Since AMD does not want its add-in-board (AIB) partners to publish actual specifications of their custom Radeon RX 6800-series graphics cards (see our Radeon RX 6800 and RX 6800 XT review), but it allows select media to do unpacking videos of these products. XFX was not exactly the first company to start teasing its proprietary Big Navi design, but its Radeon RX 6800 XT Speedster Merc 319 (an interesting name, isn't it?) is among the first one to be examined by video bloggers, including those at VideoCardz.
In a bid to comply with the 'Big Navi' moniker, the XFX Radeon RX 6800 XT Speedster Merc 319 is indeed big. The board comes with a triple-fan, 2.5-wide (which essentially means you need three spare slots to install it) cooling system featuring several heat pipes and a backplate. The middle fan is smaller than the other two, something we have already seen on graphics cards from other makers. In fact, a triple-fan cooling system seems to be a de-factor standard for the Radeon RX 6800-series.
The rather huge cooling system makes the XFX Radeon RX 6800 XT Speedster Merc 319 bigger than previous-generation products from XFX, so customers planning to purchase this card should ensure that they have enough space inside their chassis. Meanwhile, the PCB of the board is shorter than the cooling system. Meanwhile, the card has two 8-pin PCIe auxiliary power connectors, just like reference designs.
In the I/O department, the XFX Radeon RX 6800 XT Speedster Merc 319 includes two DisplayPort 1.4 ports, one HDMI 2.1, and one USB Type-C connector.
Now that we know what the XFX Radeon RX 6800 XT Speedster Merc 319 looks like, we still have to find out the exact clocks of its GPU and memory as well as how much faster this graphics card is when compared to AMD's reference design. The good news is that the wait is almost over as the product is expected to hit the market on November 25, 2020, just several days from now. If you're looking for a Radeon 6000 series card, be sure to check out our story on how and where to buy a Radeon RX 6800 and RX 6800 XT.
Meanwhile, the author of the Tech of Tomorrow channel mentioned that the board could cost in the ballpark of $749 (i.e., about $50 more expensive when compared to reference adapters). Whether or not the $50 premium will actually bring significant performance benefits is something that is to be seen, but it definitely buys a very sophisticated cooling system.
Source: Tech of Tomorrow (via VideoCardz)
