AMD Radeon RX 6800 – High Quality Graphic Card
With the Radeon RX 6800 VGA, AMD successfully attacked Nvidia in the upper class. Thanks to the new RDNA2 architecture, which is also used in the new generation of consoles, the Radeon RX 6800 is on average a bit ahead of the Geforce RTX 3070. Only in terms of ray tracing, the performance could be a little better. It is also a shame that AMD does not yet have a feature like Nvidia’s DLSS.
AMD Radeon RX 6800 Review
The three built-in fans do a good job. The introductory price of the RX 6800 is around 80 euros higher than the RTX 3070 at 580 euros, but the AMD card is also a bit faster.
Test data for AMD Radeon RX 6800 16GB GDDR6 Specification
| Product: | AMD Radeon RX 6800 16GB GDDR6 |
| Note Full HD performance (games): | 1.2 (very good) |
| Ultra HD performance rating (gaming): | 2.8 (satisfactory) |
| Graphics chipset: | AMD Radeon RX 6800 |
| Manufacturing process: | 7 nm |
| Shader units: | 3,840 engines |
| Chip cycle: | 1,700 MHz |
| GPU boost clock: | 2,105 MHz |
| TDP: | 250 W |
| Storage type: | GDDR6 |
| Memory size: | 16,384 Mbytes |
| Bandwidth: | 515.0 GB / s |
| Storage connection: | 256 bit |
| DVI output: | no connection |
| Display port output: | 2 ports |
| HDMI output: | 1 port |
| Graphics card length: | 26.7 centimeters |
| Occupied slots: | 2 slots |
| Driver version: | 20.45.01.12-11.6 Beta |
| Benchmark: 3DMark Fire Strike (overall): | 30,331 points |
| Benchmark: 3DMark Fire Strike (Ultra): | 10,411 points |
| Benchmark: 3DMark Time Spy (overall): | 13,844 points |
| Benchmark: 3DMark Time Spy Extreme (overall): | 6,597 points |
| Benchmark: 3DMark Port Royal (overall): | 7,567 points |
| Benchmark: VRMark: Blue Room Score: | 4,497 points |
| Benchmark: VRMark: Cyan Room Score: | 15,582 points |
| Benchmark: Dirt Rally (Full HD): | 180.2 fps |
| Benchmark: Dirt Rally (UHD): | 101.4 fps |
| Benchmark: Far Cry 5 (FHD): | 104.0 fps |
| Benchmark: Far Cry 5 (UHD): | 31.0 fps |
| Benchmark: GTA V (Full HD): | 156.7 fps |
| Benchmark: GTA V (UHD): | 90.3 fps |
| Benchmark: Ashes of the Singularity (Full HD): | 93.2 fps |
| Benchmark: Ashes of the Singularity (UHD): | 84.7 fps |
| Benchmark: Total War: Warhammer II (FHD): | 86.0 fps |
| Benchmark: Total War: Warhammer II (UHD): | 52.5 fps |
| Benchmark: Metro: Exodus (FHD): | 58.9 fps |
| Benchmark: Metro: Exodus (UHD): | 26.6 fps |
| Cooling: | Fan |
| Medium loudness 2D operation: | passively cooled |
| Medium loudness game mode: | 2.2 sone |
| Maximum temperature 3D operation: | 74 ° C |
| Power consumption test system idle: | 67 watts |
| Power consumption test system full load: | 376 watts |
| Test date: | 11/16/2020 |
AMD Radeon RX 6800 Review: AMD places itself in the upper class
AMD has further developed the RDNA architecture of the RX 5700 series for the current RX-6800 graphics cards. In order to attack Nvidia in the upper class, the manufacturer has made some changes and improvements: With success, as the test shows. AMD compensates for the low memory bandwidth on paper with a very large and lightning-fast cache.
AMD RADEON RX 6800 XT VS. NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3080 FE (HIGH TO HIGHEST DETAILS)
| Radeon RX 6800 | Geforce RTX 3070 FE | Difference (rounded) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3DMark Fire Strike | 30,331 points | 26,541 points | + 14% |
| 3DMark Fire Strike Ultra | 10,411 points | 8,449 points | + 24% |
| 3DMark Time Spy | 13,844 points | 12,737 points | + 9% |
| 3DMark Time Spy Extreme | 6,597 points | 6,205 points | + 6% |
| 3DMark Port Royal | 7,567 points | 7,996 points | -6% |
| Dirt Rally (FHD) | 180 fps | 181 fps | + 1% |
| Dirt Rally (UHD) | 101 fps | 83 fps | + 22% |
| GTA V (FHD) | 157 fps | 161 fps | -3% |
| GTA V (UHD) | 90 fps | 92 fps | -2% |
| Ashes of the Singularity (FHD) | 93 fps | 94 fps | -1% |
| Ashes of the Singularity (UHD) | 85 fps | 84 fps | -1% |
| Rise of the Tomb Raider (FHD) | 168 fps | 169 fps | -1% |
| Rise of the Tomb Raider (UHD) | 90 fps | 77 fps | + 17% |
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider (FHD) | 137 fps | 131 fps | + 5% |
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider (UHD) | 69 fps | 59 fps | + 17% |
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider (FHD, DLSS) | – | 128 fps | – |
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider (UHD, DLSS) | – | 75 fps | – |
| Total War: Warhammer II (FHD) | 86 fps | 82 fps | + 5% |
| Total War: Warhammer II (UHD) | 53 fps | 50 fps | + 6% |
| FarCry 5 (FHD) | 104 fps | 86 fps | + 21% |
| FarCry 5 (UHD) | 31 fps | 28 fps | + 11% |
| Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint (FHD) | 102 fps | 115 fps | -14% |
| Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint (UHD) | 75 fps | 66 fps | + 14% |
| Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 (FHD) | 157 fps | 140 fps | + 12% |
| Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 (UHD) | 57 fps | 53 fps | + 8% |
| Metro Exodus (FHD, RT, DLSS optional) | 75 fps | 82 fps | -9% |
| Metro Exodus (FHD, “Extreme”) | 59 fps | 56 fps | + 5% |
| Metro Exodus (UHD, RT, DLSS optional) | 31 fps | 49 fps | -58% |
| Metro Exodus (UHD, “Extreme”) | 27 fps | 25 fps | + 8% |
The RX 6800 offers a 4 percent better performance than the Nvidia Geforce RTX 3070 Founders Edition in Full HD resolution at high to highest settings and the Radeon is also ahead in 4K resolution. In return, however, it is a little more expensive than its counterpart.
