ASRock and PowerColor joined the roster of AMD's graphics card partners in revealing all-new custom-designed coolers for AMD's latest RX 6800 and RX 6800 XT GPUs. ASRock has four brand new custom SKUs, while PowerColor is still keeping most of its designs to itself, but the company wasn't afraid to show a sneak peek of its new Red Devil GPU on Twitter.
The new PowerColor Red Devil looks absolutely monstrous for a graphics card – from the rear/front angle of the image, the cooler looks to be nearly 4 slots wide. Hopefully the card will have monstrous cooling potential to go with that size.
Aesthetically, the card is very different from the previous Red Devil design on the RX 5700 XT. The new Red Devil lacks any sticks and instead opts to go with six red LED strips that start in the middle of the card and go all the way to the back. Unfortunately, that is all we know about this card, but hopefully we'll get the detailed specs soon.
ASRock has four new custom designs. The Radeon RX 6800 XT Taichi X 16G OC, and the Radeon RX 6800 XT Phantom Gaming D 16G OC cover the 6800XT side of the equation, while Radeon RX 6800 Phantom Gaming D 16G OC and Radeon RX 6800 Challenger Pro 16G OC fill in the RX 6800 side.
ASRock's flagship RX 6800 XT Taichi offers a triple-fan cooler design and measures 2.8 slots thick. Keep in mind it's also quite tall at 140mm, so case compatibility will be something to look out for. The card features a metal shroud and metal backplate, with RGB lighting up the card in the center fan, sides, and a small area on the backplate. The color theme is very neutral and the design language is simple and striking at the same time. That will make it look good in most cases, especially those with metal finishes.
ASRock's RX 6800 XT Phantom Gaming really does deserve the name, with very bright colors and a shrouded design that screams "gamer."
The shroud looks to be all metal, similar to the Taichi, but this time you get four brushed aluminum accents flanking all four sides of the card, and in those accents, you get even more accents with several red lines pointing towards the central RGB fan. The backplate also features a black brushed aluminum design accompanied by red accents with the Phantom Gaming and ASRock logos present. This card really stands out – the dark parts of the shroud are highly contrasted by bright red and bright brushed aluminum accents. If you're looking for something bright and blingy, this is the card for you.
The RX 6800 variant of this card is very similar to its bigger brother, with only slight differences to the design that are barely noticeable. The biggest change you'll find with the RX 6800 Phantom Gaming is the PCB and the rear backplate that don't extend all the way to the end of the card. Compare that to the RX 6800 XT Phantom Gaming, which does. Ironically the RX 6800's cooler could possibly do its job better than the RX 6800 XT model, simply because the heatsink has all that extra space open in the rear for air to escape.
Finally, we have ASRock's more budget-oriented option, the RX 6800 Challenger Pro. Compared to the other three designs, this one is the most humble, which allows it to blend in well with other computer components.
The shroud features a metal finish along with silver accents, but the silver is rather dark, so it blends well with the dark nature of the metal shroud. For RGB, all you get is a single dash of it in the top where the ASRock and Challenger Pro logos are located. For cooling, you get a triple fan design and a 2.7 slot thick cooler. Similar to the Phantom Gaming, the PCB and backplate doesn't extend all the way to the edge of the cooler. While it does look a little plain (like the Phantom Gaming), you will benefit from having a more efficient cooler that can push air out the rear of the card.
ASRrock's options for the RX 6800/RX 6800 XT look very pleasing. The metal shrouds are a nice touch, giving the cards a more premium look than other designs. ASRock recently posted the cards to its website but hasn't revealed pricing or availability.
