AMD Radeon HD 7790 vs AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT Comparison

AMD Radeon HD 7790 and AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT represent two radically different eras of GPU design, separated by over a decade of architectural evolution. The HD 7790, based on the 28 nm Bonaire chip, is a compact entry-level card from the Southern Islands generation, while the RX 7600 XT is a modern mid-range powerhouse built on the 6 nm Navi 33 die with RDNA 3.0 architecture. Benchmark data shows the RX 7600 XT delivers a Geekbench Metal score of 17,083 average, placing it at the 60th percentile of all GPUs, while the HD 7790 scores 17,666, sitting at the 61st percentile. These percentile rankings are nearly identical, yet the underlying hardware differences are massive, and the performance picture becomes much clearer when examining the RX 7600 XT’s other benchmark results.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only directly comparable benchmark between the two cards is Geekbench Metal, where the HD 7790 scores 17,666 against the RX 7600 XT’s average of 17,083. This represents a 3.4% advantage for the older card, a surprising result given the generational gap. However, this single data point is misleading without context. The HD 7790’s nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 at 17,639 (0.2% behind) and the AMD Radeon 780M at 17,588 (0.4% behind), showing it performs in a modern mid-range bracket despite its age. The RX 7600 XT’s nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 at 17,208 (0.7% ahead) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 at 17,037 (0.3% behind), indicating it trades blows with older flagship cards.

Looking beyond Metal, the RX 7600 XT shows its true strengths in other workloads. It scores 92,426 in Geekbench OpenCL, a massive 5.4x higher than its Metal score, and 48,366 in Geekbench Vulkan. In Passmark tests, it achieves 17,132 in G3D, 8,987 in GPU Compute, and 228 in DirectX 9. The HD 7790 has no equivalent results in these tests, so direct comparisons are impossible, but the RX 7600 XT’s compute-oriented scores dwarf its own graphics scores, suggesting a card built for parallel workloads rather than legacy APIs. The HD 7790’s lone benchmark result, while higher than the RX 7600 XT’s Metal score, does not reflect the full range of capabilities the newer card offers across multiple test suites.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two GPUs is enormous. The HD 7790 uses the Bonaire chip on TSMC’s 28 nm process, packing 2,080 million transistors into a 160 mm² die with a transistor density of 13.0M per mm². It features 896 shading units, 56 texture mapping units, and 16 ROPs, with a pixel rate of 16.00 GPixel/s and texture rate of 56.00 GTexel/s. Its FP32 performance is 1.792 TFLOPS. The RX 7600 XT, by contrast, uses the Navi 33 chip on TSMC’s 6 nm process, containing 13,300 million transistors in a 204 mm² die, achieving a density of 65.2M per mm². It doubles the shading units to 2,048, has 128 TMUs and 64 ROPs, and delivers a pixel rate of 176.3 GPixel/s with a texture rate of 352.6 GTexel/s. FP32 performance jumps to 22.57 TFLOPS, with FP16 also at 22.57 TFLOPS in a 1:1 ratio.

Memory configurations differ just as dramatically. The HD 7790 has 1,024 MB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus, delivering 96.00 GB/s bandwidth at 6 Gbps effective. The RX 7600 XT offers 16 GB of GDDR6 on the same 128-bit bus width, but bandwidth triples to 288.0 GB/s at 18 Gbps effective. The newer card also introduces 32 ray tracing cores, a feature entirely absent from the GCN 2.0 architecture. API support reflects the generational leap: the HD 7790 supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170, while the RX 7600 XT supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The RX 7600 XT also uses a PCIe 4.0 x8 interface versus the HD 7790’s PCIe 3.0 x16.

The Verdict

From the data, the RX 7600 XT is the clear winner for modern workloads, despite the HD 7790’s higher Metal score. The RX 7600 XT’s 22.57 TFLOPS FP32 performance is 12.6x higher than the HD 7790’s 1.792 TFLOPS, and its 288.0 GB/s memory bandwidth is 3x greater. It also has 32 ray tracing cores, which the HD 7790 lacks entirely, and supports newer API versions including DirectX 12 Ultimate and Vulkan 1.4. The HD 7790’s 85 W TDP and 250 W suggested PSU make it far more power-efficient in isolation, but the RX 7600 XT’s 190 W TDP and 450 W PSU requirement are reasonable for the performance level.

