AMD Radeon RX 7600M XT vs AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT Comparison

The AMD Radeon RX 7600M XT and the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT are both members of the Radeon RX 7000 series, built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture, but they serve entirely different segments of the market. The head-to-head data shows a decisive 9-to-1 win count in favor of the RX 7800 XT across ten benchmark tests, yet the single victory for the 7600M XT is so massive that it skews the overall picture. This analysis breaks down where each card excels based strictly on the benchmark numbers, their underlying specifications, and their architectural differences.

Where Each One Wins

The RX 7800 XT is the clear winner for the vast majority of modern gaming and compute workloads, dominating nine out of ten head-to-head tests. Its most significant victories come in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, where it scores 4157 against the 7600M XT's 2048, a 50.7% lead. It also wins decisively in Geekbench Vulkan (54228 vs 27793, a 48.7% advantage) and Passmark G3D (24176 vs 13907, a 42.5% lead). For any user focused on DirectX 9, 10, 11, or 12 performance, the RX 7800 XT is uniformly ahead, with deltas ranging from 24% in Passmark G2D to 45% in Passmark DirectX 11. The compute performance also heavily favors the desktop card; Passmark GPU Compute shows 13473 for the 7800 XT versus 7140 for the 7600M XT.

The RX 7600M XT has exactly one area of dominance, but it is a striking one: the Geekbench OpenCL test. Here, the mobile chip scores an enormous 74869, while the RX 7800 XT manages only 18290. This represents a 309.3% advantage for the 7600M XT, a reversal so large that it cannot be dismissed as a minor quirk. In this specific OpenCL workload, the mobile card is not just competitive; it is in a different league entirely. However, this win appears isolated, as the 7800 XT wins every other test, including the newer Vulkan API and the more compute-oriented Passmark GPU Compute test, suggesting the OpenCL result may reflect an optimization or driver-specific advantage rather than a general-purpose performance edge.

FAQ

Q: Which card has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The RX 7600M XT has a higher average benchmark score of 12710, while the RX 7800 XT averages 11627. This is counterintuitive given the head-to-head results, but the 7600M XT's massive OpenCL score inflates its average significantly, despite losing nine of ten direct comparisons.

Q: How does the RX 7800 XT perform in DirectX 12 compared to the 7600M XT?

A: In the Passmark DirectX 12 test, the RX 7800 XT scores 93, while the 7600M XT scores 58, giving the desktop card a 37.6% advantage. Similarly, in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, the 7800 XT leads by 50.7%, scoring 4157 versus 2048.

Q: Is the RX 7600M XT better for any compute workloads?

A: Yes, specifically in OpenCL. The 7600M XT scores 74869 in Geekbench OpenCL, which is 309.3% higher than the RX 7800 XT's 18290. However, in the Passmark GPU Compute test, the 7800 XT wins with 13473 versus 7140, so the OpenCL result does not translate to all compute scenarios.

Q: What is the memory capacity difference between the two cards?

A: The RX 7800 XT has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, while the RX 7600M XT has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus. The 7800 XT's memory bandwidth is 624.1 GB/s, compared to 288.0 GB/s for the mobile chip.

Q: Which card has a higher transistor count and what does that suggest?

A: The RX 7800 XT has 28,100 million transistors on a 346 mm² die, while the RX 7600M XT has 13,300 million on a 204 mm² die. The desktop card's larger and denser chip (81.2M transistors per mm² vs 65.2M) aligns with its consistently higher scores in most benchmarks.

Q: Do both cards support the same API level?

A: Yes, both support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. There is no difference in API support between the two.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most decisive result in the entire comparison is the Geekbench OpenCL test, where the RX 7600M XT's 74869 score dwarfs the RX 7800 XT's 18290, a 309.3% delta. This is the only test where the mobile card wins, and the margin is larger than any victory the 7800 XT achieves. It is notably this single result is enough to push the 7600M XT's average benchmark score above the 7800 XT's, despite the latter winning nine other tests.

Outside of that anomaly, the RX 7800 XT is consistently and substantially ahead. The largest margin for the desktop card is in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, where it scores 4157 against 2048, a 50.7% lead. The Geekbench Vulkan test shows a similar gap, with the 7800 XT at 54228 and the 7600M XT at 27793, a 48.7% difference. In the Passmark suite, the 7800 XT leads by 45% in DirectX 11 (249 vs 137), 42.5% in G3D (24176 vs 13907), 42.4% in DirectX 9 (304 vs 175), 37.6% in DirectX 12 (93 vs 58), and 37.2% in DirectX 10 (121 vs 76). The smallest margin for the 7800 XT is in Passmark G2D, where it scores 1177 versus 894, a 24% advantage, and in Passmark GPU Compute, where it leads by 47% (13473 vs 7140).

