Sapphire's Custom AMD Radeon RX 6800 And RX 6800 XT Nitro Series Unleashed
A week from tomorrow (November 8), two of AMD's latest-generation RDNA 2 graphics cards will make their retail debut, those being the Radeon RX 6800 XT and Radeon RX 6800 (the Radeon RX 6900 XT will come out on December 8). And in the lead up to the retail launch, AMD's hardware partners are ready with custom designs. That includes Sapphire, which has unveiled its Nitro series.
What you see above is the Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX 6800 XT SE Gaming edition card (SKU 11304-01-20G). It sports a custom cooler with three RGB fans. The full dimensions for the card check in at 310 mm (L) x 134.3 mm (W) x 55.3 mm (H). It is a 2.7-slot design, meaning it effectively takes up three expansion slots, and is powered by a pair of 8-pin PCIe connectors. The card also features dual UEFI.
There is no mention of the base, game, and boost clocks, so it remains to be seen what kind of factory overclock Sapphire will apply to this card. For reference, AMD has set the stock frequencies at 1,825MHz (base), 2.015MHz (game), and 2,250MHz (boost).
The next one down the list is the 'regular Nitro+ Radeon RX 6800 XT Gaming (SKU 11304-02-20G). It is nearly identical to the other model, except it lacks RGB fans. However, it does have RGB lighting for the Sapphire logo on top of the card.
There is no mention of clockspeeds on this one either. Like the other card, it comes with a dual BIOS setup and a backplate to both add rigidity and help dissipate heat.
Last up to bat is the Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX 6800 Gaming edition (SKU 11305-01-20G). From our vantage point, it looks identical to the XT model above, and the dimensions are virtually the same as well, with Sapphire listing just a teeny-tiny difference at 310.5 mm (L) x 134.2 mm (W) x 55.2 mm (H).
It's hard to know for sure without any detailed specifications, but on all three models, it looks as though Sapphire is going with two larger size fans on front and back, and a slightly smaller fan squished in between.
There is no mention of clocks on this one either, though as a point of comparison, the reference specs call for a 1,700MHz base clock, 1,815MHz game clock, and 2,105MHz boost clock.
Pricing for these custom models have not yet been announced. And of course actual availability will be a crap-shoot. Demand exceeding supply has been the norm for recent hardware releases, and as it pertains to Big Navi, ASUS has already warned that its Radeon RX 6800 XT stock will be limited.
