AMD Radeon RX 7600S vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 Comparison

The Verdict

The data in this comparison is unambiguous. The AMD Radeon RX 7600S wins every head-to-head benchmark recorded in the database, with a 100% win rate across the two shared tests. The RX 7600S delivers a 302.3% advantage over the GeForce GTX 680 in Geekbench OpenCL and a 318.6% advantage in Geekbench Vulkan. These are not marginal gains, they represent a generational leap in compute performance.

The GTX 680, by contrast, is an end-of-life product from the GeForce 600 generation. Its average benchmark score sits at 14150, placing it in the 55th percentile of all GPUs in the database. The RX 7600S averages 16696, placing it in the 60th percentile. The RX 7600S is the clear choice for any workload represented in these measurements.

For a user strictly looking at the recorded data, the RX 7600S is the only rational pick. It wins on raw compute, it wins on modern API support, and it wins on efficiency. The GTX 680 retains a single advantage: it has a launch MSRP of 499 USD, which is a historical fact from its 2012 release, not a current market recommendation. The GTX 680's 2 GB memory capacity may also be sufficient for older legacy applications, but the benchmark suite shows no scenario where it outperforms the RX 7600S.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon RX 7600S wins in every measurable category in this database. Its two recorded head-to-head victories are in Geekbench OpenCL and Geekbench Vulkan, both of which are compute-oriented workloads. The OpenCL result of 68012 versus 16906 shows a 302.3% lead, while the Vulkan result of 73868 versus 17646 shows a 318.6% lead. These are the only two shared benchmarks, and the RX 7600S dominates both.

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 has no recorded wins in this comparison. Its only benchmark entries are Geekbench Metal at 7897, Geekbench OpenCL at 16906, and Geekbench Vulkan at 17646. None of these exceed the RX 7600S scores, and the Metal result has no corresponding RX 7600S score for comparison. The GTX 680 does have a higher average score than some of its own nearest rivals, sitting 0.9% above the NVIDIA Tesla K10 and 1.4% above the AMD Radeon Vega 11, but that does not translate into any advantage over the RX 7600S.

The RX 7600S also holds a wider feature set. It supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, while the GTX 680 is limited to DirectX 12 (11_0) and Vulkan 1.2.175. For modern applications that leverage these APIs, the RX 7600S is the only one of the two that can take full advantage.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from fundamentally different eras of hardware design. The AMD Radeon RX 7600S is built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture, using the Navi 33 chip with a 6 nm process at TSMC. It packs 13,300 million transistors into a 204 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 65.2M per mm². The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 uses the Kepler architecture, built on the GK104 chip with a 28 nm process, also at TSMC. It contains 3,540 million transistors on a 294 mm² die, for a density of 12.0M per mm².

The node advantage is stark. The 6 nm process allows the RX 7600S to fit nearly four times as many transistors in a smaller physical area. This translates directly into clock speeds: the RX 7600S runs at a base of 1500 MHz and a boost of 2200 MHz, while the GTX 680 runs at 1006 MHz base and 1058 MHz boost. The RX 7600S also has a game clock of 1865 MHz, a feature the GTX 680 does not list.

Memory architecture also diverges sharply. The RX 7600S uses 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128 bit bus, delivering 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth at 16 Gbps effective. The GTX 680 uses 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 256 bit bus, delivering 192.3 GB/s at 6 Gbps effective. The RX 7600S has four times the capacity and 33% more bandwidth, despite the narrower bus. The RX 7600S also features 28 ray tracing cores, while the GTX 680 has none, and it is an integrated form factor (IGP) with no power connectors, drawing 75 W. The GTX 680 is a dual-slot card with 2x 6-pin power connectors and a 195 W TDP, requiring a 450 W power supply.

The API support tells the same story. The RX 7600S supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The GTX 680 supports DirectX 12 (11_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.175. The RX 7600S also has a production status of Active, while the GTX 680 is End-of-life.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7600S has an average benchmark score of 16696, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 has an average of 14150. The RX 7600S sits in the 60th percentile of all GPUs, versus the 55th percentile for the GTX 680.

Q: How much faster is the RX 7600S in OpenCL?

A: The RX 7600S scores 68012 in Geekbench OpenCL, versus 16906 for the GTX 680. This is a 302.3% advantage for the RX 7600S.

Q: Does the GTX 680 support ray tracing?

A: No. The GTX 680 lists no ray tracing cores in the database. The RX 7600S has 28 ray tracing cores.

Q: What are the memory capacities of each card?

A: The RX 7600S has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, while the GTX 680 has 2 GB of GDDR5 memory. The RX 7600S also delivers 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth, compared to 192.3 GB/s for the GTX 680.

Q: Which GPU is more power-efficient according to the data?

