AMD Radeon RX 6600: Finally, a true 1080p graphics card

It’s good, though pricey.

- BRAD CHACOS

It’s finally happened. Well over a year after this generation of graphics cards (fave.co/3DOEuWk) kicked off, AMD is releasing the first true 1080p GPU of the lot with the Radeon RX 6600, which is being both announced and launched today.

Sure, the step-up Radeon RX 6600 XT (fave.co/3vni0c0) ostensibly targets high-refresh-rate 1080p gaming, but it’s massively overkill for gaming on a standard 60Hz monitor. And the rival GeForce RTX 3060 (fave.co/3lUcqKX) doesn’t offer enough GPU grunt for no-compromises 1440p, but Nvidia ladened it with a ludicrous 12GB of VRAM, which contributes to its sky-high street price.

The Radeon RX 6600 offers very good Ultra-quality 1080p gaming paired with 8GB of GDDR6 memory, a remarkably sane combination. Its $329 suggested price might raise an eyebrow at first blush; that matches the MSRP of the RTX 3060, and AMD’s card is both slower and packs 4GB less VRAM. But you’ll find the RTX 3060 going for $675 to $850 on Ebay, way above its official $330 MSRP. In fact, the Radeon RX 6600 XT sells for less than the RTX 3060 online despite being faster across the board—you can find it for $575 to $675 on Ebay.

Still, expect the Radeon RX 6600 to command a markup on the streets. But given all those pricing intricacies and the ongoing GPU shortage (fave.co/3pkV3oL), AMD’s street price feels reasonable for the hardware on offer—even if being forced to pay well over $300 for great 1080p performance remains very unreasonable unless you have deep pockets or little patience.