Skip to main content

AMD might have a new graphics card next month, too

AMD RX 7600 on a pink background.
Jacob Roach / Digital Trends

We weren’t expecting to hear much about AMD’s graphics cards in January, but a new rumor suggests we’ll see a new GPU in just a few weeks. AMD is prepping the RX 7600 XT, according to Benchlife’s sources (via VideoCardz). It’s apparently an updated version of AMD’s budget-focused RX 7600, sporting more VRAM and perhaps a better die.

To understand the rumored card, we have to look at the RX 7600 we already have. It’s an 8GB graphics card based on the Navi 33 GPU. The card already maxes out the capabilities of the GPU with 32 Compute Units (CUs), equaling 2,048 cores. If AMD is preparing an RX 7600 XT, there are two possibilities. Either it will use the same maxed-out Navi 33 GPU or a stripped-down version of the Navi 32 GPU we see in cards like the RX 7800 XT and RX 7700 XT. Hopefully, the latter is true. Although the RX 7600 is a solid 1080p graphics card, it remains about 30% slower than the next step up in AMD’s lineup.

The rumors strongly suggest an upgrade to the memory spec. The RX 7600 uses 8GB of memory on a 128-bit bus, while the XT version is rumored to come either with 10GB on a 160-bit bus or 12GB on a 192-bit bus. That extra VRAM could make a big difference in demanding titles like The Last of Us Part One, where the base RX 7600 performs poorly due to its memory interface.

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

Although the RX 7600 XT is rumored to launch next month, we might not see it at CES. Current speculation says AMD will announce the card on January 22 and release it on January 24. This aligns with what we’ve heard about Nvidia’s RTX 40-series Super refresh, rumored to release throughout January.

If the RX 7600 XT is real, it’s an interesting counter to Nvidia’s rumored Super refresh. Based on reports we’ve seen so far, Nvidia is prepping an RTX 4080, RTX 4070 Ti, and RTX 4070 for its Super refresh, all of which are cards above the $500 mark. The RX 7600 XT will likely sit around $300 with far lower performance. It might be a case of AMD competing in a space where Nvidia doesn’t have strong answers, as the existing RTX 4060 was a rather disappointing release for Team Green.

There’s a lot we still don’t know about the RX 7600 XT, however. Leakers are only pinning down a January announcement and the memory configuration for now, so we’ll have to wait to see what else AMD has to share about the card. AMD has confirmed it will be at CES this year, but it hasn’t announced a formal event or keynote. It may hold the announcement of the RX 7600 XT, if the card is real at all, until after the CES rush is over.

Jacob Roach
Lead Reporter, PC Hardware
Jacob Roach is the lead reporter for PC hardware at Digital Trends. In addition to covering the latest PC components, from…
Your AMD Ryzen CPU is about 10% slower than it should be
The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X installed in a motherboard.

AMD's Zen 5 CPUs haven't been able to impress in gaming, showing only small generational improvements -- but there are still some free frame rates to be won here. According to a comprehensive set of gaming benchmarks, a new Windows Update might be all that it takes to improve the performance of AMD's best processors, and this includes Zen 4 CPUs, too.

Earlier this month, Hardware Unboxed revealed that AMD's latest CPUs might be missing out on some frames per second (fps) in games due to a Windows bug. Switching to an Admin account (which is a little harder than it seems to be) fixed the problem, boosting both Zen 4 and Zen 5 CPUs by a considerable amount. AMD also hinted that this might be the issue behind Zen 5's lackluster performance, although it also blamed other factors, such as using different test suites or not running on Admin mode.

Read more
I tested AMD’s latest claims about Ryzen 9000, and they don’t hold up
The Ryzen 9 9950X between someone's fingertips.

AMD says that gaming performance on Ryzen 9000 is actually better than what you've read. As you can read in our Ryzen 9 9950X and Ryzen 9 9900X review, AMD's new Zen 5 CPUs are the best processors you can buy when it comes to productivity. Gaming performance, on the other hand, is disappointing.

According to a new blog post from AMD, there are a few reasons why reviewers saw lower gaming performance than expected. Chief among them are the fact that AMD used an unreleased version of Windows 11 -- the 24H2 update, which is available to Windows Insiders -- and that it used an administrator account for its "automated test methodology." In light of that, I downloaded the Windows update, spun up an admin account, and retested the Ryzen 9 9950X. And I'm not seeing what AMD claims at all.

Read more
How long do GPUs really last?
The RTX 4080 Super graphics card sitting on a pink background.

The graphics card is one of the most important components in your PC, and arguably it's also the most exciting part. Beyond the necessities, such as a fast SSD, no single component has the same kind of impact on gaming; GPUs are also crucial in many productivity tasks. Something this important hardly ever comes cheap, which is why buying one of the best GPUs tends to be expensive.

Seeing as buying a new GPU is no walk in the park, it makes sense to try to plan ahead and wonder: How long do GPUs last? For some PC components, the answer is somewhat straightforward; for GPUs, it's most definitely not. Let's dive in and go over every aspect step by step.
How long do GPUs last?

Read more