AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT vs AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT Comparison

The AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT and the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT are both RDNA 2.0 parts from the Navi II generation, but the recorded data shows they occupy different tiers of performance. The RX 6700 XT takes 10 of 11 head-to-head benchmark wins, with its average benchmark score of 27425 placing it in the 72nd percentile of all GPUs, while the RX 6600 XT’s 24442 average score sits in the 70th percentile. These are not distant siblings; the gap is substantial in most tests, yet one notable exception flips the script entirely.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most dominant victory for the RX 6700 XT comes in the Geekbench Metal test, where it scores 130896 against the RX 6600 XT’s 88720, a delta of 47.5%. That is the largest percentage gap in the entire comparison, indicating a massive advantage in this compute-oriented workload. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test also shows a clear hierarchy, with the RX 6700 XT scoring 2435 versus 1804, a 35% lead. These two tests alone establish the RX 6700 XT as the stronger compute and modern API performer.

The RX 6700 XT continues its sweep in the Vulkan API, posting 93500 against 72417, a 29.1% advantage. In the Passmark suite, the RX 6700 XT wins every single test. The DirectX 12 result is particularly lopsided: 77 versus 61, a 26.2% delta. DirectX 9 shows a 24.7% lead (242 vs 194), and GPU Compute shows a 24.1% edge (9336 vs 7520). The DirectX 10 test gives the RX 6700 XT a 13.8% win (124 vs 109), while DirectX 11 is closer at 6.1% (173 vs 163). Even the 2D test, Passmark G2D, goes to the RX 6700 XT with a narrow 4.3% margin (951 vs 912). The overall Passmark G3D score reflects this pattern: 19786 for the RX 6700 XT versus 16461 for the RX 6600 XT, a 20.2% win.

However, the RX 6600 XT has one decisive counterpoint. In Geekbench OpenCL, it scores 80503, crushing the RX 6700 XT’s 44152. That is a 45.2% reversal in favor of the smaller card. This is not a marginal slip; it is a complete inversion of the performance hierarchy seen everywhere else. The data indicates that in this specific OpenCL workload, the RX 6600 XT is the faster card by a wide margin, making it a specialist for applications that rely heavily on that API.

Architecture Differences

Both cards are built on the same 7 nm TSMC process and RDNA 2.0 architecture, but they use different dies. The RX 6700 XT uses the Navi 22 chip with 17,200 million transistors on a 335 mm² die, while the RX 6600 XT uses the Navi 23 chip with 11,060 million transistors on a 237 mm² die. The transistor density differs slightly: 51.3M per mm² for the Navi 22 versus 46.7M per mm² for the Navi 23. This means the RX 6700 XT is a physically larger and more complex chip.

The execution resources scale accordingly. The RX 6700 XT has 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 render output units. The RX 6600 XT has 2048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and the same 64 ROPs. Ray tracing cores also differ: 40 on the RX 6700 XT versus 32 on the RX 6600 XT. The pixel rate is nearly identical (165.2 GPixel/s vs 165.7 GPixel/s), but the texture rate favors the larger card: 413.0 GTexel/s versus 331.4 GTexel/s. FP32 compute is 13.21 TFLOPS on the RX 6700 XT versus 10.60 TFLOPS on the RX 6600 XT, with FP16 doubling to 26.43 and 21.21 TFLOPS respectively.

Memory is another major divider. The RX 6700 XT comes with 12 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, delivering 384.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The RX 6600 XT has 8 GB on a 128-bit bus, yielding 256.0 GB/s. Both run the same memory clock at 2000 MHz with 16 Gbps effective speed. The extra 4 GB and the wider bus give the RX 6700 XT a clear bandwidth advantage. Core clocks are closer: the RX 6700 XT has a base of 2321 MHz, a boost of 2581 MHz, and a game clock of 2424 MHz. The RX 6600 XT has a base of 1968 MHz, a boost of 2589 MHz, and a game clock of 2359 MHz. The boost clocks are nearly equal, but the RX 6700 XT sustains higher base and game frequencies.

Power and interface differences follow. The RX 6700 XT has a 230 W TDP with a 550 W suggested PSU and requires both a 6-pin and an 8-pin power connector. The RX 6600 XT has a 160 W TDP with a 450 W suggested PSU and only a single 8-pin connector. The RX 6700 XT uses a PCIe 4.0 x16 interface, while the RX 6600 XT uses a PCIe 4.0 x8 interface. Physically, the RX 6700 XT is longer at 267 mm (10.5 inches) versus 190 mm (7.5 inches) for the RX 6600 XT, though both are dual-slot with the same height and width. Both cards share the same display outputs (1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a) and API support (DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, Vulkan 1.4). The RX 6700 XT launched on 2021-03-02 with a launch MSRP of 479 USD, while the RX 6600 XT launched on 2021-07-29 with a launch MSRP of 379 USD.

