I can only point out the same thing I did for
@AtenRa: if someone asks you for build advice today, will you also mention waiting until the 3050 launch? Because if you do mention they may want to wait, then you're just as intellectually conflicted as the people criticizing the 6500XT, as some of them would still buy it given no other choice.
A product is good or bad no matter whether someone is metaphorically pointing a gun to your head in order to make you buy it.
Let me make the razor even sharper. What would you recommend to Joe today:
- 6500XT @ $199 /w 4GB VRAM
- 6500XT @ $249 /w 8GB VRAM
Why aren't we getting the option to choose? Because of the miners?! Heck, put both products on the market, let's see the 8GB variant price blow up because of crypto and AMD getting grateful nods from gamers happy they have a 4GB version just for them. Or could it just be that the review comparison would be problematic for the 4GB variant while the $249 MSRP of 8GB SKU would look bad in upcoming reviews? (even if MSRP isn't representative for real market pricing anymore)
Here's a mainstream reviewer expressing her... "feeling" for the immediate future:
View attachment 56402
They don't want to sell more of these.
It's likely that any other product they sell has a better margin. Container space doesn't know about CPUs vs GPUs. This has got to be in the running for the lowest value density product they sell. (In terms of dollars in logistics displacement).
I'll stick to my observation that this was supposed to be an OEM level part, only for new (ie, PCIe4) builds that are likely overwhelmingly Intel based (because of that's how it is) because OEMs wanted something, anything to sell and this was conceived in the darkest days of the silicon (substrate, etc.) shortages. I realize they said laptops but this seems in reality a better fit for any OEM desktop.
Dell will make this a $100-$150 stepping stone from the 6400 and a bunch of people will click the button because the don't want the slowest one, they want the +1. That's just a educated hunch.
Due to the ongoing s-show that is current global economies, mining and logistics we all get to enjoy this.
An 8GB version would show likely minimal improvements in a PCIe 4 system, likely super similar to an 8GB RX580 vs 4GB RX580 and looking back there are pages and pages and pages of discussion how wasteful it was to spend money on the extra ram. I know that's a discussion that goes back to like 2015 and 8GB 290's but... yeah.
I buy every 1060 3GB and GTX 970 I can lay my hands on sub $200 and they are used, dusty and sometimes smokey. I'd love to have new cards with warranties to include in builds, just because.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Maybe we'll get a little window of availability now with crypto looking tough, I see lots of NIB cards on my local CL for... ~50% MSRP markup which is a bit of a reprieve.
I still think the 6600/3060 is a starting spot for AAA/FPS "serious" gamers going forward, but man you should have seen how excited this 13 year old was three days ago to buy a $600 computer from me with an 8600K and a GTX 970. Kid was shaking a little bit and this was all his money from reffing soccer. Everything he wanted to play with his older brother was suddenly on the table.
1080p and medium details is still plenty to "just play".
Sorry for the ramble here.