ASUS ROG STRIX LC RX 6800 XT OC Review

How Much Does It Cost?

Right now, you can pick up a reference model of the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT for around £679.99, albeit stock and prices fluctuate. The ASUS ROG STRIX LC RX 6800 XT Gaming OC is going to be around £879.99, a £200 increase over the standard card. That’s a BIG investment for any enthusiast. However, it’s not like the stock cards are lacking, and AMD really does have a killer product right out of the gate, so it’s not going to be easy to justify that price increase… But I’ll give it a go anyway over the next few paragraphs.

Overview

The price of this card is high, but lets break it down a little first. The higher the boost clock on a card, the higher the price. That’s a given, as the cards go through a binning process and finding the absolute best of the best is pretty much like looking for a legendary reward in an EA loot box. So not only are they the best example of that chipset, they’re rare; both of which increase the price.

Expensive Cooling

Then you have the cost of an addressable RGB lit 240mm AIO liquid cooler, and given that GPUs have a bigger chipset die and often put out a lot more heat over time than a CPU would, it needs to be a really good cooler and pump. It is, and ASUS sell their AIO coolers for around £150. However, you still have a blower cooler, shroud and other components on the card, meaning you’re buying the materials of two coolers for one card.

Premium, Because We Can

Then there’s the ROG tax. They usually charge a little more because they know they’re delivering a premium experience. In all fairness, STRIX products often do use nothing buy premium components, and are exceptionally well designed. So yes, you’re paying more for the card to be made to a higher standard, regardless of whether that makes it perform faster or not, it’s just more premium.

Performance

Add all of that together, and you end up paying another £200. It’s as simple as that. Or is it? This card is pretty damn fast, it actually pushed figures that were new records for us here at eTeknix, but they’re not a million miles ahead of the stock card.

It’s when you look at the noise levels. The card is certainly quiet and maintained that really well. Which is impressive when you consider that at load it was sitting at just 54c. That’s insane for a card that was running at 70c even with that fantastic triple fan cooler from AMD. So while the stock card may run at 4K pretty well, when you’re a few hours into a late night gaming session and the sustained heat on the card starts to take its toll on the boost clock speed, the STRIX card will keep on rocking.

Should I Buy One?

While the ASUS ROG STRIX LC RX 6800 XT Gaming OC is quite expensive, it has been designed for those who want a card that delivers the biggest boost clocks, and it certainly delivers. This card is overengineered and built to survive being maxed out for extended periods. The ASUS ROG STRIX LC RX 6800 XT Gaming OC will run at its absolute maximum all day long and still come out cooler and quieter than its rivals.