilt RGB lighting and a versatile stand that allows it to turn to portrait mode as well as tilt and swivel. It can be VESA mounted to free up desk space. Overall this monitor displays the best of current technology and is a nigh end choice to perfectly complement the RX 6800. 

Best 1440p Ultrawide Monitor for RX 6800

Ultrawide is fast gaining popularity for gaming and general use and it’s easy to see why: The 21:9 aspect ratio allows multiple documents to be viewed simultaneously, is perfect for editing workflows like video or audio manipulation, but when playtime comes the wrap-around immersion is unsurpassed this side of a VR headset. The RX 6800 has more than enough power to drive this demanding resolution in games, so this 34” monitor from AOC, the CU34G2X, may well be the perfect pairing for you. It uses a VA panel and has 144Hz refresh rate with Freesync adaptive sync. Displayport 1.4 and HDMI 2.0 sockets ensure there’s enough bandwidth to push the pixels to that refresh rate, whilst a USB 3.0 hub with 4 ports provides useful cable management and tidying options to keep peripherals close at hand. The monitor has good colour reproduction and a good fast response time, meaning games will be both slick and vibrant. For an all-round monitor that surpasses side-by-side 27” panels for both utility and engagement in games, we recommend the AOC CU34G2X. 

Best Budget 4K Monitor for RX 6800

If you want a 4K monitor for high fidelity AAA gaming, or need to mix work and play then the ASUS TUF Gaming VG289Q is a great value 4K 28” panel that offers fantastic value. The RX 6800 is a strong GPU but 4K remains an exceptionally demanding resolution, so this panels 60Hz refresh doesn’t put it at a major disadvantage. Full Freesync compatibility from 40-60Hz smooths frame rates and eliminates screen tearing in the most commonly encountered refresh rates at 4K. The IPS panel with LED Edge backlighting plays to 4K’s strengths in providing excellent image quality with vibrant colors and good greyscale accuracy. This monitor isn’t the fastest, sacrificing speed to achieve its image quality and low price, but it’s more than capable for playing slower-paced titles and would make an excellent choice for AAA gaming, strategy or RPG games where the richness of the visuals matter more than the speed of play. The ASUS TUF V289Q is a fantastic way to achieve maximum pixel density at an affordable price and without heavy compromise elsewhere. 

Best 4K 144Hz Monitor for RX 6800

If you want to mix 4K resolution with high refresh rates then the options become both more limited and more expensive. The LG 27GN950 is a rarity in that it offers 4K and 144Hz at under $1000. It has excellent color accuracy due to the LG Nano IPS panel and whilst it carries DisplayHDR600 HDR certification like most affordable options this is of limited utility but demonstrates good brightness and contrast. Where the monitor does shine is in the image consistency and very low response times. FreeSync controls variable refresh rates all the way from 48Hz -144Hz so you enjoy smooth responsive and tear-free gameplay across a wide range of titles and game styles. This is vital on a 4K monitor where very high frame rates will be the exception, not the norm. Ergonomically the LG 27GN950 has a sturdy stand with good adjustability, and an inbuilt 2 port hub to tidy up desk-based peripherals. This is a monitor that can truly do it all and will demonstrate the capabilities of the RX 6800 to their fullest. 

The post 5 Best Monitors for AMD Radeon RX 6800 Builds appeared first on PremiumBuilds.

The Radeon RX 6800 is AMD’s newly announced RDNA2 based GPU. Aimed squarely to compete with the RTX 3070 this $579 GPU has 16Gb VRAM and promises exceptional 1440p gaming performance. With a 250W power draw, you need to ensure that your power supply is up to the task but this is a more efficient unit than the flagship GPUs making it more versatile. Because of the lower heat output and high efficiency, it will be better suited to small form factor builds. Whilst not cheap, combined with cost-effective parts the lower power requirements allow you to select a less expensive PSU keeping overall system costs down without detriment to performance. The RX 6800 looks set to redefine performance in 1440p high FPS gaming but needs a great system to support it. 

