New AMD Radeon GPUS Debuted By MSI, ASUS And Gigabyte

After Wednesdays AMD event I think anyone interested in PC gaming took a step back to digest what had just been revealed by team red and their line of graphics cards. Everyone except MSI, ASUS, and Gigabyte that is, who have since the event taken to the internet to reveal their own versions of the brand new Radeon RX 6000 series GPUs from AMD.

If you’re unfamiliar with how GPU releases work, here’s a quick summary. Usually, the creators of new GPU hardware (AMD or Nvidia) will make their own version of the new graphics card for people to buy straight from the developer – you can find examples of it even with the 3080, 3070 and the 3090.

However, to meet demand and introduce some variance into the market place often other PC tech-focussed companies, especially ones with a strong presence in the gaming industry, will make their own versions of the new GPUs that include slight variations when it comes to design, cooling, and other features.

Whilst the actual chip and base performance of the GPU itself isn’t changed, these other factory differences can often have a drastic effect on how the cards perform. So, let’s find out what MSI, ASUS and Gigabyte all have in store for the next generation of Radeon RX GPUs!

If you know anything about GPUs, then you know that MSI is always up there when it comes to quality graphics cards. So, the announcement that they are going to be making variants of their Gaming X Trio design available in 6800 and 6800 XT versions is definitely welcome news.

First, let’s talk about what we know about these new MSI AMD RX 6000 GPU cards. From a technical standpoint, the 6800 XT is going to feature a 2.7 slot form factor, dual 8-pin connectors, and a completely custom PCB design. All good stuff when it comes to functionality, and all signs point to the less powerful RX 6800 card having the same specifications, except with a different PCB design.

We also know that MSI is going to be bringing their Tri Frozr tech to their Radeon RX 6800 XT and 6800 cards, which is pretty important. Why? Well, we have already seen this design in action on some of the released Ampere GPUs in the wild right now, and we know that it cools your card brilliantly.

In terms of design, you can expect the Tri-Frozr design to utilize a ring design, that sees two fan-blades working in conjunction to increase the airflow towards the internal heatsink. Basically, it’s a great cooling system that will keep these GPUs in good health. Outside of the design of the cooling on the card, you can expect the requisite Mystic Light RGB LEDs to be plastered all over these cards, making them RGB ready for all of you wondering about that when it comes to your AMD GPU setup.

As far as release date and price point, MSI has kept quiet. However, we can assume that the cards will be releasing on the same day as the main RX 6000 GPUs, and we will bring you accurate reports on the pricing as soon as the information is available!

As far as information is concerned, we have a lot more to go on from the ASUS camp than we do from MSI, mainly because they have unveiled all of their GPU variants at once. Which is pretty exciting if I’m being honest.

First off, you have the ASUS Radeon RX 6800 XT and the RX 6800 ROG STRIX variants from ASUS. If you didn’t know, this is ASUS’ top of the line variant for their graphics cards and other gaming gear, and it now comes in an AMD RX 6000 flavor with one big twist – its going to be available with a liquid cooling version ready from launch.

The ASUS ROG STRIX LC Radeon RX 6800 XT is a liquid-cooled graphics card, that features a complete closed-loop liquid cooling solution. The liquid cooling circuit itself features a 240mm radiator that has braided tubing connected to a pump that has been custom made for RDNA 2 GPUs.

All of this is alongside a chassis that features not only a blower-style fan to push air through the card itself, but also an interior housed cooling plate that is going to cool the silicon inside the GPU, as well as the VRAM that sits on the PCB.

All of this is baked right into the fully operational Radeon RX 6800 XT GPU, which is massively impressive, and with the RGB based covering on the GPU itself makes for a great looking graphics card. You won’t be getting this cheap though – ASUS has tipped that this card is going to cost around $900 at launch – but remember this is a top-end version of a GPU that will probably experience few heat-based issues in its life cycle!

Then you have the standard air-cooled variants of ASUS’ ROG STRIX 6000 series GPUs. The design itself is actually pretty similar to what we have seen ASUS produce for Ampere cards, with a 3-slot GPU mounted with three axial based fans, and a heatsink sat inside the card itself. As far as connectivity goes, it looks like the 6800 variant of this card is going to feature a dual 8-pin power connection, as well as a pair of display port slots, a pair of HDMI slots, and a USB Type-C VirtualLink connector. We can’t speak too much for the 6800 XT yet as it hasn’t yet been fully revealed, but we will report more accurately when we have the info.

It also looks like ASUS is going to be implementing an RGB strip along the side of the card itself as well, and for those wondering: yes- it does look like the slightly lopsided one that featured on their Ampere GPUs.

ASUS’ TUF Gaming GPUs are the next step down in their own little hierarchy of quality GPUs, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t amazing. So, their TUF Gaming is also set to feature both a 6800 and 6800 XT GPU from AMD, both made with Axial-tech based cooling fans as well, with 0dB tech baked in alongside premium components that are going to help deliver power to the GPU and memory without compromising the streamlined and power-saving features that AMD has been working on for RDNA 2.

The TUF Gaming cards look like they are going to be a 2.9 slot design, and have the same display configuration as the ROG Strix variants of the card, so there is nothing ground-breaking there. As far as RGB goes, there isn’t a lot to speak of on the TUF Gaming variant either, aside from a small TUF Gaming logo that illuminates at the side of the card.

ASUS are yet to release further information on all of their GPU variants, including pricing, release dates, and further info on any potential 6900 XT cards that might drop in the future. As soon as that information drops though, we will report on it!

Whilst we don’t know too much about the Radeon RX 6800 and 6800 XT cards coming from Gigabyte, we do know they exist, with the cards and their boxes being unveiled by the company themselves online (pictured above and below).

So, when it comes to third-party AMD Radeon graphics cards, more information is slowly coming to light, and we are going to be sure to have all of the latest information presented up to date right here on PC Guide, so keep an eye out for the latest news!

Got any questions about the new AMD line of graphics cards? Just ask in the comments below and we will do our best to help!