Acer's Nitro Radeon RX 7600 XT OC is a respectable GPU for gaming at 1080p, especially if you'd like to land 16GB of VRAM for better future-proofing. Compared to the non-XT RX 7600, you get double the amount of VRAM, as well as boosted clock speeds for improved overall performance.

And with the Acer Nitro OC version, those clocks climb even higher than the standard spec for even better framerates. The card is kept cool with two fans more than up to the task, and you get the run of AMD goodies like FSR 3 and AFMF frame generation to boot.

The card shouldn't be purchased if you're looking for something with good ray tracing; it instead should appeal to value-conscious shoppers who want the extra VRAM and clock speeds compared to the non-XT RX 7600. Acer's Nitro version does come in at a higher price than other RX 7600 XT OC options, which might make it slightly less appealing if you're building on a budget.

About this review: Acer supplied XDA with a review unit of its Nitro Radeon RX 7600 XT OC graphics card. Acer nor AMD had any input on the content of this article.

Price, specs, and availability

Acer's Nitro Radeon RX 7600 XT OC is available, at the time of writing, for preorder at Amazon for $360. It is expected to fully launch at the third-party retailer on March 18, 2024. The GPU was first listed at Newegg, but at the time of writing the product is sold out. Acer also says it will eventually be for sale at its official site, but so far it doesn't look like it's available.

AMD views this as competition for the Nvidia RTX 4060, which can regularly be shopped for about $300 or less. And compared to the non-XT Radeon RX 7600, which usually retails for anywhere between about $215 and $270, the Acer Nitro version I'm reviewing here bumps the base GPU clock up to 2,539MHz from the standard 2,250MHz and the boost clock up to 2,810MHz compared to 2,655MHz.

Other Radeon RX 7600 XT cards from third-party retailers generally cost about $330 to $350, so you do have some options if you'd like to spend less.

Here's a look at the specs available in the Acer Nitro Radeon RX 7600 XT OC.

Design and features

Slim, dual-fan setup

AMD's Nitro Radeon RX 7600 XT GPU is a fairly straightforward card with a dual-fan cooling setup and 2.5-slot thickness. Measuring about 265.1mm x 111.2mm x 40.1mm, it should be able to fit into plenty of builds. It doesn't require a supporting bracket, though it is longer than lots of other two-fan GPUs I've used. Be sure to check the dimensions before buying. And be sure to account for the extra half-slot on the back of your case.

The card feels solid, and there are large cutouts on the sides to help dissipate heat.

The plastic shrouding has a glossy black finish, with minimal Nitro and Radeon branding along the side. The aluminum backplate has some red lines, as well as a larger red "N" to fit the overall style. The card feels solid, and there are large cutouts on the sides to help dissipate heat.

Acer's Nitro FrostBlade fans are used here, each with 11 blades. A ring surrounds the blades, attaching them together, which generally improves airflow and pressure compared to fans with blades connected only at the center. As we'll see below, they easily handle cooling even when the card is under a heavy load.

The GPU includes one HDMI 2.1 port, as well as three DisplayPort 2.1 outputs.

Performance

A focus on quality 1080p gaming

AMD's Radeon RX 7600 XT comes packing 32 RDNA 3 compute units, 2,048 stream processors, 32 ray accelerators, 64 AI accelerators, and 64 ROPs. These are similar specs to those available in the non-XT 7600, but the XT version doubles the VRAM up to 16GB and boosts the GPU clock speeds.

In the case of the Acer Nitro RX 7600 XT OC, the base clock sits at about 2,539MHz, with the boost clock going up to 2,810MHz. That's about 70MHz higher than the non-XT 7600 on the former side and about 55MHz on the latter side. The RX 7600 XT's 16GB of VRAM uses a 128-bit memory bus at 18Gbps.

