Conclusion
In today’s review, we took a look at the new XFX Speedster MERC 319 Radeon RX 7800 XT BLACK Edition Video Card, with an MSRP of $539. XFX has two models in the new Radeon RX 7800 XT lineup, and the XFX Speedster MERC 319 Radeon RX 7800 XT BLACK Edition Video Card represents the highest-end model with the highest factory boost clock, and XFX GHOST THERMAL solution fan and heatsink design.
The XFX Speedster MERC 319 Radeon RX 7800 XT BLACK Edition has a factory boost clock of 2254MHz game clock and 2565MHz boost clock. This is compared to the AMD reference spec on the Radeon RX 7800 XT of 2124MHz game clock and 2430MHz boost clock. Combined with the XFX GHOST THERMAL solution the XFX Speedster MERC 319 Radeon RX 7800 XT BLACK Edition runs so much cooler than the made-by-AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT design.
We also found that the XFX Speedster MERC 319 Radeon RX 7800 XT BLACK Edition does run faster in our game testing with this factory overclock. We saw improved performance over the made-by-AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT we have tested, thanks to this high factory overclock.
Performance
When we look at plain raster performance we see that ALL the cards can play the games without any help. The FPS are quite fast across the board, smooth, and quick all around. The XFX Speedster MERC 319 Radeon RX 7800 XT BLACK Edition was faster than the GeForce RTX 4070 FE in 4 of the 6 games by an average of 13%. Even performance in Callisto Protocol and a slight gap in Chernobylite Enhanced. We do see very strong performance from the RX 6800 XT.
The XFX Speedster MERC 319 Radeon RX 7800 XT BLACK Edition Black was faster in 4 of 6 games but by a slim 9%. The RX 6800 XT was better in Callisto Protocol and even in Dying Light 2. The RX 6800 simply can’t keep up, but still, as we noted, fast gameplay all around, all above the magic 60FPS. In all cases, upscaling was not necessary but added quite a bit of speed to the already good results. One point about FSR, the XFX Speedster MERC 319 Radeon RX 7800 XT BLACK Edition is very good at utilizing it for most often the fastest upscaled result.
Ray Tracing sees the results turn a little. Still, in 3 of 6 games, all cards were playable with upscaling, remarkable, the RX 6800 XT was 4 of 6. The XFX Speedster MERC 319 Radeon RX 7800 XT BLACK Edition 5 of 6. Only the RTX 4070 FE could manage to make playable marks in every game. The margin over the XFX Speedster MERC 319 Radeon RX 7800 XT BLACK Edition was 10%. The distance between the XFX Speedster MERC 319 Radeon RX 7800 XT BLACK Edition and the RX 6800 XT was 16%, a better showing than plain raster.
Kudos to the XFX Speedster MERC 319 Radeon RX 7800 XT BLACK Edition for being playable in 5 of 6 Ray Traced games!! Here the RTX 4070 FE does flex its muscles a bit, using the Ray Tracing experience it has collected now over three generations, however, the AMD video cards are catching up, no doubt.
Comparing Performance
The obvious question here is comparable performance. In plain raster the XFX Speedster MERC 319 Radeon RX 7800 XT BLACK Edition is clearly faster than the RTX 4070 FE, but only in 4 of 6 games. In Callisto Protocol was are even and behind in Chernobylite EE…..but the margin is slim and the FPS across the board is remarkably fast.
In Ray Tracing things separate somewhat. The RTX 4070 FE takes advantage of experience. Playable in all games it has a 10% advantage otherwise as well. That is expected at this point, but the AMD cards are getting better, slowly but surely. Also here the XFX Speedster MERC 319 Radeon RX 7800 XT BLACK Edition clearly is pulling away from the 6800 XT as you would expect.
Compared to the GeForce RTX 4070 FE, the XFX Speedster MERC 319 Radeon RX 7800 XT BLACK Edition has more VRAM and comes in at a cheaper price. You get better raster performance and surprisingly good Ray Traced performance. Maybe not the fastest, but playable in 5 of 6 games.
Final Points
The XFX Speedster MERC 319 Radeon RX 7800 XT BLACK Edition has a price premium of $539, compared to the reference spec, or made-by-AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT video card. What the XFX Speedster MERC 319 Radeon RX 7800 XT BLACK Edition really going for it is a very high factory overclock, and improved cooling which works extremely well. With the very high factory overclock, XFX has pushed the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT to its limits, leaving no performance on the floor.
Though it isn’t very overclockable, that is okay because you know you are paying for maximum performance out-of-the-box with the XFX Speedster MERC 319 Radeon RX 7800 XT BLACK Edition. The factory overclock makes a difference to gameplay performance, allowing it to compete better with the current competition.
When looking at the XFX Speedster MERC 319 Radeon RX 7800 XT BLACK Edition as an upgrade from the last generation around the same price point, we find that it offers a big upgrade from the Radeon RX 6800 which was $579 at launch. The XFX Speedster MERC 319 Radeon RX 7800 XT BLACK Edition is cheaper than the Radeon RX 6800, and now you are getting a nice 30% upgrade in performance, and better Ray Tracing performance.
When we look at the XFX Speedster MERC 319 Radeon RX 7800 XT BLACK Edition compared to the competition, the XFX Speedster MERC 319 Radeon RX 7800 XT BLACK Edition has more RAM at 16GB compared to 12GB on the more expensive GeForce RTX 4070. The XFX Speedster MERC 319 Radeon RX 7800 XT BLACK Edition is cheaper than the GeForce RTX 4070 and provides more VRAM. It does come at the cost of power efficiency, it needs more power to achieve this. Ultimately the GeForce RTX 4070 will offer DLSS, Ray Reconstruction, and Frame Generation.
We are impressed with the XFX Speedster MERC 319 Radeon RX 7800 XT BLACK Edition visuals, the video card looks great, and considering the factory overclock and thermals comes in at a premium that seems reasonable for the Radeon RX 7800 XT. Overall, we are impressed with the 1440p gameplay experience the XFX Speedster MERC 319 Radeon RX 7800 XT BLACK Edition delivers, and this video card should be on your list if you are looking for incredible Radeon RX 7800 XT performance out-of-the-box, plus, the Starfield bundle!