AMD Radeon RX 6800 Review

👤by David Mitchelson Comments 📅18-11-20
RX 6000-Series Reference Cooling



Wonder of wonders, AMD have thrown out the blower cooler and welcomed with open arms a triple-axial fan solution, the style of which has been championed by AIB partners for well over a decade. It’s not a silver bullet, and does require better air circulation in a PC chassis to use effectively, but nonetheless should be credited as a major step forward for the red team just when they needed it the most.

Most recently the Radeon VII was equipped with an ostensibly similar triple-fan solution, but shortcomings in the overall design (particularly a shroud that restricted air flow) meant that it didn’t perform as well as hoped. Thankfully it appears that the new reference design has learned from those mistakes.

Key Features

- Triple Axial Fan with custom blades
Zero Fan RPM mode for silent operation during periods with low load
Enclosed fan ring to reduce turbulence and better direct air flow through the vapour chamber
- Extended vapour chamber with dense fin stack
- Graphite on-GPU TIM
- Aluminium shroud, faceplate and backplate to enhance rigidity and act as heat spreaders
- Wide venting along top edge of GPU
- 2-Slot Solution for RX 6800; 2.5 Slot solution for RX 6800 XT & RX 6900 XT.
- RGB Header for lighting control
- Up to 70% less perceived noise (6dBA) compared to the 5700 XT reference solution.




We’ll find out soon enough how well the cooler is able to dissipate heat from the GPU and surrounding components. There’s a lot of reason to feel confident about the abilities of the RX 6800 in this arena, but even the taller vapour chamber of the XT models will surely be taxed by their 300W TBP.

If the new Radeon reference aesthetics don’t pique your interests then be reassured that partner cards should be on their way soon with their own proven 3rd party solutions.


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