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AMDs Big Navi RX 6000 XT Rumored to Run at Huge Speeds
Following on from AMDs well-received unveiling of its new Zen 3 / Ryzen 5000 Series CPUs, the attention of PC gamers has returned to the next generation graphics card battle. While many are trying unsuccessfully to get hold of Nvidia's RTX 3080 card, the latest rumors may give cause for a second look at AMD, with the suggestion that AMDs Big Navi card will be able to run at a staggering 2.4 GHz.
The leak comes from Patrick Schur, an individual known for providing reliable rumors in the past. He states that AMDs Big Navi will feature a Game Clock of 2.4 GHz, which means the card should run at an average speed of 2.4 GHz while gaming. This differs from the regular metrics of Base Clock and Boost Clock, with the former being the lowest typical speed, and the latter being the absolute maximum the card will reach without overclocking. Game Clock provides a more accurate representation of the speed the card will run at most of the time.
The leak states that Big Navi will feature a Total Graphics Power of 255W, which means it will require less power than Nvidia's RTX 3080, and slightly more than the RTX 3070. It also states that the card will feature the XT suffix, so is likely to be called the RX 6000 XT, and that it features 16 GB of GDDR6 memory, which matches previous rumors.
While clock speeds alone do not determine overall gaming performance, the ability of Big Navi to run at such a high clock speed, and do so over a consistent period of time, is likely to help it get much closer to Nvidia's RTX 3080 than many gamers would have expected. By comparison, the RTX 3080 has a base clock of 1.44 GHz, and a maximum boost clock of 1.71 GHz, with the equivalent Game Clock likely somewhere in the middle. Indeed, some gamers on social media are questioning whether those rushing to buy the RTX 3080 should have waited to see what AMD had to offer first.
If the rumors are accurate, it would suggest sufficient performance for AMD to strongly compete with Nvidia's RTX 3080 and RTX 3070, particularly if gamers are able to actually find the cards to buy. The other key factor will be price, and although Big Navi's GDDR6 memory is slower than that of the Nvidia RTX 3080, it is also considerably cheaper, which may allow AMD to undercut its rival in performance per dollar.
Gamers have less than two weeks to go until the official reveal of the RDNA 2 powered RX 6000 Series on October 28, and potentially less than three weeks until the launch of both Zen 3 and the new graphics cards. As it would make a lot of sense for AMD to ensure both are available at the same time, to reach gamers looking to build new systems with both Zen 3 and Big Navi.
AMDs Big Navi / RX 6000 XT is expected to release on November 5.
