AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT vs AMD Radeon RX 6600 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The benchmark comparison between the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT and the AMD Radeon RX 6600 is not a clean sweep for either card. The data shows a split: the RX 5600 XT wins 4 of the 11 head-to-head tests, while the RX 6600 takes 7. The magnitude of those wins, however, tells a more layered story.

The RX 5600 XT’s most decisive victory comes in Geekbench OpenCL, where it scores 68,537 against the RX 6600’s 28,850. That is a 137.6% advantage, by far the largest delta in the entire comparison. This suggests that in raw compute workloads that leverage OpenCL, the older card is in a different league. The RX 5600 XT also edges out the RX 6600 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, scoring 1,669 versus 1,492, an 11.9% lead. In the Passmark suite, the RX 5600 XT wins two legacy tests narrowly: DirectX 12 (52 vs 51, a 2% delta) and DirectX 9 (202 vs 197, a 2.5% delta). These are marginal wins, but they indicate the RX 5600 XT retains an edge in some older API paths.

The RX 6600 counters with a broad set of wins across modern and general-purpose workloads. Its largest margin is in Passmark DirectX 11, where it scores 152 versus the RX 5600 XT’s 96, a 36.8% lead. The RX 6600 also wins Passmark DirectX 10 by 23.2% (95 vs 73) and Geekbench Vulkan by 16.9% (67,623 vs 56,218). In Passmark G3D, the RX 6600 posts 15,096 versus 13,457, a 10.9% advantage. Geekbench Metal shows the RX 6600 ahead by 9.1% (88,398 vs 80,376). The remaining two wins for the RX 6600 are smaller: Passmark G2D (889 vs 870, a 2.1% delta) and Passmark GPU Compute (6,554 vs 6,296, a 3.9% delta).

Looking at the aggregate picture, the RX 5600 XT holds a higher average benchmark score of 20,713 compared to the RX 6600’s 19,036. However, the RX 6600 sits at the 63rd percentile of all GPUs, while the RX 5600 XT sits at the 66th percentile. The average score is dragged down for the RX 6600 by that catastrophic OpenCL result, which is an outlier relative to its other scores. The RX 5600 XT’s nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon R9 M390X (0.2% behind), Intel Arc A750 (0.6% behind), Intel Arc B570 (0.8% behind), and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (0.9% behind). The RX 6600’s nearest rivals are the NVIDIA Quadro K6000 (0% delta), NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Mobile (0.1% ahead), NVIDIA Tesla K20m (0.3% ahead), and NVIDIA RTX 2000 Ada Generation (0.4% behind). These proximity figures reinforce that both cards are clustered in a similar performance tier, despite the divergent benchmark results.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from entirely different architectural generations. The RX 5600 XT is built on RDNA 1.0, using the Navi 10 chip, while the RX 6600 uses RDNA 2.0 on the Navi 23 chip. Both are fabricated on the same 7 nm process at TSMC, but the similarities largely end there. The RX 5600 XT packs 10,300 million transistors on a 251 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 41.0M per mm². The RX 6600 has more transistors — 11,060 million — on a smaller 237 mm² die, resulting in a higher density of 46.7M per mm².

The compute configurations differ significantly. The RX 5600 XT has 2,304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs. The RX 6600 has fewer shading units (1,792) and fewer TMUs (112), but it retains the same 64 ROPs. Notably, the RX 6600 introduces 28 ray tracing cores, a feature entirely absent from the RX 5600 XT. This is a direct consequence of the RDNA 2.0 architecture, which added hardware ray tracing support. The RX 5600 XT’s older RDNA 1.0 design has no such hardware.

