AMD has reportedly pulled the plug on a cheaper last-gen alternative GPU to the RX 7600

AMD has called it quits with the production of its Radeon RX 6650 XT graphics card, if a new rumor is correct.

The last-gen GPU has been canned according to a source at the Board Channels forum over in China, as IT Home (via VideoCardz) spotted.

Now, that's a source which needs more seasoning than usual, and the other caveat is that this applies to production of the RX 6650 XT in China - though it's not a stretch to imagine that if AMD is doing so in that huge sales territory, that this move will follow globally.

The source tells us that it's likely that RX 6650 XT models will have almost fully sold out in China by the end of September.

As VideoCardz further observes, Chinese retailers are slashing the price of the RX 6650 XT, and indeed it has dropped by a third in recent times - which will doubtless assure a speedy sellout for the last-gen GPU.

Why the price drop? It's down to the release of the RX 7600, which, of course, is the RDNA 3 product that supersedes the 6600/6650 offerings.

However, there are certainly PC gamers out there who express a preference for the RX 6650 XT over the RX 7600, given current pricing - and who'll doubtless miss the last-gen RDNA 2 graphics card as an option.

If we shuffle on over to Newegg in the US and look at prices now, the RX 6650 XT still has plenty of stock, with models available going as low as $240 ($235 with a rebate).

The RX 7600 is holding at $270, though you can get one model for $255 with a rebate at the time of writing.

So, there's a slight saving of around $20 to $30 to be had going with the 6650 XT, which also uses less power (running a bit cooler, with the fans not working as hard as a result) - and performance is pretty equal between these graphics cards (unsurprisingly as the spec is very similar).

You can see the temptation to go the last-gen route, then, but in fairness to the RX 7600, it does offer something the 6650 XT doesn't - Anti-Lag+ (combating input lag). Plus being a new-ish GPU it may yet see some performance improvement via drivers in the near future. Time will tell on that score.

In short, the RX 6650 XT could be a relatively wallet-friendly option of an AMD GPU that gamers will miss, assuming this rumor is right, of course. Still, even if AMD really has stopped production, it may be a longer timeframe than next month before stock runs short outside of China.