Zephyr, a Chinese graphics card manufacturer, has unveiled the Radeon RX 6500, a new entry-level graphics card from AMD. While it isn’t positioned to outperform the current high-end graphics cards on the market, this Navi 24-powered model offers potential appeal for budget-conscious gamers.
Specifications of the AMD Radeon RX 6500
The details surrounding the Radeon RX 6500 are somewhat limited as it currently does not appear on Zephyr’s official site. The identification stems from logos visible on the cooling fans. Alongside the full-sized ITX version, Zephyr also offers a low-profile variant, the Radeon RX 6500LP, which employs a single-slot blower-style cooling solution.
Both the RX 6500 and the RX 6500 XT utilize the same Navi 24 silicon, featuring 1,024 Streaming Processors (SPs). This configuration provides the RX 6500 with 33% more SPs compared to the RX 6400. The RX 6500 is expected to outperform the RX 6400 but underachieves compared to the RX 6500 XT due to significant clock speed reductions aimed at maintaining a thermal design power (TDP) of under 100W.
Current estimates for the RX 6500’s clock speeds are not publicly available, but the RX 6500LP is reportedly designed with a base clock of 1,728 MHz and a boost clock of 2,066 MHz. It is reasonable to anticipate that the ITX variant will have similar clock metrics, considering both configurations have a TDP of 55W. This results in the RX 6500 having a 25% lower base and 27% lower boost clock compared to its higher-tier counterpart, the RX 6500 XT.
While maintaining core specifications similar to the RX 6500 XT, the RX 6500 utilizes a memory subsystem derived from the RX 6400. It retains 4GB of GDDR6 memory with a speed of 16 Gbps over a 64-bit bus, resulting in a memory bandwidth of 128 GB/s—11% less than the RX 6500 XT.
By balancing core and memory specifications, Zephyr has managed to keep the RX 6500’s TDP at 55W, which is slightly above the RX 6400’s rating but a significant 49% lower than that of the RX 6500 XT. Such a low TDP means that the RX 6500 does not require external PCIe power connectors, making it particularly suitable for small form factor (SFF) builds or as an upgrade for preassembled systems.
Performance comparisons have been made with the Radeon RX 580, a longstanding favorite among budget gamers. Despite the RX 6500 XT generally being slower than the RX 580, the RX 6500’s performance remains uncertain, as it is essentially an underclocked version of the same GPU. However, the RX 6500 boasts more modern hardware, offering access to AMD’s latest gaming features, while also being more energy-efficient and cooler than the RX 580.
As of now, there are no official listings for the Radeon RX 6500. The RX 6500 XT is priced starting at around $149, suggesting this could be a reasonable upper limit for the RX 6500. Despite being an older model, the RX 580 is still available for approximately $139, maintaining its value over the years. Used RX 580s can be found for around $64 on platforms like eBay.
The Radeon RX 6500 and its unique characteristics may fill a niche for affordable gaming options, but clear pricing and availability details will be essential for your purchase decisions moving forward.