AMD Radeon RX 6600 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Mobile Comparison

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Mobile and the AMD Radeon RX 6600 represent two distinct approaches to graphics hardware, separated by a full generation of process technology and architectural design. The database records 10 head-to-head benchmarks, with the NVIDIA part taking 9 wins and the AMD card claiming only 1, yet the nature of those victories reveals a more nuanced story about where each GPU fits. The RTX 5060 Mobile posts an average benchmark score of 22,435, placing it in the 67th percentile of all GPUs, while the RX 6600 averages 19,036, sitting at the 63rd percentile. The delta between their average scores is roughly 18% in favor of the NVIDIA solution, a gap that widens dramatically in specific compute and modern API workloads.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 5060 Mobile dominates almost every measured category, but its most extreme victories come in compute-heavy and next-generation workloads. In Geekbench OpenCL, the NVIDIA part scores 96,969 against the AMD card's 28,850, a 236.1% advantage that reflects the fundamental compute throughput gap between these two designs. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test tells a similar story: the RTX 5060 Mobile scores 3,013.5 versus 1,492 for the RX 6600, a 102% lead that shows the NVIDIA part is effectively twice as fast in modern, DirectX 12-based gaming scenarios. Geekbench Vulkan also favors NVIDIA by 42.6%, with scores of 96,451 and 67,623 respectively.

The RX 6600's single win comes in Passmark G2D, a 2D graphics and desktop composition test, where it scores 889 against 876 for the RTX 5060 Mobile, a marginal 1.5% edge. This is a narrow victory in a workload that rarely stresses modern GPUs, but it does indicate that the AMD card's higher pixel throughput, 159.4 GPixel/s versus 69.84 GPixel/s, gives it an advantage in certain rasterization-light scenarios. For legacy DirectX 9 workloads, the two cards are nearly tied: the RTX 5060 Mobile scores 203 against 197 for the RX 6600, a 3% lead that suggests the NVIDIA part does not run away in older API titles. DirectX 11 and DirectX 10 show moderate NVIDIA leads of 10.5% and 25.3% respectively, while DirectX 12 shows a 70.6% gap in favor of NVIDIA.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide between these two GPUs is stark. The RTX 5060 Mobile uses the GB206 chip built on Blackwell 2.0 architecture, manufactured on a 5 nm process at TSMC with 21,900 million transistors packed into a 181 mm² die. This yields a transistor density of 121.0 million per mm², a figure that reflects the advanced node's ability to cram logic into a small area. The RX 6600, by contrast, uses the Navi 23 chip with RDNA 2.0 architecture, built on TSMC's 7 nm process with 11,060 million transistors spread across a larger 237 mm² die. Its transistor density is just 46.7 million per mm², less than half of the NVIDIA part's density despite the larger physical footprint.

The shading resources tell a complementary story. The RTX 5060 Mobile carries 3,328 shading units, 104 texture mapping units, and 48 ROPs, while the RX 6600 has 1,792 shading units, 112 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. NVIDIA's advantage in shader count is offset somewhat by AMD's higher texture and pixel throughput. The RX 6600 achieves 279.0 GTexel/s and 159.4 GPixel/s, while the RTX 5060 Mobile manages 151.3 GTexel/s and 69.84 GPixel/s. This explains why the AMD card can win the 2D test despite being far behind in compute. Ray tracing hardware is present on both, with 26 RT cores on the NVIDIA part and 28 on the AMD card, but the RTX 5060 Mobile also includes 104 tensor cores, a feature class the RX 6600 lacks entirely.

Memory systems also diverge. Both cards have 8 GB of VRAM on a 128-bit bus, but the RTX 5060 Mobile uses GDDR7 at 24 Gbps effective, delivering 384.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The RX 6600 uses GDDR6 at 14 Gbps effective for 224.0 GB/s, a 71% bandwidth deficit that shows up in the compute benchmarks. The NVIDIA part runs at a 952 MHz base and 1,455 MHz boost clock, while the AMD card boosts much higher to 2,491 MHz with a 2,044 MHz game clock. Despite the lower clocks, the RTX 5060 Mobile's FP32 throughput of 9.684 TFLOPS edges out the RX 6600's 8.928 TFLOPS, and the NVIDIA part matches its FP16 performance at a 1:1 ratio while the AMD card achieves 17.86 TFLOPS at a 2:1 ratio.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has better DirectX 12 performance?

A: The RTX 5060 Mobile wins decisively. In Passmark DirectX 12, it scores 87 against the RX 6600's 51, a 70.6% advantage. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test shows a 102% lead, with scores of 3,013.5 and 1,492 respectively.

Q: Is the RX 6600 competitive in any workload?

A: Yes, in 2D graphics. The RX 6600 wins Passmark G2D with a score of 889 against 876 for the RTX 5060 Mobile, a 1.5% edge. It also comes close in DirectX 9, trailing by only 3% with 197 versus 203.

Q: How large is the compute performance gap?