In this article, we’ll recommend PSU’s for a range of RX 6800 builds and needs, all of which are plenty capable of ensuring the RX 6800 performs to its full potential and that there is no bottlenecking or loss of performance.

PSU requirements of the RX 6800

The Radeon RX 6800 has relatively frugal power requirements in the context of high-performance GPUs. We consider a 650W PSU to be optimum in terms of pricing and headroom to run this GPU in combination with any current mid-range CPU and supporting PC system.  It uses two 8-pin PCIe power connectors which are standard on any reasonable PSU. As always it is sensible to look for the following features in any PSU you’re looking at: 

• That it has some headroom to allow for component upgrades in future and deal with transient loads as the GPU powers up, for example. 
• An efficiency rating of at least 80+ bronze shouldn’t be taken as a guarantee of quality but does at least mean some consideration has been given to ensuring the PSU outputs more power than heat. 
• You should always check that the PSU has the full suite of thermal and over-current protections built-in, especially if it’s a lesser-known brand. 
• You might want to consider if the PSU has ‘silent mode’ to keep it quiet by stopping the fan when not under load, for example when doing desktop tasks.
• Finally, a good warranty is a source of peace of mind and indicates how long the manufacturer has confidence that it will last. 5 years is an entry point with 7-10 years being common on higher-end units.

Best PSUs for RX 6800 – Our Recommendations

Best Budget PSU for RX 6800

If you’re looking to maximize the value on parts like the PSU in order to stretch your budget as far as it will go, then the CoolerMaster MasterWatt 650W 80+ Bronze is a great option. At just $84 this PSU has a semi-modular design so you only have to attach PCIe and SATA cables as required. The bronze rating means it’s at least 80% efficient but exceeds 85% under most loads at 110V, 230V it is more efficient still.  It operates fanlessly under 15% loads so desktop use will be silent. The fan itself is optimized for low noise even when it is spinning. The compact design means it’s easy to fit into most cases. It has the full suite of protections and ships with a 5-year warranty. This is an excellent option to keep costs down and focus your spend on the parts that matter most affording the RX 6800 and a CPU to back it up. 

Best Overall PSU for RX 6800

If you are looking for a balance of performance, features and price then the EVGA G1+ 650W Gold is an excellent choice. Retailing at just under $100 there’s a whole array of handy features. It’s a fully modular PSU so you only need to attach the cables you want. It uses Zero fan mode and a large 135mm fan to keep noise to a minimum. Build quality is good and high-end parts like Japanese capacitors and a fluid dynamic bearing fan are used to extend the life of the unit. Like all our recommendations it has the full suite of protective circuitry to preserve your components should anything go wrong and it’s backed by a 10-year warranty. We consider this PSU for the RX 6800 to be an excellent balance of price, performance and importantly availability.

Best High-End PSU for RX 6800

The Corsair RMx series is a long-standing stalwart of the high-end PSU market. The RMx 650W 80+ Gold takes a no-compromise approach with high-end componentry and design, wrapped up in rock-solid build quality. This fully modular PSU features ultra low noise design with zero fan mode until moderate power levels, and is 80 Plus Gold certified for over 90% efficiency. The fully modular design makes it easy to use custom cables and keeps the PC build neat by allowing you to omit cables you don’t want. Corsair even makes their own braided cable sets in various color schemes or you can buy off the shelf from third-party manufacturers like cable mod that are directly compatible. Internal components are all top-notch with all Japanese capacitors. From a support perspective, you get a 10-year warranty demonstrating the faith Corsair have that this as a PSU that will last the distance.

