Revisiting the Radeon RX 6500 XT: One of the Worst GPUs We've Ever Tested

[Steve]

The Radeon 6500 XT was a weak product at launch. We predicted it'd become nearly unusable in the near future even at lowest settings. Some 18 months after release, how is it performing in today's games?

Read the full article here.

https://www.techspot.com/review/2789-amd-radeon-6500-xt-revisit/

 

[Watzupken]

AMD should just end this product. It’s good if a CPU does not have an iGPU to display, but it does not do well in anything. Not for gaming nor as a HTPC GPU.

 

[Beerfloat]

AMD should just end this product. It’s good if a CPU does not have an iGPU to display, but it does not do well in anything. Not for gaming nor as a HTPC GPU.

All those unsold Navi 24 mobile GPUs had to go somewhere.

 

[HardReset]

Ah, my favourite GPU. And still Steven does not want to admit he was wrong. Still writing this kind of nonsense:

Our advice at the time was to ignore the Radeon 6500 XT. At $300 it was a horrifically poor choice. Even at the $200 MSRP, in the then-current crypto mining market, it was such a subpar product that you would be better off buying second-hand or, preferably, simply waiting.

Dear Steve. You can always offer these options and they apply to ANY GPU there is and will be:

1. Wait for better and/or cheaper ones
2. Buy second hand

Basically, every current GPU sucks because at some time in future there will be better deals and you get cheaper and/or faster card when you buy second hand.

Now there is very interesting question. What NEW GPU (not used) was better choice for same price range that 6500XT sold?

Oh, there wasn't any. So just wait or buy second hand, there are your options

It's no surprise to us that the 6500 XT is already obsolete for many modern titles. We just feel for those who were lured into paying as much as $300 for this GPU as that's a harsh deal.

If there is nothing better for same price, product is not overpriced and it just doesn't suck. Basically you tell that anyone that bought 6500 XT was an *****, because they could have waited or bought second hand

Also Steven still didn't realize this GPU is and was MOBILE, and released on desktop because there was basically nothing available.

 

[jpvalverde85]

Ah, my favourite GPU. And still Steven does not want to admit he was wrong. Still writing this kind of nonsense:

Dear Steve. You can always offer these options and they apply to ANY GPU there is and will be:

1. Wait for better and/or cheaper ones
2. Buy second hand

Basically, every current GPU sucks because at some time in future there will be better deals and you get cheaper and/or faster card when you buy second hand.

Now there is very interesting question. What NEW GPU (not used) was better choice for same price range that 6500XT sold?

Oh, there wasn't any. So just wait or buy second hand, there are your options


If there is nothing better for same price, product is not overpriced and it just doesn't suck. Basically you tell that anyone that bought 6500 XT was an *****, because they could have waited or bought second hand

Also Steven still didn't realize this GPU is and was MOBILE, and released on desktop because there was basically nothing available.

Was potato and aged like milk. Yeah, it was a mobile companion chip to use the IGP for most task and fire this one for games (thats probably why it lacks so much codecs), but I cant believe that fell into IGP performance against AMD own products. Probably as a basic GPU with low clocks and pasive heatsink for image output could have worked, but RX 6500 XT is a big name to carry on the shoulders for such a small and pathetic piece of silicon.

 

[ScottSoapbox]

Dear Steve. You can always offer these options and they apply to ANY GPU there is and will be:

1. Wait for better and/or cheaper ones
2. Buy second hand

Basically, every current GPU sucks because at some time in future there will be better deals and you get cheaper and/or faster card when you buy second hand.

The "wait" Steve was referring to was not about future products (as that always looms, although it is worth mentioning shortly before new releases) but the crypto pricing premium.

I paid over 2 grand for my 3080 during the crypto craze. It was an objectively bad time to buy any GPU. Moreover, this GPU launched as bitcoin was poised to change in profitability for gaming GPUs.

 

[HardReset]

Was potato and aged like milk. Yeah, it was a mobile companion chip to use the IGP for most task and fire this one for games (thats probably why it lacks so much codecs), but I cant believe that fell into IGP performance against AMD own products. Probably as a basic GPU with low clocks and pasive heatsink for image output could have worked, but RX 6500 XT is a big name to carry on the shoulders for such a small and pathetic piece of silicon.

Navi 24 was (at least I think so) AMDs first 6nm product. Basically it was 6nm test drive that explains small die size (and therefore lack of features). On other hand, because of very small size and 6nm process, it was easy to manufacture big amounts.

