Is the Radeon RX 6500 XT worth buying this Holiday Season?

The Radeon RX 6500 XT was launched as an entry-level offering based on the RDNA 2 architecture. It is a direct competitor to Nvidia's RTX 3050. However, the current market conditions give the 6500 XT a significant upper hand compared to the Team Green equivalent.

The 6500 XT is an underpowered card on paper. It completely loses to the RTX 3050 in gaming performance metrics. However, like any other RX 6000 series card, it triumphs in one aspect: pricing.

With an unmatched price, the card outshines the RTX 3050 and the Intel Arc A380, which was also introduced in the same segment. It also signifies a better value than the RX 6400, which is too weak for the price it asks for.

Thus, many are considering the RX 6500 XT for their next budget PC build. However, before finalizing it, there are a few more factors to consider, including longevity and potential trade-offs with this video card.

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The RX 6500 XT might be the budget champion

The Radeon 6500 XT is an entry-level GPU, as mentioned before. It is based on the Navi 24 GPU, a small 107 mm² die. Under the hood, the Navi 24 packs 1,024 streaming processors, 64 Texture Mapping Units (TMUs), 32 Render Output Units (ROPs), 16 Compute Units (CUs), and 16 Ray Tracing (RT) cores.

It is bundled with 4 GB of GDDR6 memory and is based on an extremely narrow 64-bit bus. This totals a memory bandwidth of just 143.9 GB/s.

Like most other RX 6000 series video cards, the RX 6500 XT is clocked high. However, the graphics card relies on its high clock speeds to deliver performance. The card has a base clock of 2,310 MHz, a game clock of 2,610 MHz, and a boost clock of 2,815 MHz. The memory of the card is clocked at 2,248 MHz.

Despite its meager specs, the card has a higher-than-usual total board power (TBP) of 107 W. Thus, it is evident that AMD is pushing the underlying silicon to its maximum to derive performance from the Navi 24 chip.

Thus, it is no wonder this card is a low-performing option. Upon launch, it received critical reviews, and the community scoffed at AMD for putting everything out on the market amidst the then-ongoing shortage.

In terms of gaming performance, the card can hardly hit playable framerates at 1080p while using the highest settings.

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The competition to the RX 6500 XT

A quick look at the competition changes the entire perception of this GPU. The 6500 XT beats the Intel Arc A380 in almost every video game by a significant margin. While the Team Red card is available starting from $150, the Intel GPU will cost gamers $140. For an extra $10, the 6500 XT is a solid option.

Nvidia has almost no option in the $150 to $160 bracket. The aging GTX 1650 can be spotted for around $170, however, it is much weaker than the 6500 XT. The RTX 3050, which competes against the RX 6500 XT and beats it in almost every video game, costs around $300.

Standing on this market, the Radeon RX 6500 XT is a solid option. You can grab one here.