Generally easy is best.
The Radeon RX 6600 XT graphics playing cards we’ve reviewed to date—the $550 Asus ROG Strix, and the $419 XFX Speedster Merc 308—characterize the head of these producers’ lineups, bristling with heavy-duty coolers and fancy extras like dual-BIOS switches and glittering lights. And sure, each designs impressed. However the $399 Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 6600 XT takes the other tack, slicing out the fats to focus solely on delivering good efficiency and good cooling at an excellent value. (In idea, no less than, since the crippling GPU scarcity means graphics card costs skyrocket the second they hit retailer cabinets.)
Don’t let that idiot you, although. Regardless that the Sapphire Pulse lacks fanciful {hardware} luxuries, it manages to drag forward of these pricier Radeon RX 6600 XT fashions in our benchmark checks—and it’s due to software program. Sapphire has spent years honing its “Trixx Enhance” characteristic, which marries slight picture upsampling with AMD’s Radeon Picture Sharpening expertise to incredible performance-boosting impact. Activating Trixx pours on further frames, and to a big sufficient extent that the Pulse delivers stable 1440p gameplay in titles that may give different Radeon RX 6600 XT fashions some suits.
So sure, the {hardware} is just a part of the story for the Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 6600 XT. Let’s dig in.
Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 6600 XT specs, options, and design
Make sure you try our unique Radeon RX 6600 XT evaluate for a deeper dialogue round this GPU’s setup. It’s well worth the time should you’re a chip nerd. AMD’s RDNA 2 structure helps the Radeon RX 6600 XT sip energy and hit sky-high clock speeds, however technical particulars about how this GPU’s Infinity Cache was applied—and paired with a tiny reminiscence bus—means it’s higher fitted to ultra-fast 1080p gaming than stepping as much as 1440p. (Sapphire’s Trixx Enhance tech makes that much less true for the Pulse, no less than for in the present day.)
For this evaluate, we’ll simply plop a chart beneath that exhibits how the Radeon RX 6600 XT’s key specs stack up towards final era’s $279 Radeon RX 5600 XT and $400 Radeon RX 5700 XT. They’re apt comparisons, as a result of whereas the brand new card would possibly carry the 5600 XT’s lineage, it additionally is available in on the 5700 XT’s greater price ticket.
AMDAs compared, the Pulse doesn’t change up an excessive amount of apart from one key spec: Clock speeds. Sapphire bumped the standard Recreation Clock as much as 2,382MHz from the default 2,359MHz. That’s a modest enhance, and behind the two,428MHz we noticed within the pricier 6600 XT fashions, however as you’ll see in our benchmarks, these all ship primarily equivalent efficiency of their inventory configurations. Plus, Sapphire wanted to go away its step-up $450 Nitro+ providing some room to work.
Brad Chacos/IDGSapphire left all the flowery further options to the Nitro+ as effectively. The Pulse RX 6600 XT sticks to a plain, black design with some pink Pulse and Radeon branding, however nary an RGB LED, exchangeable fan, or dual-BIOS change in sight. Don’t mistake plainness for ugliness, nonetheless, as the straightforward aesthetic ought to match very effectively in most gaming PCs. An aluminum backplate atop the graphics card retains issues trying good and clear, whereas the black plastic shroud contains some gentle texturing that helps it look extra enticing.
Brad Chacos/IDGWhereas it’s not loaded down with heavy metallic, the Pulse doesn’t skimp on the cooling entrance both. A normal-sized heatsink helps the GPU and different important elements, working along with Sapphire’s “hybrid fan design” that we first witnessed in the Nitro+ Radeon RX 6800 XT. The brand new hybrid fan blades merge traits from each axial and blower-style followers, enhancing each airflow and air strain in comparison with yesteryear’s axial followers, whereas maintaining noise ranges low. The 2 followers on the Pulse every comes loaded with 9 of the shallow, swooping blades, in comparison with twelve on the Nitro. Minimize-outs within the backplate assist air move cleanly by way of the heatsink.
It’s simple however efficient—a cornerstone for the Pulse collection. Sapphire’s card manages to run virtually inaudibly whereas maintaining temperatures effectively tamed, with traits much like the incredible customized cooler on XFX’s rival Merc 308 Radeon RX 6600 XT. That’s particularly spectacular when you think about that the XFX sports activities a giant, lengthy cooler, and the Pulse measures in at only a hair over two slots thick. Good things.
Brad Chacos/IDGPort report
Talking of fine stuff, like different RX 6000-series GPUs, XFX’s tackle the RX 6600 XT helps all of RDNA 2’s numerous options, together with FidelityFX Tremendous Decision and Sensible Entry Reminiscence to spice up efficiency, real-time ray tracing capabilities, AV1 video decoding, DirectX 12 Final goodies, an improved model of Radeon Enhance that wraps in Variable Price Shading, Radeon Anti-Lag throughout all main DX APIs, FreeSync show assist, AMD Hyperlink streaming to different gadgets, and rather more. AMD’s strong Radeon Settings app contains each guide and automated efficiency tuning controls, so you may tweak the cardboard to your coronary heart’s extent with these twin BIOS profiles.
And Sapphire’s personal customized software program answer provides a lot extra.
Subsequent web page: Sapphire Trixx Enhance