AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP vs AMD Radeon RX 6700M Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data shows a decisive victory for the AMD Radeon RX 6700M across every shared benchmark test. In the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, the RX 6700M scores 1845 points against 849 points for the RX 580 2048SP, a margin of 117.3%. This is more than double the performance in a modern DirectX 12 workload, indicating that the newer architecture handles contemporary rendering features with substantially greater efficiency.

The gap widens further in compute-oriented tests. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RX 6700M delivers 77,666 points versus 29,668 points for the RX 580 2048SP, representing a 161.8% advantage. This nearly threefold difference in raw compute throughput reflects not just architectural improvements but also fundamental differences in memory bandwidth and shading capabilities. The Vulkan result follows the same pattern: 90,816 points against 38,666 points, a 134.9% lead for the RX 6700M.

The benchmark database places the RX 6700M in the 71st percentile of all GPUs, while the RX 580 2048SP sits in the 68th percentile. The average benchmark score for the RX 6700M is 25,633, compared to 23,061 for the RX 580 2048SP. The RX 6700M's nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon Pro W5700 (25,726, a 0.4% gap) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Mobile (25,740, also a 0.4% gap), placing it in competitive territory with professional and high-end mobile parts. The RX 580 2048SP, meanwhile, competes with the Intel Arc B580 (23,021, a 0.2% gap) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 (23,172, a 0.5% gap). The RX 6700M outpaces its rival by roughly 11% in average score, but the individual test deltas tell a far more dramatic story, with compute workloads showing the largest separation.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from entirely different architectural generations. The RX 6700M is built on RDNA 2.0 with the Navi 22 chip, fabricated on a 7 nm process at TSMC. The RX 580 2048SP uses the older GCN 4.0 architecture with the Polaris 20 chip, built on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. This process node difference alone explains much of the efficiency and clock speed disparity: the RX 6700M operates at a base clock of 1489 MHz and boosts to 2400 MHz, while the RX 580 2048SP runs at 1168 MHz base and 1284 MHz boost. The newer node allows the RX 6700M to nearly double its boost clock while consuming less power.

Transistor counts reinforce the architectural gulf. The RX 6700M packs 17,200 million transistors on a 335 mm² die, yielding a density of 51.3 million transistors per square millimeter. The RX 580 2048SP contains only 5,700 million transistors on a 232 mm² die, with a density of 24.6 million per square millimeter. The RX 6700M has more than three times the transistor count in only 44% more die area, a direct consequence of the 7 nm process.

Memory configurations differ substantially. The RX 6700M features 10 GB of GDDR6 on a 160-bit bus, delivering 320.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The RX 580 2048SP uses 4 GB of GDDR5 on a wider 256-bit bus, achieving 224.0 GB/s. Although the RX 580 2048SP has a wider bus, the GDDR6 memory on the RX 6700M runs at 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective) versus 1750 MHz (7 Gbps effective) for GDDR5, resulting in 43% more bandwidth for the newer card. The RX 6700M also carries 10 GB of VRAM versus 4 GB, a critical difference for modern texture-heavy workloads.

The compute units tell a clear story. The RX 6700M has 2304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, 64 render output units, and 36 dedicated ray tracing cores. The RX 580 2048SP has 2048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and only 32 ROPs, with no ray tracing hardware at all. The pixel rate for the RX 6700M is 153.6 GPixel/s versus 41.09 GPixel/s for the RX 580 2048SP, a 274% advantage. Texture rate follows suit: 345.6 GTexel/s versus 164.4 GTexel/s, a 110% lead. The FP32 compute rating is 11.06 TFLOPS for the RX 6700M against 5.259 TFLOPS for the RX 580 2048SP, more than double. The RX 6700M also supports FP16 at 22.12 TFLOPS via a 2:1 ratio, while the RX 580 2048SP is locked at 5.259 TFLOPS for both FP32 and FP16 (1:1).

API support differs as well. The RX 6700M supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, while the RX 580 2048SP is limited to DirectX 12 (12_0) and Vulkan 1.3. The RX 6700M's ray tracing cores enable hardware-accelerated ray tracing, a feature entirely absent from the RX 580 2048SP. The power envelope is notable: the RX 6700M has a 135 W TDP despite its higher performance, while the RX 580 2048SP draws 150 W. The RX 580 2048SP requires a dual-slot cooler, a PCIe 3.0 x16 interface, a 1x 8-pin power connector, and a 450 W suggested power supply. The RX 6700M is an integrated graphics package (IGP) with no power connectors and a PCIe 4.0 x16 interface, reflecting its mobile-oriented design.

Where Each One Wins

The RX 6700M wins every benchmark category in the database. Its largest advantage appears in Geekbench OpenCL, where it leads by 161.8%. This makes it the clear choice for compute-intensive applications such as rendering, scientific simulation, and machine learning inference that leverage OpenCL. The Vulkan test shows a 134.9% lead, indicating strong performance in modern cross-platform game engines and Vulkan-based applications. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 result, with a 117.3% advantage, confirms superiority in contemporary DirectX 12 gaming workloads.

