Radeon RX 6650 XT review: a replacement for the 6600 XT with a little more

We are at the end of a generation of video cards and consequently manufacturers are trying to keep the attention high so as not to see sales collapse. After NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 3090 Ti, too AMD has decided to fire the latest cartridges as far as video cards are concerned RDNA 2 with three new models: Radeon RX 6950 XT, 6750 XT e 6650 XT.

In this article we deal with this last implementation by analyzing two models of ASUS and Sapphire. There Radeon RX 6650 XT va a sostituire le Radeon RX 6600 XT, contrary to what will happen with the other two “50” models that will join the proposals already on the market. Consequently, the 6650 XT remains a video card devoted to Full HD gaming with high details.

The 6650 XT and 6600 XT aren’t all that different at the level of technical specifications if we take into account the fact that the GPU the same (Navi 23)identical, and only the frequencies change of GPU and memory. And not even that much. The Radeon RX 6650 XT features a Game Clock of 2410 MHz while the Boost Clock reaches 2635 MHz. The 6600 XT, on the other hand, stops at 2359 and 2589 MHz respectively. We therefore have, at least on the front of the reference specifications, an increase in the clock frequency of 51 MHz (Game Clock) and 46 MHz (Boost Clock).

The onboard GDDR6 memory instead goes from 16 to 17.5 Gbps. Finally, the TBP goes up from 160W to 180W. The price of the 6650 XT starts from 399 dollarswhile the 6600 XT was presented with the price list starting at 379 dollars.

As anticipated, two models based on this project have arrived in the editorial office, the ASUS ROG STRIX Radeon RX 6650 XT OC Edition e la Sapphire NITRO+ Radeon RX 6650 XT. Let’s see how the new cards are made and how often they appear on the market.

ASUS ROG STRIX Radeon RX 6650 XT OC Edition

The solution of ASUS factory overclocked as the name implies: in Gaming Mode it has a Game Clock of 2523 MHz and a Boost Clock up to 2694 MHzwhile in OC Mode the Game Clock rises to 2543 MHz, while the Boost Clock remains unchanged.

The ROG Strix brand represents excellence at ASUS and even in this case we have a well-finished solution, with a elegant and sporty black-silver heatsink at the same time. Two axial fans with a ring around them push the air towards the radiator below: they start spinning when the temperature hits 60 C and stop when the temperature drops below 52 C.

The radiatorconsisting of two parts and a heatpipe system that serve to remove heat from the GPU and memories, makes the card occupy about three slots on the motherboard. To embellish this cooling system we find the ROG Strix writing on the cover that lights up thanks to RGB LEDs. From the Armory Crate software you can manage the lighting at will.

The board equipped with a single traditional 8-pin connector for power supply, while observing the back we observe the backplate with an opening on the final part to pass the hot air towards the top of the case and the switch for the dual BIOS (P Mode e Q Mode).

Performance and Quiet Mode do not intervene on frequencies but on the operating profile of the fans, with Quiet Mode which leads the GPU to rise a few degrees in the face of a more contained noise. On the back present an HDMI 2.1 port to which three DisplayPort 1.4 are added. The card has dimensions of 281 x 135 x 59 mm.

Sapphire NITRO+ Radeon RX 6650 XT

Sapphire’s solution altogether identical in terms of frequencies declared to the ASUS proposal in Gaming Mode. As a result, the performance of the two models is identical unless there are serious problems on the heat dissipation front – not something we expect given the specs of these graphics cards, although there may be differences.

As you can see in the images we find the traditional 8-pin power connector, the HDMI 2.1 port and the three DisplayPort 1.4. Sapphire’s solution also equipped with uno switch BIOS to switch from the Performance profile to the Silent one, as well as one managed by the TriXX software and controllable at will.

As for the cooling system, we have two fans and two-part radiator connected by heatpipe. Sapphire’s proposal is shorter and so is the radiator: the material dedicated to dissipation therefore lower than the ASUS proposal, we will see if there will be differences in the operating temperatures of the GPU.

Test setup

All video cards were tested with Microsoft Windows 11 operating system. The test platform consisting of a Core i9-10900K on an ASUS ROG Maximus XII Hero WiFi (Z490) motherboard with G.Skill Trident Z 2x8GB DDR4-4000 (17 -17-17-37) and a Crucial P1 M.2 2280 1TB SSD remains unchanged.

Radeon RX 6650 XT performance

Being an “upgrade” of the Radeon RX 6600 XT, the Radeon RX 6650 XT remains a video card for play in Full HD with high details and so we tried it. As you can see in the individual tests with games, the impact of the slightly higher working frequencies and the memory at 17.5 Gbps do not produce such a marked difference with the 6600 XT, indeed we could speak of a negligible improvement. In our summary graph in the conclusions we will quantify the gap as a percentage.

Frequencies, noise and consumption

Subjected to the load of Metro Exodus in Full HD with Ultra details, both 6650 XTs see the GPU rise just over 2.7 GHz, confirming on the one hand the absence of temperature problems, on the other hand demonstrating once again the capabilities of RDNA 2, an architecture that AMD has designed to operate at higher frequencies than in the past.

Before moving on to temperatures, let’s talk about consumption. As you can see, under load both cards reach peaks around 200W, with an average in the load segment of the test around 170W. In short, considering the increase in frequencies compared to the reference ones, the picture that appears falls within the norm.

Even if the recorded temperatures are not at all alarming nor affect the performance of the two models, we notice an obvious difference that rewards the ASUS home solution.

The ROG Strix keeps the GPU around 55 C, while the hotspot is stationed around 70 C. The Sapphire proposal, on the other hand, sees the GPU positioning itself between 60 and 65 C, in a trend a little more dancer than what seen on ASUS. Consequently, the higher hotspot with the same dynamics is positioned between 80 and 85 C. As we saw at the beginning of this chapter regarding the frequencies, these temperatures do not cause throttling and therefore the performance remains the same. The ASUS proposal comes out as the winner in a direct comparison.

As for the noise, both solutions bring the fans to spin at about 1300 RPM at maximum: from 39 dB with the fans stopped for both models, it rises to the 42.5 dB peak recorded by the ASUS solution (P Mode), while the proposed Sapphire stops at 41 dB (Performance). In both cases there are no complaints in terms of noise, so much so that the presence of Silent profiles may even seem superfluous, but the NITRO + is objectively slightly quieter.

Conclusions

After the tests, as always, the time has come to draw conclusions and as easily understood by looking at the technical specifications and individual tests, the Radeon RX 6650 XT is only slightly faster than the Radeon RX 6600 XT which it replaces. In our tests it turns out to be roughly 4% faster.

a video card that changes the scenery? No. The small performance improvement comes in the face of higher consumption percentages and with a higher (list) price. Is it going to change the balance of power with respect to NVIDIA’s proposals? Not even, because the 6600 XT already had an advantage in terms of performance, consumption and real prices over the RTX 3060 12 GB. In short, was there a lack of a new model? Definitely no. At the same time, we can’t even speak ill of it: one more option, which among other things behaves as expected, and must be taken as such.

As for the models of ASUS and Sapphire, we have found that they perform well, with the proposal of ASUS that by virtue of a slightly larger and more efficient heatsink is able to make the GPU operate on lower temperatures. Both cards work silently (the NITRO + slightly more) and for this reason the choice between the two must be based mainly on the real price that we will see as soon as the manufacturers introduce the models in stores.