XFX Speedster MERC 319 Radeon RX 7800 XT Black Edition, 16GB GDDR6, HDMI, 3x DP

Schon AMDs Referenzdesign (MBA) der Radeon RX 7800 XT wusste zu überzeugen, doch die Custom-Designs Asus TUF Gaming OC, PowerColor Hellhound, Sapphire Nitro+ und Merc 319 kühlen noch einmal besser und bleiben trotzdem leiser. Welches Modell im Vergleich die beste Vorstellung abliefert, klärt der Test.

The XFX RX 7800 XT Merc 319 is the company's flagship card for this release. It comes with an upgraded triple-slot, triple-fan cooler that has a full-metal shroud, dual BIOS, and a large factory overclock. Compared to AMD reference speeds, the Merc 319 ticks at a gaming clock frequency of 2254 MHz, which is a 6% increase over the 2124 MHz baseline value set by AMD. Averaged over the 25 games in our test suite, at 1440p resolution, this leads to a 4% performance improvement over the AMD reference card—not much, but that's how factory overclocks work these days. Actually, all RX 7800 XT custom designs tested today reach virtually the same performance levels, which can be a good thing, because it really doesn't matter which one you pick, at least when it comes to gaming performance.

Both the Radeon RX 7700 XT and 7800 XT graphics cards are recent introductions specifically for my favourite monitor resolution, the WQHD monitor range. Both cards feature a notable shader count and VRAM buffers when evaluating their specifications. They are strategically positioned between the GeForce 4060 Ti and RTX 4070, aiming to blend performance and cost-effectiveness. The tested 7800 Xt I do seem to like a notch better overall, and it's just $50 more, so that would be an easy choice for men. The extra VRAM, wider memory bus and 13%-14% extra performance pretty much make the choice a no-brainer. The 7800 XT series does not present groundbreaking technological advancements but brings incremental improvements in raw performance. What I am saying, here is AMD is still a step behind in Raytracing performance and efficient adaptive supersampling techniques with the help of an AI assist. However, most people still do not care about the latter one and as such crave faster shader performance. And here these graphics cards definitely deliver. Notable features include AV1 compatibility, incorporation of the rDNA3 architecture, and updated monitor connectors, all of which enhance the overall user experience but really might not be compelling enough to switch away from NVIDIA. In terms of performance, the RX 7800 XT closely mirrors its 6800XT/6900 XT predecessors within this competitive market segment. Alternatives might offer distinct benefits, so potential buyers should assess their options carefully.