AMD Radeon VII Gold Edition: Should you buy the new GPU?

What's new with the Radeon VII Gold Edition?

The Radeon VII Gold Edition was launched to celebrate AMD's 50th anniversary. While it's a special edition graphics card, there's absolutely nothing new in the hardware.

It's the same 7nm GPU with 16GB of HBM2 memory and an 1800 MHz peak clock speed, with the same stock three-fan cooler that came on the original model.

So what's different? Well, it's a different color for one. The Radeon VII Gold Edition comes with a red shroud, fitting with AMD's traditional "Red Team" moniker. It looks stunning and will certainly set off any AMD-based PC build.

Also included with the Gold Edition, as with the Ryzen 7 2700 X Gold Edition, are some keepsakes. These include a code to redeem a special AMD 50 souvenir t-shirt and an AMD 50 sticker with the signature of AMD CEO, Dr. Lisa Su.

You'll also get a free copy of The Division 2 and World War Z to play on your Radeon VII as well.

red # Should you buy the Radeon VII Gold Edition?

The good news is that the list price of the Radeon VII Gold Edition is exactly the same as the regular version, so you're not paying any more for the red shroud and the keepsakes. So if you want a Radeon VII anyway, the Gold Edition is a good buy, especially if you're a fan.

The AMD fans are who the product is targeted at anyway, so it's a good fit. There are some caveats to consider, though.

The first is that currently, the Gold Edition seems to be exclusive to the U.S. through AMD's own store. There aren't any options right now for shipping outside of the U.S., and when you go to a local AMD store the Gold Edition isn't listed for sale. Hopefully, this will change, but right now the rest of the world is out of luck.

It's not likely to hang around for too long though, so you'll have to be quick if you want to secure one.

There's also the fact that if the Radeon VII is the graphics card you really want, by getting one from a third-party such as ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI or many other brands, you'll probably be able to find a deal somewhere.

You won't always find a discount, but there's a lot more chance of it by hunting for a third-party card from resellers such as Amazon and Newegg. And of course, if you're outside the U.S. then you just need to go and get one of these anyway. For more buying options, have a look at our guide to the best graphics cards.