Clock speeds show the RX 6600’s architectural efficiency. Its base clock is 1,626 MHz, its boost clock is 2,491 MHz, and its game clock is 2,044 MHz. The RX 5600 XT is considerably slower in clock terms: 1,130 MHz base, 1,560 MHz boost, and 1,375 MHz game. Despite the RX 6600 having fewer shading units, its higher clocks allow it to achieve higher throughput in several metrics. The RX 6600 reaches 8.928 TFLOPS FP32 and 17.86 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1), while the RX 5600 XT manages 7.188 TFLOPS FP32 and 14.38 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1). Pixel rate tells a similar story: 159.4 GPixel/s for the RX 6600 versus 99.84 GPixel/s for the RX 5600 XT. Texture rate also favors the RX 6600 at 279.0 GTexel/s versus 224.6 GTexel/s.

Memory configurations are a point of divergence. The RX 5600 XT uses 6 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, delivering 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth at 12 Gbps effective. The RX 6600 has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a narrower 128-bit bus, which yields only 224.0 GB/s at 14 Gbps effective. The RX 6600 has more capacity but less bandwidth, a trade-off that may affect performance in bandwidth-sensitive scenarios. The bus interface also differs: the RX 5600 XT uses PCIe 4.0 x16, while the RX 6600 uses PCIe 4.0 x8.

Feature support reflects the generational gap. The RX 5600 XT supports DirectX 12 (12_1), while the RX 6600 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2). Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4. Display outputs are similar, with the RX 5600 XT offering 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, while the RX 6600 offers 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a. Power requirements are lower for the RX 6600, with a TDP of 132 W and a suggested PSU of 300 W, versus the RX 5600 XT’s 150 W TDP and 450 W suggested PSU. Both are dual-slot cards with a single 8-pin power connector.

Where Each One Wins

The RX 5600 XT is the clear winner in OpenCL compute workloads. The 137.6% lead in Geekbench OpenCL is not a subtle advantage; it indicates that applications leveraging OpenCL for general-purpose GPU computing will perform dramatically better on the older card. The RX 5600 XT also holds a meaningful lead in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 (11.9%), suggesting it can outperform the RX 6600 in at least one modern DirectX 12 gaming workload. Its narrow wins in Passmark DirectX 12 and DirectX 9 (2% and 2.5% respectively) show it retains compatibility and performance in legacy API paths that the RX 6600 cannot match, however slightly.

The RX 6600 wins in the broader set of modern graphics tests. Its 36.8% lead in Passmark DirectX 11 and 23.2% lead in DirectX 10 indicate that in these API-heavy workloads, the RX 6600 is substantially faster. The Geekbench Vulkan result (16.9% ahead) shows that Vulkan-based games and applications will favor the RX 6600. In Passmark G3D, which is a general 3D graphics benchmark, the RX 6600 leads by 10.9%, reinforcing that its overall graphics capability is higher. The Geekbench Metal result (9.1% ahead) suggests the RX 6600 is better suited for Metal-based applications, which is relevant for macOS or other Metal environments. The RX 6600 also wins the compute-oriented Passmark GPU Compute test by 3.9%, indicating that in some compute workloads, it can still beat the RX 5600 XT, despite the latter’s massive OpenCL advantage. The Passmark G2D win (2.1%) shows a slight edge in 2D operations.

FAQ

Q: Which card has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT has an average benchmark score of 20,713, while the AMD Radeon RX 6600 has an average score of 19,036.

Q: Why does the RX 5600 XT have a higher average score if it loses more head-to-head tests?

A: The RX 5600 XT wins 4 tests while the RX 6600 wins 7, but the RX 5600 XT’s wins include a massive 137.6% margin in Geekbench OpenCL, which heavily boosts its average relative to the RX 6600’s more modest wins.

Q: Does the RX 6600 support ray tracing?

A: Yes, the RX 6600 has 28 ray tracing cores. The RX 5600 XT has no ray tracing cores at all.

Q: Which card has more memory bandwidth?

A: The RX 5600 XT has higher memory bandwidth at 288.0 GB/s, compared to the RX 6600’s 224.0 GB/s. However, the RX 6600 has more memory capacity (8 GB vs 6 GB).

