Introduction
Want to know what the top-of-the-line Radeon RX 6700 XT video card XFX has to offer? We’ve got the fastest, the beefiest, the SPEEDSTER of them all from XFX, the XFX SPEEDSTER MERC 319 AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT BLACK Gaming Graphics Card with 12GB of GDDR6 for review today.
This video card carries one of the longest product description names we’ve probably ever seen. Here is the complete product description and this is no joke: XFX SPEEDSTER MERC319 AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT BLACK Gaming Graphics Card with 12GB GDDR6 HDMI 3xDP, AMD RDNA 2. Even the “short description” is as so: XFX SPEEDSTER MERC319 AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT BLACK Gaming Graphics Card with 12GB GDDR6, AMD RDNA 2.
To strengthen the length of the model, name this video card is also one of the physically longest Radeon RX 6700 XT video cards we’ve seen at 12.72 inches long. The reference Radeon RX 6700 XT by comparison is 10.5 inches long. But we are getting ahead of ourselves, let’s look at the Radeon RX 6700 XT specifications and compare that with the XFX SPEEDSTER MERC 319 BLACK.
AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT
Let’s briefly look at the Radeon RX 6700 XT specifications so we can see what makes the XFX SPEEDSTER MERC 319 BLACK differ. The AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT was announced on March 3rd and released on March 18th, 2021. It has a suggested price of $479. The GPU is based on AMD’s Navi 22 XT RDNA2 architecture at 7nm FinFET with 17.2B transistors. It is geared and marketed for 1440p gameplay.
It has 2560 Stream Processors, 40 Compute Units, 40 Ray Tracing Cores, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. It has 96MB of Infinity Cache. It has a base clock of 2321MHz, a game clock of 2424MHz, and a boost clock of 2581MHz. It has 12GB of GDDR6 that runs at 16GHz on a 192-bit bus providing 384GB/s of bandwidth. The TDP is 230W.
XFX SPEEDSTER MERC 319 BLACK Radeon RX 6700 XT
XFX has several models of Radeon RX 6700 XT video cards, with different SKUs that represent the regions it is sold. Models can be identical but have different SKUs based on the region. The exact SKU we are reviewing is RX-67XTYTBDP which is for the USA. All Radeon RX 6000 series models can be viewed here.
For the Radeon RX 6700 XT models, XFX has a few different branded models. It starts with the standard reference design with XFX labels and branding. Then we step up to XFX’s SWIFT models which are custom designs from XFX that provide more thermal pads, dual BIOS, 3x 90mm fans, and a passthrough airflow design that provides good performance for casual gamers. Then we move up to the QICK model line which provides more thermal pads, dual BIOS, 2x 90mm and 1x 100mm 13 Blade Fans, passthrough air design, and is designed for high-performance mainstream gamers. Then finally we move to the top-tier model which is the MERC line, this provides an aluminum cast cover, XFX and Radeon LED logo, more thermal pads, dual BIOS, 2x 90mm and 1x 100mm 13 Blade Fans, passthrough airflow design, and is designed for the top-of-the-line highest performance for enthusiast gamers.
The XFX SPEEDSTER MERC 319 BLACK version we have then is the best and fastest Radeon RX 6700 XT XFX offers. It is based on AMD RDNA 2 architecture. It has a base clock of 2457MHz, a game clock of 2548MHz, and a boost clock of 2622MHz. For comparison, the reference card has a base clock of 2321MHz, a game clock of 2424MHz, and a boost clock of 2581MHz. Therefore, the game clock is 124MHz higher on the XFX card which is a 5% GPU factory overclock. Since the clock speed can run dynamically this can be different while gaming, so we will see.
XFX has designed the custom cooling on the XFX SPEEDSTER MERC319 RX 6700 XT to be very open to improve airflow. Meaning there are lots of areas where heat is allowed to escape, instead of being trapped. XFX is using an all-new Ghost Thermal design. Their new design has straight-through airflow venting to improve cooling and compliments the floating shroud design. The aluminum backplate acts as a heat spreader and has a lot of venting so heat is not trapped. There is a copper base that makes contact with the GPU and DDR memory using thermal pads. Thermal pads cover the VRM’s, memory, and GPU on both sides of the PCB. Connected directly to the copper base are 5 6mm plated copper heatpipes. HeastinkFin surface Area is 774200mm². The fans consist of 13 blades each for increased airflow. There are two 90mm fans and one 100mm fan that is center.
XFX uses a 7 + 2 phase, full digital PWM power design for clean and stable power delivery. The default BIOS can deliver 211 Watts of power compared to AMD at reference 186 Watts.
XFX has also included a DUAL BIOS on this video card. There is a switch near the power connectors. By default, the BIOS’s are identical, but this allows you to backup your BIOS on one, and use the other for updates.
There is no denying the size of this video card, it’s huge. It measures 12.72 inches in length, 5.2 inches in width, and 2.01 inches in height. This is much bigger than the reference card, it’s longer, wider, and taller. This card is considered a 2.6 Slot design. It also requires two 8-pin power connectors, beefing up the power delivery from the reference 8-pin and 6-pin. The minimum PSU requirement is 650W. The default TDP for this video card is 211W. Onboard you will find three DisplayPorts 1.4 with DSC and one HDMI 2.1.