A: The RX 7600S has a TDP of 75 W and requires no power connectors, while the GTX 680 has a TDP of 195 W and requires 2x 6-pin power connectors. The RX 7600S also runs at a higher boost clock of 2200 MHz versus 1058 MHz for the GTX 680.

Q: Is the GTX 680 still in production?

A: No. The GTX 680 is marked as End-of-life in the database, with a release date of 2012-03-21. The RX 7600S is marked as Active, with a release date of 2023-01-03.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database records two direct comparisons between these GPUs, and the RX 7600S wins both by a wide margin.

In Geekbench OpenCL, the RX 7600S scores 68012 against the GTX 680's 16906. The delta is 302.3% in favor of the RX 7600S. This is not a close contest. The RX 7600S delivers more than four times the OpenCL compute performance of the older card. For context, the GTX 680's average score of 14150 places it just 0.9% above the NVIDIA Tesla K10 and 1.4% above the AMD Radeon Vega 11 in its nearest rival group, but those comparisons do not help it here. The RX 7600S sits in a completely different performance tier.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the margin is even larger. The RX 7600S scores 73868, while the GTX 680 scores 17646. The delta is 318.6% in favor of the RX 7600S. The RX 7600S also has more headroom in Vulkan than in OpenCL, suggesting its newer architecture and driver support extract more from this API. The GTX 680's Vulkan score of 17646 is only slightly above its OpenCL score, indicating that its older Kepler architecture does not benefit as much from modern API optimizations.

The RX 7600S also has additional benchmark entries that the GTX 680 lacks entirely. It scores 1888 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, 15408 in Passmark G3D, and 6520 in Passmark GPU Compute. The GTX 680 has a Geekbench Metal score of 7897, but there is no RX 7600S Metal score for comparison. The absence of shared data in these tests means the head-to-head comparison relies on the two Geekbench compute tests, and both point in the same direction.

The RX 7600S's nearest rival group in the database includes the NVIDIA T400 4 GB at 16792 (0.6% above the RX 7600S) and the NVIDIA T400 at 16508 (1.1% below). The GTX 680's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Tesla K10 at 14029 and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Ti at 14277. The RX 7600S is competing in a modern low-power segment, while the GTX 680 is grouped with legacy and mid-range parts from a decade ago.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ in nearly every recorded specification. The AMD Radeon RX 7600S uses the RDNA 3.0 architecture with a Navi 33 chip, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 uses Kepler with a GK104 chip. The RX 7600S is built on a 6 nm process at TSMC, the GTX 680 on a 28 nm process at the same foundry. The RX 7600S has 13,300 million transistors on a 204 mm² die, the GTX 680 has 3,540 million on a 294 mm² die. Transistor density is 65.2M per mm² for the RX 7600S, 12.0M per mm² for the GTX 680.

Clock speeds differ substantially. The RX 7600S runs at 1500 MHz base, 2200 MHz boost, and 1865 MHz game clock. The GTX 680 runs at 1006 MHz base and 1058 MHz boost, with no game clock listed. Memory clocks also differ: 2000 MHz with 16 Gbps effective for the RX 7600S, 1502 MHz with 6 Gbps effective for the GTX 680.

Memory configuration is a major differentiator. The RX 7600S has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128 bit bus with 256.0 GB/s bandwidth. The GTX 680 has 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 256 bit bus with 192.3 GB/s bandwidth. The RX 7600S has 1792 shading units, 112 texture mapping units, and 64 raster output units, along with 28 ray tracing cores. The GTX 680 has 1536 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 32 raster output units, with no ray tracing cores.

Compute rates favor the RX 7600S across the board. It delivers 140.8 GPixel/s pixel rate, 246.4 GTexel/s texture rate, and 15.77 TFLOPS FP32. The GTX 680 delivers 33.86 GPixel/s, 135.4 GTexel/s, and 3.250 TFLOPS FP32. The RX 7600S also lists 31.54 TFLOPS FP16 at a 2:1 ratio, while the GTX 680 lists no FP16 capability.

Form factor and power draw are completely different. The RX 7600S is an IGP (integrated graphics processor) with no power connectors and a 75 W TDP. The GTX 680 is a dual-slot card measuring 256 mm by 111 mm by 38 mm, requiring 2x 6-pin power connectors and a 450 W power supply. The RX 7600S uses a PCIe 4.0 x16 interface, while the GTX 680 uses PCIe 3.0 x16. Display outputs are portable-device dependent for the RX 7600S, while the GTX 680 offers 2x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 1x DisplayPort 1.2.

API support is another divider. The RX 7600S supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The GTX 680 supports DirectX 12 (11_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.175. The RX 7600S was released on 2023-01-03 and is Active, with a predecessor of Polaris Mobile and no successor. The GTX 680 was released on 2012-03-21, is End-of-life, had a predecessor of GeForce 500, and a successor of GeForce 700. The GTX 680 has a launch MSRP of 499 USD.