AMD Radeon RX 460 vs AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT Comparison

The AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT and the AMD Radeon RX 460 represent two distinct eras of AMD's GPU architecture, separated by a generational gap that is immediately visible in their benchmark results. The data shows a clear hierarchy, with the RX 6650 XT winning two of the three head-to-head tests decisively, while the RX 460 manages a single, notable upset in one compute workload. This analysis breaks down where each card excels, the architectural reasons behind those differences, and what the numbers mean for their respective performance profiles.

Where Each One Wins

The primary use-case split is stark. The AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT is the dominant performer in graphics-centric and modern API workloads. Its victories in the head-to-head tests are overwhelming, with a 474.1% advantage in Geekbench Metal and a 302.5% advantage in Geekbench Vulkan. These results indicate that for any contemporary gaming or GPU-accelerated application leveraging these APIs, the RX 6650 XT is in a completely different performance class. The data also shows it holds a 65th percentile rank among all GPUs, placing it above the RX 460's 62nd percentile.

Conversely, the AMD Radeon RX 460 wins the Geekbench OpenCL test, scoring 17,855 against the RX 6650 XT's 10,111. This is a -43.4% delta for the newer card, meaning the RX 460 is 43.4% faster in this specific test. This is an unusual result that does not align with the rest of the performance picture. While the RX 460's win is significant, it appears isolated to this single OpenCL workload, suggesting it may be a driver or optimization quirk rather than a general compute advantage. For all other practical purposes, including DirectX and Vulkan gaming, the RX 6650 XT is the clear winner, as evidenced by its Passmark DirectX scores of 215 (DX9), 169 (DX11), 109 (DX10), and 62 (DX12) compared to no Passmark data for the RX 460.

Architecture Differences

The performance gap is rooted in fundamental architectural and manufacturing differences. The RX 6650 XT is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture, fabricated on a 7 nm process at TSMC. In contrast, the RX 460 uses the older GCN 4.0 architecture, built on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. This process shrink allows the RX 6650 XT to pack 11,060 million transistors into a 237 mm² die, resulting in a transistor density of 46.7M / mm². The RX 460, by comparison, has only 3,000 million transistors on a 123 mm² die, with a density of 24.4M / mm².

The compute resources are also vastly different. The RX 6650 XT features 2048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. It also includes 32 dedicated RT cores for hardware-accelerated ray tracing, a feature entirely absent from the RX 460, which has 896 shading units, 56 TMUs, and only 16 ROPs. The newer card's peak theoretical performance reflects this: its FP32 rate is 10.79 TFLOPS and its texture rate is 337.3 GTexel/s, compared to the RX 460's 2.150 TFLOPS and 67.20 GTexel/s. The RX 6650 XT's FP16 rate of 21.59 TFLOPS (2:1) is also double its FP32, while the RX 460's FP16 is at a 1:1 ratio (2.150 TFLOPS).

Memory technology further separates the two. The RX 6650 XT uses 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering 280.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The RX 460 is limited to 2 GB of GDDR5 on the same bus width, resulting in only 112.0 GB/s. The RX 6650 XT also supports PCIe 4.0 x8, while the RX 460 is limited to PCIe 3.0 x8. Finally, the RX 6650 XT supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, whereas the RX 460 only reaches DirectX 12 (12_0) and Vulkan 1.3.

FAQ

Q: Which card is faster in the Geekbench Vulkan test?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT is significantly faster, scoring 81,306 compared to the RX 460's 20,198, a 302.5% advantage.

Q: Does the RX 460 ever outperform the RX 6650 XT?

A: Yes, in the Geekbench OpenCL test, the RX 460 scores 17,855, which is 43.4% higher than the RX 6650 XT's 10,111.

Q: What is the transistor count difference between the two GPUs?

A: The RX 6650 XT has 11,060 million transistors, while the RX 460 has 3,000 million transistors.

Q: Does the RX 6650 XT support hardware ray tracing?

A: Yes, it has 32 RT cores, a feature that the RX 460 lacks entirely.

Q: How do their memory bandwidth figures compare?

A: The RX 6650 XT has a bandwidth of 280.3 GB/s, which is 2.5 times the 112.0 GB/s of the RX 460.

Q: What are the process nodes for each card?

A: The RX 6650 XT uses a 7 nm process, while the RX 460 uses a 14 nm process.

Specification Differences

• Architecture: RDNA 2.0 vs GCN 4.0
• Process Node: 7 nm vs 14 nm
• Transistors: 11,060 million vs 3,000 million
• Die Size: 237 mm² vs 123 mm²
• Base Clock: 2055 MHz vs 1090 MHz
• Boost Clock: 2635 MHz vs 1200 MHz
• Memory Size: 8 GB vs 2 GB
• Memory Type: GDDR6 vs GDDR5
• Memory Bandwidth: 280.3 GB/s vs 112.0 GB/s
• Shading Units: 2048 vs 896
• TMUs: 128 vs 56
• ROPs: 64 vs 16
• RT Cores: 32 vs None
• FP32 Performance: 10.79 TFLOPS vs 2.150 TFLOPS
• Pixel Rate: 168.6 GPixel/s vs 19.20 GPixel/s
• Texture Rate: 337.3 GTexel/s vs 67.20 GTexel/s
• TDP: 176 W vs 75 W
• Power Connectors: 1x 8-pin vs None
• Suggested PSU: 450 W vs 250 W
• Bus Interface: PCIe 4.0 x8 vs PCIe 3.0 x8
• DirectX Support: 12 Ultimate (12_2) vs 12 (12_0)
• Vulkan Support: 1.4 vs 1.3
• Release Date: 2022-05-09 vs 2016-08-07

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most significant performance delta is in the Geekbench Metal test. The RX 6650 XT scores 97,969, which is 474.1% higher than the RX 460's 17,065. This massive lead highlights the immense generational leap in GPU compute and graphics capabilities for Apple's Metal API. The RX 6650 XT's score is so high that it is likely limited by other system factors, while the RX 460's score represents its baseline capabilities on that API.

The Geekbench Vulkan test shows a similar, though slightly less extreme, outcome. Here, the RX 6650 XT scores 81,306 against the RX 460's 20,198, a 302.5% advantage. This reinforces the narrative that for modern cross-platform graphics APIs, the newer card is simply in a different league. The RX 6650 XT's support for the newer Vulkan 1.4 specification, combined with its superior hardware, yields a commanding victory.

The sole win for the RX 460 comes in the Geekbench OpenCL test. The RX 460 scores 17,855, which is 43.4% higher than the RX 6650 XT's 10,111. This is a counterintuitive result given the RX 6650 XT's far higher FP32 throughput (10.79 TFLOPS vs 2.150 TFLOPS). The data suggests that this specific OpenCL workload is not scaling with raw compute power, possibly due to driver optimizations favoring the older GCN architecture or a bottleneck in the newer card's OpenCL implementation. This result stands as an anomaly, but it is a data point that cannot be ignored when assessing the relative strengths of these two cards.