Best SFX PSU for RX 6800 SFF Builds

EVGA clearly saw a gap in the market for an SFX PSU bearing their name and reputation. The SuperNOVA GM 650W 80+ Gold is a compact PSU catering to the ever-expanding demand for small form factor PCs. The small size doesn’t mean it is lacking features or performance: It puts out 650W at 90% efficiency and uses Japanese capacitors for reliability. The 92mm fan is a dual ball bearing unit intended to be both quiet and reliable, and it isn’t powered on until 30% load so it’s completely silent under light loads. It has single 12V rail configuration capable of supplying over 50Amps (so over 500W) meaning that it’s happily able to cope with large transient demands from powerful graphics cards. The PCIe cable has two 8 pinheads on the same cable, which can be useful in compact builds where there’s limited room for additional cables. The full gamut of over current, over temperature and voltage protections are in place to protect your components in the event of a failure. Finally, it’s backed by EVGA’s great customer service and a 7-year warranty. 

Best PSU for Overclocking a RX 6800 Build

If you want a rock-solid PSU as the foundation of an overclocking rig then the Fractal Design Ion+ 760W 80+ Platinum could be the power supply for you. With 760W output, there’s significant headroom for power-hungry CPUs or pushing the RX 6800 to its limit. It also has 8+4 pin connectors for CPU power, meaning you can fully populate a higher-end motherboards sockets for the most demanding CPU overclocks. An oversized 140mm fan means it’s quiet in operation and has zero fan mode at low load. Highly flexible cables and the fully modular design take the pain out of cable management. Fractal back this power supply with a comprehensive 10-year warranty so this is the last power supply you’ll need to buy until 2030!

We hope this article has helped you find the perfect PSU for your AMD RX 6800 PC Build!

The post Best Power Supplies for RX 6800 Builds appeared first on PremiumBuilds.

AMD’s RDNA2 launch announcement has put the cat amongst the pigeons in the upper end of the GPU market. Finally, Nvidia has competition on their hands. The entry-level RDNA2 GPU is the Radeon RX 6800. This GPU promises to equal or better the RTX 3070 in 1440p and 4k gaming performance but offers double the VRAM with 16GB instead of 8GB. Retailing at $579 the RX 6800 offers compelling performance for the money. We’re excited that GPUs capable of high FPS 1440p gaming is attainable for less than $600.

In this build guide, we’ve assembled a parts list that seeks to maximise the performance and longevity of the system based around the Radeon RX 6800. We’ve taken care to ensure that the PC will last well into the future without requiring upgrades or expansion. We’ve done this by choosing the current best in class CPU, optimised RAM and 2TB of NVME SSD storage. This PC will provide a top-notch gaming experience for the foreseeable future but packs enough punch to double as a versatile workstation and general-purpose PC as well. Its ideally suited to high FPS 1440p gaming or running a 1440p ultrawide monitor for an enthralling AAA gaming experience. It’s well capable of 4K gaming if you want to bring PC gaming to the living room TV or a dedicated 4K monitor. Let’s run through the parts selection.

Best RX 6800 Gaming PC Build – Our Recommendations

CPU

We’ve opted for AMD’s 8 core part in the new Zen 3 line up for this build, the Ryzen 7 5800X. This CPU has a 3.8Ghz Base clock and boosts to 4.7GHz with ‘Power boost Overdrive’ meaning it has excellent gaming performance. AMD has boasted of a huge leap forwards with their revised Zen 3 Architecture. They’ve enhanced the Cache access for the 8 cores and reduced the latency of the interconnect between cores – traditionally a big performance barrier in the Zen layout. All of this adds up to a CPU that will outperform any current intel CPU in gaming, whilst 8 cores and 16 threads meaning it is both adept at productivity tasks and multitasking but also set to last the course as programmes become more demanding in future. Finally, the RDNA2 announcement offered a few more compelling reasons to opt for an AMD CPU. Combined with the B550 motherboard ‘Smart Memory Access’ gives the CPU broadband interconnect with the GPU VRAM dramatically enhancing framerates at 1440p and 4K. AMD Claim a benefit of 5-10% using this technology, certainly worthwhile. Secondly this CPU is fully PCIe 4.0 compliant allowing faster communication with both the primary GPU and a PCIe 4.0 SSD in future. Overall the $449 Ryzen 5800X is a rock-solid core for this PC and represents best in class technology at a reasonable price point.

