AMD Radeon RX 6600 vs AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The benchmark results show a clear overall victory for the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT, which wins 8 of the 10 recorded head-to-head tests. Its most dominant performance comes in the Geekbench OpenCL test, where the RX 7600 XT scores 92,426 compared to the RX 6600's 28,850, a massive 68.8% advantage. This indicates a substantial leap in raw compute throughput for the newer card, likely reflecting its redesigned compute architecture and higher shading unit count.

The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test also shows a decisive win for the RX 7600 XT, with a score of 2,348 versus 1,492 for the RX 6600, a 36.5% difference. This modern API test is particularly relevant for contemporary gaming workloads, and the data suggests the RX 7600 XT handles DirectX 12 titles with significantly more headroom.

In the Passmark suite, the RX 7600 XT leads in most subtests. The DirectX 11 test shows a 9% advantage (167 vs. 152), the DirectX 12 test shows a 21.5% advantage (65 vs. 51), and the DirectX 9 test shows a 13.6% advantage (228 vs. 197). The RX 7600 XT also wins the Passmark G3D test with 17,132 points against 15,096 (an 11.9% delta) and the GPU compute test with 8,987 against 6,554 (a 27.1% delta). Even the 2D performance (Passmark G2D) favors the newer card, with 1,030 points versus 889, a 13.7% difference.

However, the AMD Radeon RX 6600 secures two notable wins. The Geekbench Vulkan test is a significant victory for the older card, scoring 67,623 against the RX 7600 XT's 48,366, a 39.8% delta. This is a surprising result that may indicate driver optimizations or architectural quirks that favor the RX 6600 in this specific API. The RX 6600 also wins the Passmark DirectX 10 test, scoring 95 against 85, an 11.8% advantage. These wins are isolated but demonstrate that the RX 6600 retains competitive strength in legacy API scenarios.

FAQ

Q: Which card has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6600 has a higher average benchmark score of 19,036, while the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT averages 17,083. Despite losing most head-to-head tests, the RX 6600's average is boosted by its excellent Geekbench Vulkan score. The RX 6600 also sits at the 63rd percentile of all GPUs, compared to the RX 7600 XT's 60th percentile.

Q: How does the RX 7600 XT compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RX 7600 XT's average score of 17,083 places it 0.3% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 (17,037), 0.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon HD 7970M (17,019), and 0.9% ahead of the NVIDIA Tesla M4 (16,932). It trails the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 (17,208) by 0.7%.

Q: What is the performance gap between the two cards in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test?

A: The RX 7600 XT leads by 36.5% in this test, scoring 2,348 against the RX 6600's 1,492. This is one of the largest gaps in the head-to-head results and indicates a strong generational improvement for modern DirectX 12 gaming.

Q: In which benchmark does the RX 6600 achieve its largest victory?

A: The RX 6600's largest win is in the Geekbench Vulkan test, where it scores 67,623 compared to the RX 7600 XT's 48,366, a 39.8% advantage. This is a substantial margin and a notable exception to the RX 7600 XT's overall dominance.

Q: Are both cards using the same memory type?

A: Yes, both cards use GDDR6 memory. However, the RX 7600 XT has a larger capacity of 16 GB compared to the RX 6600's 8 GB. Both have a 128-bit memory bus, but the RX 7600 XT has higher bandwidth at 288.0 GB/s versus 224.0 GB/s.

Q: Which card has the higher boost clock speed?

A: The RX 7600 XT has a boost clock of 2755 MHz, which is higher than the RX 6600's boost clock of 2491 MHz. The RX 7600 XT also has a higher base clock (1980 MHz vs. 1626 MHz) and a higher game clock (2470 MHz vs. 2044 MHz).

Architecture Differences

The two cards belong to different generations of AMD's Radeon architecture. The RX 6600 is built on RDNA 2.0 with the Navi 23 chip, part of the Navi II (RX 6000) generation. The RX 7600 XT uses RDNA 3.0 with the Navi 33 chip, codenamed "Hotpink Bonefish," part of the Navi III (RX 7000) generation.

The manufacturing process has improved: the RX 6600 uses a 7 nm node at TSMC, while the RX 7600 XT uses a more advanced 6 nm node, also at TSMC. This allows the RX 7600 XT to pack 13,300 million transistors into a smaller die of 204 mm², versus 11,060 million transistors in a 237 mm² die for the RX 6600. The transistor density increases from 46.7M per mm² on the RX 6600 to 65.2M per mm² on the RX 7600 XT, representing a roughly 40% improvement in packing efficiency.

