ASUS ROG Strix RX 6800 XT LC Review

Conclusion

Oh yes, that’s the stuff.

When we reviewed the RX 6900 XT we were left feeling slightly disappointed at the performance difference, or relative lack of, between it and a good RX 6800 XT, and we postulated that perhaps a truly brilliant RX 6800 XT would be the match for the biggest of the RDNA2 cards. There just isn’t enough extra architecture on the 6900 XT that a high clock speed couldn’t make the difference. With the ASUS Strix RX 6800 XT LC this idea we had is born out. Not only is the clock speed insanely high – pretty much 2.5 GHz average – but as you saw in our testing this heightened the performance enough that it often matched the more expensive Radeon offering.

One of the slight negatives to AMDs first attempt at producing a card which supports Ray Tracing is the actual performance of that RT hardware. It is, if anything, closer to Nvidia’s first attempt with their RTX 20×0 cards. However, clearly if you can get the card running hard enough there is some gains to be found as in Port Royal the ASUS Strix RX 6800 XT LC managed to outperform the RX 6900 XT. Elsewhere the story remained the same too, as the RX 6800 XT LC managed to match the 6900 XT, and in titles such as Monster Hunter World, Microsoft Flight Simulator or The Witcher 3 the ASUS card proved to be capable of out-performing the 6900 XT.

We’re not sure what more needs to be said. The performance is a match for the 6900 XT but you’re gaining many other things beyond the simple price difference between the two cards. As an ASUS Strix product you’re getting the build quality we’ve come to expect from the ROG brand. As you can see from the image that’s graced the top of this review you’re also getting loads of RGB lighting either on the card on the fans themselves. Additionally as a liquid cooled card the temperatures are frosty indeed and this means the Strix is basically silent in operation.

The only negative is the fact that with a double wide radiator to fit into your case you’ll need to do some careful planning on your build and/or case purchase, particularly if you already have a large AIO cooling your CPU. The air coming out of the radiator is sufficiently warm we’d be loath to use this at the front of our case. It’s certainly pumping hotter air than that which comes out of our CPU AIO. The only other thing is that with the AIO the Strix naturally costs a little more than most RX 6800 XTs, although we feel the extra expense comes with a lot of performance and usability benefits which outweigh this.

If the AMD RX 6800 XT is the sweetest of the new Radeon range then the ASUS ROG Strix RX 6800 XT LC is the ultimate expression of all that GPU can be, and wins our OC3D Enthusiast Award. Fantastic.

The ASUS ROG Strix RX 6800 XT LC is available with an MSRP of £899.

Discuss the ASUS ROG Strix RX 6800 XT LC in our OC3D Forums.