Sapphire tries to solve the RX 6500 XT's VRAM problem with the introduction of the PULSE AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT 8 GB

AMD released the RX 6500 XT in January 2022 in a market that was thirsty for budget boards. But the card was met with unfavorable reviews due to its lackluster performance and technical limitations. The key technical bottlenecks of RX 6500 XT are the 4 GB GDDR6 VRAM over a constrained 64-bit bus and a paltry 144 GB/s of bandwidth.

Aiming to alleviate the memory size constraints, Sapphire has now introduced a new RX 6500 XT with 8 GB of VRAM. The card packs in the same Navi 24 XT GPU as the original with 1024 Stream Processors and PCIe Gen 4 x4 interface that resulted in a severe bottleneck on PCIe Gen 3 systems. However, Sapphire has increased the game and boost clock by 85 MHz and 40 MHz respectively.

Finally, the new Sapphire PULSE AMD RX 6500 XT has a 130 W TBP, a significant increase over the 107 W of the stock board. To provide more power, Sapphire has also outfitted the GPU with another 6-pin power connector.

Only time will tell whether Sapphire’s decision to increase the VRAM makes the RX 6500 XT enticing enough to move units. The GPU market has reversed course since January with ample stock and continually falling prices. So, the RX 6500 XT that was launched for an audience starved of sub-US$200 offerings, is no longer the only viable budget option.

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