AMD could follow up the unloved RX 6500 XT with an even lower spec GPU this May

AMD may be preparing a more entry-level graphics card in its RX 6000-series lineup in the Radeon RX 6500. Yes, a supposed cheaper alternative to the Radeon RX 6500 XT that launched two weeks ago, and which left a bitter taste in our mouths.

According to regular Twitter leaker Greymon55 (via Videocardz), AMD is planning to launch the RX 6500 in May. 

The specifications of the graphics card would be similar to that of the existing RX 6400, which is OEM only. The RX 6400 comes with 12 CUs and 768 stream processors, all running a boost clock of 2,321MHz. That’s joined by 4GB of GDDR6 memory.

If the specifications of the rumoured RX 6500 are to be roughly around that area, we’re not looking at a pretty picture for gaming performance. The RX 6500 XT let us down in that department, and it comes with 1,024 stream processors across 16 CUs.

The RX 6500 XT was released with an MSRP of $199. However, since launch it can now be found in excess of $250, if not broaching the $300 mark. Greymon55 suggests the RX 6500 would sit around $130 at launch, though who knows what price it may end up at post-launch day.

I can’t say I’m personally excited about the proposition. Even at its best, the RX 6500 is destined to be worse than the RX 6500 XT—a card we don’t believe should have ever existed due to its poor price/performance and lack of generation-on-generation improvement. At least there’s some chance the RX 6500 could offer a way in for gamers on a shoestring budget, though it’s unlikely to save the component graphics card market during the ongoing GPU shortage.

Perhaps some exceedingly cheap prebuilt PCs could come out of this? We can only hope that’s actually the case should AMD actually launch such a card.