So, yes, basic GPU with low clocks would have worked better but how AMD could manufacture it? TSMC 7nm was fully booked, no help from there. AMDs share on GlobalFoundries 12/14nm went on Ryzen and Epyc I/O dies (former is same as x570 chipset too).

In the end, Navi 24 was only thing AMD could manufacture big amounts to help GPU shortage. It's just plain stupid to complain about AMD attempting to do Something. What did Nvidia do? Basically nothing. That's my point.

The "wait" Steve was referring to was not about future products (as that always looms, although it is worth mentioning shortly before new releases) but the crypto pricing premium.

I paid over 2 grand for my 3080 during the crypto craze. It was an objectively bad time to buy any GPU. Moreover, this GPU launched as bitcoin was poised to change in profitability for gaming GPUs.

That's why I said "better and/or cheaper ones". Even if wait was about "until Crypto craziness is over", in the end it doesn't really matter Why prices are bad if they are. 6500XT was groundbreaking as after launch, there really were new and cheap video cards that were actually available.

As you paid so much, you should have either waited or bought second hand. You acted against Steve advice

 

[opckieran]

$100 for this POS is too generous. It shouldn’t go for more than $80 at this point. A truly terrible card. Thank goodness Intel is now competing in the segment.

 

[BadThad]

What a craptastic product! The used market offers MUCH better cards. The only way I see this as a useable game card is to cut your res to something like 800x600.

 

[redgarl]

Well, it is still better than the 4090... the worst GPU ever created...

 

[opckieran]

Well, it is still better than the 4090... the worst GPU ever created...

Sadly the 4090 was the only GPU that demonstrated the expected generational performance uplift when it came to rasterization (I.e not requiring conveniently Ada exclusive frame gen to hit those targets). The last few generations have just sucked. I think Pascal was the most recent truly great generation from nVidia. The ones that followed were all underwhelming in some way. Price, performance, or availability…

 

[Theinsanegamer]

The 6500 was an absolute disgrace. The fact that it couldnt consistently beat the 1650 LP was just so disappointing. Thankfully gigabyte deiced to be silly and make a low profile 4060 that blows the pants off of a 6500.

When iGPUs are outperforming your dGPU, it has no reason to exist. Delete it and try again.

Ah, my favourite GPU. And still Steven does not want to admit he was wrong. Still writing this kind of nonsense:

Dear Steve. You can always offer these options and they apply to ANY GPU there is and will be:

1. Wait for better and/or cheaper ones
2. Buy second hand

Basically, every current GPU sucks because at some time in future there will be better deals and you get cheaper and/or faster card when you buy second hand.

Now there is very interesting question. What NEW GPU (not used) was better choice for same price range that 6500XT sold?

Oh, there wasn't any. So just wait or buy second hand, there are your options


If there is nothing better for same price, product is not overpriced and it just doesn't suck. Basically you tell that anyone that bought 6500 XT was an *****, because they could have waited or bought second hand

Also Steven still didn't realize this GPU is and was MOBILE, and released on desktop because there was basically nothing available.

Yeah, most people will look at a product that is slower then the 1650 yet costs more 4 years after the 1650 came out and go "nah fam, that's garbage".

 

[Lew Zealand]

The 6500 was an absolute disgrace. The fact that it couldnt consistently beat the 1650 LP was just so disappointing.

LOL, where do you see the 6500 XT losing to a 1650? The 6400 is the same speed as the 1650 so the 6500 XT is clearly faster.

When iGPUs are outperforming your dGPU, it has no reason to exist. Delete it and try again.

What iGPU is faster than the 6500 XT? Answer: none

Yeah, most people will look at a product that is slower then the 1650 yet costs more 4 years after the 1650 came out and go "nah fam, that's garbage".

Again, wrong. The 6500 XT sucks but at least get the data right, eh?

 

[Mr Majestyk]

It's slower than the 5500XT. How is that even possible? Well it's possible because it's actually the real RX6400, but AMD decided they could be smart and try game the gamers with bogus naming. Just like Nvidia is doing with the 4060 cards that are 4050 class crap.

 

[Thatsdisgusting]

Everyone who took part in creating these abominations, from project to silicon manufacturing, should be charged for environmental damage and nonchalant resource disposal.

 

[b3rdm4n]

Remember that time AMD saw a hole in the market and insulted gamers by rapidly repurposing a mobile chip to become the woefully underpowered and gimped 6500XT to fleece anyone that bought it?

Pepperidge farm remembers.