CPU Coolers

The Ryzen 5800X isn’t particularly hot running or hard to cool. We’ve chosen a great looking and reliable tower cooler with some added RGB highlights to match the case. This tower cooler – the ID-COOLING SE-234-ARGB, uses 4 heat pipes, and a quiet 120mm PWM tan to draw heat away from the CPU. Its 200W cooling capacity is more than enough for the 105W power draw of the 5800X. It’s simple to install and includes AM4 compatible bracketry. Meanwhile, black anodising and an addressable RGB shroud compliments the styling of the motherboard and case to give your PC a cohesive aesthetic. If you’re not a fan of the RGB, the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Black edition is an equally capable and more discreet looking cooler at the same price. 

Motherboard

MSI has released a strong line up of B550 motherboards in support of Zen 3 and this mid-range Gaming Edge model hits the sweet spot of performance, features and price. The 10+2 phase power supply circuitry is more than capable of supporting the Ryzen 5800X at full speeds and there are heavy-duty VRM heatsinks to help draw heat away from the components. The MSI MPG B550 Gaming Edge WiFi motherboard incorporates Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth for versatile connectivity but also has a 2.5GB Ethernet port powered by a Realtek chipset. The ALC1200 Audio codec is mid-range but allows for excellent audio output and there’s optical SPDIF as well as five 3.5mm audio outputs. It supports PCIe 4.0 and AMD’s ‘Smart Memory Access’ technology to boost the performance of the RX 6800 GPU. Finally, it has a discreet black aesthetic in keeping with the rest of the build.

Memory

RAM prices have dropped consistently in 2020 and 32GB is now a sensible choice for a high-performance PC build. Our own investigations have shown 3600MHz RAM to be the sweet spot in terms of performance and value on Zen 2 CPU’s. Because Zen 3 CPU’s retain the same IO die and ‘infinity fabric’ as Zen 2 we’re confident that 3600MHZ speed will remain the best value option for Zen 3. Whilst this RAM has slightly slower CL18 timings it’s clock speed that really impacts performance by synchronising the CPU’s infinity fabric and RAM frequencies. This 32Gb Team T-FORCE Dark Za Memory Kit comes with a QVL supported one clock A-XMP overclock profile to get it running at optimal speed so you can be confident of compatibility. The Anodised black heat spreader matches the black aesthetic of the motherboard. In 2x16GB configuration you benefit from dual-channel operation and also leave 2 RAM slots free should you ever need to upgrade capacity in future. 

Storage

Games are getting ever-larger and we don’t want to under specify SSD space for a versatile and powerful PC. That’s why we’ve opted for the Adata Swordfish NVMe SSD in 2Tb capacity. At $200 this is a remarkable value. Whilst it is a mid-range SSD with 1,800MB/s read and 1,400MB/s write it’s plenty fast enough for general use and gaming and it will even handle occasional video editing and other storage punishing tasks with ease. We haven’t chosen a PCIe 4.0 SSD because the much higher cost is rarely justified and the benefits of the additional theoretical speed really aren’t made out for most users. The Adata Swordfish, therefore, strikes the best balance of price, performance and 2TB capacity. It ships with a 5-year warranty and 960Tb total endurance rating as well as inbuilt AES 256 bit encryption.

PC Case

The Phanteks Eclipse P400A Digital is an excellent value case including 3 RGB fans and a mesh front panel for optimal airflow. It’s a mid-tower ATX design so it offers plenty of space for components and upgrades but remains more manageable than a full ATX tower. The tempered glass side panel showcases the components within whilst a full suite of dust filters keeps everything clean. Front panel connectors include 2 USB 3.0 sockets and the usual headphone and microphone jack. Build quality is excellent with a PSU shroud, sliding Hard disc trays and good cable management features like tie-down straps and cable channels integrated into the design. A single additional 120MM fan in the top rear position will act as exhaust whilst preserving the 3 fan aesthetic of the front of the case. This Case is a pleasure to build in and look at and provides the airflow to keep everything running cool and quiet.

