Could use some opinions (RX 6650 xt vs. RX 6700 non XT)

[mishmish]

Hello all, I've long posted about upgrading my gpu, its just hasnt happened yet, but more recently I've seen prices drop. Heres mu current specs:
 

Ryzen 5 3600

MSI B350m

16GB Ram

MSI RX 580 4GB

EVGA G2 650w

1440p, 144hz Monitor

 

For some time I've had my mind set on a 8gb XFX Merc 308 Rx 6650 xt. I wanted the Merc 308 because I had read that the fan/cooling is supposed to be better then the Swft models, I do value cool temps and quiet fans.

Recently I saw the price of the RX 6650 xt drop to $280 usd. Out of curiosity, I searched for a RX 6700, and saw a 10gb XFX Speedster swft309 also for $280.

 

I just wanted an informed opinion about which to choose. Is it better to get the 6650xt for the better cooling, or is it more of a no brainer to get the 6700 for the performance?

I do have a 1440p 144hx monitor, but I wouldnt say that I play too many AAA games, probably like Forza 4 and 5, some Planet Coaster/Zoo, and in general mostly emulation.

 

Also, it looks like a 650w PSU is the minimum, should that concern me? Just wanted some realistic opinions, thank you all!

[Hinjima]

4 minutes ago, mishmish said:

Hello all, I've long posted about upgrading my gpu, its just hasnt happened yet, but more recently I've seen prices drop. Heres mu current specs:
 

Ryzen 5 3600

MSI B350m

16GB Ram

MSI RX 580 4GB

EVGA G2 650w

1440p, 144hz Monitor

 

For some time I've had my mind set on a 8gb XFX Merc 308 Rx 6650 xt. I wanted the Merc 308 because I had read that the fan/cooling is supposed to be better then the Swft models, I do value cool temps and quiet fans.

Recently I saw the price of the RX 6650 xt drop to $280 usd. Out of curiosity, I searched for a RX 6700, and saw a 10gb XFX Speedster swft309 also for $280.

 

I just wanted an informed opinion about which to choose. Is it better to get the 6650xt for the better cooling, or is it more of a no brainer to get the 6700 for the performance?

I do have a 1440p 144hx monitor, but I wouldnt say that I play too many AAA games, probably like Forza 4 and 5, some Planet Coaster/Zoo, and in general mostly emulation.

 

Also, it looks like a 650w PSU is the minimum, should that concern me? Just wanted some realistic opinions, thank you all!

The XFX Speedster swft309 is a solid card for sure. 10GB Vram might come in handy over the 8gb on the 6650xt. I'd definitely get the 6700.
You will be fine with the 650w PSU, the 3600 is not a high powered chip so you got some room

[191x7]

20 minutes ago, mishmish said:

Hello all, I've long posted about upgrading my gpu, its just hasnt happened yet, but more recently I've seen prices drop. Heres mu current specs:
 

Ryzen 5 3600

MSI B350m

16GB Ram

MSI RX 580 4GB

EVGA G2 650w

1440p, 144hz Monitor

 

For some time I've had my mind set on a 8gb XFX Merc 308 Rx 6650 xt. I wanted the Merc 308 because I had read that the fan/cooling is supposed to be better then the Swft models, I do value cool temps and quiet fans.

Recently I saw the price of the RX 6650 xt drop to $280 usd. Out of curiosity, I searched for a RX 6700, and saw a 10gb XFX Speedster swft309 also for $280.

 

I just wanted an informed opinion about which to choose. Is it better to get the 6650xt for the better cooling, or is it more of a no brainer to get the 6700 for the performance?

I do have a 1440p 144hx monitor, but I wouldnt say that I play too many AAA games, probably like Forza 4 and 5, some Planet Coaster/Zoo, and in general mostly emulation.

 

Also, it looks like a 650w PSU is the minimum, should that concern me? Just wanted some realistic opinions, thank you all!

Since your b350 does not feature PCI-E 4.0 and the 6650XT uses 8 pci-e 4.0 lanes the GPU would use 8 pci-e 3.0 lanes which does limit the bandwidth for the card and causes a small performance loss. The 6700 non-xt uses 16 PCI-E lanes and since 16 pci-e 3.0 lanes equals about 8 pci-e 4.0 lanes in bandwidth there is plenty of bandwidth available.

And not just that, the 6700 had 2GB of VRAM more and is, in fact, a stronger chip with lower clocks.

The answer is clear, in your case the 6700 is a superior card.

[mishmish]

3 hours ago, Hinjima said:

The XFX Speedster swft309 is a solid card for sure. 10GB Vram might come in handy over the 8gb on the 6650xt. I'd definitely get the 6700.
You will be fine with the 650w PSU, the 3600 is not a high powered chip so you got some room

Thank you for your input!

 

3 hours ago, 191x7 said:

Since your b350 does not feature PCI-E 4.0 and the 6650XT uses 8 pci-e 4.0 lanes the GPU would use 8 pci-e 3.0 lanes which does limit the bandwidth for the card and causes a small performance loss. The 6700 non-xt uses 16 PCI-E lanes and since 16 pci-e 3.0 lanes equals about 8 pci-e 4.0 lanes in bandwidth there is plenty of bandwidth available.

And not just that, the 6700 had 2GB of VRAM more and is, in fact, a stronger chip with lower clocks.

The answer is clear, in your case the 6700 is a superior card.

Thank you as well! The pcie lanes were not something I had taken into to much consideration.

