XFX Radeon RX 6700 XT

Mit der Radeon RX 6700 XT schickt AMD RDNA 2 in das Performance-Segment. Die laut Liste 479 Euro teure Grafikkarte mit Navi-22-GPU und 12 GB platziert sich im Test in Rasterizer-Titeln genau zwischen Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 Ti und RTX 3070. Bei Raytracing hat sie das Nachsehen. Custom-Designs haben Silent-Potential.

When the XFX RX 6700 XT MERC 319 came in I was a little surprised that it nearly shares the same footprint as the XFX RX 6800 XT MERC 319. But being a large card I was excited to see how it would affect cooling performance and performance overall. XFX was able to dial in a higher wattage limit which translated to a touch more performance over a similarly overclocked card. Most impressively the cooling performance was top notch with the large cooler. The only downside as far as performance goes was on the noise side of things, the large card was loud across all of my tests. Overall though, like the previous 6700 XT that I had the chance to check out it offers great performance at 1080p which can work well with a high refresh monitor, even with modern demanding games. Then at 1440p, it was solid as well, handling anything I threw at it.

That's it! I'm sold on the experience that XFX has to offer. It doesn't however change the fact that at the core is an RX 6700 XT, which is not a good value at this point. The GPU has its place, but the shortcomings from AMD hampers my desire to purchase a reference model or the dozens of partner cards offered. With all that out of the way, if you are set on buying this AMD RX 6700 XT because your particular market does favor it for the cost to performance ratio in this instance. Maybe you are a die-hard AMD fan or that your monitor only supports FreeSync and that is something you need. Whatever the reasoning, I think the XFX RX 6700 XT MERC 319 is still an excellent product built to get the most out of the RX 6700 XT, just be aware of how much you are willing to pay for it.

On average, over our brand-new 22-game strong test suite, we measured the XFX RX 6700 XT Merc 319 to almost exactly match the AMD reference design. In some tests, it's a tiny bit faster, in others it's a tiny bit slower, which is as expected due to random variation between test runs. The result is still surprising because according to specifications, XFX has the card coming with a factory overclock, but it doesn't turn into a tangible performance benefit. Other custom designs tested today have exactly the same problem, so it doesn't look like it's XFX's fault. While not a huge deal—factory OCs only give you 1, 2 or 3% these days—it's still unexpected. Other reviewers are seeing similar results, I wonder what's going on.

XFX’s MERC319 BLACK RX 6700 XT takes AMD’s reference design and improves it in every way. In fact, the overclock out of the box makes this 6700 XT one of the fastest options we’ve tested. XFX’s version also comes equipped with a 7+2+2-phase power delivery system and 375 W of available power from the two 8-PCIe connectors. The MERC319’s heatsink is very effective and quiet with an overall appealing appearance. The XFX MERC319 BLACK RX 6700 XT is large, taking up nearly three slots in your PC. The drawback to having these features is a price increase. A reference model AMD RX 6700 XT’s MSRP is $479, XFX’s MERC319 BLACK will run you $569; a modest increase of $90 over MSRP.

XFX did everything right with the MERC 319, it's not a Christmas tree with blinking lights, it runs under 65 Degrees and remains totally silent. The aesthetics are very pleasing as well, I like the dark and somewhat simplistic design elements. It's perhaps a bit long and yes thicc, but as long as it fits inside your PC; really who cares? So the base design of the RX 6700 XT is done right. XFX added to that a more advanced PCB design, component selection as well as triple-fan cooler that really works well. That recipe is working well bringing you a product that is 2~3% faster than reference. You'll retrieve a commendable performing product in that WQHD range at very satisfactory temperatures and acoustic levels. Overall it's a lovely Full HD, and Quad HD card with abilities at Ultra HD as well. Raytracing performance on this generation RDNA2 cards is mediocre, and of course, AMD lacks something DLSS, bigtime. All that could be pardoned if the product series was priced right, and it isn't. It has nothing to do with XFX though, this round AMD overpriced the card badly starting at close to 500 bucks for a product range that sits in the WQHD monitor space. The card as tested will cost roughly 569 USD and while we can recommend the card, we have such a hard time justifying the overall price level.