Power Supply

The total power draw of this system is around 450W peak and we’ve selected a good value and well-specified Power supply to meet these demands. The Antec Earthwatts Gold Pro is a semi-modular design meaning the ATX and EPS cables are permanently connected, whilst you add additional cables to power accessories as required. This build will make use of 2 additional PCIe Cables only to keep the wiring clean and simple. 650W capacity allows headroom for transient loads and also future expansion with a more powerful GPU or additional drives and accessories. It has a quiet operation with a high-quality fan. The PSU uses Japanese capacitors and ships with a 7-year warranty so you can be confident it will last the lifetime of this PC. We’ve been using this Power supply in the Premiumbuilds test bench and have been impressed with its resilience and consistent operation so we have no hesitation recommending it for this build. 

1440P Monitor Recommendation

The RX 6800 is a high-performance GPU and demands a monitor that’s up to task. The Asus TUF Gaming VG27AQ is a 165Hz 1440p IPS panel that benefits from Freesync. The high resolution of this monitor allows sharp images and more detail, really maximizing the power of the GPU for stunning visual fidelity. Meanwhile, it’s able to keep pace with a GPU and CPU that excel in generating fast-paced gameplay. The IPS panel ensures razor-sharp response times and no motion blur, the perfect combination for serious gamers. The panels color accuracy and quality are well regarded in reviews. If you’re planning to make the most of this latest round of GPU’s you really do need a monitor that displays their full potential and the Asus VG27AQ certainly meets the standard. 

Ultrawide Monitor for RX 6800 Alternative

If you’re looking to exploit the power of the RX 6800 for the ultimate AAA gaming experience, or want sims like MS Flight or racing sims to really shine then we’d recommend this 34” ultrawide from LG, the Ultragear 34GK950F-B. The Ultrawide experience wraps around you filling your peripheral vision and immersing you in gameplay. Almost all titles are fully compatible and whilst the previous generation of GPUs required you to spend nearly $1000 to properly drive this demanding resolution we’re now seeing GPUs at under $600 that absolutely excel. This 144Hz panel uses AMD’s Freesync 2 to eliminate screen tearing, smooth framerates and maintain immersion. The IPS panel ensures great colour accuracy and response times. This is a high-end monitor and comes with an integrated USB Hub and a sturdy and ergonomic stand. Reviews praise its image quality and response times. We highly recommend this monitor if you want to take full advantage of the power of the Radeon RX 6800 GPU. 

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AMD has just announced the RDNA2 line up of GPUs. Finally, there’s competition at the top of the GPU market with AMD’s new offerings claiming to go head to head with the Ampere GPUs from Nvidia at each key market segment and price point.

The RX 6800 is pitched directly at the RTX 3070. Both of these cards aim to provide excellent 1440p gaming performance and 60FPS at 4K resolution. Both claim to exceed the capabilities of last generations range-topper the RTX 2080 Ti. 

The RX 6800 is slated for launch on the 18^th November so let’s dig into the specs and see which card will be best suited for your next build or upgrade.

RX 6800 vs RTX 3070: Specifications

	RX 6800	RTX 3070
Design
Price	$579	$499
Process	7nm TSMC	8N Samsung
VRAM	16 GB GDDR6	8 GB GDDR6
Bandwidth	512.0 GB/s	448.0 GB/s
Pixel rate	202.1 GPixel/s GPixels/s	165.6 GPixels/s
Transistors	26.8 billion	17.4 billion
Die Size	536 mm2	392 mm2
Power	250W	220W
Additional technologies	DX12 ray tracing, Variable rate shading, Direct storage API, Smart Access memory (Zen 3), 128MB Infinity Cache	DLSS 2.0, RTX, NVENC, Direct Storage (RTX IO)
Aftermarket Cards	RX 6800 AIB Database	RTX 3070 AIB Database

Performance: Winner unclear but very promising for the RX 6800 

Whilst we now have confirmation from AMD that the RX 6800 possesses 3840 Shader units, 96 ROPS and 60 compute units and RT cores, we haven’t included them in the comparison chart above because they aren’t directly comparable to Nvidias Ampere architecture. As such it’s impossible to speculate about ‘relative’ performance based on those numbers. Similarly, ‘boost clocks’ are meaningless in isolation because what each architecture can achieve in each clock cycle differs so massively. We can’t make assumptions about these numbers. What we can base our analysis off, for now, is the claims made by AMD in the announcement itself.

