Skip to main content

AMD might be working on a graphics card that would beat Nvidia’s RTX 3090

A new leak suggests that AMD may have a new graphics card in the works — and it just might be more powerful than Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 3090. The rumored AMD Radeon RX 6900 XTX is said to be AMD’s fastest Big Navi 21-based card, featuring improvements both in terms of memory and clock speeds. This information was shared on Twitter in the form of a slide that contains additional information about the card.

The AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT, the manufacturer’s current top powerhouse, comes in two variants: One with a Navi 21 XT GPU, and one discarded with a Navi 21 XTXH. Regardless of the Navi GPU used, both of these graphics cards are referred to as Radeon RX 6900 XT. According to a new leak posted on Twitter by CyberPunkCat, If the leak proves to be true, AMD’s latest creation, the Radeon RX 6900 XTX, would be the third variant of this GPU. The leak suggests that AMD is working to utilize the Navi 21 XTXH and then equip it with faster memory and higher clock speeds. This would allow the card to rival, and even surpass, Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 3090.

Promotional image of an AMD Radeon RX 6000-series graphics card.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The slide shared by CyberPunkCat shows that the RX 6900 XTX is going to have a power of 24.93 teraflops (TFLOPs), while AMD’s RX 6900 XT has 23.04 TFLOPs. RX 6900 XTX will also have a higher boosted clock speed of 2435MHz, while the RX 6900 XT has 2250 MHz. This means that the card is a straight upgrade over its predecessor, featuring both 8% more compute power and an 8% higher boost clock.

Recommended Videos

We can also expect to see a change in memory. Rumors suggest that the RX 6900 XTX is going to feature 18Gbps memory dies, providing a noticeable upgrade over the current 16 Gbps G6 chips. While the card is likely to still offer 16GB of GDDR6 memory, its bandwidth is said to be 12.5% higher at 576 GB/s.

Get your weekly teardown of the tech behind PC gaming
Check your inbox!

It’s likely that a card with this kind of power is going to consume a lot of it, too. For reference, the existing Navi 21 XT GPU has a TBP of 300 watts, and this card is a definite step up. As such, it’s possible that the RX 6900 XTX is going to have a TBP of around 350W.

AMD's RX 6900 XT graphics card over a black, red, and silver background.
AMD

Releasing this GPU could put AMD at the very top of the list of the best graphics cards currently on the market. It would not only beat AMD’s own previous top card, but it would also dethrone Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 3090, which the RX 6900 XT is already on par with. However, it’s uncertain whether the Radeon RX 6900 XTX is going to be released on the consumer market.

Although the slide suggests a wider release due to the included “Expanding the AMD RDNA Family” quote, it’s possible that AMD may only distribute it to its PC and manufacturer business partners. Given the rumors that Nvidia might be working on the successor to the RTX 3090, releasing AMD Radeon RX 6900 XTX could be a smart move for the manufacturer.

Monica J. White
Monica is a computing writer at Digital Trends, focusing on PC hardware. Since joining the team in 2021, Monica has written…
How to overclock your graphics card GPU
Need to get a few more fps out of your GPU? Here's how to safely overclock it
graphics card shortage

Although upgrading to the best graphics card (also know as a graphics processing unit, or GPU) is arguably the best way to improve your PC's 3D rendering ability, you can eke out a little more performance from your existing card with overclocking.

Much like a CPU, a GPU contains chips that with the right tweaks can work harder and faster. That can mean better benchmark results and higher frames per second in your favorite games. Although still a little intimidating and certainly not friendly to your graphics card's temperatures, learning how to overclock your GPU is easier today than it's ever been. You just need the right tools, the right steps, and plenty of patience. Let us help show you how to overclock your graphics card GPU.
A word of warning
You can overclock a CPU, and you can overclock RAM. But overclocking anything has inherent risks. They are relatively low, but they are important to consider so that you're well informed before starting. Overclocking anything involves the process of forcing it to perform at a faster rate than it was manufactured to do so. That means you are pushing it harder and by working faster, it will get hotter and it may become less stable. That could result in crashes in the short term and over the long term, could reduce the lifespan of your particular hardware.

Read more
If you want to buy an RTX 4090, now might be your last chance
Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 GPU.

There's no disputing that the RTX 4090 is one of the best graphics cards you can buy, but now might be your last chance to buy it. According to members of the Board Channels forum (via VideoCardz), Nvidia has discontinued the graphics card and will stop fulfilling new orders this month.

We saw this coming. Last month, members of the Board Channels forums signaled that Nvidia was getting ready to discontinue the RTX 4090 to make way for next-gen RTX 50-series GPUs. Nvidia hasn't said it's discontinuing the card, and it likely won't, but some regions are already experiencing shortages and increased prices. The German outlet PC Games Hardware writes: "It is now becoming increasingly clear that the GeForce RTX 4090 ... will soon have reached its end of lifetime," following high prices and "increasingly poor availability" in the region.

Read more
Nvidia is reportedly sunsetting the RTX 4090
The RTX 4090 sitting alongside the Fractal Terra case.

The RTX 4090 is undoubtedly the best graphics card you can buy right now from a performance standpoint, but Nvidia is reportedly discontinuing the flagship GPU. Reports from the Board Channel forums (shared by Wccftech) suggest Nvidia is preparing to end production of the RTX 4090 and the China-exclusive RTX 4090D starting next month in order to make way for next-gen RTX 50-series graphics cards.

It's not surprising that Nvidia would wind down production of the RTX 4090 as the next generation of graphics cards approaches. Flagship GPUs like the RTX 4090 don't have much of a shelf life after a new generation has released, which is something we saw in action with the RTX 3090. Although Nvidia could end production of the GPU in October (the company itself hasn't, and likely won't, confirm that detail publicly), the card won't immediately disappear from store shelves.

Read more