A: The gap is enormous in OpenCL. The RTX 5060 Mobile scores 96,969 while the RX 6600 scores 28,850, a 236.1% difference. Passmark GPU Compute shows a smaller but still significant 16.1% lead for NVIDIA, 7,607 versus 6,554.

Q: What are the power requirements of these cards?

A: The RTX 5060 Mobile has a 45 W TDP and is an integrated graphics package with no power connectors. The RX 6600 has a 132 W TDP, requires a single 8-pin power connector, and recommends a 300 W power supply.

Q: Which card is positioned better in the overall GPU hierarchy?

A: The RTX 5060 Mobile sits at the 67th percentile of all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 22,435, while the RX 6600 is at the 63rd percentile with 19,036. The NVIDIA part's nearest rival is the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT, which scores 22,549, just 0.5% higher.

Q: How does memory bandwidth compare?

A: The RTX 5060 Mobile delivers 384.0 GB/s over GDDR7 memory, while the RX 6600 provides 224.0 GB/s over GDDR6. Both use an 8 GB frame buffer on a 128-bit bus.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every hardware specification. The RTX 5060 Mobile uses a 5 nm process with 21,900 million transistors on a 181 mm² die, while the RX 6600 uses 7 nm with 11,060 million transistors on a 237 mm² die. Transistor density is 121.0M per mm² for NVIDIA versus 46.7M per mm² for AMD. Clock speeds are higher on the AMD part: 1,626 MHz base and 2,491 MHz boost versus 952 MHz and 1,455 MHz for the NVIDIA chip, which also has no listed game clock. Memory type differs with GDDR7 on NVIDIA and GDDR6 on AMD, and bandwidth is 384.0 GB/s versus 224.0 GB/s. The shading unit count is 3,328 for NVIDIA versus 1,792 for AMD, but AMD has more TMUs (112 versus 104) and ROPs (64 versus 48). The RTX 5060 Mobile includes 104 tensor cores, while the RX 6600 has none. Power draw is drastically different: 45 W for the NVIDIA part versus 132 W for AMD, with the NVIDIA card being an IGP with no power connectors while the AMD card is dual-slot with a single 8-pin connector. The bus interface is PCIe 5.0 x16 for NVIDIA and PCIe 4.0 x8 for AMD. Display outputs are portable device dependent on the NVIDIA part, while the RX 6600 offers 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a. The RX 6600 measures 190 mm by 110 mm by 40 mm, while the RTX 5060 Mobile has no listed dimensions. Production status differs as well: the RTX 5060 Mobile is active, while the RX 6600 is end-of-life.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most lopsided result in the entire comparison is Geekbench OpenCL, where the RTX 5060 Mobile scores 96,969 against the RX 6600's 28,850, a 236.1% advantage. This is a compute benchmark that stresses raw shader throughput and memory bandwidth, and the NVIDIA part's combination of 3,328 shading units and 384.0 GB/s of GDDR7 bandwidth proves overwhelming. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test is the second-largest gap, with the RTX 5060 Mobile at 3,013.5 and the RX 6600 at 1,492, a 102% lead that indicates the NVIDIA card delivers roughly double the performance in modern DirectX 12 gaming.

Geekbench Vulkan narrows the gap somewhat, with the RTX 5060 Mobile scoring 96,451 against 67,623, a 42.6% advantage. This suggests that the RX 6600's RDNA 2.0 architecture handles Vulkan more efficiently relative to its raw compute than it does OpenCL, though it still loses decisively. Passmark DirectX 12 shows a 70.6% NVIDIA lead, 87 versus 51, while Passmark DirectX 10 shows a 25.3% gap, 119 versus 95. Passmark DirectX 11 is closer, with the RTX 5060 Mobile at 168 and the RX 6600 at 152, a 10.5% edge.

The Passmark G3D test, which aggregates gaming performance across several API levels, gives the RTX 5060 Mobile a 24.9% win with scores of 18,852 and 15,096. Passmark GPU Compute shows a 16.1% lead for NVIDIA, 7,607 versus 6,554, a much smaller gap than the OpenCL result suggests. DirectX 9 is the closest gaming benchmark, with the RTX 5060 Mobile scoring 203 against 197, a 3% delta that puts the two cards within striking distance in legacy titles. The only AMD win is Passmark G2D, where the RX 6600 scores 889 against 876, a 1.5% margin that reflects its higher pixel rate of 159.4 GPixel/s.

The database shows that the RTX 5060 Mobile is the stronger GPU in nearly every measurable way, with an average score 17.9% higher than the RX 6600 and a percentile ranking 4 points higher. The RX 6600's one victory and its competitive DirectX 9 showing do not offset the massive compute and modern API gaps, but its 2D performance and lower power draw make it a viable option for specific legacy or desktop-centric use cases. For anything involving DirectX 12, Vulkan, or compute workloads, the RTX 5060 Mobile is the clear choice based on the recorded data.