AMD Announces the Radeon RX 6700 XT, Better Than RTX 3070 and Priced at $479

The battle between AMD and NVIDIA has just gotten even more interesting with the announcement of the Radeon RX 6700 XT. We’re talking about a beastly graphics card that packs 12 GB of VRAM, performs better than an RTX 3070, and is priced at just $479. It’s ten dollars cheaper while also being noticeably better from a price-to-performance standpoint. According to AMD’s official announcement, it’s scheduled to hit the market on March 18th. “Team Red” has promised much higher volumes this time around, although given the current state of the market and the whole cryptocurrency craze, it still remains to be seen whether that’s just their PR department talking or if they actually plan on supplying retailers with enough GPUs.

The Radeon RX 6700 XT based on AMD’s brand-new RDNA 2 architecture and is positioned as the best possible option for those looking to game at 1440p. Its VRAM is more than enough for all of today’s triple A titles, and its 230W TDP isn’t all that egregious either. With a base clock of 2321 Mhz and boost of 2581 Mhz, the Radeon 6700 XT is more than capable of handling any game you might throw its way. As for connectivity, it packs three DisplayPorts (of the 1.4 variety) along with a single HDMI 2.1. There’s no USB-C port this time around.

It’ll also support AMD’s Smart Access Memory so you’ll be able to squeeze out that extra bit of (free) performance, given that you already have an AMD Ryzen processor and a supported motherboard.

Let’s Talk Performance

Performance-wise, AMD has definitely delivered (as was expected). The graph above tells the same tale as well. Regardless of the title, the RX 6700 XT is built to deliver over 60 FPS at 1440p without breaking much of a sweat. Heck, you could even reach 144 FPS if you lower the settings a bit, although that heavily varies from title to title.

In any case, this is a much better purchase than the RTX 3060 Ti and RTX 3070, both of which are currently selling for much higher prices than what they were initially supposed to retail for. How long the RX 6700 XT will sell for its intended MSRP ($479) before meeting the same fate is anyone’s guess at this point, but if you were looking to upgrade your GPU, this model should definitely be at the top of your list of priorities!

The reference model (that’ll sell exclusively on AMD’s website) comes equipped with two axial fans in a fairly compact dual-slot design. If, on the other hand, you’re not a fan of AMD’s aesthetic, you can always go for a custom design from one of AMD’s many board partners. AsRock, Asus, GIGABYTE, MSI, PowerColor, Sapphire, XFX, and Yeston have all revealed their designs and, needless to say, they range from stunningly elegant and visually subdued to flat-out futuristic. In any case, there’s something for everyone!