AMD Radeon RX 560 XT vs AMD Radeon RX 6700 Comparison

AMD Radeon RX 560 XT vs AMD Radeon RX 6700

The RX 560 XT and RX 6700 are separated by two full GPU generations, and the benchmark data reflects that gap clearly. The RX 6700 wins both recorded head-to-head tests by massive margins, but the RX 560 XT holds a higher overall percentile ranking in the database. This creates an interesting split: the older card ranks better against all GPUs, while the newer card dominates in raw compute and graphics API performance. The choice between them depends entirely on workload, though for most modern tasks the RX 6700 is the obvious pick.

FAQ

Q: Which card is faster in the recorded head-to-head benchmarks?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6700 wins both tests. In Geekbench OpenCL, it scores 97,841 versus 31,387 for the RX 560 XT, a 67.9% lead. In Geekbench Vulkan, it scores 83,974 versus 36,879, a 56.1% lead.

Q: How do their overall benchmark averages compare?

A: The RX 560 XT has an average benchmark score of 34,133, while the RX 6700 averages 30,433. Despite the RX 6700 winning the head-to-head tests, the RX 560 XT holds the higher average, likely due to different test suites contributing to each card's average.

Q: What is the memory configuration difference?

A: The RX 560 XT has 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, yielding 224.0 GB/s bandwidth. The RX 6700 has 10 GB of GDDR6 on a 160-bit bus, yielding 320.0 GB/s bandwidth. The newer card has 2.5 times the capacity and roughly 43% more bandwidth.

Q: Which card has the higher transistor density?

A: The RX 6700, built on TSMC's 7 nm process, packs 51.3 million transistors per square millimeter. The RX 560 XT, on GlobalFoundries' 14 nm process, has a density of 24.6 million per square millimeter. The RX 6700's density is more than double.

Q: Does the RX 6700 support newer graphics APIs?

A: Yes. The RX 6700 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4. The RX 560 XT is limited to DirectX 12 (12_0) and Vulkan 1.3. Both support OpenGL 4.6.

Q: What are the power and connector requirements?

A: The RX 560 XT has a 150 W TDP and uses one 6-pin power connector. The RX 6700 has a 175 W TDP and uses one 8-pin connector. Both cards recommend a 450 W power supply.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two cards is generational. The RX 560 XT uses the Ellesmere chip with GCN 4.0 architecture, part of the Polaris generation built on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. The RX 6700 uses the Navi 22 chip with RDNA 2.0, part of the Navi II generation built on a 7 nm process at TSMC. This node transition is fundamental: the RX 6700 packs 17,200 million transistors on a 335 mm² die, versus 5,700 million on a 232 mm² die for the RX 560 XT. Transistor density jumps from 24.6 million per square millimeter to 51.3 million, enabling roughly three times the transistor count on a die only 44% larger.

Clock speeds reflect the architectural efficiency gains. The RX 560 XT runs at a 1074 MHz base and 1226 MHz boost. The RX 6700 starts at 1941 MHz base, has a 2174 MHz game clock, and boosts to 2450 MHz. That is roughly 80% higher base clock and double the boost clock. The memory subsystem also advances: GDDR5 at 1750 MHz (7 Gbps effective) becomes GDDR6 at 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective), though the RX 6700 uses a narrower 160-bit bus versus 256-bit. The wider bus of the older card cannot compensate for the newer memory technology, as the RX 6700 still delivers 320.0 GB/s versus 224.0 GB/s.

Compute resources scale up substantially. Shading units increase from 1792 to 2304, texture mapping units from 112 to 144, and render output units from 32 to 64. The RX 6700 adds 36 ray tracing cores, a feature entirely absent from the RX 560 XT. Pixel rate jumps from 39.23 GPixel/s to 156.8 GPixel/s, and texture rate from 137.3 GTexel/s to 352.8 GTexel/s. FP32 throughput more than doubles from 4.394 TFLOPS to 11.29 TFLOPS. FP16 capability changes from a 1:1 ratio (4.394 TFLOPS) to a 2:1 ratio on the RX 6700, which reaches 22.58 TFLOPS.

The RX 6700 also moves to PCIe 4.0 x16 versus PCIe 3.0 x16, and its display outputs upgrade to HDMI 2.1 (versus 2.0b) while keeping three DisplayPort 1.4a connections. Physically, the RX 6700 is longer at 267 mm versus 241 mm, and its dimensions are fully specified at 110 mm height and 40 mm width. Both are dual-slot cards. The RX 6700 uses a single 8-pin connector versus the RX 560 XT's 6-pin, with TDP rising from 150 W to 175 W. Both recommend a 450 W power supply.

The Verdict

The database records two head-to-head tests, and the RX 6700 wins both decisively. For anyone running OpenCL or Vulkan workloads, the RX 6700 is the only rational choice. Its 97,841 OpenCL score is more than triple the RX 560 XT's 31,387, and its 83,974 Vulkan score more than doubles the older card's 36,879. These are not marginal improvements; they represent a generational leap in compute capability.

However, the percentile data complicates a simple recommendation. The RX 560 XT sits at the 79th percentile of all GPUs in the database, while the RX 6700 sits at the 75th. The RX 560 XT's average benchmark score of 34,133 is also higher than the RX 6700's 30,433. This suggests the RX 560 XT performs relatively better across a broader range of older or lighter tests, while the RX 6700's strengths are concentrated in modern, heavy workloads. The RX 560 XT's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA RTX A2000 12 GB (0.1% ahead) and the AMD Radeon RX 480 (0.4% behind). The RX 6700's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA CMP 70HX (0.1% ahead) and the AMD Radeon RX 6800 (1.1% behind). Both cards sit in competitive clusters, but the RX 560 XT edges out its cluster slightly better.

