Introduction
On January 24, 2024, the RX 7600 XT video card was released, which was announced at CES 2024. This card is the most recent GPU from AMD and adds another choice to the mainstream portion of the RX 7000 series. This video card is a more robust version of the RX 7600 but has many identical features. What allows the RX 7600 XT to stand out is a much faster GPU clock speed and the addition of more VRAM to take this card to 16GB. This video card represents the first lower-tier model of any video card that has 16GB of VRAM.
The various technical specifications of the Radeon RX 7600 XT are excellently discussed in our launch review here. There is no made-by-AMD version of the RX 7600 XT, so the models you see for sale are all custom products with or without added extras. Hence, you may see some models sporting RGB, more robust overclocks, and some modest price premiums.
Our review today examines ASRock’s latest offering, with its top-most SKU the ASRock Radeon RX 7600 XT Steel Legend 16GB OC (RX 7600XT SL 16GO). This card is one of two RX 7600 XT models from ASRock. The Steel Legend card has the highest factory overclock and also triple RGB fans. ASRock’s other model is the Challenger, which has dual fans, a lower overclock, and smaller RGB chevrons on the face of the card.
ASRock has long been a manufacturer of motherboards, in fact, the third largest worldwide. Founded in 2002, the company partnered with AMD in 2018 to begin manufacturing graphics cards. ASRock also produces the full line of Intel-based video cards. Personally (I Rick), have never owned any ASRock products, so I was very much interested when offered a chance to review this graphics card.
We received a full retail packaged RX 7600 XT Steel Legend 16GB OC from ASRock. The MSRP for the “reference” model specification cards is $329. Our card is priced at $349 currently at NewEgg. The warranty is 3 years on this video card. AMD has pointed the RX 7600 XT at 1080p and 1440p gaming resolutions. Let’s get started.
ASRock Radeon RX 7600 XT Steel Legend 16GB OC
As we mentioned, the ASRock Radeon RX 7600 XT Steel Legend 16GB does have a factory overclock that boosts the GPU clock speed beyond that of the reference specification from AMD. The reference design calls for a Game Clock of 2470MHz and a Boost Clock of 2760MHz, which is quite a bit higher compared to the regular Radeon RX 7600. The new ASRock Radeon RX 7600 XT Steel Legend 16GB OC has a Game Clock of 2539MHz and a Boost Clock of 2810MHz. That gives the Game Clock a 69MHz boost to the game clock and a 50MHz boost to the boost clock out-of-the-box. This provides a very big uplift versus a regular-clocked Radeon RX 7600 GPU which has clock speeds off 2250MHz/2660MHz.
The video card arrived in a well-cushioned box. The contents are only the video card and a “quick start” guide. What stands out when you first open the antistatic bag is the white and gray plastic top shroud and clear plastic 90mm fans. The fans are distinctly shaped, called “striped” by ASRock. They are designed to move more air for cooling. The card is designed to use a “0dB” fan stop when the temperatures are low enough. The heat sink is a full cover, nickel-plated copper direct contact variety. It utilizes “V-shaped” heatsink fins, full coverage of VRAM, and premium thermal pads. The black PCB is 2oz copper and high-density glass fabric made for board stiffness.
On the back side, we see a distinct gray and white camo-patterned metal backplate. The backplate is slotted for airflow. On the upper edge is a small switch that allows you to turn off the RGB if you so desire, and it supports ASRock Polychrome SYNC. The ASRock Radeon RX 7600 XT Steel Legend 16GB OC uses premium 90A power chokes, Dr. MOS, and a high-density glass fabric PCB with 2oz copper.
The ASRock Radeon RX 7600 XT Steel Legend 16GB OC is a 2.5-slot card. It measures in at 11 ¾ X 4 ¼ X 1 ¾ inches and weighs 1 pound 15 oz. There are 3 Display Port 2.1 and 1 HDMI 2.1 connectors. The card requires two PCIe 8-pin connections, has a total rated power draw of 190 Watts, and a recommended PSU of 650 Watts. There is a support tab near the bottom of the product page for this card which will take you to downloads. There you may download the Polychrome SYNC software needed to adjust the RGB. Also is the latest version of ASRock Tweak version 2.0.63.7 which can be used in overclocking.
