We continue our acquaintance with different versions of the Radeon RX 6600 XT. Next in line is a Gigabyte video card from the Gaming Pro line. After getting acquainted with the top versions of MSI Gaming and ASUS ROG Strix, we decided that all such models are similar in terms of characteristics and capabilities. But the Gigabyte GV-R66XTGAMINGOC PRO-8GD video card managed to pleasantly surprise and surpassed analogues from other manufacturers in a number of criteria.

Gigabyte Radeon RX 6600 XT Gaming OC Pro 8G

The novelty is delivered in a large box, while it is not completed with adapters and cables.

The Radeon RX 6600 XT is a budget solution based on the RDNA 2 architecture, and with a low TDP, the video card does not require heavy-duty cooling. Most manufacturers use a cooler with a couple of fans even in top versions. The key differentiator of the Gigabyte Gaming Pro is the Windforce 3x cooling system with three fans.

This model has large dimensions — a length of 28 cm, a thickness of more than two slots (5 cm). The external design is sustained in the standard style of Gigabyte. Cooling is covered with a plastic casing with metallic color inserts.

The reverse side of the video card is covered with a metal plate. Since the board is shorter than the cooler, there is an empty space on the side, above which there is a large cutout. This «window» reduces the resistance to directional airflow, which is formed by case fans inside the PC.

On the side is an eight-pin power connector.

Implemented RGB lighting for the Gigabyte side logo. The Aorus Engine application allows you to control lighting effects. Backlight synchronization with other Gigabyte components is supported.

The rear panel has two DisplayPort and HDMI ports.

Traditionally, Gigabyte uses a single heatsink for all components on the board. Five heat pipes run through the central part of the radiator. They are carefully fitted to each other to reduce gaps.

The imprint shows that the tubes completely cover the surface of the crystal. Two thermal pads on the base conduct heat away from the memory chips. The largest section of the plates has contact pads for heat removal from the elements of the supply circuit.

From the outside, the radiator has two thin mounting strips, to which the casing with fans is screwed.

The structure is blown by three thin 80 mm fans (the impeller diameter is approximately 77 mm). The blades have a special shape with grooves and an additional «visor». This shape allows for increased airflow.

The backplate is also involved in cooling thanks to thermal pads in the area under the GPU and memory chips.

The PCB is 19.5 cm long. Based on the recommended PCB design from AMD, this board strongly resembles boards from Sapphire and other manufacturers.

The graphics chip is powered by eight phases, the memory by two phases.

The Navi 23 processor is located on the substrate at an angle of 45°. Soldered standard memory chips Samsung K4ZAF325BM-HC16.

The Gigabyte Radeon RX 6600 XT Gaming OC Pro 8G video card is initially accelerated by the manufacturer. Game Clock is set to 2428 MHz and Boost Clock is set to 2607 MHz. The effective memory frequency is 16000 MHz, which is in line with AMD recommendations. It’s also worth recalling that all Radeon RX 6600 XTs use eight PCI-E 4.0 lanes.

Real Boost frequencies turned out to be at the level of ASUS ROG-STRIX-RX6600XT-O8G-GAMING (both video cards have the same frequency characteristics). In the 3DMark Time Spy stress test, the frequencies are close to 2600 MHz, in the Red Dead Redemption 2 test up to 2700 MHz. Max Boost point 2744 MHz.

When tested in an open case (indoor 22°C), the peak temperature of the GPU did not exceed 52°C with fan speeds of 1650-1900 rpm. The noise is low. According to GPU-Z monitoring, the temperature of the hottest point of the Navi 23 die reached 83 °C. The impressive difference of 30 °C may be due to uneven contact of the crystal with the surface of the heat sink (gaps between the heat pipes). MSI Gaming and ASUS ROG have a difference between the main thermal sensor and the Hot Spot at the level of 15-20 °C.

AMD software was used for overclocking. Our final settings configuration is shown below.

With a base frequency of 2400 MHz, the Game Clock is reached at 2660 MHz and the maximum Boost Clock is up to 2920 MHz. The fans are left in automatic control mode. The clock frequency of GDDR6 chips has been increased from 2000 MHz to 2330 MHz (18640 MHz).

In the 3DMark Time Spy stress test, real frequencies were close to 2800 MHz, and in Red Dead Redemption 2 over 2850 MHz. And these are the highest overclocked frequencies for all the Radeon RX 6600 XT we tested.

In this mode, the fans spin up to 2000-2300 rpm. Under long load, the peak temperature of the GPU hotspot could reach 90 °C.