AMD showed their own metrics comparing the RX 6800 to the RTX 2080ti – we can take this as a proxy for the RTX 3070 since both perform very similarly.

At 4K AMD laid out their market stall with the slide heading ‘4K60’ meaning they intend this card to achieve 60FPS in 4K gaming. The precise settings they used to generate this graphic aren’t clear, but using the RTX 2080ti as a yardstick we can see that the RX 6800 appears to deliver around $80 worth more value than the RTX 3070, beating it in all titles under test and achieving at least 60FPS. One interesting detail here is the ‘+smart access memory’ footnote – these results are achieved using a Zen 3 CPU allowing better communication between CPU and GPU VRAM over PCIe 4.0. Nonetheless these results are impressive and show that if you’re a 4K gamer on a budget, the RX6800 deserves serious consideration. 

At 1440p and again with ‘smart access memory’ the RX 6800 really does shine achieving well over 100FPS across the board even in demanding titles like Battlefield V and Borderlands 3 and with settings at ‘Ultra’. At this resolution, you’re getting the full benefit of detailed rendering at high visual settings along with high FPS. Given the price point of this GPU, we consider 1440p or 1440p ultrawide the best resolutions for the RX 6800 providing a fantastic balance of framerate and visual fidelity. 

Memory configuration: RX 6800 in a clear lead

The RX 6800 has a huge 16GB of GDDR6 VRAM, doubling the amount of it’s competitor the RTX 3070. There’s also 128MB of what AMD call ‘Infinity Cache’ which is very fast memory directly accessible by the GPU core. This memory can hold frequently accessed data critical to processing performance and accelerate the GPU’s overall capabilities. Whilst the core specifications of the VRAM are the same with both using GRRD6, AMD has achieved higher bandwidth and claim this Infinity cache has triple the bandwidth of the conventional memory. 

The utility of 16Gb VRAM for gaming is arguable: So long as there’s enough VRAM the game won’t perform any better with more, it simply goes unused. However, the RTX 3070 certainly looked a little miserly with ‘just’ 8GB on a $500 current Gen GPU and AMD have taken this opportunity to clearly beat that metric by doubling available VRAM. If you’re looking to game at 4K or wish to modify games with higher resolution textures there’s no doubt you’ll want as much VRAM as possible and the RX 6800 offers that at the most affordable price point yet. It’s likely that this doubling of VRAM accounts for much of the price difference between the RX 6800 and RTX 3070.

Additional technologies: RTX 3070 has the edge

It’s perhaps a little unfair to directly compare emergent technologies when one of the competitors is unreleased: We haven’t had an opportunity to evaluate any of AMD’s technologies first hand yet. Nvidia, however, has demonstrated the utility of DLSS 2.0 and are now on their second iteration of Ray Tracing support whereas the RX 6000 series is the first AMD GPUs to incorporate hardware Ray tracing.

DLSS 2.0 is a very interesting technology that allows Nvidia GPU’s to draw on a trained neural network to upscale resolution in real-time. The effects are impressive with graphical fidelity AND framerates improving markedly over a non-upscaled image. It’s a technology that works well with real-time ray tracing, offsetting the large performance penalty that feature imposes. The primary downside is that to take advantage of DLSS 2.0 Nvidia have to train the AI on super-high-resolution images generated In the game engine and then include that information in driver updates. To date, this encompasses very few games. Meanwhile, AMD is sensibly focussing on raytracing via the DXR API which is a much more widely adopted protocol supported in DX12. RTX cores will also be able to use this feature and in the coming years, we should see ray tracing becoming a standard part of game engines and new releases. AMD do also have supersampling algorithms which allow upscaling, but they’re not shouting their benefits from the rooftops and this leads us to believe they’re not a key part of AMD’s roadmap for the future like DLSS 2.0 appears to be for Nvidia. Finally, Nvidia also offers the now well-established NVENC hardware stream encoder to generate streams from live gameplay with minimal overhead. AMD can’t compete with the quality or efficiency of this at present, so we’ll have to see if RX 6000 series cards offer any improvements for streamers. Also in this vein, RTX voice and RTX broadcast use AI algorithms on Nvidia GPUs for noise reduction and live video processing for streamers. For those that need them these are nice to have features.

