MSI Radeon RX 6950 XT 16 GB, RX 6750 XT 12 GB, RX 6650 XT 8 GB Graphics Cards Review: The Refreshed Trio Emerges!

Conclusion - A Decent Lineup For New PC Gaming Entrants

The AMD Radeon RX 6000 Refresh lineup is finally here and we tested them throughout various games to see just how much performance uplift they have to offer. But before we talk about that, we have to talk about the custom designs on offer. MSI has three new variants which come in the Gaming X Trio and Gaming X flavors. These are some of the best-looking graphics cards on the AIB market and they have gotten even better with the new revision. The black and silver aesthetics do justice to the RDNA 2 GPUs that sit beneath them. As for each card, you get lots of cooling and lots of performance packed under the hood.

In terms of thermal performance, the higher clocks and TDPs do result in warmer temperatures but nothing that the Twin-Frozr 8S or Tri-Frozr 2 cooling solutions can't handle. The RX 6950 XT peaked at 74C, the RX 6750 XT peaked at 67C and the RX 6650 XT peaked at 50C. Now while the cards definitely run hotter than the non-refresh lineup, they do add some extra performance. A major contributor to the higher temperatures is the power draw. AMD decided to unchain their RDNA 2 graphics architecture with higher power limits. The Radeon RX 6950 XT easily surpasses GeForce RTX 3090 and sits close to the RTX 3090 Ti, the RX 6750 XT gets close to the RTX 3070 Ti while the RX 6650 XT almost matches the power rating of the RTX 3060 Ti. On average, you are getting a 6% power bump on the RX 6950 XT, an 8% power bump on the RX 6750 XT, and a 10% power bump on the RX 6650 XT.

Besides the RX 6950 XT, the rest of the Gaming X cards aren't that bulky and should fit inside most cases with relative ease and the triple-fan solution comes with 0db fan technology which unless or until you're touching 60C won't spin at all. This allows lower noise levels when you're not doing any graphics-intensive tasks. MSI went all the way by including a full metal backplate on the cards. The RGB is not overdone and the Mystic Light cuts on the front and sides provide really good aesthetics for the card itself. Now to the more important segment of the conclusion and that's the pricing.

MSI's Radeon RX 6950 XT is currently listed for $1099.99 US at Newegg which is the same price as the MSRP. It's also a $100 US premium over the RX 6900 XT but if you take the RX 6900 XT Gaming X Trio into consideration, you are looking at a $50 US difference. For a $50 price bump, I should totally recommend the new flagship which is a ferocious beast on its own. Offers performance that's faster than the RTX 3090 Ti in many titles and at a lower power draw. The card is simply an enthusiast dream and with an unlocked power/clock limit, it can be overclocked further for more performance. I was skeptical at first about the 6950 XT and its performance bump over the 6900 XT but for $50 US over a custom RX 6900 XT, this beast is totally worth the price.

The Radeon RX 6750 XT sees itself in a tough position with the likes of the RTX 3070 and RTX 3070 Ti in the same segment. The RX 6750 XT does offer higher VRAM and consumes slightly lower power but the performance delta between the RTX 3070 and RX 6750 XT is too small yet AMD has priced it at $549 US, an $80 US premium over the RX 6700 XT. In this regard, the RX 6700 XT is still a better choice. MSI's custom model is currently listed for $549 US, the same price as MSRP which is a good deal if you are looking for a 6750 XT but I'd say an RX 6700 XT at MSRP or even the RX 6800 if you can find one at MSRP ($579 US) would be a much better choice in this price segment.

Lastly, for the MSI Radeon RX 6650 XT, you are looking at a $50 US premium over the MSRP of $399 US and an $80 US premium over the RX 6600 XT. The RX 6650 XT offers the lowest performance gain over its non-refreshed part and looks a bit lacking versus the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti which has the same MSRP. With pricing coming down every day, many markets will soon have RTX 3060 Ti's at or around $400-$430 US. This means that the RX 6650 XT is in a hard place but if you really plan on going for this card, the Ventus 3X from MSI at a similar price as MSRP is a decent choice.

Overall, the AMD Radeon RX 6000 refresh is decent but the RX 6750 XT and the RX 6650 XT are totally unwanted. AMD should've just skipped them and offered a price cut on existing variants if they wanted to ship more cards. The Radeon RX 6950 XT on the other hand is a gaming king with lots of power at its disposal and even though it goes crazy on the power figures, it gives a solid punch to the RTX 3090 Ti.

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