MSI Radeon RX 6650 XT GAMING X 8G
We have a retail card from MSI, the model we have for review today is the MSI Radeon RX 6650 XT GAMING X 8G video card. This is MSI’s highest tier GAMING X series for the Radeon RX 6650 XT, which means it has the best cooling and the highest factory overclock for MSI on the 6650 XT GPU.
This video card design is similar to the previous MSI Radeon RX 6600 XT GAMING X 8G video card that we have reviewed. We will be using this video card to compare the new MSI Radeon RX 6650 XT GAMING X 8G against to see the differences between the 6650 XT versus the 6600 XT on a similar type of add-in-partner board. This is truly a retail custom factory overclocked card versus the same retail custom factory overclocked card, so it’s a very fair comparison to see the differences.
The MSI Radeon RX 6650 XT GAMING X 8G has a factory overclock and runs faster than the reference spec on GPU clock speed. It has a GPU Game Clock of 2523MHz and a GPU Boost of 2694MHz. This is 113MHz higher than the reference spec on Game Clock and 59MHz higher than the reference spec on GPU Boost. If you compare this clock to the Radeon RX 6600 XT reference clock speeds this is 164MHz faster by the game clock and 105MHz faster by GPU Boost. The memory runs at 17.5GHz, the same as the reference for the new 6650 XT.
If you compare our MSI Radeon RX 6650 XT GAMING X 8G to the MSI Radeon RX 6600 XT GAMING X 8G the GPU Game Clock on the 6650 XT is 95MHz higher and the Boost Clock is 87MHz higher. This is the video card we will be using in our review, so you should know how the two differ in clock speeds.
Cooling is handled by MSI’s TWIN FROZR 8 thermal design cooling solution. This includes two large TORX FAN 4.0 fans with custom blade designs that have pairs of fan blades bound together with a linked outer ring design for increased airflow, but quiet operation. The heatsink uses MSI’s Core Pipe technology that is precision-machined and makes direct contact with the GPU and uses heatpipes and an all-aluminum fin-stack. There are air deflectors that provide additional surface area and guide air to where it’s needed. With the Wave-curved 2.0 fin edges, they disrupt unwanted airflow harmonics resulting in reduced noise.
There is a full Metal Backplate that provides resilience and reinforces the video card and provides passive cooling by utilizing thermal pads. With Zero FROZR the fans can turn completely off in low-load situations. All contacts to the GPU, memory, and VRMs are handled by thermal pads. This video card uses a custom PCB with built-in fuses to provide additional safeguards against electrical damage. The PCB utilizes 2oz thickened copper to increase conductivity and heat dissipation and make it reliable.
The video card requires one 8-pin power connector. It has three DisplayPorts and 2 HDMI ports onboard. The video card measures 11” in length, 5” in width, and 2” in height. It looks exactly the same as the MSI Radeon RX 6600 XT GAMING X 8G model. It has MSI Mystic Light RGB on the top plus software control for RGB devices in MSI Center. You can use MSI Afterburner for overclocking or AMD Radeon Software Performance Tuning.