AMD will start selling its brand new GPU called the Radeon RX 6500 XT, which is a budget model, on Jan. 19. The GPU's retail price will be set at $199.
GPU Shortage Caused by Crypto Miners and Scalpers
With the ongoing GPU shortage, which has been caused in part by crypto miners and scalpers buying out every card they find, it has been much harder for regular buyers to purchase the GPU at its SRP throughout the past year.
According to the story by ArsTechnica, whether the 6500 XT will be any different mostly depends on how the supply will roll out. AMD, however, has also designed the card to be less appealing for miners while also retaining its usefulness when it comes to being an entry-level GPU.
AMD Radeon 6500 XT 'Optimized' for Games
When talking to journalists regarding the new GPU, Laura Smith, the current VP of AMD Radeon, noted that the 6500 XT was "optimized" for games. Check out an archived article of the transcript from PCWorld.
Smith noted that they have really optimized the GPU for it to become a gaming first at the target market and users will get to see how they did this. According to Smith, even with four gigs of frame buffer, it will not be attractive enough for those doing blockchain-type even mining activities.
AMD 6500 XT Uses 64-bit Memory
When taking a look at the 6500 XT spec sheet, users will find a few things that stick out in comparison to the previous last-gen RX 5500 XT. It should be noted that there is no 8 GB version for the 6500 XT.
The new AMD 6500 XT will also be utilizing a 64-bit memory interface, which is considered rather rare in modern GPUs. This was a decision made so that the 6500 XT will be considered not ideal for mining Ethereum, in particular, since it needs over 4GB of video RAM to do so.
Maximum Frequency Reaches 2815 MHz
To make up for the much slower memory interface while also helping the card compete with the RX 570-class cards that AMD is planning on replacing, the company has boosted the clock speed of the new RX 6500 XT.
The maximum boost frequency is now at 2815 MHz. This number is up from the previous 1845 MHz in the previous RX 5500 XT. The top-tier 6900 XT boosts up to a massive 2250 MHz, but with more hardware and memory bandwidth to work with.
NVIDIA Limited GPUs' Mining Capabilities
NVIDIA has also made some moves to limit the GPUs' mining capabilities as well, including re-issuing its LHR or Low Hash Rate versions for the RTX 3000-series cards during the middle of last year.
The underlying hardware, however, remains capable of much better hash rates. Many miners have been using everything from special software and buggy drivers to alternative BIOSes in order to restore all or even part of the cards' potential mining performance.
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Written by Urian B.
