AMD Radeon RX 6700S vs AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT Comparison

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT and AMD Radeon RX 6700S occupy vastly different tiers of the graphics stack, and their benchmark results reflect that chasm. The RX 7700 XT, a desktop part from the Radeon RX 7000 series, dominates the majority of performance tests, while the RX 6700S, a mobile-first GPU from the Radeon RX 6000 series, claims a single, notable victory in one API-specific workload. The data shows a clear performance hierarchy, but the RX 6700S’s one win highlights where architectural trade-offs can shift the balance.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The RX 7700 XT wins 9 of the 10 head-to-head comparisons, often by wide margins. Its most decisive victory comes in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, where it scores 3316 against the RX 6700S’s 1451, a 128.5% advantage. This result alone establishes the desktop card as the superior choice for modern, API-heavy gaming workloads. The gap narrows but remains substantial in compute-focused tests: the RX 7700 XT posts 12912 in Passmark GPU Compute versus 5990 for the RX 6700S, a 115.6% lead. These two results indicate that the desktop card’s raw shader throughput translates directly into both gaming and non-gaming compute performance.

The RX 7700 XT’s lead persists across DirectX legacy and modern API tests. In Passmark DirectX 11, it scores 232 against 134, a 73.1% margin, while in Passmark DirectX 9 it achieves 294 versus 195, a 50.8% advantage. Even in DirectX 10 and DirectX 12, the desktop card wins by 36.8% and 36.2%, respectively, with scores of 119 vs 87 and 79 vs 58. These consistent wins across multiple DirectX versions suggest that the RX 7700 XT’s architectural efficiency scales better across API generations, not just in the latest titles.

The OpenCL benchmark reinforces this trend, with the RX 7700 XT scoring 138383 compared to the RX 6700S’s 70965, a 95% lead. The Passmark G3D test shows a 49.7% difference (22547 vs 15066), and the G2D test shows a 57.1% difference (1161 vs 739). The only category where the RX 6700S turns the tables is Geekbench Vulkan: it scores 76150 versus the RX 7700 XT’s 46443, a -39% delta in favor of the mobile chip. This outlier is significant because it demonstrates that the RX 6700S’s RDNA 2.0 architecture can outperform the newer RDNA 3.0 part in a specific low-level API scenario, likely due to driver optimization or workload-specific scheduling.

Average benchmark scores tell a similar story: the RX 7700 XT averages 22549, while the RX 6700S averages 22154. The RX 7700 XT’s nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Mobile, averages 22435 (a 0.5% delta), while the RX 6700S’s closest competitor is the AMD Radeon RX 5700 at 22170 (a -0.1% delta). Both cards sit in the 67th percentile of all GPUs, indicating that despite the performance gap between them, they occupy similar positions in the overall market distribution when accounting for all available graphics hardware.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide between these two GPUs is generational and physical. The RX 7700 XT uses the Navi 32 chip built on RDNA 3.0 architecture, fabricated on TSMC’s 5 nm process node. It packs 28,100 million transistors into a 346 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 81.2M per mm². In contrast, the RX 6700S uses the Navi 23 chip on RDNA 2.0 architecture, manufactured on TSMC’s 7 nm process. It contains 11,060 million transistors on a 237 mm² die, with a density of 46.7M per mm². This means the RX 7700 XT has roughly 2.5 times the transistor count on a die that is only about 46% larger, a direct result of the more advanced 5 nm process.

The compute resources scale accordingly. The RX 7700 XT features 3456 shading units, 216 texture mapping units (TMUs), 96 render output units (ROPs), and 54 ray tracing cores. The RX 6700S is roughly half of that: 1792 shading units, 112 TMUs, 64 ROPs, and 28 ray tracing cores. This halving of execution resources explains why the RX 7700 XT’s FP32 throughput is 35.17 TFLOPS versus the RX 6700S’s 7.168 TFLOPS. The RX 6700S does have a higher FP16 rate of 14.34 TFLOPS (2:1 ratio), but the RX 7700 XT matches its FP32 and FP16 at 35.17 TFLOPS (1:1 ratio), indicating a more efficient compute path on the newer architecture.

Memory subsystems also differ fundamentally. The RX 7700 XT ships with 12 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, delivering 432.0 GB/s of bandwidth, while the RX 6700S has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, yielding 224.0 GB/s. Clock speeds favor the mobile chip in base frequency (1700 MHz vs 1435 MHz) but the desktop card wins on boost (2544 MHz vs 2000 MHz) and game clock (2171 MHz vs 1890 MHz). The RX 7700 XT’s memory runs at 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective) versus the RX 6700S’s 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). The RX 7700 XT is a dual-slot desktop card with 2x 8-pin power connectors and a 245 W TDP, while the RX 6700S is an integrated graphics package (IGP) with no power connectors and an 80 W TDP, reflecting its mobile design constraints.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins in the Geekbench Vulkan benchmark?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6700S wins decisively, scoring 76150 compared to the RX 7700 XT’s 46443, a -39% delta in favor of the mobile chip. This is the only benchmark where the RX 6700S outperforms the RX 7700 XT.