Compute resources are higher on the RX 7600 XT. It has 2,048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 32 ray tracing cores, compared to the RX 6600's 1,792 shading units, 112 TMUs, and 28 ray tracing cores. Both cards maintain 64 ROPs. The FP32 throughput is dramatically different: the RX 7600 XT delivers 22.57 TFLOPS, while the RX 6600 delivers 8.928 TFLOPS. The FP16 performance also differs in a notable way: the RX 7600 XT achieves 22.57 TFLOPS at a 1:1 ratio, while the RX 6600 achieves 17.86 TFLOPS at a 2:1 ratio, meaning the RX 7600 XT does not rely on rate conversion for half-precision work.

The memory subsystem shows architectural progression. The RX 7600 XT has 16 GB of GDDR6, double the RX 6600's 8 GB. While both use a 128-bit bus, the RX 7600 XT achieves 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth versus 224.0 GB/s for the RX 6600, a 28.6% increase. The pixel rate is higher on the RX 7600 XT at 176.3 GPixel/s versus 159.4 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is substantially higher at 352.6 GTexel/s versus 279.0 GTexel/s.

Both cards support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. They also share the same PCIe 4.0 x8 bus interface. The display outputs differ: the RX 6600 offers 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, while the RX 7600 XT offers 1x HDMI 2.1a and 3x DisplayPort 2.1.

Specification Differences

The following table summarizes the key specification differences between the two cards:

| Specification | AMD Radeon RX 6600 | AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT |

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

| Architecture | RDNA 2.0 | RDNA 3.0 |

| Chip | Navi 23 | Navi 33 |

| Codename | None | Hotpink Bonefish |

| Generation | Navi II (RX 6000) | Navi III (RX 7000) |

| Process Node | 7 nm | 6 nm |

| Transistors | 11,060 million | 13,300 million |

| Die Size | 237 mm² | 204 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 46.7M / mm² | 65.2M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1626 MHz | 1980 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 2491 MHz | 2755 MHz |

| Game Clock | 2044 MHz | 2470 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) | 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective) |

| Memory Size | 8 GB | 16 GB |

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

| Shading Units | 1792 | 2048 |

| TMUs | 112 | 128 |

| RT Cores | 28 | 32 |

| Pixel Rate | 159.4 GPixel/s | 176.3 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 279.0 GTexel/s | 352.6 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 8.928 TFLOPS | 22.57 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 17.86 TFLOPS (2:1) | 22.57 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 132 W | 190 W |

| Suggested PSU | 300 W | 450 W |

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

| Dimensions | 190 mm (7.5 inches) length, 110 mm (4.3 inches) height, 40 mm (1.6 inches) width | 204 mm (8 inches) length, 115 mm (4.5 inches) height, width not recorded |

| Production Status | End-of-life | Active |

| Release Date | 2021-10-12 | 2024-01-23 |

| Predecessor | Navi | Navi II |

| Successor | Navi III | Navi IV |

| Launch MSRP | 329 USD | 329 USD |

Both cards are dual-slot designs with a single 8-pin power connector. The RX 7600 XT is physically longer and taller than the RX 6600. The RX 7600 XT has a higher TDP of 190 W versus 132 W, and requires a larger suggested PSU of 450 W versus 300 W.

The Verdict

The benchmark data presents a nuanced picture. The AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT wins the majority of tests (8 out of 10), including the modern 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 benchmark with a 36.5% lead, the Passmark G3D test with an 11.9% lead, and the Geekbench OpenCL test with a 68.8% lead. For users targeting current DirectX 12 games and compute-heavy workloads, the RX 7600 XT is the clearly superior choice based on raw performance metrics. Its higher shading unit count, doubled memory capacity, and higher bandwidth all support this conclusion.

However, the AMD Radeon RX 6600 should not be dismissed outright. Its victory in the Geekbench Vulkan test by 39.8% suggests that applications or games running on the Vulkan API may see better performance on the older card. Additionally, the RX 6600 has a higher average benchmark score (19,036 vs. 17,083) and a higher percentile ranking (63rd vs. 60th), which is primarily driven by that Vulkan result. The RX 6600 also wins the Passmark DirectX 10 test by 11.8%, indicating it remains competitive in legacy API scenarios.

The RX 7600 XT's advantages in architecture are substantial: a newer 6 nm process, a higher transistor density, a smaller die, and a significantly higher FP32 throughput (22.57 TFLOPS vs. 8.928 TFLOPS). It also offers double the memory (16 GB vs. 8 GB) and higher bandwidth. The RX 6600 is listed as end-of-life, while the RX 7600 XT is active, which may matter for long-term support and availability.

For users who prioritize modern DirectX 12 gaming, compute performance, and memory capacity, the RX 7600 XT is the data-backed choice. For those who specifically use Vulkan-heavy applications or legacy DirectX 10 titles, the RX 6600 shows surprising strength. The recorded data does not support a universal recommendation; the optimal pick depends on the workload mix. The RX 7600 XT's higher power draw (190 W vs. 132 W) and larger physical footprint are trade-offs for its performance gains, but the benchmark results justify those costs in most scenarios.