AMD is readying three new desktop GPUs to hit shelves in April, according to the latest from the rumor mill.
These will theoretically be the RX 6950 XT, 6750 XT, and 6650 XT – refreshes of the 6900 XT and other respective existing models – and they’ll act as stopgaps before the launch of next-gen RDNA 3 graphics cards later in the year.
This rumor from the Chiphell forums – not always the most reliable source by any means, not usually anyway, but VideoCardz, which flagged this one (via Greymon55), notes that it’s a leaker with a good reputation – claims that these models will debut on April 20 or 21.
These refreshed RX 6000 cards are supposedly going to be loaded up with faster VRAM (18Gbps), which is an idea that has previously been floated by a well-known leaker on Twitter.
The Chiphell leak claims that as well as speedier video memory these refreshed GPUs will also offer ‘slightly’ improved performance levels above current models, possibly by cranking up clock speeds a bit, which again is a possibility we’ve heard from the grapevine already.
A further claim here is that the low-end RX 6400, currently an OEM-only graphics card – meaning you can only buy it in a prebuilt system (or maybe second-hand) – might get released as a standalone graphics card. In other words, it may hit the shelves so anyone can buy the GPU, not just those purchasing a new PC. There’s also a possibility it may be renamed as the RX 6500, and it could run with a very slightly improved spec (but essentially, it’ll offer the same performance as the 6400).
Analysis: Three cards, rather than one? We’ll see…
This is an interesting leak, for sure, though we’d apply a good helping of condiments here. It does, however, tally with much of the previous speculation we’ve heard, as noted above – and it also ties up with a recent rumor that we’d see the RX 6950 XT at some point in April, perhaps the middle of the month.
What’s different with this leak is the claim that three refreshed graphics cards will come out, whereas more recently, we’d been hearing that it was likely AMD would only look to revamp the flagship RDNA 2 GPU. Of course, this is just comparing one piece of speculation to another, so either bet could work out, as it were.
What is clear enough is that AMD is likely to feel the need to have a reply to Nvidia’s incoming 3090 Ti (rumored for an end of March release), so on that simple basis, the RX 6950 XT seems like the best bet for an appearance.
However, it certainly wouldn’t hurt for AMD to also bolster lower-tier RDNA 2 models – and bring out the RX 6400 more widely – it’s just a question of how much sense it makes. Is it really the time to be pushing forward with bigger moves like this given the headwinds of component shortages, which are still expected to be felt until H2 2022, and the not-too-distant launch of RDNA 3 graphics cards which are coming later this year? We remain skeptical, but that doesn’t mean AMD won’t spring a few new RX 6000 models on us very soon.
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