AMD Radeon RX 6600S vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data contains a single directly comparable benchmark between these two mobile graphics processors: Geekbench OpenCL. The AMD Radeon RX 6600S scores 66,435 points, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M scores 9,821 points. That is a 576.5% advantage for the AMD part, making it the clear winner in raw compute throughput as measured by this workload.

The margin is enormous, and it reflects the generational gap rather than a close contest. The RX 6600S sits at the 49th percentile of all GPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 10,629. Its nearest rivals in average score are the AMD Radeon R9 M275X (10,582, 0.4% ahead), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti (10,690, 0.6% behind), the NVIDIA Quadro K2200 (10,761, 1.2% behind), and the AMD Radeon RX 550X (10,481, 1.4% ahead). In other words, despite its high OpenCL score, the RX 6600S's average performance across all recorded tests places it in the middle of the pack, just a few percentage points away from much older desktop parts.

The GTX 850M, by contrast, lands at the 46th percentile with an average score of 9,302. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 465 (9,294, 0.1% ahead), the AMD Radeon R7 M380 (9,313, 0.1% behind), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 (9,273, 0.3% ahead), and the AMD Radeon Vega 8 (9,221, 0.9% ahead). The delta between the two parts in average score is about 14.3% in favor of the RX 6600S, but the OpenCL gap is far larger, suggesting the 6600S is heavily optimized for compute-style workloads while its gaming average is less dominant.

In the head-to-head table, the RX 6600S wins the only recorded contest. There are no benchmark entries where the GTX 850M comes out ahead. This is a one-sided comparison in the available data, though the average scores show that the 850M is not completely outclassed in mixed workloads.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide is stark. The AMD Radeon RX 6600S uses the Navi 23 chip built on RDNA 2.0, fabricated on TSMC's 7 nm process. It packs 11,060 million transistors into a 237 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 46.7 million per square millimeter. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M uses the GM107 chip based on the Maxwell architecture, also from TSMC but on a 28 nm process. It holds 1,870 million transistors on a 148 mm² die, with a density of 12.6 million per square millimeter.

The RX 6600S is a modern part with 1,792 shading units, 112 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs. It also includes 28 dedicated ray tracing cores, which the GTX 850M lacks entirely. The GTX 850M has 640 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. That is a 2.8x difference in shading units and a 2.8x difference in TMUs, while the ROP count is 4x higher on the AMD side.

Clock behavior differs as well. The RX 6600S has a base clock of 1700 MHz, a boost clock of 2000 MHz, and a game clock of 1881 MHz. The GTX 850M has no recorded base, boost, or game clocks in the database, only a memory clock. Memory architecture is another split: the RX 6600S uses 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus with 224.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the GTX 850M uses 2 GB of DDR3 on the same 128-bit bus but with only 32.03 GB/s bandwidth. That is a 7x bandwidth advantage for the AMD part.

Pixel and texture rates reinforce the gap. The RX 6600S achieves 128.0 GPixel/s and 224.0 GTexel/s, versus 14.43 GPixel/s and 36.08 GTexel/s for the GTX 850M. FP32 compute is listed at 7.168 TFLOPS for the AMD part and 1,154.6 GFLOPS (about 1.15 TFLOPS) for the NVIDIA part, a 6.2x difference. The RX 6600S also supports FP16 at 14.34 TFLOPS with a 2:1 ratio, while the GTX 850M has no recorded FP16 capability.

API support diverges too. The RX 6600S supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The GTX 850M supports DirectX 12 (11_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The newer DirectX feature level on the AMD side is notable.

Where Each One Wins

The RX 6600S wins decisively in compute-heavy scenarios, as shown by the Geekbench OpenCL result. That benchmark is a strong indicator for GPU-accelerated tasks such as rendering, video encoding, and scientific computing. The 576.5% lead over the GTX 850M in that test means any workload that leverages OpenCL will see a massive performance uplift on the AMD part.

The GTX 850M does not win any recorded benchmark. However, its average score of 9,302 versus the RX 6600S's 10,629 suggests that in mixed DirectX gaming workloads, the gap is much smaller than the OpenCL result implies. The 850M's nearest rivals include the GTX 960, which is only 0.3% ahead in average score, and the Vega 8, which is 0.9% behind. This indicates the GTX 850M is still competitive with entry-level desktop parts from a few generations ago, but it is not in the same class as the RX 6600S.

