AMD Radeon 8060S vs AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data shows a clear, if nuanced, picture: the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT wins all three head-to-head benchmark comparisons against the AMD Radeon 8060S. The margin of victory, however, varies dramatically depending on the workload and API.

The largest gap appears in the Geekbench Vulkan test, where the RX 6850M XT scores 99,483 against the 8060S's 80,483. That is a 23.6% advantage, a substantial lead that suggests the older RDNA 2.0 architecture maintains a significant edge in this particular low-level graphics API workload. This is the single biggest win for either card across the entire comparison.

In the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, the RX 6850M XT again takes the lead, scoring 2,257 versus 2,162 for the 8060S. The 4.4% delta is far more modest than the Vulkan result, indicating that in modern DirectX 12 rasterization workloads, the two GPUs are much closer in performance. The 8060S is clearly competitive here, trailing by only a few percentage points.

The closest contest of all comes in the Geekbench OpenCL test. The RX 6850M XT scores 85,040, while the 8060S posts 84,626. The difference is a razor-thin 0.5%, effectively a statistical tie in compute-heavy general-purpose workloads. This near-parity in OpenCL is notable because it shows the 8060S's RDNA 3.5 architecture can match its predecessor's raw compute throughput despite operating under significantly different power constraints.

Looking at the averages, the RX 6850M XT holds an average benchmark score of 78,940 across all recorded tests, placing it in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs in the database. The 8060S, by contrast, records an average of 55,757, which puts it in the 87th percentile. This broader average gap is larger than any of the individual head-to-head deltas, which is a function of the different test suites each card was subjected to, but it does reinforce the overall ranking: the RX 6850M XT sits higher in the global performance distribution.

The nearest rival data for each card provides additional context. The RX 6850M XT's closest competitor is the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB, which averages 79,396, a mere 0.6% above the AMD part. The RX 6850M XT also edges out the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D by 1.6% in average score, while trailing the RTX 5090 by 1.1%. For the 8060S, its nearest rival is the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB, with the 8060S holding a 0.1% lead. It also sits 0.6% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 and 2.8% ahead of the RTX 4080.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins in DirectX 12 workloads?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT wins the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test with a score of 2,257, a 4.4% advantage over the AMD Radeon 8060S's 2,162.

Q: Is there any test where the Radeon 8060S is competitive?

A: In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the two are nearly identical. The RX 6850M XT scores 85,040 versus 84,626 for the 8060S, a difference of just 0.5%.

Q: How large is the performance gap in Vulkan?

A: The RX 6850M XT leads by 23.6% in the Geekbench Vulkan test, scoring 99,483 compared to 80,483 for the 8060S. This is the largest delta between the two cards.

Q: What is the overall benchmark percentile ranking for each card?

A: The RX 6850M XT sits in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 78,940. The Radeon 8060S is in the 87th percentile, with an average score of 55,757.

Q: How does the Radeon 8060S compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The 8060S is statistically tied with the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB, holding a 0.1% lead in average score. It trails the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 by 0.6% and leads the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 by 2.8%.

Q: Does the Radeon 8060S win any head-to-head benchmark?

A: No. Across the three recorded head-to-head tests, the RX 6850M XT wins all three, with the 8060S recording zero victories.

The Verdict

The data points to a straightforward decision for most users: the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT is the faster GPU in direct comparison. It wins every head-to-head benchmark, with a particularly decisive 23.6% margin in Vulkan. Its 92nd percentile ranking versus the 8060S's 87th percentile further confirms its higher standing in the overall performance hierarchy.

However, the Radeon 8060S is not a weak performer. Its 0.5% deficit in OpenCL shows it can match the RX 6850M XT in certain compute scenarios. In DirectX 12, the 4.4% gap is modest enough that the difference would be difficult to perceive in real-world gaming without a frame counter. The 8060S also holds its own against a strong field of rivals, trading blows with the RTX 5080 and RTX 4080.