Q: How large is the performance gap in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12?

A: The RX 7700 XT leads by 128.5%, scoring 3316 versus the RX 6700S’s 1451. This is the largest margin in any shared benchmark.

Q: What are the memory specifications for each GPU?

A: The RX 7700 XT has 12 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus with 432.0 GB/s bandwidth. The RX 6700S has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus with 224.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: How do the average benchmark scores compare?

A: The RX 7700 XT averages 22549, while the RX 6700S averages 22154. Both GPUs rank in the 67th percentile of all GPUs.

Q: Which GPU has a higher boost clock?

A: The RX 7700 XT boosts to 2544 MHz, while the RX 6700S boosts to 2000 MHz. The RX 6700S has a higher base clock at 1700 MHz versus 1435 MHz for the RX 7700 XT.

Q: What is the transistor count difference between the two chips?

A: The RX 7700 XT’s Navi 32 chip contains 28,100 million transistors, while the RX 6700S’s Navi 23 chip has 11,060 million transistors. The RX 7700 XT also uses a 5 nm process versus the 7 nm process of the RX 6700S.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every measurable specification. The RX 7700 XT uses the Navi 32 chip on RDNA 3.0 architecture, while the RX 6700S uses Navi 23 on RDNA 2.0. Process nodes differ: 5 nm for the RX 7700 XT versus 7 nm for the RX 6700S. Transistor counts are 28,100 million versus 11,060 million, and die sizes are 346 mm² versus 237 mm². Transistor density is 81.2M / mm² for the RX 7700 XT and 46.7M / mm² for the RX 6700S.

Clock speeds vary across all three metrics: base (1435 MHz vs 1700 MHz), boost (2544 MHz vs 2000 MHz), and game (2171 MHz vs 1890 MHz). Memory clocks differ at 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective) versus 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). Memory size, bus width, and bandwidth all favor the RX 7700 XT: 12 GB vs 8 GB, 192-bit vs 128-bit, and 432.0 GB/s vs 224.0 GB/s. Shading units (3456 vs 1792), TMUs (216 vs 112), ROPs (96 vs 64), and ray tracing cores (54 vs 28) all double or nearly double on the RX 7700 XT.

Pixel rate (244.2 GPixel/s vs 128.0 GPixel/s), texture rate (549.5 GTexel/s vs 224.0 GTexel/s), and FP32 compute (35.17 TFLOPS vs 7.168 TFLOPS) all show significant advantages for the RX 7700 XT. FP16 performance differs in ratio: 35.17 TFLOPS (1:1) for the RX 7700 XT versus 14.34 TFLOPS (2:1) for the RX 6700S. TDP is 245 W versus 80 W, slot width is dual-slot versus IGP, and power connectors are 2x 8-pin versus none. The RX 7700 XT uses PCIe 4.0 x16, while the RX 6700S uses PCIe 4.0 x8. Display outputs differ: the RX 7700 XT has 1x HDMI 2.1a, 2x DisplayPort 2.1, and 1x USB Type-C, while the RX 6700S is portable-device dependent. The RX 7700 XT is 267 mm long, 135 mm tall, and 50 mm wide, while the RX 6700S has no listed dimensions. Production status is Active for the RX 7700 XT and End-of-life for the RX 6700S, with release dates of 2023-09-05 and 2022-01-03, respectively.

Where Each One Wins

The RX 7700 XT is the clear winner for desktop gaming and compute-heavy workloads. Its benchmark sweep across DirectX 10, 11, 12, and 9, along with OpenCL and Passmark G3D/G2D/GPU Compute, makes it the superior choice for any application that relies on raw rasterization or general-purpose GPU compute. The 128.5% lead in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 indicates that modern DirectX 12 titles will run significantly better on the RX 7700 XT. Its 12 GB memory buffer and 432.0 GB/s bandwidth also provide more headroom for high-resolution textures and data-intensive workloads, and its 245 W TDP allows for sustained performance in a desktop chassis.

The RX 6700S’s only win comes in Geekbench Vulkan, where it scores 76150 versus 46443 for the RX 7700 XT. This suggests that in Vulkan-specific applications or games that heavily utilize this API, the RX 6700S may offer competitive or better performance despite its lower overall specs. The RX 6700S’s 80 W TDP and IGP form factor also make it the only viable option for thin-and-light laptops where power consumption and physical space are constraints. Its 8 GB memory and 224.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for 1080p gaming at moderate settings, and its higher base clock of 1700 MHz could provide snappier responsiveness in short bursts. For users prioritizing Vulkan performance or absolute power efficiency in a mobile form factor, the RX 6700S has a distinct niche; for virtually everything else, the RX 7700 XT is the dominant performer.