ASUS has unveiled its Radeon RX 6800 XT & Radeon RX 6800 custom line of graphics cards which include ROG STRIX, ROG STRIX LC (Liquid Cooled) and TUF Gaming variants. The models confirm that AIBs are well underway in prepping the next-generation cooling designs for AMD’s Big Navi based graphics cards.
ASUS Radeon RX 6800 XT & RX 6800 ROG STRIX, ROG STRIX LC & TUF Gaming Custom Graphics Cards Pictured
The ASUS Radeon RX 6800 series custom graphics cards range from air cooled to liquid cooled variants. ASUS is also the first to introduce a liquid cooled variant for AMD’s RDNA 2 GPUs that power the Radeon RX 6800 XT & RX 6800 graphics cards. The most noteworthy model is the LC variant which features a closed loop cooling solution and will be the first one that we will detail.
Big Navi is here. The Radeon RX 6000 series and the underlying RDNA 2 GPU architecture herald a new era of Radeon graphics power. To get the most out of these exciting new GPUs, ASUS engineers have been hard at work developing custom versions that deliver the high performance, low temperatures, and quiet operation that enthusiasts expect. Whether you choose ROG Strix or TUF Gaming Radeon RX 6000 series cards, you’ll find they deliver on all those expectations—and we’ve even put a liquid-cooled twist on our highest-end ROG Strix card so far for this generation.
via ASUS ROG
ASUS ROG STRIX LC Radeon RX 6800 XT Liquid Cooled Graphics Card
The ASUS ROG STRIX LC Radeon RX 6800 XT is a full-on liquid cooled design which makes use of the ROG STRIX Radeon RX 6800 XT PCB but couples it with the power of liquid cooling. The liquid cooler features a 240mm radiator that has braided tubing leading to a custom pump model that has been designed specifically for the Navi 21 “RDNA 2” GPU. The shroud on the card itself is gorgeous with a stunning display of ASUS’s AURA SYNC RGB lighting and a futuristic shroud design. The shroud also comes with a blower styled fan that will blow air through the internal chassis of the graphics card.
As for the internal chassis, a large cold plate is said to cool both the GPU silicon and GDDR6 VRAM featured on the PCB. The graphics card is definitely going to be a standout design for the Radeon RX 6800 XT graphics card, offering a premium cooling design for a hefty premium. Expect the card to cost around $899 US or higher at launch.
ASUS ROG STRIX Radeon RX 6800 Triple-Fan Cooled Graphics Card
As for the standard air-cooled ROG STRIX Radeon RX 6800 graphics card, ASUS has went with a design that’s similar to the ROG STRIX GeForce RTX 30 series graphics cards. The card features 3 axial-tech based fans with 13 fan blades & a massive heatsink underneath the shroud. This cooling design comes in a 2.9 slot form factor which is just a cooler way of saying 3-slot design.
The graphics card comes with a nice looking backplate which covers the entire length of the card and even extends beyond the PCB. A small cut out at the back helps push air out from the back. The front of the custom card has a dual-tone design with frames that seem to be made out of aluminum extending out & giving the card a more premium feel which looks similar to ASUS’s Poseidon series offerings. The heatsink underneath is made up of a large aluminum fin stack that makes use of at least 6 heat pipes.
ASUS is also be investing in some cool features such as an RGB strip that runs the entire side length of the card. Display options on the ROG STRIX Radeon RX 6800 will likely include a pair of HDMI and DP ports along with the USB Type-C VirtualLink connector. The card seems to feature a dual 8-pin power connector configuration. It seems like the ASUS ROG STRIX Radeon RX 6800 XT is not ready yet and will feature a slightly different PCB with the possibility of a triple 8-pin connector config.
ASUS Radeon RX 6800 XT & Radeon RX 6800 TUF Gaming Graphics Cards
Like the ROG STRIX lineup, the TUF Gaming series will feature Axial-tech based fans but with 9 fan blades unlike the 13 blades on the ROG STRIX variants. They will also feature 0dB fan technology and house some quality electrical components to deliver stable power to the GPU and memory. It looks like the TUF Gaming lineup will also feature a 2.9 slot design.
The cards share the same display configuration as the ROG STRIX variants which are made up of triple DisplayPort 1.4a ports and dual HDMI 2.1 ports. There’s a nice looking backplate that has a solid-aluminum GPU plate to hold the cooler to the graphics card. There’s also a cut-out for the third fan as the cooler extends beyond the PCB. Finally, you can see a small TUF Gaming logo that illuminates in bright orange colors on the side of the card.
AMD Radeon RX 6000 Series “RDNA 2” Graphics Card Lineup:
| Graphics Card | AMD Radeon RX 6700 | AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT | AMD Radeon RX 6800 | AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT | AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GPU | Navi 22 (XL?) | Navi 22 (XT?) | Navi 21 XL | Navi 21 XT | Navi 21 XTX |
| Process Node | 7nm | 7nm | 7nm | 7nm | 7nm |
| Transistors | TBA | TBA | 26.8 Billion | 26.8 Billion | 26.8 Billion |
| Compute Units | TBA | 40 | 60 | 72 | 80 |
| Stream Processors | TBA | 2560 | 3840 | 4608 | 5120 |
| TMUs/ROPs | TBA | TBA | 240 / 96 | 288 / 128 | 320 / 128 |
| Game Clock | TBA | TBA | 1815 MHz | 2015 MHz | 2015 MHz |
| Boost Clock | TBA | TBA | 2105 MHz | 2250 MHz | 2250 MHz |
| FP32 TFLOPs | TBA | TBA | 16.17 TFLOPs | 20.74 TFLOPs | 23.04 TFLOPs |
| Memory Size | 12 GB GDDR6 | 12 GB GDDR6 | 16 GB GDDR6 +128 MB Infinity Cache | 16 GB GDDR6 +128 MB Infinity Cache | 16 GB GDDR6 +128 MB Infinity Cache |
| Memory Bus | 192-bit | 192-bit | 256-bit | 256-bit | 256-bit |
| Memory Clock | 14 Gbps? | 16 Gbps? | 16 Gbps | 16 Gbps | 16 Gbps |
| Bandwidth | 320 GB/s | 384 GB/s | 512 GB/s | 512 GB/s | 512 GB/s |
| TDP | TBA | TBA | 250W | 300W | 300W |
| Price | TBA | TBA | $579 US | $649 US | $999 US |
ASUS hasn’t confirmed the pricing or availability of the cards yet but we can expect them in the coming month.