AMD could be set to refresh some of its current RX 6000 Series graphics cards, perhaps boosting them with faster memory going by the latest from the GPU grapevine.
This comes from hardware leaker Greymon55 on Twitter, who floats the idea that AMD is preparing a ‘new version’ of RX 6000 desktop cards, theorizing that an upgrade to faster 18Gbps memory might be in store.
AMD seems to be preparing a new version of the RX 6000 series, I don't know the details, maybe an upgrade to 18Gbps?January 17, 2022
Of course, we need to keep our skeptical hats on here, particularly around the 18Gbps assertion, as it’s clearly just a theory (‘maybe’), but the big picture is that Team Red might be looking at pushing out something like an RX 6850 and other variants.
Obviously enough, any such 6X50 models would have to improve performance on the graphics card they were a refresh of, and faster memory would help. It’s also possible that these incoming GPUs could be built on 6nm – as used by AMD’s new RX 6500 XT and RX 6400 – and as such, that should leave room for notching up clocks for a bit more performance.
Analysis: If RX 6000 refresh is coming, what about the timing?
Whichever way AMD does it, if this overhaul is going to happen, these graphics cards would obviously need to offer a decent boost in frame rates compared to the existing RX 6000 models they are refreshing.
Whether AMD could realistically think about unleashing yet more Big Navi models given production capacity and the stock woes making themselves felt right now, that’s clearly another consideration which must be weighed here. In the nearer future, the supply situation remains shaky – but Team Red has indicated that the current serious problems may start to resolve in the second half of 2022.
Does that leave room for a move to refresh some 6000 Series cards later this year, then? Well, not really, given that next-gen RDNA 3 GPUs are due in H2 2022; admittedly, more likely in Q4, but that hardly gives much breathing room for a refresh of current products before moving on to what’ll presumably be RX 7000 offerings.
So, more likely than not, the rumored revamp theorized here would have to happen in, well, maybe Q2 – so perhaps only a few months or so away – but we’re not very convinced on that possibility yet. Time will tell, as ever, but we’d be extra careful around this rumor for now.
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