AMD Radeon 860M vs AMD Radeon RX 6800M Comparison

The AMD Radeon RX 6800M and the AMD Radeon 860M occupy opposite ends of the mobile graphics spectrum, and the benchmark data reflects a clear hierarchy. The RX 6800M, a discrete part from the Radeon RX 6000 series, delivers overwhelming performance advantages in every shared test, while the 860M, an integrated graphics processor, offers a modern architecture and significantly lower power consumption. The data indicates the RX 6800M is the choice for demanding gaming and compute workloads, whereas the 860M is suited for thin-and-light systems where efficiency is paramount.

The Verdict

The benchmark results are unambiguous: the AMD Radeon RX 6800M is the superior performer by a wide margin. In the two head-to-head tests available, the RX 6800M wins both, with a 285% higher score in Geekbench OpenCL and a 215.4% higher score in Geekbench Vulkan. Its average benchmark score of 28874 places it in the 74th percentile of all GPUs, while the 860M's average of 26401 lands in the 72nd percentile. Despite this close average, the RX 6800M's discrete memory and higher power envelope make it the only option for users prioritizing raw frame rates and compute throughput.

Choose the RX 6800M if you need a GPU that can handle demanding titles and applications without compromise. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 570 (0.4% faster) and the AMD Radeon RX 470 (0.4% slower), indicating it sits comfortably in the mid-range discrete GPU class. The 860M, by contrast, is best for users who prioritize portability and battery life over performance. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce MX550, is only 0.1% faster, showing that the 860M delivers competitive integrated graphics performance that matches entry-level discrete solutions. For a laptop that never needs a dedicated GPU, the 860M is the practical choice.

Where Each One Wins

The RX 6800M wins decisively in raw compute and graphics workloads. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 87621 dwarfs the 860M's 22759, making it 285% faster in general-purpose GPU compute. Similarly, its Geekbench Vulkan score of 94766 versus 30043 shows a 215.4% advantage in modern graphics APIs. This translates to higher frame rates in games and faster rendering in creative applications. The RX 6800M also has a Passmark G3D score of 13261 and a Passmark GPU Compute score of 5032, giving it a broad performance profile across DirectX 9, 10, 11, 12, and 2D tests.

The 860M wins in efficiency and integration. With a TDP of just 15 W compared to the RX 6800M's 145 W, it consumes a fraction of the power. This makes it ideal for ultraportable laptops where thermal and battery constraints are critical. The 860M's base clock of 600 MHz and boost clock of 3000 MHz show it can scale up when needed, but its 512 shading units and 3.072 TFLOPS FP32 performance are a fraction of the RX 6800M's 2560 shading units and 12.24 TFLOPS. The 860M is not a gaming powerhouse, but it is a capable integrated solution for everyday tasks and light gaming, as evidenced by its 72nd percentile ranking.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are built on different generations of AMD's RDNA architecture. The RX 6800M uses RDNA 2.0, fabricated on a 7 nm process at TSMC, with a die size of 335 mm² and 17,200 million transistors. It features 40 ray tracing cores, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 render output units. Its memory subsystem is a dedicated 12 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, delivering 384.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The RX 6800M supports PCIe 4.0 x16 and has a pixel rate of 153.0 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 382.4 GTexel/s.

The 860M uses the newer RDNA 3.5 architecture, built on a 4 nm process at TSMC. Its chip is codenamed Krackan Point, and it belongs to the Navi III IGP generation. Unlike the RX 6800M, the 860M has no dedicated memory; it uses System Shared memory with bandwidth that is System Dependent. It has 512 shading units, 32 TMUs, 16 ROPs, and 8 ray tracing cores. Its pixel rate is 48.00 GPixel/s and texture rate is 96.00 GTexel/s. The 860M supports PCIe 4.0 x8, half the lanes of the RX 6800M. FP16 performance is 3.072 TFLOPS (1:1), whereas the RX 6800M achieves 24.47 TFLOPS (2:1). Both support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has better ray tracing performance?

A: The RX 6800M has 40 ray tracing cores, while the 860M has only 8. This, combined with the RX 6800M's higher overall compute throughput, indicates a significant advantage for the discrete GPU in ray-traced workloads.

Q: Can the AMD Radeon 860M replace a dedicated GPU like the RX 6800M?

A: No. The RX 6800M is 285% faster in Geekbench OpenCL and 215.4% faster in Geekbench Vulkan. The 860M's performance is closer to entry-level discrete GPUs like the NVIDIA GeForce MX550, which is only 0.1% faster than the 860M.

Q: Which GPU is more power-efficient?

A: The 860M has a TDP of 15 W, compared to the RX 6800M's 145 W. This makes the 860M far more suitable for thin-and-light laptops with limited cooling and battery capacity.

Q: Do both GPUs support the same modern APIs?

A: Yes, both support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. This means they can run the same modern games and applications, though the RX 6800M will do so at much higher performance levels.

Q: What is the memory configuration difference?

A: The RX 6800M has 12 GB of dedicated GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus with 384.0 GB/s bandwidth. The 860M uses System Shared memory, with its bus width and bandwidth being system-dependent.

Q: Which GPU has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The RX 6800M has an average benchmark score of 28874, placing it in the 74th percentile. The 860M has an average score of 26401, placing it in the 72nd percentile.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The Geekbench OpenCL test shows the largest gap between the two. The RX 6800M scores 87621, which is 285% higher than the 860M's 22759. This test measures raw compute performance across a variety of workloads, and the RX 6800M's 2560 shading units and 12.24 TFLOPS FP32 performance provide a massive advantage over the 860M's 512 shading units and 3.072 TFLOPS. In practical terms, this means the RX 6800M can handle complex simulations, video encoding, and other GPU-accelerated tasks far more quickly.

The Geekbench Vulkan test narrows the gap slightly but still shows a decisive victory for the RX 6800M. It scores 94766 versus the 860M's 30043, a 215.4% difference. Vulkan is a low-overhead graphics API used in many modern games, and this result indicates that the RX 6800M will deliver significantly higher frame rates in Vulkan-based titles. The 860M's newer RDNA 3.5 architecture helps it close the relative gap compared to OpenCL, but it cannot overcome the fundamental hardware differences in shading units, memory bandwidth, and power envelope. The RX 6800M's dedicated 12 GB GDDR6 memory with 384.0 GB/s bandwidth is a key factor, as the 860M's system-shared memory is dependent on the laptop's RAM and bus configuration.

Specification Differences

The most striking difference is in power consumption: the RX 6800M has a TDP of 145 W, while the 860M draws only 15 W. This 130 W difference dictates their use cases. The RX 6800M is a large discrete chip built on a 7 nm process, measuring 335 mm² with 17,200 million transistors. The 860M is a smaller integrated part on a 4 nm process, with its transistor count and die size listed as unknown. The RX 6800M has 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, versus the 860M's 512 shading units, 32 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. Ray tracing cores are 40 versus 8. Memory is dedicated 12 GB GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus for the RX 6800M, while the 860M relies on system-shared memory. The RX 6800M uses a PCIe 4.0 x16 interface, while the 860M uses PCIe 4.0 x8. Clock speeds also differ: the RX 6800M has a base of 2116 MHz and boost of 2390 MHz, while the 860M has a base of 600 MHz and boost of 3000 MHz. The RX 6800M's FP32 throughput is 12.24 TFLOPS, compared to 3.072 TFLOPS for the 860M. The RX 6800M is end-of-life and was released in 2021, while the 860M is active and was released in 2025.