AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT: Release Date, Price, Everything We Know

There is something of an arms race going on in the world of GPUs, although hopefully with a little less bloodshed. As games become bigger and more demanding, graphics cards are constantly having to be improved to keep up. As graphics cards offer more power and performance, games expand to make the most of those abilities. Which is a long way of bringing us around to the latest AMD graphics card: the AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT. Unveiled at CES 2022, we'll take an in-depth look at everythig AMD said about it. No more dilly-dallying. Let's get stuck in.

AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT: Release Date

AMD aren't hanging around after announcing this GPU. Shipping will begin on January 19th, so there is only a very short time between the announcement, and its release. Of course, this does not necessarily mean that you'll be able to get your hands on one from that date. A lot will depend on demand, with scalpers likely to be keen to get in on the action. There's also the ongoing issues of worldwide component shortages, so at this stage it's impossible to know how many of these will be available at launch.

Read More: NVIDIA RTX 3090 Ti Release Date, Predicted Specs, Everything We Know

AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT Price

AMD have chosen to price the RX 6500 XT very aggressively, coming in at a base price of $199. This compares favourably with the Nvidia RTX 3050, also announced at CES. That will be priced from $249, so there is a significant price difference for what is intended to be an entry-level product.

But once again, that's assuming that any of us will actually be able to get our hands on one. And if they become in short supply but high demand, expect the price to creep higher.

Read More: AMD vs NVIDIA GPU: Is AMD Radeon better than NVIDIA GeForce?

Anything Else Worth Knowing?

AMD has confirmed the following specs for the RX 6500 XT:

• 4GB of GDDR6 memory

• Memory speed of 18 Gbps
• 16 hardware Ray Accelerators
• 16MB Infinity Cache
• Up to 2610 MHz Game Clock

They have also stated that this GPU will be capable of running games easily at 1080p resolution. They cited the following examples:

• Resident Evil Village at up to 108 fps
• Age of Empires IV at up to 95 fps
• Halo Infinite at up to 78 fps
• Fortnite at up to 104 fps
• Back 4 Blood at up to 105 fps
• Call of Duty: Vanguard at up to 61 fps

• Farming Simulator 22 at up to 115 fps
• Apex Legends at up to 91 fps (on max settings)

The RX 6500 XT uses RDNA 2 technology. This is the same architecture that the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S use, and will also be found in the Steam Deck. This is a GPU that is likely to have broad appeal given its performance and price. However, how it performs in comparison to the Nvidia RTX 3050, and whether you'll even be able to get hold of one, are both questions that will need answering once the product is out in the world. There's also the expected arrival of Intel Arc GPUs, to increase competition later this year.