February 2, 2021 AMD has again confirmed that more RX 6800 and 6900 reference cards will be available in 2021
After the RX 6000 series sold out instantly at launch, the rumours that floated around of AMD discontinuing the production of its reference cards for the RX 6000 series took us by surprise, especially considering how demand for the best graphics cards from both AMD and Nvidia was massively outstripping supply, and still is. The release of the RX 6900 XT in December was a prime example, with stock running out in just minutes.
Thankfully, that myth was dispelled in December by the general manager of AMD Radeon, Scott Herkelman, stating on Twitter that production of the reference cards had been extended “indefinitely due to popular demand.”
It’s usual practice for AMD, as well as Nvidia, to discontinue the production of its reference cards once stock has run its course, passing the baton onto third-party custom card manufacturers. But the decision to indefinitely extend reference design production should help boost the stock levels, which could lead to a reduction in the massively inflated prices on graphics cards right now.
We’ve now had further confirmation from AMD that more reference cards should be available, thanks to an interview with AMD at BabelTechReview (via Videocardz), where it states that more reference RX 6800, 6800 XT and 6900 XT cards will be available throughout the first quarter of this year. This lines up with CEO Lisa Su’s recent statement that stock issues should improve in the next few months.
This is all good news, but currently, its latest cards are sold out everywhere – unless you want to empty your wallets on scalpers’ inflated prices.
If you are looking to pick up a graphics card this year though, don’t fret – our best graphics card guide contains some last-gen cards that are still great performers for budget-conscious PC builds, which you may have some more luck grabbing.