AMD Radeon RX 470 vs AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data shows a decisive performance advantage for the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT across every benchmark in the comparison set. The RX 470 does not win a single test, while the RX 6600 XT takes all four head-to-head matchups.

The largest gap appears in Geekbench OpenCL, where the RX 6600 XT scores 80,503 against the RX 470's 33,568. That is a delta of 58.3%, making it the most lopsided result in the dataset. This test measures raw compute throughput, and the RDNA 2 architecture's advantage in this workload is substantial.

The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test shows a similar story. The RX 6600 XT posts 1,804 points, while the RX 470 manages 842 points, a delta of 53.3%. This is a modern DirectX 12 workload, and the older GCN 4.0 part trails by more than half. For context, the RX 470's average benchmark score of 28,996 places it near the AMD Radeon RX 6800M (28,874, within 0.4%) and the Intel Arc A370M (29,175, within 0.6%). The RX 6600 XT's average score of 24,442 sits close to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1630 (24,277, within 0.7%) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER (24,170, within 1.1%).

Geekbench Metal shows the RX 6600 XT at 88,720 versus 41,690 for the RX 470, a delta of 53%. This is notable because Metal is a graphics API primarily associated with Apple platforms, but the benchmark results indicate the RX 6600 XT's architectural efficiency carries over even there. The smallest relative gap is in Geekbench Vulkan, where the RX 6600 XT scores 72,417 against 39,884, a delta of 44.9%. Even the closest result still leaves the RX 470 behind by nearly half.

The percentile data adds another layer. The RX 470 sits at the 74th percentile of all GPUs, while the RX 6600 XT sits at the 70th percentile. This may seem counterintuitive given the RX 6600 XT's dominance in the head-to-head tests, but the percentile figure is based on the average benchmark score across a broader database. The RX 470's average score of 28,996 is actually higher than the RX 6600 XT's 24,442, which means the RX 470 holds up better in some other workloads not captured in this direct comparison. The head-to-head tests, however, are unambiguous: the RX 6600 XT is faster in every measured discipline.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins the most head-to-head benchmarks?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT wins all four head-to-head tests in the database. The RX 470 wins none.

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

A: The largest gap is in Geekbench OpenCL, where the RX 6600 XT scores 80,503 versus the RX 470's 33,568, a delta of 58.3%.

Q: How do the two cards compare in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test?

A: The RX 6600 XT scores 1,804 points, while the RX 470 scores 842 points. The RX 6600 XT leads by 53.3%.

Q: Is there any test where the RX 470 comes close to the RX 6600 XT?

A: The closest result is in Geekbench Vulkan, where the RX 6600 XT leads by 44.9%. The RX 470 scores 39,884 versus 72,417 for the RX 6600 XT. Even in its best relative showing, the RX 470 trails by a wide margin.

Q: How do the average benchmark scores compare?

A: The RX 470 has an average benchmark score of 28,996, which is higher than the RX 6600 XT's 24,442. The RX 6600 XT nevertheless wins every direct head-to-head test in the dataset.

Q: What are the nearest rivals for each card based on average score?

A: The RX 470's nearest rival is the AMD Radeon RX 6800M (28,874, within 0.4%), followed by the Intel Arc A370M (29,175, within 0.6%). The RX 6600 XT's nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1630 (24,277, within 0.7%), with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER (24,170, within 1.1%) also close.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear choice for anyone prioritizing raw performance in modern workloads: the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT. It wins every head-to-head benchmark, with deltas ranging from 44.9% to 58.3%. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 result is particularly telling, as it represents a contemporary DirectX 12 test where the RX 470's GCN 4.0 architecture is simply outclassed.

The RX 470's higher average benchmark score (28,996 versus 24,442) and higher percentile rank (74th versus 70th) suggest it retains some strength in legacy or compute-oriented tasks not covered by the head-to-head suite. Users working with older applications might find the RX 470 still serviceable. However, the RX 6600 XT's wins in Metal, Vulkan, OpenCL, and DX12 cover the APIs most relevant to current gaming and general GPU compute.

The RX 6600 XT also offers more memory (8 GB versus 4 GB) and a newer memory type (GDDR6 versus GDDR5), which matters for texture-heavy workloads and higher resolutions. The RX 470's 4 GB frame buffer is a limitation in modern titles, even if its average score in the broader database remains respectable.

For a user selecting between these two based solely on measured performance, the RX 6600 XT is the superior choice in every direct comparison available. The RX 470 is not competitive in any head-to-head test, and its advantages are limited to the broader average score metric, which does not translate into a single direct win.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every major specification category. The RX 470 uses a 14 nm process node from GlobalFoundries, while the RX 6600 XT uses a 7 nm node from TSMC. Transistor counts differ substantially: the RX 470 has 5,700 million transistors on a 232 mm² die, while the RX 6600 XT packs 11,060 million transistors into a 237 mm² die. The transistor density reflects this: 24.6M per mm² for the RX 470 versus 46.7M per mm² for the RX 6600 XT.

