Rumored Radeon RX 6000 Series refresh could feature fast 18Gbps memory

Some information has recently come out that suggests AMD could release refreshed models for some of its Radeon 6000 Series graphics cards along with another entry-level option. Twitter user @greymon55 says that AMD will release the “RX 6500 in May,” with the graphics card allegedly featuring a far more affordable price point. The leaker also suggests that there will be a larger refresh for the Radeon RX 6000 lineup that yields improved gaming performance.

The RX 6500 is a rumored alternative to the RX 6500 XT. Allegedly, it’ll be priced around $130 USD at MSRP, making it much cheaper than the $199 USD price tag of the 6500 XT. For the most part, it seems that the RX 6500 will be based on the RX 6400 specs. This means that it may have 768 stream processors and 4GB of  GDDR6 memory. If not for the disappointing performance of the 6500 XT, an even cheaper option would be considered a smart move on AMD’s part. Unfortunately, we’re awaiting the release of this card with guarded skepticism at this point.

AMD’s Radeon RX 6000 Series shake-up

The rumor from Greymon55 also suggests that a Radeon RX “6X50 XT” refresh is coming in summer 2022, though many specifics aren’t mentioned. However, we have pieced together a few more details. According to another rumor from Moore’s Law is Dead, AMD is purchasing large quantities of 18Gbps GDDR6 memory, likely for these new cards. As of now, 18Gbps GDDR6 memory is exclusive to the RX 6500 XT and the RX 6900 XT. The existing RX 6000 Series largely makes use of 16Gbps memory at the moment.

Curiously, Greymon55 doesn’t expect AMD to port the Radeon RX 6000 Series refresh to the improved TSMC 6nm node, despite TSMC announcing plans to move away from the 7nm node last summer. Most of the RX 6000 Series is designed for 7nm, however, the recently launched RX 6500 XT is manufactured on 6nm. TSMC designed the more efficient 6nm node to be easily portable, so this seems like a missed opportunity for AMD to get an even greater edge on Nvidia this generation come the refresh. This may be explained by the timing of the refresh being too close to the end of the generation along with redesign costs being too high. By comparison, adding faster memory is a much easier way to improve performance for higher framerates in games.

With the RDNA 3 architecture also expected to launch later this year, AMD simply may be focusing efforts on next generation products instead of trying to eek smaller performance gains out of existing designs. After all, early reports suggest the RDNA 3-based Radeon RX 7000 Series could beat Nvidia’s best next time around. Regardless, we’ll keep our ears perked for more information on a potential Radeon RX 6000 Series refresh. Just keep in mind that all of this information is still considered to be unofficial, so as always, don’t take it as fact just yet.

https://twitter.com/greymon55/status/1488716620876828673?cxt=HHwWgsCq6aH4_agpAAAA