To test the Acer Nitro Radeon RX 7600 XT OC, I used a system with AMD Ryzen 7 5800X CPU, 32GB of DDR4-3600MHz RAM, and a 2TB M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD. My 750W PSU with two 8-pin power connectors handled power without issue; Acer recommends at least a 650W PSU for the card.

Synthetic benchmarks show expected results within the range of the 7600 XT cards. Acer's OC version pushes numbers slightly beyond the expected results, no doubt thanks to the boosted GPU clock, but whether or not it's worth paying a bit extra will really depend on your budget.

This is a GPU that's made for 1080p gaming, but I also tested a bunch of popular titles at 1440p with decent results. I bumped in-game specs up as high as they'd go, so do note that on the 1440p side you have some room to bump up the FPS by lowering specs.

Looking at the Cyberpunk 2077 numbers, this isn't a card that you want to buy if you're interested in high-quality ray tracing. It does very well with regular FHD performance, hitting more than 80 FPS in Red Dead Redemption 2 even without AMD's FSR enabled. Getting into 1440p, the RX 7600 XT is still capable in plenty of older titles, hitting 103 FPS in Shadow of the Tomb Raider with in-game settings maxed out.

If you're looking to future-proof your GPU purchase, going with 16GB of VRAM is no doubt the safe call.

Is the extra 8GB of VRAM — for a total of 16GB — really necessary? That likely comes down to what games you're playing and at what resolution. Some newer titles, like Hogwarts Legacy, struggled on GPUs with 8GB of VRAM, which would be a problem for the non-XT RX 7600. If you're looking to future-proof your GPU purchase, going with 16GB of VRAM is no doubt the safe call.

Thermals and fan noise

Cool, quiet running

Working within a rather large Corsair iCue 5000X RGB PC case, the Acer Nitro Radeon RX 7600 XT OC had no problems keeping cool even under load. I suspect that will be the situation as well for smaller PC builds, just as long as there is ample airflow through the case.

During the benchmark tests and in-game runs, the fans didn't get louder than 54.5 decibels at about 1,575 RPM. The fans turn off completely when the system is idling (or even just not playing games).

The fans didn't exceed 1,575 RPM or 55 decibels, keeping everything well within a cool and quiet environment.

I ran a more lengthy stress test on the GPU to check power, fan speed, and clocks. At a 2,960MHz clock speed, the power draw hit 185W (before dropping to between 173W and 176W) and the temperature climbed to 61 degrees Celsius. The fans didn't exceed 1,575 RPM or 55 decibels, keeping everything well within a cool and quiet environment.

Should you buy the Acer Nitro Radeon RX 7600 XT OC?

You should buy the Acer Nitro Radeon RX 7600 XT OC if:

• You're looking to the future and want 16GB of VRAM.
• You'd like solid 1080p performance with 1440p capabilities in lighter titles.
• You have about $260 to spend on a GPU.

You should NOT buy the Acer Nitro Radeon RX 7600 XT OC if:

• You're looking primarily for a 1440p gaming experience.
• You'd like to experience quality ray tracing in your games.
• You have the budget for something like the RX 7700 XT or RX 7700 XT, which are better suited for 1440p.

The Acer Nitro Radeon RX 7600 XT OC comes with a $360 price tag, making it, in some cases, more than $100 more than the non-XT versions of the GPU. Even other RX 7600 XT OC versions come at a significantly lower price tag, making it harder to justify spending on when you're already shopping within the budget GPU section. The Nvidia RTX 4060, which can regularly be found for about $300, must also be considered when trying to pick a GPU.

Performance is improved thanks to the higher clock speeds and, in some cases, the extra VRAM, but a lot of the time you won't see much of a benefit from the extra memory. At least for now, as we are starting to see some issues with 8GB of VRAM in specific games. Whether that extra memory is worth the considerably higher cost will really come down to how you want to use the card.

Acer's Nitro version runs quiet and cool under load, and it's built well with black, red, and white styling to match the Nitro brand. But at the asking price, it's going to be a harder sell than other versions of the RX 7600 XT already on the market.