For a builder today, the RX 6700 is the better purchase for current games and compute tasks. It has 4 times the FP32 throughput, 2.5 times the memory capacity, ray tracing support, and modern API compliance. The RX 560 XT makes sense only for extremely specific legacy workloads where its particular driver or compute profile is required, or for systems that cannot accommodate the RX 6700's 267 mm length or 8-pin connector. The data does not support choosing the RX 560 XT for general use.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every measurable specification. The RX 560 XT uses the Ellesmere chip with GCN 4.0 architecture, while the RX 6700 uses Navi 22 with RDNA 2.0. Process nodes differ: 14 nm at GlobalFoundries versus 7 nm at TSMC. Transistor counts are 5,700 million versus 17,200 million, and die sizes are 232 mm² versus 335 mm². Transistor density is 24.6M per mm² versus 51.3M per mm².

Clock speeds are substantially different. The RX 560 XT has a 1074 MHz base and 1226 MHz boost. The RX 6700 has a 1941 MHz base, a 2174 MHz game clock, and a 2450 MHz boost. Memory clocks move from 1750 MHz (7 Gbps effective) to 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective). Memory capacity is 4 GB GDDR5 versus 10 GB GDDR6, with bus widths of 256-bit versus 160-bit. Bandwidth is 224.0 GB/s versus 320.0 GB/s.

Compute resources differ across the board. Shading units are 1792 versus 2304, TMUs are 112 versus 144, and ROPs are 32 versus 64. The RX 6700 adds 36 ray tracing cores. Pixel rate is 39.23 GPixel/s versus 156.8 GPixel/s. Texture rate is 137.3 GTexel/s versus 352.8 GTexel/s. FP32 is 4.394 TFLOPS versus 11.29 TFLOPS. FP16 is 4.394 TFLOPS (1:1) versus 22.58 TFLOPS (2:1).

TDP rises from 150 W to 175 W. Power connectors change from 1x 6-pin to 1x 8-pin. Both recommend 450 W PSUs. Bus interface upgrades from PCIe 3.0 x16 to PCIe 4.0 x16. Display outputs change from 1x HDMI 2.0b plus 3x DisplayPort 1.4a to 1x HDMI 2.1 plus 3x DisplayPort 1.4a. DirectX support moves from 12 (12_0) to 12 Ultimate (12_2). Vulkan moves from 1.3 to 1.4. Physical dimensions grow from 241 mm length to 267 mm length, with the RX 6700 also having specified height (110 mm) and width (40 mm). Release dates are March 2019 for the RX 560 XT and June 2021 for the RX 6700.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database records only two shared benchmark tests between these cards, and the RX 6700 wins both. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RX 6700 scores 97,841 against the RX 560 XT's 31,387. The delta is 67.9% in favor of the RX 6700, meaning the newer card delivers roughly three times the compute performance in this API. In Geekbench Vulkan, the RX 6700 scores 83,974 against 36,879, a 56.1% lead. This is the smaller of the two gaps, but still more than double the older card's result.

These results align with the architectural differences. The RX 6700's FP32 throughput of 11.29 TFLOPS is 2.57 times the RX 560 XT's 4.394 TFLOPS. Its texture rate of 352.8 GTexel/s is 2.57 times the older card's 137.3 GTexel/s. Pixel rate shows an even larger gap: 156.8 GPixel/s versus 39.23 GPixel/s, a 4x difference driven by the doubled ROP count and much higher clocks. The RX 6700's memory bandwidth advantage is smaller at 320.0 GB/s versus 224.0 GB/s, roughly 43% higher.

The RX 6700 also benefits from modern API support. DirectX 12 Ultimate and Vulkan 1.4 allow it to leverage features unavailable to the RX 560 XT, which is limited to DirectX 12 (12_0) and Vulkan 1.3. Ray tracing hardware on the RX 6700 adds another workload category where the older card cannot compete at all. The RX 6700's average benchmark score of 30,433 is lower than the RX 560 XT's 34,133, but this reflects the different test suites feeding each card's average rather than any real performance reversal.

Where Each One Wins

The RX 6700 wins in every modern compute and graphics scenario. Its OpenCL score of 97,841 makes it suitable for compute-heavy tasks like rendering, physics simulation, and machine learning inference. Its Vulkan score of 83,974 positions it well for modern games that use Vulkan natively. The 10 GB memory capacity and 320.0 GB/s bandwidth handle high-resolution textures and large datasets. Ray tracing support opens up hardware-accelerated effects in compatible titles. The 2:1 FP16 ratio (22.58 TFLOPS) provides headroom for workloads that use half-precision math.

The RX 560 XT, despite losing both head-to-head tests, holds a higher percentile ranking at 79 versus 75. Its average benchmark score of 34,133 exceeds the RX 6700's 30,433. This suggests the RX 560 XT performs relatively better in a broader set of legacy tests, particularly those that do not stress modern features. Its 256-bit memory bus, while paired with slower GDDR5, provides balanced memory access patterns that can benefit certain older workloads. The lower 150 W TDP and 6-pin connector make it easier to fit into older systems with modest power delivery.

For a practical recommendation, the RX 6700 is the clear choice for anyone running current games, modern creative software, or compute workloads that leverage OpenCL or Vulkan. The RX 560 XT remains a viable option only for systems with strict power or space constraints, or for users running software that specifically benefits from its older GCN architecture and wider memory bus. The database data shows a 2-0 win for the RX 6700 in direct competition, and those wins are by margins of 56% to 68%, which are impossible to ignore.