Often the performance of the two graphics cards is not that far apart in the respective benchmarks. The Radeon scores points in full HD resolution in Dirt Rally, Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Total War: Warhammer II against the Nvidia Geforce RTX 3070 Founders Edition. This turns the tables on Ashes of Singularity, Rise of the Tomb Raider and GTA V.
Similar to the RX 6800 XT, there are also corresponding outliers here. One example would be Metro Exodus with DLSS. Since AMD does not currently offer a comparable feature that relieves the graphics chip with a specially trained AI, the performance is lagging behind here.
This becomes particularly clear with the targeted UHD resolution quality (3,840 by 2,160 pixels) with optional DLSS and ray tracing. In this case, the Radeon only achieved 31 fps, while we measured 49 fps with the Nvidia graphics card.
The graphics card is particularly interesting for owners of a current Ryzen 5000 processor, because here AMD promises that it will have direct access to the graphics card’s memory via the PCIe 4.0 interface. Gamers should get better performance if game developers build this feature into their titles.
Nevertheless, the question “AMD or Nvidia” cannot be answered conclusively. Because this depends, among other things, on the game, the resolution with which you want to play and the connection options.
RDNA2 architecture: these are the innovations
If the more powerful RX 6800 XT is equipped with 4,608 processing units, its little sister only has 3,840. In terms of main memory, we have 16 GB of GDDR6 graphics memory.
And the standard clock frequency of 1,700 MHz is also somewhat weaker than the 1,825 MHz of the Radeon RX 6800 XT. Accordingly, the boost frequency of 2,105 MHz is also slightly below the boost frequency of its big sister, which reaches 2,250 MHz here.
As with the more powerful variant with the 128 MB “Infinity Cache”, AMD uses a lightning-fast cache so that the memory can deliver the data quickly enough.
This is to increase the memory bandwidth to an effective 1,664 GB/s. The graphics card can now also master ray tracing thanks to the 60 ray accelerators built into the GPU.
Just like the Radeon RX 6800 XT, the smaller RX 6800 also uses the features of the DirectX 12 Ultimate graphics interface. In current games, it benefits from features such as variable rate shading (VRS), mesh shading and sampler feedback. And of course, AV1 decoding and “AMD Anti Lag” are also used here. You can find more details about the features in our review of the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT.
HDMI 2.1 support is on board
The Radeon RX 6800 comes with two DisplayPort 1.4a, an HDMI 2.1 connection and a graphics-capable USB-C output. Thanks to the HDMI 2.1 port, if you have a suitable television, you can play content in up to 8K resolution (8,192 x 4,320 pixels) at 60 Hz or the more realistic 4K (3,840 x 2,160 pixels) at up to 120 Hz. The graphics card also supports the Variable Refresh Rate (VRR).
This guarantees that the image output of the graphics card and the refresh rate of the television are automatically coordinated to avoid possible disturbances such as tearing.
And of course the graphics card offers support for the free monitor standard FreeSync, which was co-developed by AMD. The Radeon RX 6800 comes with two DisplayPort 1.4a, an HDMI 2.1 connection and a graphics-capable USB-C output.
AMD Radeon RX 6800 Practical, short cooling system
Just like the large AMD RX 6800 XT, the RX 6800 also uses three fans, which make a robust and at the same time elegant impression. Overall, the card measures 26.7 cm in length and, unlike its big sister, only occupies two slots when installed.
However, this makes it around 2.5 cm longer than its Nvidia counterpart, the Geforce RTX 3070 Founders Edition.
The cooling performance of the three-fan design is satisfactory. In terms of volume, the fans reach a maximum volume of 2.3 sone under full load. You will hear a slight hissing noise, but that is anything but annoying. At 74° C, the graphics card also stays around 10° C cooler than its big sister and is therefore roughly on par with the Nvidia Geforce RTX 3070 Founders Edition.
This means that the temperature development is inconspicuous and is within the norm range for a reference card. The graphics card is passively cooled in idle mode and we measured a temperature of 48° C and a power consumption of 67 watts.
At 376 watts, the power consumption is almost 30 watts higher than that of the Geforce RTX 3070 Founders Edition. However, we use a different mainboard with the Geforce graphics cards for our tests, so the comparison here is not exact.
Advantages:
- Supports HDMI 2.1 with VRR
- Excellent gaming performance
- OC presetting integrated in the driver
Disadvantages:
- High temperature development under full load
- Ray tracing performance could be better
The values in the article refer to the time the product was tested.