While there are now plenty of AIB designs out for Nvidia cards, AMD is still getting off its feat with the launch of the RX 6000 Series. Reference cards will populate the shelves first, but there are going to be at least a handful of custom options offered from partner manufacturers soon. We still don’t know exact dates, but from what we understand, custom AIB models are still a few weeks out.
Sapphire was the first to make its new products known, followed shortly after by XFX. Two more AIB partners have announced product families now, though, so the competition is definitely heating up. Fortunately, there will be plenty of design options for keeping your Radeon cards cool.
The latest challengers
ASRock and PowerColor each announced some RX 6800 XT models and it’s definitely worth getting excited about. There are sure to be improved cooling designs along with overclocked models and unique RGB options. Things are still a little vague as far as PowerColor’s lineup, but it did tease the return of the Red Devil series. If looks could kill, you would want to watch out for this one. The Red Devil looks quite large and will definitely be the high-performance RX 6800 XT design coming from PowerColor. The company also teased that it’s working on a Liquid Devil, so if water cooling is your thing, hold tight for that. As a final note, there’s also a rebranded reference design on PowerColor’s website, in case you are interested. It’s literally an AMD cooler with “PowerColor” on it instead.
Show us the real deal you said? #RX6800XT #RedDevil #BIGNAVI #VerySoon #LimitedEdition pic.twitter.com/PVYA3D1uR9
— PowerColor (@PowerColor) November 17, 2020
Thankfully, ASRock provided more details and real product pages to scroll through. The Taichi is back and looks almost identical to the 5700 XT design. That’s probably fine for most prospective buyers, as most just want anything they can get their hands on at this point. However, it’s exciting to point out that the ASRock RX 6800 XT Taichi OC+ sports an (undisclosed) overclock and RGBs. It will be quite large and take up 2.8 slots in your case, so bear that in mind. As for the exact dimensions, it is 330 x 140 x 56 mm. That’s nearly 13 inches length-wise, so it certainly won’t work for every case design. You will want an 800w PSU for this one, according to ASRock. As for the interface, there will be one HDMI 2.1, two DisplayPort 1.4s, and a USB-C port.
The ASRock Radeon RX 6800 XT Phantom Gaming OC.
As for the ASRock 6800 XT Phantom Gaming OC, it too will be overclocked. Again, we don’t know the numbers yet. Visually speaking, this card has some red accents to it in addition to similar RGB lighting options. The sizing and power requirements are the same as the Taichi, but the interface adds an extra DisplayPort connection.
In case you are wondering what the performance difference will be between these two XT models, the Taichi will definitely take the performance crown by a few percent over the Phantom Gaming. That is evidenced by ASRock’s 5700 XT product specs as well as the “+” badging next to the Taichi OC. Stay tuned for final performance numbers.
A 3070 Challenger
It seems like the 6800 XT model is getting all of the attention, but ASRock has at least one standard 6800 card on the way. The 6800 Challenger Pro OC won’t dazzle you with spinning RGB lights, but there’s an LED strip on the side for some customization. This card looks to focus more on performance and value than spectacle. While it will be a step down from the XT, the OC will make up some of the difference. It will also come in with a smaller form factor than the XT at 305 x 131 x 55 mm. You will still need 2.75 slots for it, but they did call it “Big” Navi for a reason. ASRock recommends 700w PSU for this model and the interface is composed of an HDMI 2.1 and three DisplayPort1.4s. Take notice that you will lose out on USB-C with this model.
Performance is priceless
Unfortunately, we have no idea what any of this is going to cost. For reference, AMD prices the RX 6800 XT at $650 USD and the RX 6800 at $580. Pricing for these AIB models will likely come just ahead of actual availability. Based on what we’re hearing as of today, though, you might have to pay more than MSRP due to stock scarcity. If you want one of these cards, or anything next-gen for that matter, you better have a plan. Commitment and decisive action will definitely be required this holiday season.
On a lighter note, it is exciting to see what these new graphics cards can do. AMD released another tech demo to coincide with the launch of Big Navi. It shows off a bunch of ray tracing effects at work.