It seems like in this iteration AMD has concentrated on closing the gap to Nvidia in raw gaming performance rather than ‘value-added’ technologies and we absolutely can’t blame them for that particularly if the results are GPU’s that actually surpass Nvidia’s raw performance at each price point. But if you do want or need those additional features then it may be a reason to favour the RTX 3070 over the RX 6800.

Power and efficiency: A draw

AMD have always valued efficiency in their products and their use of the 7nm process allows them to capitalise on this. In gaming we perhaps don’t care about efficiency as much as we should: Not only is saving energy a laudable goal in itself, but efficiency means more performance because less heat to dissipate means a GPU can run faster without overheating. Both the RTX 3070 and RX 6800 offer very manageable power requirements with the 250W RX 6800 only drawing 30W more than the RTX 3070. Either of these GPUs will slot into an existing system and need just 2 8 Pin PCIe cables. Almost any reputable power supply at 550W or more will have these connectors already making these GPUs a one-step upgrade incurring no additional cost. With current CPUs drawing around 100W maximum we don’t foresee any problems using existing power supplies. Whilst the RTX 3070 draws less power, the RX 6800 looks like it should be marginally better performing so the extra energy is being put to good use – AMD wouldn’t be making strong claims about ‘performance per watt’ if it was otherwise. 

Availability: Unknown

Unfortunately one of the primary disappointment with Nvidias Ampere launch wasn’t pricing or performance – it was the fact that even a month later it’s still proving somewhere between difficult and impossible to actually buy any variant of the graphics cards. It’s now clear that between low yields on the Samsung ‘8N’ process, Low availability of the GDDR6X memory on the 3080 and 3090, and general supply and distribution issues partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic supply issues will likely last well into 2021.

We obviously can’t judge the availability of an as-yet-unreleased product but we’re hopeful that whilst it’s facing the same challenges it should have the measure of some of them. For one it’s been able to witness Nvidias problems and hopefully take steps to alleviate them. Secondly, the TSMC 7nm process is now a mature and well-defined process with known yields and capacity. Thirdly the RX 6000 series cards use more widely available GDDR6 VRAM, albeit buckets of it with 16GB required for every GPU. Finally, Consumers now have a choice at the high end, meaning that demand is split across more potential products. We still expect these competitively priced and high performing GPU’s to sell out fast, but we hope that another option eases the demand-side pressure on the high-end GPU market as a whole.

Conclusion: The RX 6800 is an exciting  GPU for high end gaming

Overall, AMD has really impressed with the RDNA 2 announcement. Not content with slaying one behemoth with Zen 3 trumping Intel’s performance, they’re waging war on two fronts in tackling Nvidia simultaneously. For the last 2 generations, AMD has struggled to challenge NVIDIA and whilst they’ve had good mid-range options in the shape of the Vega 56 and Radeon RX 5700XT, the RTX 2080 tier has had free reign. Now, we can see the fruits of AMD’s hard work in the RX 6000 series. As the entry-level model at $579 the RX 5800 offers a compelling option for 1440p high FPS gaming or a very competent 4K GPU. With the information available at the time of this announcement, we’d recommend you pairing this GPU with a 1440p monitor and high-performance CPU for high FPS gaming, or else moving towards 1440p ultrawide and a mid-tier CPU for fantastic AAA gaming. 4K being as demanding as it is will benefit from the additional power of the RX 5800XT.  You can see our recommended CPUs and builds using this new GPU here.

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