Here’s the AMD Radeon RX 6600, and where to buy it
…where to buy it in theory, anyway
AMD have finally launched the Radeon RX 6600, the new entry-level model (which is still kind of a mid-ranger) in the RX 6000 graphics cards series. As expected, it’s a tuned-down relative of the Radeon RX 6600 XT, with fewer cores and lower clock speeds – but the same 8GB of GDDR6 VRAM. As far as I can see, it’s also sold out immediately, despite just releasing with models from Asus, MSI, Gigabyte, XFX, PowerColor and more.
Such is the life of a graphics card in 2021, though as the now-cheapest GPU in AMD’s main gaming range, it was always going to see big demand. On paper, cards should start from £299 / $329, though how those price levels hold up against both board partner modifications and the general hellscape of the contemporary graphics cards market is anyone’s guess. I’m going with “not well.”
Still! It’s always good to see more 1080p-focused cards. The RX 6600 is almost more of a successor to the RX 5600 XT (one of the best graphics cards) than the RX 6600 XT in this regard, as it targets fast, smooth frame rates with max settings at specifically the most widely-used 1920x1080 resolution.
The stock base clock frequency takes a tumble from the XT model, dropping from 1968MHz to 1626MHz, while ‘Game Frequency’ – the speeds you’ll roughly get while playing games, a little short of the maxed-out peak boost speed - is 2044MHz. Again, that’s down from 2359MHz, and the Radeon RX 6600’S 28 compute units is four less than the XT version’s as well. The newer variant sips less power, however, apparently having a typical power draw of 132W to the RX 6600 XT.
It naturally supports all the usual AMD FidelityFX gubbins too, including FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR), and plays nice with Auto HDR on Windows 11. Hopefully this could turn out to be a nippy little card, though it also doesn’t seem to address the big that Katharine identified in her RX 6600 XT review: Nvidia’s RTX 3060 being a much more feature-rich mid-range GPU.
I’ll see how the RX 6600 handles things when I review it, but if you can’t wait that long…actually, you might not have a choice, given how hard it already is to find RX 6600 stock. In the UK, your best bets appear to be Scan – who have briefly stocked partner GPUs at £299 – and Ebuyer, who list a decent range of models “coming soon” though not currently in stock. Keep an eye on these if you’re already keen. CCL also have an MSI Mech 2x model, though it’s marked up to £375.
On the US side, Newegg have a handful of partner models ranging from $330 to $430, all sold out, while Best Buy list a single XFX design at $330. Also out of stock, but hey.