AMD Radeon AI PRO R9700 vs AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT Comparison

The Verdict

The recorded data shows two AMD parts that are not direct competitors in the conventional sense, despite sharing a manufacturer. The AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT is an end-of-life consumer gaming GPU built on RDNA 2.0, while the AMD Radeon AI PRO R9700 is an active professional workstation accelerator built on RDNA 4.0. The head-to-head benchmark results give the AI PRO R9700 nine wins out of ten tests, with the RX 6700 XT taking only a single victory. However, the AI PRO R9700 carries a launch MSRP of 1,299 USD, while the RX 6700 XT had a launch MSRP of 479 USD.

For users prioritizing raw compute throughput, DirectX 11/12 gaming performance, and the largest memory footprint, the AI PRO R9700 is the clear choice from the data. It leads by 36.4% in Passmark DirectX 11, 26.7% in Passmark G3D, and 39% in Passmark GPU compute. For those who value legacy API compatibility and specific Vulkan workloads, the RX 6700 XT holds a commanding 47.1% lead in Geekbench Vulkan. The data suggests the AI PRO R9700 is the more capable overall part for modern workloads, but the RX 6700 XT remains relevant for niche Vulkan-based applications. The average benchmark score for the RX 6700 XT is 27,425, which places it in the 72nd percentile against all GPUs. The AI PRO R9700 has an average benchmark score of 23,315, sitting in the 69th percentile. This apparent contradiction, where the higher-percentile part loses nine of ten head-to-head tests, is explained by the different benchmark suites and the AI PRO R9700's significant wins in compute-heavy tests.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two GPUs is substantial and explains most of the performance delta. The RX 6700 XT uses the Navi 22 chip on the RDNA 2.0 architecture, fabricated on a 7 nm process at TSMC. It contains 17,200 million transistors on a 335 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 51.3 million transistors per square millimeter. The AI PRO R9700 uses the Navi 48 chip on RDNA 4.0, built on a 4 nm process, also at TSMC. It packs 53,900 million transistors into a 357 mm² die, achieving a transistor density of 151.0 million per square millimeter.

The RDNA 4.0 part nearly triples the transistor count while only adding 22 mm² of die area. The AI PRO R9700 also benefits from a newer PCIe interface: PCIe 5.0 x16 versus the RX 6700 XT's PCIe 4.0 x16. Both cards are dual-slot designs and share identical lengths at 267 mm, with the AI PRO R9700 being 1 mm taller (111 mm versus 110 mm) and both at 40 mm width.

The shading resources differ significantly. The AI PRO R9700 has 4,096 shading units, 256 TMUs, 128 ROPs, and 64 ray tracing cores. The RX 6700 XT has 2,560 shading units, 160 TMUs, 64 ROPs, and 40 ray tracing cores. This represents a 60% increase in shading units, a 60% increase in TMUs, and a 100% increase in ROPs for the newer part. The FP32 compute rating reflects this: 47.84 TFLOPS for the AI PRO R9700 versus 13.21 TFLOPS for the RX 6700 XT. The FP16 rates also differ in ratio: the AI PRO R9700 runs FP16 at 47.84 TFLOPS with a 1:1 ratio, while the RX 6700 XT runs at 26.43 TFLOPS with a 2:1 ratio.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The largest single-test victory belongs to the AI PRO R9700 in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test. It scores 7,006 versus the RX 6700 XT's 2,435, a delta of 65.2% in favor of the newer card. This is the most modern benchmark in the set and reflects the AI PRO R9700's architectural advantages in current-generation rasterization.

The Geekbench OpenCL test shows a similar pattern. The AI PRO R9700 scores 118,202 against 44,152 for the RX 6700 XT, a 62.6% advantage. This confirms the FP32 compute superiority of the RDNA 4.0 part. The Passmark GPU compute test also favors the AI PRO R9700: 15,300 versus 9,336, a 39% lead.

In DirectX legacy and modern API tests, the AI PRO R9700 leads across the board. Passmark DirectX 9 shows 363 versus 242, a 33.3% margin. Passmark DirectX 10 shows 155 versus 124, a 20% margin. Passmark DirectX 11 shows 272 versus 173, a 36.4% margin. Passmark DirectX 12 shows a closer result: 83 versus 77, only a 7.2% advantage for the AI PRO R9700. The Passmark G3D score is 26,979 for the AI PRO R9700 versus 19,786 for the RX 6700 XT, a 26.7% lead. The Passmark G2D score is 1,236 versus 951, a 23.1% lead.

