AMD's new GPUs could be good news for gamers – and cryptominers

Close-up of Radeon logo on a Big Navi graphics card
(Image credit: AMD)

AMD is set to start 2022 with a number of new products, including two new graphics cards and the company's first dedicated cryptomining card.

Over the weekend, Lenovo may have accidentally revealed AMD's Radeon RX 6500XT by posting specs for its Legion T5 gaming PC with the unannounced graphics card on its site. Now, we have concrete evidence that the new card is inbound thanks to a Eurasian Economic Commission filing from Powercolor. 

According to the filing, not only is the Radeon RX 6500XT on its way, but the RX 6400 might be close behind it. Both GPUs have several SKUs listed in the filing, though they are all listed as having 4GB VRAM.

We've been expected the Radeon RX 6500XT for some time now, as AMD's arch-rival Nvidia is reportedly getting ready to launch its RTX 3050 desktop GPU. With CES 2022 right around the corner, there's no doubt that both AMD and Nvidia will want to start off the year with a bang, and it'll be good to see some new budget cards drop for a change.

But wait, there's a crypto-mining card, too

In addition to these new consumer-focused cards, a new AMD cryptomining card has been spotted in the wild – though it's about as expensive as you can imagine. 

Spotted on the online retailer AliExpress by Russian tech site 3D News, the new AMD BC160 graphics card is a dedicated cryptomining card (BC stands for Blockchain Compute) rather than a consumer GPU.

According to Videocardz, the BC160 cryptomining card is built off the Navi 12 GPU, which is made with TSMC's 7nm process, and features 2,304 Stream Processors, two stacks of 4GB HBM2 memory with a 1,024 bit bus, and a memory bandwidth of 512GB/s.

This gives the card a Ethereum hash rate of about 70MH/s. That puts it between the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 and the RTX 3080 Ti, which have an average hash rate of 60MH/s and 83MH/s, respectively, according to cryptomining resource Kryptex.

With a retail price of $1,999 on AliExpress, this puts the AMD BC160 closer to the RTX 3070 in price, according to Kryptex, while offering a decent bang for the buck in terms of hash rate.


Radeon RX 6700 XT

(Image credit: AMD)

Analysis: some positive news on the graphics card front?

There's no getting around the fact that it's been a tough year for gamers hoping to get their hands on graphics cards. Between scalper bots and cryptominers hoovering up all of the stock online, Nvidia Ampere and AMD Big Navi seemed destined to become a lost generation of graphics cards – a series of cards more talked about than actually seen.

Fortunately, there are a bunch of new budget graphics cards coming down shortly, and while they won't be nearly as powerful as some of the higher-end cards that everybody really wants, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050, AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT, and AMD Radeon RX 6400 all look promising in terms of performance-for-price.

And, since these are fairly underpowered cards, the odds that cryptominers are going to be especially interested in them is likely to be pretty long. Add to that the rollout of more graphics cards designed explicitly for cryptomining, and there's good reason to hope that maybe the demand pressure on the graphics card market might soon be easing up.

Obviously, you have to take any hope with a grain of salt, and even though Nvidia is confident the second half of 2022 will look better for gamers looking to buy new graphics cards, we've been disappointed before, so the best advice is to keep an eye on these cards, but expect them to sell out just as fast as the rest of this generation's graphics card line-up.

TOPICS
John Loeffler
Components Editor

John (He/Him) is the Components Editor here at TechRadar and he is also a programmer, gamer, activist, and Brooklyn College alum currently living in Brooklyn, NY.

Named by the CTA as a CES 2020 Media Trailblazer for his science and technology reporting, John specializes in all areas of computer science, including industry news, hardware reviews, PC gaming, as well as general science writing and the social impact of the tech industry.

You can find him online on Bluesky @johnloeffler.bsky.social

Read more
Radeon RX 7700 XT and Radeon RX 7800 XT
AMD announces new Radeon RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 graphics cards at CES 2025
AMD RX 9070 GPU models
If the AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT comes with a sub-$400 price tag, it might be the best-value graphics card PC gamers have ever seen
The Nvidia and AMD logos clashing with lightning bolts around them.
Bring it on Nvidia - AMD confirms new Radeon RX 9000 series GPUs will launch in early March, rivaling Team Green's rumored RTX 5060 Ti and 5060 launch
Image of Radeon RX 9000 series GPUs
Finally, we have some GPU competition - AMD announces the Radeon RX 9070 XT March 6 launch date, starting at $599 alongside the RX 9070 at $549
An AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT on a table
What to expect from AMD in 2025
AMD RX 9070 GPU models
AMD RX 9070 models spotted at retailers – all they need now is a price to sink Nvidia’s RTX 5070 GPUs
Latest in GPU
PowerColor Red Devil AMD RX 9070 XT graphics card shown side-on
Your next GPU could be from AMD, not Nvidia, if Team Red’s success with PC gamers continues
The Ryzen AI Max+ 395 could power the latest generation of powerful mini PCs
This prototype mini PC demonstrates a massive leap forward for integrated graphics in a console form factor
ASUS ROG Astral LC GeForce RTX 5090 OC Edition liquid cooled graphics card against a blue background
Get ready to pay $1360 more for the RTX 5090 - Asus just raised prices yet again, and AMD's RX 9070 XT is also affected
AMD Radeon RX 6000 Series Graphics Card on top wooden desk beside a keyboard
How to update AMD GPU drivers
A character riding their horse through the Japanese landscape of in Rise of the Ronin
Another day, another dreadful PC port - Rise of the Ronin joins the list of woeful PC launches with even an Nvidia RTX 4090 succumbing to stutters
An AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT made by Sapphire on a table with its retail packaging
AMD describes its recent RDNA 4 GPU launch as 'unprecedented' and promises restocking the Radeon RX 9070 XT as 'priority number one'
Latest in News
Panos Panay and Alexa Plus
Amazon's Panos Panay teases future Alexa+ devices from speakers to possible wearables
Metroid Prime 4
I reckon the Nintendo Switch 2 could launch with Metroid Prime 4 – here’s why
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6
New rumors predict a foldable iPhone will launch next year – and cost almost twice as much as the iPhone 16 Pro Max
Pebble smartwatch countdown
Pebble confirms its smartwatch announcement is just hours away
Logo of YouTube Shorts
Is YouTube auto-playing Shorts when you open the app? Well, you’re not alone - here’s how to fix it
Google DeepMind panel discussion
“More sovereignty and protection” - Google goes all-in on UK AI with data residency, upskilling projects, and startup investments