ASRock prepped two new exotic Radeon GPUs that'll be hard to find — China-exclusive Radeon RX 7900 GRE comes in Steel Legend and Challenger flavors

ASRock Radeon Steel Legend Graphics Card
(Image credit: ASRock)

A pair of new Radeon RX 7900 GRE graphics card models from ASRock have been spotted through German outlet Proshop. The new models include the Radeon RX 7900 GRE Challenger OC and the Radeon RX 7900 GRE Steel Legend. The two new aftermarket cards have not appeared on ASRock's official site yet marking Proshop's two listings as the first listings we've seen of these GPUs in the wild. The Steel Legend variant is being sold for £599.90, while the Challenger OC is priced at £579.90.

Similar to the new ASRock RX 7600 XT graphics cards we covered recently, these two new RX 7900 GRE models come in Steel Legend and Challenger variants. The Steel Legend 7900 GRE is a mid-range SKU that comes with a triple-fan cooling solution (with RGB lights built into the fans) and an all-white color theme. PCIe width is 2.8 slots wide, and the card's length is 308mm. Base clock is 1,500 MHz and the card's boost clock is rated at 2,345 MHz.

Based on the Steel Legend's width and visual features, it appears ASRock took the Steel Legend cooler from the Radeon RX 7800 XT and plopped it right onto the RX 7900 GRE's PCB. Everything from the aesthetics, and shroud design perfectly mimick the 7800 XT Steel Legend. This is not a bad thing, however, since the 7800 XT and 7900 GRE are close in performance to each other.

If this is true, the 7900 GRE Steel Legend will also inherit all of the same heatsink cooling features present in the 7800 XT Steel Legend. These features include V-shaped air vents near the rear of the heatsink that improve airflow efficiency, "Ultra-fit" heatpipes, nickel-plated copper baseplate, and high-density metal welding to name a few.

However, the 7900 GRE Steel Legend is 4mm longer than its 7800 XT counterpart so it might features some beefier modifications the 7800 XT lacks since it is after all a higher-end part.

The RX 7900 GRE Challenger OC is a cheaper counterpart to the Steel Legend sporting a more modest cooling solution that comes in a far more compact dual-fan design. The card features a matte black finish with a dash of RGB lighting on the top of the shroud. Length measures 269mm and card thickness is 2.55 slots. Base clock is 1,500 MHz and boost clock comes in at 2,290 MHz.

One interesting attribute of this specific card is the way the backplate compliments the internal heatsink. In most graphics cards, the heatsink height matches the PCB and backplate but that is not the case with ASRock's new 7900 GRE Challenger model. The heatsink height extends well beyond the PCB/backplate enabling the heatsink to pull in more air and dissipate it more effectively.

Again like with the 7800 XT Steel Legend, the 7900 GRE Challenger shares virtually identical dimensions and shroud design as the 7800 XT Challenger, except the 7900 GRE variant is 2mm longer. So we wouldn't be surprised if ASRock also plopped a 7800 XT Challenger cooler on the 7900 GRE with a few additional modifications.

Sadly though the Radeon RX 7900 GRE — and all of its associated partner cards are made specifically for the Asian market, as well as OEM system builders. As a result, purchasing one will be nearly impossible since these cards will likely never be sold as standalone products like all of AMD's other RX 7000 series graphics cards. If you are interested in buying either one of these new 7900 GRE SKUs, you'll have to hunt down a pre-built system that features one to get one.

Aaron Klotz
Freelance News Writer

Aaron Klotz is a freelance writer for Tom’s Hardware US, covering news topics related to computer hardware such as CPUs, and graphics cards.

  • The Historical Fidelity
    I wish AMD would release the RX7900 GRE to the world market, it’s basically an updated 6900xt spec wise and could slot in at $599 rounding out AMD’s portfolio with 7900xt at +12% performance and 7800xt at -14% performance. Instead we have 20GB 7900xt with 5376 cores and 320-bit bus then 16GB 7800xt with 3840 cores with 256-bit bus at a massive -23% of the 7900xt’s performance.
    Reply
  • DavidLejdar
    Proshop says they have the Challenger OC and Steel Legend on February 14th. Mindfactory says they ordered the Steel Legend, and that they should have it within 1 to 2 days (and possible to purchase now). Jacob says they have 80 pieces of the Steel Legend in stock. ...
    https://geizhals.de/asrock-steel-legend-radeon-rx-7900-gre-90-ga51zz-00uanf-a3106334.html

    Somewhat tempting. I live in Berlin, so for me, it would be only a few clicks away. And I have been considering upgrading the GPU, to something smooth-4K capable. On the other hand, somewhat on the lower end for 4K (when 60fps is considered to be that lower end, on ultra settings).

    I'll probably wait for the 4070 Ti Super though (released next week apparently) and see how it compares in price and performance to the RX 7900 XT. So far, it looks I'll be going with AMD again. I.e. RX 7900 XT comes with 20GB VRAM and better (raster) performance, at a lower price than the RTX 4070 Ti. Likewise the RX 7900 XTX, in comparison with the RTX 7800.
    Reply
  • Enemor99
    I don't know what you're talking about honestly, since ASRock is releasing the challenger and the steel legend in the European market by the second half of February, and sapphire is releasing the pulse too for the European market.
    The GRE is not china esclusive anymore, they released it to the global market.

    suggestions would be, don't make an article about it until you're properly informed.
    Reply