In an attempt to offer reliable gaming performance at (hopefully) stable prices, AMD is expanding its PC GPU family with the just-announced Radeon RX 6950 XT, RX 6750 XT, and RX 6650 XT graphics cards. The effects of the chip shortage over the last couple of years have been equally fascinating and painful to watch. From new game consoles, smartphones, computers, and cars, the availability for all of these things has been dramatically low.

Another market that’s been severely impacted is graphics cards. Between the chip shortage, online purchasing bots, and a rise in crypto mining, trying to buy a GPU has proven incredibly difficult. New GPUs have been rarely available for purchase – and when they are in stock — they’re often sold for hundreds of dollars more than the suggested retail price. Things have gradually improved over the last few months, but we’re certainly not back to normal.

Related: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 Ti Vs AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT

Thankfully, AMD is taking a small step forward to try and improve things. On May 10, AMD announced a trio of new GPUs entering its Radeon lineup. As mentioned above, these include the 6950 XT, 6750 XT, and 6650 XT. If those names sound familiar, that’s because all three cards are subtle tweaks over the existing 6900 XT, 6700 XT, and 6600 XT, respectively. The cards are based on AMD’s trusty RDNA 2 architecture,  don’t come with any massive performance gains, and have virtually identical designs as their predecessors. Despite all of that, we’re still pretty excited about today’s announcement.

Why AMD’s New GPUs Could Be Huge

Specs for the AMD 6950 XT, 6750 XT, and 6650 XT

Let’s start with a quick rundown of the specs. At the head of the lineup, the 6950 XT is equipped with 16GB of video memory, 80 compute units, and a 2100MHz game clock. Stepping down to the 6750 XT gives you 12GB of memory, 40 compute units, and a 2495MHz speed. Bringing up the rear, the 6650 XT delivers 8GB of memory, 32 compute units, and a 2410MHz clock speed. In real-world use, AMD is promoting between a 5-6 percent performance boost compared to its previous-gen cards — equating to an extra 1-10 fps depending on the game you’re playing.

Does that make the 6650 XT a good upgrade for someone with a 6600 XT? What about getting the 6750 XT if you already have the 6700 XT? Of course not. Instead, these are for people with aging GPUs who haven’t been able to buy a new card at a reasonable price. And it’s not just a marginal performance boost that AMD’s offering with the trio. As noted by The Verge, these new GPUs mark the first time AMD’s priced its cards according to current market demands — not some random made-up number. That doesn’t guarantee it’ll be easy to buy these new AMD cards at normal retail pricing, but it should be less of a headache than competing options.

So, what are those retail prices? Going all out for the 6950 XT will set you back $1099, the 6750 XT retails for $549, and the 6650 XT costs $399. Smarter retail pricing doesn’t mean availability will be totally stable, but it should help keep things from getting too out of control. If you’ve been hunting for a new GPU that won’t totally wreck your spending budget, AMD’s new cards could be worth a look.