The RX 6700 XT's sole victory comes in Geekbench Vulkan. It scores 93,500 against 63,550 for the AI PRO R9700, a 47.1% margin. This is a notable outlier, as Vulkan is generally considered a modern API. The data suggests the RX 6700 XT has a driver or hardware advantage specific to this workload, or the AI PRO R9700's Vulkan implementation is not yet optimized. No Geekbench Metal result is recorded for the AI PRO R9700, while the RX 6700 XT scores 130,896 in that test, but this cannot be compared directly without a counterpart score.

Specification Differences

The specification table shows differences across every major category. The process node is 7 nm for the RX 6700 XT and 4 nm for the AI PRO R9700. Transistor counts are 17,200 million versus 53,900 million. Die sizes are 335 mm² versus 357 mm². Transistor density is 51.3 million per mm² versus 151.0 million per mm².

Clock speeds differ in structure. The RX 6700 XT has a base clock of 2,321 MHz, a boost clock of 2,581 MHz, and a game clock of 2,424 MHz. The AI PRO R9700 has a base clock of 1,660 MHz, a boost clock of 2,920 MHz, and a game clock of 2,350 MHz. The AI PRO R9700 boosts higher but has a lower base clock. Memory clocks are 2,000 MHz (16 Gbps effective) for the RX 6700 XT and 2,518 MHz (20.1 Gbps effective) for the AI PRO R9700.

Memory configurations are dramatically different. The RX 6700 XT has 12 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus with 384.0 GB/s bandwidth. The AI PRO R9700 has 32 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus with 644.6 GB/s bandwidth. This is a 2.67x increase in capacity and a 1.68x increase in bandwidth.

Power requirements also differ. The RX 6700 XT has a TDP of 230 W, uses one 6-pin and one 8-pin power connector, and recommends a 550 W PSU. The AI PRO R9700 has a TDP of 300 W, uses a single 16-pin connector, and recommends a 700 W PSU. Display outputs differ: the RX 6700 XT offers 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, while the AI PRO R9700 offers 1x HDMI 2.1b and 3x DisplayPort 2.1a.

The production status is end-of-life for the RX 6700 XT and active for the AI PRO R9700. Release dates are March 2021 for the RX 6700 XT and July 2025 for the AI PRO R9700. The RX 6700 XT has a successor (Navi III), while the AI PRO R9700 has none recorded. The RX 6700 XT's predecessor is Navi, and the AI PRO R9700's predecessor is Radeon Pro Vega.

FAQ

Q: Which card wins the majority of benchmark tests?

A: The AMD Radeon AI PRO R9700 wins nine out of ten head-to-head tests. It loses only the Geekbench Vulkan test to the RX 6700 XT.

Q: What is the biggest performance gap between the two cards?

A: The largest gap is in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, where the AI PRO R9700 scores 7,006 versus 2,435 for the RX 6700 XT, a 65.2% difference. The second-largest is Geekbench OpenCL at 62.6% in favor of the AI PRO R9700.

Q: Is the RX 6700 XT better at anything?

A: Yes. It wins the Geekbench Vulkan test with a score of 93,500 versus 63,550 for the AI PRO R9700, a 47.1% advantage. It also has a recorded Geekbench Metal score of 130,896, though the AI PRO R9700 has no Metal score in the database for comparison.

Q: How do the memory configurations compare?

A: The AI PRO R9700 has 32 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus with 644.6 GB/s bandwidth. The RX 6700 XT has 12 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus with 384.0 GB/s bandwidth. The AI PRO R9700 also runs its memory at a higher effective speed: 20.1 Gbps versus 16 Gbps.

Q: What are the compute capability differences?

A: The AI PRO R9700 delivers 47.84 TFLOPS FP32 and 47.84 TFLOPS FP16 (1:1 ratio). The RX 6700 XT delivers 13.21 TFLOPS FP32 and 26.43 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1 ratio). The AI PRO R9700 has 4,096 shading units, 256 TMUs, 128 ROPs, and 64 RT cores, versus 2,560 shading units, 160 TMUs, 64 ROPs, and 40 RT cores.

Q: How do the power and interface requirements differ?

A: The AI PRO R9700 has a 300 W TDP and requires a 700 W suggested PSU, using a single 16-pin connector. The RX 6700 XT has a 230 W TDP, requires a 550 W suggested PSU, and uses one 6-pin plus one 8-pin connector. The AI PRO R9700 uses PCIe 5.0 x16, while the RX 6700 XT uses PCIe 4.0 x16.