The choice between these two depends on the specific workload. For users prioritizing Vulkan performance, the RX 6850M XT is the clear pick. For those whose applications lean on OpenCL or benefit from a more modern architecture with lower power draw, the 8060S presents a compelling case. The 8060S achieves near-parity in two of three tests while operating at a fraction of the power envelope. The RX 6850M XT remains the performance leader, but the 8060S is the more efficient modern option.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs share a surprising number of core specifications despite their architectural differences. Both feature 2,560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, 64 render output units, and 40 ray tracing cores. They also both support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, and both are integrated graphics packages with no power connectors.

The differences begin with the process node. The RX 6850M XT is built on TSMC's 7 nm process, while the Radeon 8060S uses the newer 4 nm node. Clock speeds diverge significantly: the RX 6850M XT has a base clock of 2321 MHz and a boost clock of 2581 MHz, whereas the 8060S has a much lower base of 1295 MHz but a higher boost of 2900 MHz. The 8060S also lacks a defined game clock, a field the RX 6850M XT fills at 2463 MHz.

Memory configurations are fundamentally different. The RX 6850M XT comes with 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 432.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The 8060S uses system shared memory, with the type, bus width, and bandwidth all listed as system dependent.

The memory clock also differs: the RX 6850M XT runs at 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective), while the 8060S's memory clock is listed as system shared. Pixel and texture rates favor the 8060S slightly, with 185.6 GPixel/s and 464.0 GTexel/s versus 165.2 GPixel/s and 413.0 GTexel/s for the RX 6850M XT. FP32 compute is also higher on the 8060S at 14.85 TFLOPS versus 13.21 TFLOPS, while FP16 performance sees the RX 6850M XT lead at 26.43 TFLOPS (2:1) against the 8060S's 14.85 TFLOPS (1:1).

Power consumption is a major differentiator. The RX 6850M XT carries a TDP of 165 W, while the 8060S draws just 55 W. The bus interface also differs, with the RX 6850M XT using PCIe 4.0 x16 and the 8060S using PCIe 5.0 x16. The RX 6850M XT is end-of-life and was released on January 3, 2022, while the 8060S is active and released on January 5, 2025.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide between these two GPUs spans two generations of AMD design. The RX 6850M XT is built on RDNA 2.0, using the Navi 22 chip from the Navi Mobile (RX 6000M) generation. The Radeon 8060S, meanwhile, employs RDNA 3.5 with the Strix Halo chip from the Navi Mobile (RX 8000M) generation. This generational leap explains the process node shrink from 7 nm to 4 nm.

The die sizes tell an interesting story. The RX 6850M XT's Navi 22 die measures 335 mm² and contains 17,200 million transistors, yielding a transistor density of 51.3 million per square millimeter. The 8060S's Strix Halo die is smaller at 308 mm², though its transistor count is listed as unknown in the database, making density calculations impossible.

The FP16 compute difference is notable. The RX 6850M XT achieves 26.43 TFLOPS of FP16 performance at a 2:1 ratio relative to FP32, indicating it uses packed math operations. The 8060S delivers 14.85 TFLOPS of FP16 at a 1:1 ratio, meaning it processes FP16 at the same rate as FP32. This is a fundamental architectural change in how the two generations handle half-precision workloads.

Both cards share identical ray tracing core counts at 40, suggesting AMD maintained parity in this feature across the generations. The PCIe interface has been upgraded from 4.0 x16 on the RX 6850M XT to 5.0 x16 on the 8060S, which has implications for system-level data transfer, particularly relevant since the 8060S relies on system shared memory.

The power efficiency story is the most striking architectural outcome. The 8060S achieves higher pixel rates, texture rates, and FP32 compute while drawing only 55 W compared to the RX 6850M XT's 165 W. This represents a substantial generational improvement in performance per watt, a direct result of the RDNA 3.5 architecture and the 4 nm process node. The RX 6850M XT's higher boost clock of 2581 MHz versus the 8060S's 2900 MHz peak does not translate into a performance advantage, as the newer architecture delivers more work per clock.