The HD 7790 is end-of-life, released in March 2013, while the RX 7600 XT is active, released in January 2024. If you need ray tracing, modern API support, or large framebuffer capacity for texture-heavy games, the RX 7600 XT is the only rational choice. If you are building a legacy system or need minimal power draw, the HD 7790 remains a viable low-end option, but its 1 GB memory is a severe limitation for any contemporary use case. Benchmark results indicate the RX 7600 XT’s Passmark G3D score of 17,132 and Geekbench OpenCL score of 92,426 demonstrate far broader capability than the HD 7790’s single Metal result.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every measurable specification. The HD 7790 uses a 28 nm process with 2,080 million transistors on a 160 mm² die, while the RX 7600 XT uses 6 nm with 13,300 million transistors on a 204 mm² die. Shading units scale from 896 to 2,048, TMUs from 56 to 128, and ROPs from 16 to 64. Memory size jumps from 1,024 MB GDDR5 to 16 GB GDDR6, with bandwidth increasing from 96.00 GB/s to 288.0 GB/s. Clock speeds are only specified for the RX 7600 XT, with a base of 1,980 MHz, boost of 2,755 MHz, and game clock of 2,470 MHz; the HD 7790’s base and boost clocks are not provided. The RX 7600 XT adds 32 ray tracing cores, a feature the HD 7790 does not have. Pixel rate rises from 16.00 GPixel/s to 176.3 GPixel/s, and texture rate from 56.00 GTexel/s to 352.6 GTexel/s. FP32 performance goes from 1.792 TFLOPS to 22.57 TFLOPS, with FP16 only available on the RX 7600 XT at 22.57 TFLOPS.

Power requirements differ substantially: the HD 7790 draws 85 W TDP with a 1x 6-pin connector and 250 W suggested PSU, while the RX 7600 XT draws 190 W with a 1x 8-pin connector and 450 W suggested PSU. The RX 7600 XT is longer at 204 mm (8 inches) versus 183 mm (7.2 inches) for the HD 7790, and adds specified height of 115 mm (4.5 inches). Display outputs change from 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 2x mini-DisplayPort 1.2 on the HD 7790 to 1x HDMI 2.1a and 3x DisplayPort 2.1 on the RX 7600 XT. Bus interface upgrades from PCIe 3.0 x16 to PCIe 4.0 x8. The HD 7790 has a launch MSRP of 149 USD, while the RX 7600 XT has a launch MSRP of 329 USD.

FAQ

Q: Which card has higher raw compute performance?

A: The RX 7600 XT, with 22.57 TFLOPS FP32, is 12.6x higher than the HD 7790’s 1.792 TFLOPS. It also offers FP16 at 22.57 TFLOPS, which the HD 7790 does not support.

Q: How do their memory bandwidths compare?

A: The RX 7600 XT provides 288.0 GB/s bandwidth from 16 GB GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, while the HD 7790 offers 96.00 GB/s from 1,024 MB GDDR5 on the same bus width. This is a 3x advantage for the newer card.

Q: Does either card support ray tracing?

A: Only the RX 7600 XT has ray tracing capability, featuring 32 ray tracing cores. The HD 7790 has no RT cores listed in its specifications.

Q: What are the power requirements for each card?

A: The HD 7790 has an 85 W TDP with a 250 W suggested PSU and a single 6-pin connector. The RX 7600 XT has a 190 W TDP with a 450 W suggested PSU and a single 8-pin connector.

Q: Which card has better API support?

A: The RX 7600 XT supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, while the HD 7790 supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The newer card supports more recent API versions.

Q: How do their benchmark scores compare in Metal?

A: The HD 7790 scores 17,666 in Geekbench Metal, which is 3.4% higher than the RX 7600 XT’s average of 17,083. However, the RX 7600 XT has no Metal-specific benchmark listed, only OpenCL and Vulkan scores.

Where Each One Wins

The HD 7790 wins in power efficiency and legacy compatibility. Its 85 W TDP is less than half the RX 7600 XT’s 190 W, and its 250 W suggested PSU means it can run in older or smaller systems. It also holds a slight edge in Geekbench Metal, scoring 17,666 versus 17,083, and its smaller 183 mm length fits in tighter cases. For users with older power supplies or those building a low-power HTPC, the HD 7790 is the practical choice. Its 1 GB memory, however, limits it to older games or light workloads.

The RX 7600 XT wins in nearly every performance category. Its 22.57 TFLOPS FP32 is 12.6x higher, its 288.0 GB/s bandwidth is 3x higher, and its 16 GB memory is 16x larger. It supports ray tracing with 32 cores, has faster pixel and texture rates (176.3 GPixel/s and 352.6 GTexel/s versus 16.00 and 56.00), and offers modern display outputs including HDMI 2.1a and DisplayPort 2.1. Its PCIe 4.0 x8 interface, while narrower, is newer than the HD 7790’s PCIe 3.0 x16. For any modern gaming, content creation, or compute workload, the RX 7600 XT is the definitive winner, offering 5.4x higher OpenCL score (92,426) than its own Metal score, demonstrating exceptional compute versatility. The HD 7790’s only benchmark win is a narrow Metal margin, which does not outweigh the RX 7600 XT’s overwhelming advantages in compute, memory, and feature set.