The RX 580 2048SP has no recorded wins in any head-to-head comparison. Its strengths, if any, would lie in legacy scenarios: it supports DirectX 12 (12_0) but lacks the Ultimate feature set, and its Vulkan support stops at 1.3. For older DirectX 11 or DirectX 9 titles, the RX 580 2048SP's architecture may remain functional, but the database shows no benchmark results where it outperforms the RX 6700M. The RX 580 2048SP does offer a multi-display output configuration with 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0b, and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, which could be relevant for multi-monitor productivity setups, though this is a feature difference rather than a performance win.

The RX 6700M's 71st percentile ranking versus the RX 580 2048SP's 68th percentile shows that the newer card sits above its rival in the overall GPU hierarchy. The average benchmark score difference of 2,572 points (25,633 versus 23,061) represents a meaningful performance tier gap, but the individual test deltas of 117% to 162% reveal that the RX 580 2048SP is not merely a step behind; it is in a different performance class entirely for modern workloads.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the AMD Radeon RX 6700M is the superior GPU in every measured dimension. Its 71st percentile ranking, 25,633 average benchmark score, and complete sweep of head-to-head tests establish it as the clear winner. The RX 6700M delivers more than double the performance in DX12 gaming, nearly triple in OpenCL compute, and well over double in Vulkan workloads. For any user running modern applications, the RX 6700M is the only rational choice from this pairing.

The RX 580 2048SP, with its 68th percentile ranking and 23,061 average score, remains a functional GPU for older titles and basic compute tasks, but it cannot compete with the RX 6700M's architectural advantages. The RX 580 2048SP's 4 GB VRAM and 224 GB/s bandwidth create bottlenecks in modern games, while its lack of ray tracing cores excludes it from DirectX 12 Ultimate features. The RX 6700M's 10 GB VRAM, 320 GB/s bandwidth, and 36 ray tracing cores position it for current and near-future titles.

Power efficiency further favors the RX 6700M: it delivers all of this performance at 135 W TDP, 15 W lower than the RX 580 2048SP. The RX 6700M's 7 nm process and RDNA 2.0 architecture achieve 11.06 TFLOPS FP32 performance at lower power draw, whereas the RX 580 2048SP requires more power for less than half the compute throughput. Users should select the RX 6700M for any new system build or upgrade path. The RX 580 2048SP is only relevant for systems with legacy power delivery constraints or for users who specifically need its multi-output display configuration.

FAQ

Q: How much faster is the RX 6700M than the RX 580 2048SP in DX12 gaming?

A: In the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, the RX 6700M scores 1845 against 849 for the RX 580 2048SP, a 117.3% performance advantage.

Q: Which GPU has better compute performance for OpenCL workloads?

A: The RX 6700M leads by 161.8% in Geekbench OpenCL, scoring 77,666 points versus 29,668 points for the RX 580 2048SP.

Q: Does the RX 580 2048SP support ray tracing?

A: No. The RX 580 2048SP has no ray tracing cores, while the RX 6700M includes 36 dedicated ray tracing cores as part of its RDNA 2.0 architecture.

Q: What are the memory capacity and bandwidth differences?

A: The RX 6700M has 10 GB of GDDR6 with 320.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the RX 580 2048SP has 4 GB of GDDR5 with 224.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which GPU is more power efficient?

A: The RX 6700M has a 135 W TDP, while the RX 580 2048SP has a 150 W TDP, making the RX 6700M both more powerful and less power-hungry.

Q: What API level does each GPU support?

A: The RX 6700M supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, while the RX 580 2048SP is limited to DirectX 12 (12_0) and Vulkan 1.3.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon RX 6700M | AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP |

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

| Architecture | RDNA 2.0 | GCN 4.0 |

| Chip | Navi 22 | Polaris 20 |

| Process Node | 7 nm | 14 nm |

| Foundry | TSMC | GlobalFoundries |

| Transistors | 17,200 million | 5,700 million |

| Die Size | 335 mm² | 232 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 51.3M / mm² | 24.6M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1489 MHz | 1168 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 2400 MHz | 1284 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective) | 1750 MHz (7 Gbps effective) |

| Memory Size | 10 GB | 4 GB |

| Memory Type | GDDR6 | GDDR5 |

| Memory Bus Width | 160 bit | 256 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 320.0 GB/s | 224.0 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 2304 | 2048 |

| TMUs | 144 | 128 |

| ROPs | 64 | 32 |

| Ray Tracing Cores | 36 | None |

| Pixel Rate | 153.6 GPixel/s | 41.09 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 345.6 GTexel/s | 164.4 GTexel/s |

| FP32 Performance | 11.06 TFLOPS | 5.259 TFLOPS |

| FP16 Performance | 22.12 TFLOPS (2:1) | 5.259 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 135 W | 150 W |

| Slot Width | IGP | Dual-slot |

| Power Connectors | None | 1x 8-pin |

| Suggested PSU | None | 450 W |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 4.0 x16 | PCIe 3.0 x16 |

| Display Outputs | Portable Device Dependent | 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0b, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a |

| DirectX Support | 12 Ultimate (12_2) | 12 (12_0) |

| Vulkan Support | 1.4 | 1.3 |

| Release Date | 2021-05-30 | 2018-10-14 |