The Verdict

The benchmark data is unambiguous for most workloads. The RX 6700 XT is the faster card in 10 of 11 recorded tests, with leads ranging from 4.3% in Passmark G2D to 47.5% in Geekbench Metal. Its average benchmark score of 27425 places it in the 72nd percentile, and its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 (scoring 27565, a delta of -0.5%) and the RTX 4070 Mobile (scoring 27435, a delta of 0%). This puts the RX 6700 XT in the company of high-end desktop GPUs from the previous generation.

The RX 6600 XT, with an average score of 24442, sits in the 70th percentile. Its nearest rivals are less imposing: the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1630 (scoring 24277, a delta of 0.7%), the Intel Arc A350M (scoring 24647, a delta of -0.8%), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER (scoring 24170, a delta of 1.1%). The delta between the two AMD cards is roughly 12.2% in average score, but the individual test deltas show this is not uniform. The RX 6700 XT is the pick for anyone prioritizing DirectX 12, Vulkan, Metal, or general compute performance. The RX 6600 XT is the pick only if OpenCL performance is the sole criterion, where it beats its larger sibling by 45.2%. For everything else, the data favors the RX 6700 XT, despite its higher power draw and larger physical footprint.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins the most head-to-head benchmarks?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT wins 10 of the 11 recorded tests. The only exception is Geekbench OpenCL, which the RX 6600 XT wins.

Q: What is the biggest performance gap between the two cards?

A: The largest gap is in Geekbench Metal, where the RX 6700 XT leads by 47.5% (130896 vs 88720). The second largest is the RX 6600 XT’s OpenCL win, leading by 45.2% (80503 vs 44152).

Q: Do both cards use the same architecture and process node?

A: Yes, both use the RDNA 2.0 architecture and are built on TSMC’s 7 nm process. They differ in die size and transistor count, with the Navi 22 (335 mm², 17,200 million) being larger than the Navi 23 (237 mm², 11,060 million).

Q: How does memory capacity and bandwidth compare?

A: The RX 6700 XT has 12 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus with 384.0 GB/s bandwidth. The RX 6600 XT has 8 GB on a 128-bit bus with 256.0 GB/s bandwidth. Both run at 2000 MHz with 16 Gbps effective speed.

Q: What is the percentile ranking for each card?

A: The RX 6700 XT is in the 72nd percentile of all GPUs, while the RX 6600 XT is in the 70th percentile.

Q: Which card has a higher boost clock?

A: The RX 6600 XT has a slightly higher boost clock of 2589 MHz versus 2581 MHz on the RX 6700 XT. However, the RX 6700 XT has a higher base clock (2321 MHz vs 1968 MHz) and game clock (2424 MHz vs 2359 MHz).

Where Each One Wins

The RX 6700 XT is the clear winner for modern gaming and compute workloads. Its 35% lead in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 and 29.1% lead in Geekbench Vulkan indicate it handles current-generation APIs with significantly more headroom. The 20.2% advantage in Passmark G3D reinforces this, making it the go-to choice for 1440p or higher gaming sessions where texture rate and FP32 compute matter. The 47.5% Metal win also makes it the better option for macOS or Metal-based applications, despite being a Windows-centric card. Its 12 GB memory buffer and 384.0 GB/s bandwidth provide more capacity and speed for texture-heavy scenes or larger datasets, which is reflected in its higher compute scores.

The RX 6600 XT wins in exactly one scenario, but it wins big. Its 45.2% OpenCL victory is a specialist result. OpenCL is used in certain scientific, video encoding, and OpenCL-specific compute tasks. If the workload is exclusively OpenCL, the RX 6600 XT is the faster card by a massive margin, and its lower TDP of 160 W (versus 230 W) and smaller 190 mm length make it easier to fit in compact builds. The data does not support a general recommendation for the RX 6600 XT over the RX 6700 XT for gaming, as it loses every gaming-related test (DirectX 9 through 12, Vulkan, and G3D). Its only other competitive result is Passmark G2D, where it trails by just 4.3%, indicating the 2D desktop performance is nearly equivalent. For users who need raw OpenCL throughput in a smaller, lower-power package, the RX 6600 XT is the data-backed choice; for all other purposes, the RX 6700 XT is the superior performer.