 

Just one more probably dumb question. My RX 580 uses an 8 pin power cable. Theres this split end that isnt connected on the gpu. It looks like the RX 6700 uses all 16 pins, so I would be plugging all those cables in? Sorry again if it sounds dumb, I just dont want to make any stupid mistakes when it comes the power that components need. This gpu is a bit more powerful then I thought I was going to settle on.

[191x7]

2 hours ago, mishmish said:

Thank you as well! The pcie lanes were not something I had taken into to much consideration.

 

Just one more probably dumb question. My RX 580 uses an 8 pin power cable. Theres this split end that isnt connected on the gpu. It looks like the RX 6700 uses all 16 pins, so I would be plugging all those cables in? Sorry again if it sounds dumb, I just dont want to make any stupid mistakes when it comes the power that components need. This gpu is a bit more powerful then I thought I was going to settle on.

Yes, you can connect it that way. Or you can use the second cable you've got with the PSU to have 2 cables for the GPU (1 cable for one 150W PCI-E 8-pin).

Using two cables decreases the power needed to run through the cable so it wouldn't get as warm. But, don't get me wrong, the G2 650W uses suitable enough cables to transfer 300W over a single cable without any issues. Pretty much your choice.

 

As for the power draw; using 2 8-pins does not mean the card draws 375W (75W from the port and 150W per each 8-pin).

 

https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/radeon-rx-6700.c3716

RX 6700 TDP 175W

(a single 8-pin or two 6-pin + the power from the PCI-e slot should be enough, if it's an overclocked model I'd understand an 8+6 configuration but 8+8 is just overkill) 

 

https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/radeon-rx-6650-xt.c3898

RX 6650 XT TDP 176W

(literally the same applies)

 

https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/radeon-rx-580x.c3190

RX 580X 8GB TDP 185W

 

I don't think you'll get a higher power draw.

 

And no, 650W isn't the minimum. For a system like that, 450W is.

[xFluing]

On 5/11/2023 at 2:41 AM, mishmish said:

Hello all, I've long posted about upgrading my gpu, its just hasnt happened yet, but more recently I've seen prices drop. Heres mu current specs:
 

Ryzen 5 3600

MSI B350m

16GB Ram

MSI RX 580 4GB

EVGA G2 650w

1440p, 144hz Monitor

 

For some time I've had my mind set on a 8gb XFX Merc 308 Rx 6650 xt. I wanted the Merc 308 because I had read that the fan/cooling is supposed to be better then the Swft models, I do value cool temps and quiet fans.

Recently I saw the price of the RX 6650 xt drop to $280 usd. Out of curiosity, I searched for a RX 6700, and saw a 10gb XFX Speedster swft309 also for $280.

 

I just wanted an informed opinion about which to choose. Is it better to get the 6650xt for the better cooling, or is it more of a no brainer to get the 6700 for the performance?

I do have a 1440p 144hx monitor, but I wouldnt say that I play too many AAA games, probably like Forza 4 and 5, some Planet Coaster/Zoo, and in general mostly emulation.

 

Also, it looks like a 650w PSU is the minimum, should that concern me? Just wanted some realistic opinions, thank you all!

Let me tell you, those PSU recommendations on the manufacturer site are way overspec. I'm rocking a 6700XT with a 550W power supply, and according to MSI afterburner I never use more than 200-250W, AS A WHOLE SYSTEM, way smack dab in that 50% load efficiency.

[mishmish]

On 5/10/2023 at 11:24 PM, 191x7 said:

Using two cables decreases the power needed to run through the cable so it wouldn't get as warm. But, don't get me wrong, the G2 650W uses suitable enough cables to transfer 300W over a single cable without any issues. Pretty much your choice.

 

13 hours ago, xFluing said:

Let me tell you, those PSU recommendations on the manufacturer site are way overspec. I'm rocking a 6700XT with a 550W power supply, and according to MSI afterburner I never use more than 200-250W, AS A WHOLE SYSTEM, way smack dab in that 50% load efficiency.

 

On 5/10/2023 at 4:48 PM, Hinjima said:

The XFX Speedster swft309 is a solid card for sure. 10GB Vram might come in handy over the 8gb on the 6650xt. I'd definitely get the 6700.

I just wanted to say thank you to all three of you for the recommendation. The card came in today, and beforehand I was running some games and taking note of temps and frame rates. There is a considerable increase in fps, decrease in temperature, and the card is quiet. My RX 580 would be soooo loud, I'm still in a little disbelief that the 6700 is so quiet running at 1440p 144fps. Thanks again guys!

[mishmish]

Actually I have one question about hotspot temps. On HWinfo64, my rx 580 did not have hotspot temps, but the 6700 does. When running SW Squadrons, it reached a max temp of 70c and a hotspot temp of 87c. Is this normal? Again, I'm just asking because by previous card did not report a hotspot temp. The two pictures below are screenshots from HWinfo, the first is the 580, the second the 6700.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[191x7]

On 5/13/2023 at 5:22 AM, mishmish said:

Actually I have one question about hotspot temps. On HWinfo64, my rx 580 did not have hotspot temps, but the 6700 does. When running SW Squadrons, it reached a max temp of 70c and a hotspot temp of 87c. Is this normal? Again, I'm just asking because by previous card did not report a hotspot temp. The two pictures below are screenshots from HWinfo, the first is the 580, the second the 6700.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's fine. The 6700 has multiple sensors and the hotspot records the max.