In terms of use cases, the RX 6600S is the choice for anything that stresses memory bandwidth and raw compute. Its 224 GB/s bandwidth and 7.168 TFLOPS FP32 make it suitable for modern games with high-resolution textures and for compute acceleration. The GTX 850M, with its 2 GB DDR3 and 32.03 GB/s bandwidth, is limited to older or less demanding titles and light compute tasks. The 850M's 45 W TDP versus the 80 W TDP of the RX 6600S also suggests the older part is more power-efficient per watt, but the performance per watt is not recorded in the database.

The RX 6600S also wins on connectivity: it uses PCIe 4.0 x8, while the GTX 850M uses PCIe 3.0 x16. The newer bus standard offers higher bandwidth per lane, which matters for data transfer to and from the GPU.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ in nearly every measurable specification except the memory bus width, which is 128 bit for both. The RX 6600S uses GDDR6 memory with 4 GB capacity and 224.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the GTX 850M uses DDR3 with 2 GB capacity and 32.03 GB/s bandwidth. The AMD part has 1,792 shading units, 112 TMUs, 64 ROPs, and 28 ray tracing cores; the NVIDIA part has 640 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 16 ROPs, with no ray tracing cores.

Process node is 7 nm for AMD versus 28 nm for NVIDIA. Transistor count is 11,060 million versus 1,870 million, and die size is 237 mm² versus 148 mm². The RX 6600S has a base clock of 1700 MHz, a boost clock of 2000 MHz, and a game clock of 1881 MHz; the GTX 850M has no recorded clocks beyond memory at 1001 MHz (2 Gbps effective). Pixel rate is 128.0 GPixel/s versus 14.43 GPixel/s, texture rate is 224.0 GTexel/s versus 36.08 GTexel/s, and FP32 is 7.168 TFLOPS versus 1,154.6 GFLOPS. The RX 6600S supports FP16 at 14.34 TFLOPS; the GTX 850M has no FP16 listed.

TDP is 80 W for the AMD part and 45 W for the NVIDIA part. Both are integrated into portable devices with no power connectors and no slot width beyond IGP. The RX 6600S uses PCIe 4.0 x8; the GTX 850M uses PCIe 3.0 x16. DirectX support is 12 Ultimate (12_2) for AMD versus 12 (11_0) for NVIDIA. OpenGL and Vulkan are identical at 4.6 and 1.4.

The RX 6600S was released on 2022-01-03, while the GTX 850M was released on 2014-03-11. The AMD part is from the Radeon RX 6000 series with a Navi Mobile (RX 6000M) generation, and its predecessor is Polaris Mobile. The NVIDIA part is from the GeForce 800M generation, with the GeForce 700M as predecessor and the GeForce 900M as successor. Both are end-of-life.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in compute workloads?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6600S is far faster. In Geekbench OpenCL, it scores 66,435 versus 9,821 for the GTX 850M, a 576.5% advantage.

Q: How do the memory subsystems compare?

A: The RX 6600S has 4 GB of GDDR6 with 224.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the GTX 850M has 2 GB of DDR3 with 32.03 GB/s bandwidth. Both use a 128-bit bus.

Q: Does the GTX 850M support ray tracing?

A: No. The GTX 850M has no ray tracing cores. The RX 6600S includes 28 dedicated ray tracing cores.

Q: What is the difference in TDP?

A: The RX 6600S has an 80 W TDP, while the GTX 850M has a 45 W TDP. This means the NVIDIA part draws less power, but the AMD part delivers significantly more performance.

Q: Which GPU is more modern?

A: The RX 6600S was released on 2022-01-03, while the GTX 850M was released on 2014-03-11. The RX 6600S is built on a 7 nm process and uses the RDNA 2.0 architecture; the GTX 850M uses a 28 nm process and the Maxwell architecture.

Q: How do their average benchmark scores compare?

A: The RX 6600S has an average benchmark score of 10,629, placing it at the 49th percentile. The GTX 850M has an average score of 9,302, at the 46th percentile. That is about a 14.3% difference in average score.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous. The AMD Radeon RX 6600S is the superior GPU in every recorded measurement. It wins the only head-to-head benchmark by a massive margin, offers more than six times the FP32 compute, and has a 7x memory bandwidth advantage. It also brings modern features like ray tracing cores and DirectX 12 Ultimate support, which the GTX 850M lacks entirely.

The GTX 850M is not without merit for its era. Its 45 W TDP makes it a low-power option for older laptops, and its average score of 9,302 is close to the RX 6600S's 10,629 in mixed workloads. But the gap in compute, memory, and feature support is too wide to ignore. Anyone choosing between these two should pick the RX 6600S for any task that involves modern gaming, content creation, or GPU compute. The GTX 850M belongs in legacy systems where power draw is the primary concern and performance expectations are modest. If you have the option, the RX 6600S is the only reasonable choice from the recorded data.