Clock speeds show a large generational jump. The RX 470 runs at a base clock of 926 MHz and a boost clock of 1206 MHz. The RX 6600 XT runs at 1968 MHz base and 2589 MHz boost, with a game clock of 2359 MHz. Memory clocks also differ: the RX 470's memory runs at 1650 MHz (6.6 Gbps effective), while the RX 6600 XT's memory runs at 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective).

Memory configuration changes entirely. The RX 470 has 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 256 bit bus, yielding 211.2 GB/s of bandwidth. The RX 6600 XT has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128 bit bus, yielding 256.0 GB/s. The narrower bus is compensated by the faster memory type and higher effective speed.

Compute resources differ in ROPS and ray tracing hardware. Both cards have 2048 shading units and 128 TMUs. The RX 470 has 32 ROPS, while the RX 6600 XT has 64 ROPS. The RX 6600 XT also includes 32 ray tracing cores, which the RX 470 lacks entirely. Pixel rate jumps from 38.59 GPixel/s on the RX 470 to 165.7 GPixel/s on the RX 6600 XT. Texture rate jumps from 154.4 GTexel/s to 331.4 GTexel/s. FP32 throughput rises from 4.940 TFLOPS to 10.60 TFLOPS, and FP16 rises from 4.940 TFLOPS (1:1) to 21.21 TFLOPS (2:1).

Power and physical specifications also diverge. The RX 470 has a TDP of 120 W and requires a single 6-pin power connector with a suggested 300 W PSU. The RX 6600 XT has a TDP of 160 W, a single 8-pin connector, and a suggested 450 W PSU. The RX 470 is 240 mm long, 95 mm tall, and 35 mm wide. The RX 6600 XT is shorter at 190 mm, but taller at 110 mm, and wider at 40 mm. Both are dual-slot cards.

The bus interface differs as well: PCIe 3.0 x16 for the RX 470 versus PCIe 4.0 x8 for the RX 6600 XT. Display outputs are similar, with 1x HDMI and 3x DisplayPort, though the RX 470 uses HDMI 2.0b while the RX 6600 XT uses HDMI 2.1. The RX 470 supports DirectX 12 (12_0) and Vulkan 1.3. The RX 6600 XT supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4. Both support OpenGL 4.6.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two GPUs is generational. The RX 470 is built on GCN 4.0, part of the Arctic Islands (RX 400 generation), using the Ellesmere chip. The RX 6600 XT is built on RDNA 2.0, part of the Navi II (RX 6000) generation, using the Navi 23 chip. The RX 470's predecessor generation is Pirate Islands, with Polaris as its successor. The RX 6600 XT lists Navi as its predecessor and Navi III as its successor.

The process and foundry differences are fundamental to the performance gap. GlobalFoundries produced the RX 470's 14 nm node, while TSMC produced the RX 6600 XT's 7 nm node. The smaller node enables nearly double the transistor count in almost the same die size: 237 mm² for the RX 6600 XT, 232 mm² for the RX 470, resulting in 11,060 million transistors for the newer card. This density improvement from 24.6M per mm² to 46.7M per mm² underpins the clock speed advantage and the doubling of FP32 throughput.

The RX 6600 XT adds features that did not exist on the RX 470. Ray tracing cores are present on the RX 6600 XT (32 cores) but absent on the RX 470. DirectX 12 Ultimate support on the RX 470 is limited to 12_0, while the RX 6600 XT supports 12_2 with ray tracing support. Vulkan support improves from version 1.3 to 1.4. FP16 performance changes from a 1:1 ratio to a 2:1 ratio, doubling throughput from the FP32 figure.

The shading unit count remains identical at 2048, and TMUs are identical at 128. This means the RX 6600 XT's doubling of texture rate from 154.4 GTexel/s to 331.4 GTexel/s comes from clock speed increases rather than added hardware resources. ROPS double from 32 to 64 go from 38.59 GPixel/s to 165.7 GPixel/s. The RX 6600 XT's memory bus narrows from 256 bit to 256.0 GB/s, with bandwidth increases from 211.2 GB/s. The newer GDDR6 memory type on the RX 6600 XT handles 8 GB capacity.

Both cards share the same manufacturer and both list 1x HDMI 3x DisplayPort outputs for display connectivity and both use dual-slot. The RX 6600 XT's HDMI version number is 2.1 GHz, HDMI 2.0b is the RX 470's version. The RX 6600 XT's memory clock is 2000 MHz, 1650 MHz is the RX 470's memory clock. The RX 6600 XT has a 2589 MHz boost clock rate, 1206 MHz is the RX 470's boost clock speed. Both cards support DirectX 12 Ultimate support on RX 6800M and Vulkan 1.4 support on the RX 6600 XT.