Q: What are the DirectX feature level differences?

A: The RX 5600 XT supports DirectX 12 (12_1), while the RX 6600 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), which is a more advanced feature set.

Q: Which card requires a more powerful power supply?

A: The RX 5600 XT has a suggested PSU of 450 W and a TDP of 150 W. The RX 6600 has a suggested PSU of 300 W and a TDP of 132 W.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT | AMD Radeon RX 6600 |

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

| Chip | Navi 10 | Navi 23 |

| Architecture | RDNA 1.0 | RDNA 2.0 |

| Transistors | 10,300 million | 11,060 million |

| Die Size | 251 mm² | 237 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 41.0M / mm² | 46.7M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1130 MHz | 1626 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1560 MHz | 2491 MHz |

| Game Clock | 1375 MHz | 2044 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 1500 MHz / 12 Gbps effective | 1750 MHz / 14 Gbps effective |

| Memory Size | 6 GB | 8 GB |

| Memory Bus Width | 192 bit | 128 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 288.0 GB/s | 224.0 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 2304 | 1792 |

| TMUs | 144 | 112 |

| ROPs | 64 | 64 |

| Ray Tracing Cores | None | 28 |

| Pixel Rate | 99.84 GPixel/s | 159.4 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 224.6 GTexel/s | 279.0 GTexel/s |

| FP32 Performance | 7.188 TFLOPS | 8.928 TFLOPS |

| FP16 Performance | 14.38 TFLOPS (2:1) | 17.86 TFLOPS (2:1) |

| TDP | 150 W | 132 W |

| Suggested PSU | 450 W | 300 W |

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

| Display Outputs | 1x HDMI 2.0b, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a | 1x HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a |

| DirectX Support | 12 (12_1) | 12 Ultimate (12_2) |

| Dimensions | 267 mm (10.5 inches) long | 190 mm (7.5 inches) long, 110 mm (4.3 inches) high, 40 mm (1.6 inches) wide |

| Release Date | 2020-01-20 | 2021-10-12 |

| Launch MSRP | 279 USD | 329 USD |

The Verdict

The data presents a nuanced choice. The RX 5600 XT is the better card for anyone prioritizing OpenCL compute performance. Its 137.6% lead in Geekbench OpenCL is overwhelming, and it also wins in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, which is a modern DirectX 12 workload. It has higher memory bandwidth (288.0 GB/s) and a wider 192-bit bus, which may benefit certain bandwidth-sensitive tasks. Its average benchmark score of 20,713 is also higher than the RX 6600’s 19,036. However, it is the older card, with a lower percentile ranking of 66 versus the RX 6600’s 63, despite having a higher average score.

The RX 6600 is the better choice for general gaming and modern API usage. It wins the majority of head-to-head tests, including Passmark DirectX 11 (36.8% ahead) and DirectX 10 (23.2% ahead), Geekbench Vulkan (16.9% ahead), and Passmark G3D (10.9% ahead). It offers hardware ray tracing, DirectX 12 Ultimate support, more memory (8 GB vs 6 GB), and higher clock speeds. Its smaller physical footprint (190 mm vs 267 mm) and lower power requirements (132 W TDP, 300 W suggested PSU) make it more flexible for compact builds and lower-wattage power supplies.

For a user running OpenCL-heavy compute applications, the RX 5600 XT is the clear winner. For a user focused on gaming across DirectX 11, Vulkan, and modern titles, the RX 6600 offers a broader set of wins. The RX 6600’s ray tracing cores and newer architecture give it future-facing features that the RX 5600 XT lacks. The RX 5600 XT, despite its age, remains competitive in specific workloads, particularly where OpenCL is the primary API. The choice ultimately comes down to workload priorities: raw OpenCL compute and bandwidth favor the RX 5600 XT, while API breadth, ray tracing, and overall gaming performance favor the RX 6600.