AMD Radeon HD 7790 vs AMD Radeon RX 6600 Comparison

AMD Radeon RX 6600 vs AMD Radeon HD 7790: The RX 6600 is a modern RDNA 2.0 card from the RX 6000 series, while the HD 7790 is a GCN 2.0 part from the Southern Islands generation. Benchmark data shows the RX 6600 holds a decisive advantage, winning the only shared test by a massive margin, making this comparison less about competitiveness and more about generational leap.

Where Each One Wins

The data is unambiguous: the AMD Radeon RX 6600 wins the only head-to-head benchmark available, the Geekbench Metal test, with a score of 88398 against the HD 7790’s 17666. That is a 400.4% delta in favor of the newer card. The RX 6600 also has a higher average benchmark score of 19036 compared to 17666 for the HD 7790, and it sits at the 63rd percentile of all GPUs, versus the 61st percentile for the older card.

For the HD 7790, there are no benchmark victories in the provided data. Its single Geekbench Metal score of 17666 places it in a performance tier near the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060, which scores 17639 (a 0.2% delta), and the AMD Radeon 780M, which scores 17588 (a 0.4% delta). The RX 6600, meanwhile, sits near the NVIDIA Quadro K6000 (19030, 0% delta) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Mobile (19049, -0.1% delta). The RX 6600 is the clear winner in every measurable category; the HD 7790’s only claim is that it was a capable card for its era, but against this modern rival it has no statistical foothold.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two cards is enormous, reflecting nearly a decade of GPU evolution. The RX 6600 uses the Navi 23 chip built on RDNA 2.0 architecture, fabricated on a 7 nm process at TSMC. It packs 11,060 million transistors into a 237 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 46.7M per mm². In contrast, the HD 7790 uses the Bonaire chip based on GCN 2.0 architecture, built on a much older 28 nm process, also at TSMC. It contains only 2,080 million transistors on a 160 mm² die, with a transistor density of 13.0M per mm².

The RX 6600 features 1792 shading units, 112 texture mapping units (TMUs), and 64 raster operations pipelines (ROPs). It also includes 28 ray tracing cores, a feature entirely absent from the HD 7790. The older card has 896 shading units, 56 TMUs, and just 16 ROPs. Memory configurations differ starkly: the RX 6600 has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth, while the HD 7790 has only 1024 MB (1 GB) of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus, with 96.00 GB/s bandwidth. Clock speeds also diverge, with the RX 6600 boosting to 2491 MHz and running a game clock of 2044 MHz, while the HD 7790’s base and boost clocks are not listed.

API support also marks the generational divide. The RX 6600 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the HD 7790 is limited to DirectX 12 (12_0). Both support OpenGL 4.6, but Vulkan support differs: the RX 6600 has Vulkan 1.4, whereas the HD 7790 has Vulkan 1.2.170. The RX 6600 also uses a PCIe 4.0 x8 interface, compared to the HD 7790’s PCIe 3.0 x16. Power requirements are lower on the older card at 85 W TDP with a 250 W suggested PSU, versus 132 W TDP and a 300 W suggested PSU for the RX 6600, though the newer card offers far more performance per watt.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The sole head-to-head benchmark provided is Geekbench Metal, and the result is a landslide. The RX 6600 scores 88398, while the HD 7790 scores 17666. The delta is 400.4%, meaning the RX 6600 is roughly five times faster in this compute-oriented test. This is not a close race; it is a demonstration of how far GPU compute performance has advanced between 2013 and 2021.

Looking at broader benchmark data, the RX 6600’s average score of 19036 across all its tests (including 3DMark Steel Nomad, PassMark DirectX 9/10/11/12, and compute tests) shows consistency across different workloads. Its individual scores range from 51 in PassMark DirectX 12 to 15096 in PassMark G3D. The HD 7790 has no comparable multi-test data, only the single Geekbench Metal result, which limits the depth of comparison. Still, even the RX 6600’s weakest OpenCL score of 28850 nearly doubles the HD 7790’s best known result, indicating that the RX 6600 would win in almost any scenario.