These numbers indicate that the RX 7800 XT is not just marginally better in most tests; it is typically 35-50% faster, which is a substantial generational and class-based gap. The only caveat is that the OpenCL result for the 7600M XT is so extreme that it warrants consideration for workloads that specifically leverage that API.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every major specification category. The RX 7600M XT uses the Navi 33 chip, while the RX 7800 XT uses the larger Navi 32 chip. The mobile card has 2048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, whereas the desktop card has 3840 shading units, 240 TMUs, and 96 ROPs. Ray tracing cores also differ, with 32 on the 7600M XT and 60 on the 7800 XT.

Clock speeds are close, but not identical. The RX 7600M XT has a base clock of 1280 MHz and a boost of 2469 MHz, while the RX 7800 XT has a base of 1295 MHz and a boost of 2430 MHz. The game clock is higher on the desktop card at 2124 MHz versus 2023 MHz. The memory subsystem is a major differentiator: the 7600M XT has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus with 288.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the 7800 XT has 16 GB on a 256-bit bus with 624.1 GB/s bandwidth.

The power and physical characteristics are starkly different. The RX 7600M XT has a TDP of 120 W, is described as "IGP" slot width, and has no power connectors. The RX 7800 XT has a TDP of 263 W, is dual-slot, requires 2x 8-pin power connectors, and has a suggested PSU of 600 W. The desktop card measures 267 mm in length, 111 mm in height, and 50 mm in width. The mobile chip's display outputs are "Portable Device Dependent," while the 7800 XT offers 1x HDMI 2.1a and 3x DisplayPort 2.1.

Architecture Differences

Both cards are built on RDNA 3.0, but they use different process nodes from TSMC. The RX 7600M XT is on a 6 nm process, while the RX 7800 XT is on a 5 nm process. This explains the transistor density difference: the 7800 XT packs 81.2 million transistors per mm², versus 65.2 million on the 7600M XT. The total transistor counts are 28,100 million for the 7800 XT and 13,300 million for the 7600M XT, and the die sizes are 346 mm² and 204 mm², respectively.

The FP32 compute output reflects the raw hardware advantage: the 7800 XT delivers 37.32 TFLOPS, while the 7600M XT delivers 20.23 TFLOPS. Interestingly, the FP16 numbers differ in ratio: the 7600M XT achieves 40.45 TFLOPS (2:1 ratio), while the 7800 XT achieves 37.32 TFLOPS (1:1 ratio). The 7600M XT's codename is "Hotpink Bonefish" and belongs to the Navi Mobile (RX 7000M) generation, while the 7800 XT's codename is "Wheat Nas" and belongs to the Navi III (RX 7000) generation. The 7800 XT has a successor (Navi IV), while the 7600M XT does not, and the mobile chip's predecessor is Polaris Mobile, whereas the desktop card's predecessor is Navi II.

The Verdict

Based strictly on the data, the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT is the superior performer for almost any task. It wins nine of ten head-to-head tests, with leads ranging from 24% to 50.7% across DirectX 9, 10, 11, 12, Vulkan, and G3D workloads. It has double the memory (16 GB vs 8 GB), more than double the bandwidth (624.1 GB/s vs 288.0 GB/s), and significantly higher compute throughput (37.32 TFLOPS vs 20.23 TFLOPS FP32). The 7800 XT also has a higher pixel rate (233.3 GPixel/s vs 158.0 GPixel/s) and texture rate (583.2 GTexel/s vs 316.0 GTexel/s). For a desktop user seeking maximum performance, the choice is unambiguous.

The RX 7600M XT is the correct pick only for scenarios where its specific advantages matter. Its 309.3% lead in Geekbench OpenCL is the most dramatic single result in the comparison, and it is also the only card of the two designed for portable devices, with no power connectors and a 120 W TDP versus 263 W. If a workload is heavily dependent on OpenCL performance, the 7600M XT could be the better option, but this appears to be an isolated case. The 7800 XT wins the compute-focused Passmark GPU Compute test by 47%, which suggests the OpenCL result is not representative of general compute performance. For any user building a desktop system, the RX 7800 XT is the data-backed choice.