I recently put together a multiseat gaming setup on Linux and I'm looking for some guidance on picking a secondary graphics card. My primary card is a Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 9070, and I'll be using a PCIe 4.0 x4 slot for the secondary card. Though I don't expect to achieve high-end performance, I do want something decent since I'm currently testing with an old Radeon R9 280 that's doing okay for basic games.
I'm considering only AMD cards to avoid driver conflicts. The new card shouldn't consume too much power or generate excessive heat. Here are a few options I've looked into:
1. **RX 6400**: Very budget-friendly with a TDP of only 53W and no need for external power. However, it has just 4GB of VRAM and a PassMark G3D score of 7729. I'm wondering if it might be too basic, and I'm unsure if the PCIe 4.0 x4 slot will provide sufficient power for it.
2. **RX 6600**: A step up with a G3D score of 15088, 8GB of VRAM, and a TDP of 132W.
3. **RX 9060 XT 8G**: More modern with a G3D score of 19899 and a TDP of 150W.
4. **RX 9060 XT 16G**: Potentially worth considering despite the increased cost. It has a G3D score of 20019 and a TDP of 160W, but I'm concerned it could be overkill given the PCIe limitation.
Also, could FSR 4 be a reason to lean towards the 9060 card? And considering the RX 6400 and RX 6600 use different PCIe lane configurations, would they handle the x4 slot better? My setup drives a BenQ EW3270ZL 2560x1440 60 Hz monitor, and right now, we're playing Baldur's Gate 3, but more games will be coming. Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
1 Answer
Don't worry too much about the PCIe 4.0 aspect. In most cases, PCIe 4 shouldn't bottleneck your graphics cards much, especially for gaming. It sounds like you might be more concerned about the x4 slot limiting performance, which could be more relevant than the PCIe version itself. I'd say go for the RX 6600 if you're looking for a balance of performance and efficiency.
Yeah, the RX 6600 is definitely a solid choice here. It gives you a lot for the price and shouldn't struggle in that setup. Just keep an eye on the power consumption!