The RX 6600’s nearest rivals in the database—the NVIDIA Quadro K6000 (19030) and GeForce RTX 4050 Mobile (19049)—are within 0.3% of its average score, showing it slots into a modern mid-range tier. The HD 7790’s nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 (17639) and AMD Radeon 780M (17588), which are odd pairings given the HD 7790’s age, but they confirm its performance level is far below the RX 6600’s class.

The Verdict

From the data alone, the choice is clear. The AMD Radeon RX 6600 is the superior card in every measurable way. It has a 400.4% lead in the only direct benchmark comparison, a higher average score (19036 vs 17666), and a better percentile ranking (63rd vs 61st). Anyone building a system for modern gaming or compute tasks should pick the RX 6600 without hesitation.

The HD 7790’s role is historical. With only 1 GB of memory, 896 shading units, and no ray tracing support, it cannot handle current workloads. Its 85 W TDP and 250 W PSU requirement make it a low-power option, but performance is the bottleneck. If you are upgrading from an HD 7790, the RX 6600 offers a transformative leap—roughly 400% faster in Metal compute, with 8x the memory and modern API support. The data does not support any scenario where the HD 7790 is the recommended choice, except perhaps for retro builds or legacy software that predates modern driver support.

The RX 6600’s 63rd percentile ranking indicates it outperforms most GPUs in the database, while the HD 7790’s 61st percentile is misleadingly close given the massive absolute score gap. The percentile difference is small because the HD 7790’s single benchmark may not reflect its true standing across all workloads, but the head-to-head result is definitive.

FAQ

Q: How much faster is the RX 6600 than the HD 7790 in the shared benchmark?

A: In the Geekbench Metal test, the RX 6600 scores 88398 versus 17666 for the HD 7790, a delta of 400.4% in favor of the RX 6600.

Q: What are the memory capacities and types of these two cards?

A: The RX 6600 has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, while the HD 7790 has 1024 MB (1 GB) of GDDR5 memory. Both use a 128-bit bus, but the RX 6600’s bandwidth is 224.0 GB/s compared to 96.00 GB/s for the HD 7790.

Q: Do both cards support ray tracing?

A: No. The RX 6600 includes 28 ray tracing cores, while the HD 7790 has no ray tracing cores listed.

Q: Which card has a higher transistor density and on what process?

A: The RX 6600 has a transistor density of 46.7M per mm² on a 7 nm process, whereas the HD 7790 has 13.0M per mm² on a 28 nm process. Both are manufactured by TSMC.

Q: What are the TDP and PSU requirements for each card?

A: The RX 6600 has a TDP of 132 W and requires a 300 W suggested PSU. The HD 7790 has a TDP of 85 W and requires a 250 W suggested PSU.

Q: How do their average benchmark scores compare?

A: The RX 6600 has an average benchmark score of 19036, while the HD 7790 has an average score of 17666. The RX 6600 also holds a 63rd percentile rank versus the HD 7790’s 61st percentile.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon RX 6600 | AMD Radeon HD 7790 |

|---|---|---|

| Architecture | RDNA 2.0 | GCN 2.0 |

| Process Node | 7 nm | 28 nm |

| Transistors | 11,060 million | 2,080 million |

| Die Size | 237 mm² | 160 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 46.7M / mm² | 13.0M / mm² |

| Memory Size | 8 GB | 1024 MB |

| Memory Type | GDDR6 | GDDR5 |

| Memory Bus Width | 128 bit | 128 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 224.0 GB/s | 96.00 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 1792 | 896 |

| TMUs | 112 | 56 |

| ROPs | 64 | 16 |

| Ray Tracing Cores | 28 | None |

| Pixel Rate | 159.4 GPixel/s | 16.00 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 279.0 GTexel/s | 56.00 GTexel/s |

| FP32 Performance | 8.928 TFLOPS | 1.792 TFLOPS |

| TDP | 132 W | 85 W |

| Power Connectors | 1x 8-pin | 1x 6-pin |

| Suggested PSU | 300 W | 250 W |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 4.0 x8 | PCIe 3.0 x16 |

| DirectX Support | 12 Ultimate (12_2) | 12 (12_0) |

| Vulkan Support | 1.4 | 1.2.170 |

| Display Outputs | 1x HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a | 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, 2x mini-DisplayPort 1.2 |

| Release Date | 2021-10-12 | 2013-03-21 |

| Launch MSRP | 329 USD | 149 USD |