With the price of graphic cards dropping steadily, it's probably a great time to pick one up before the next crazy phase of crypto hits. The Asus Dual Radeon RX 6650 XT OC edition is great for 1080p gaming. While you won't be able to crank up to the highest ray tracing (RT) settings, you're able to play most games at max graphics with RT turned off.
Quick specs
- Up to 2,689MHz in OC mode, and 2,669MHz in Gaming mode
- 2,048 stream processors, 8GB GDDR6 and 17.5Gbps memory speed
- 1x HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort 1.4A
Asus' take on this AMD card comes overclocked, which means it goes up to 2669MHz in game mode compared to 2410MHz on the reference card. You can also get by with just a 550W PSU, though Asus recommends a 650W PSU. The card uses an 8-pin connector. Size-wise, it's quite chunky with dual-fans compared to the more budget RX 6500 XT, so you may need a bit of clearance in your casing. At the back are three DisplayPorts and one HDMI 2.1.
Performance-wise, I tested it on my current rig, which only has PCIe 3.0. So expect slightly less than maximum performance since this card works best on PCIe 4.0. Still, in my usual Borderlands 3 test on DirectX 12, I was able to get 92fps on the Badass setting. If FPS is a priority, then Medium will get you 147fps, sufficient for most 144Hz monitors. In Cyberpunk 2077, with Dynamic Resolution Scaling, FidelityFX Super Resolution 1.0, and FidelityFX Sharpening turned on, I was able to play with ray tracing set to Low at around 45fps. With RT off, I was able to get 59fps at Ultra.
As for thermals, the Dual Radeon 6650 XT idled at around 54 degrees Celsius in our humid weather. However, it only hit a peak of 69 degrees Celsius at full load. That's pretty good. The fans of the card also didn't sound loud at all at full throttle. In fact, I couldn't hear them with the case closed.
Retailing at S$689, the Asus Dual Radeon RX 6650 XT OC edition is perfectly suited for 1080p gaming. The RTX 3060 might also be a good idea if you want better ray-tracing performance. But 4K lovers can skip this card. Get it from Lazada.
Note: Review unit provided by Asus.
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