AMD Radeon RX 7600S vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 Comparison

The benchmark data presents a clear generational shift: the AMD Radeon RX 7600S utterly dominates the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 in every shared test, delivering scores that are multiples of the older card’s output. The GTX 690, a dual-GPU flagship from 2012, is decisively outclassed by the modern mobile RDNA 3 part, which achieves its results at a fraction of the power envelope.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only two benchmarks where both cards have overlapping data are Geekbench’s OpenCL and Vulkan tests, and the results are not close. In Geekbench OpenCL, the AMD Radeon RX 7600S scores 68,012, compared to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690’s 17,399. This represents a delta of -74.4% from the perspective of the NVIDIA card, meaning the AMD card is approximately 291% faster. The margin is even larger in the Vulkan test: the RX 7600S posts 73,868 against the GTX 690’s 16,675, a delta of -77.4%, translating to roughly a 343% performance advantage for the AMD part.

The data shows a near-total victory for the newer card. The RX 7600S wins both head-to-head matchups, while the GTX 690 secures zero wins. The average benchmark score reinforces this gap: the RX 7600S averages 16,696 across all its tests, while the GTX 690 averages 17,037. While the averages are close, they are misleading; the GTX 690’s average is buoyed by its two Geekbench scores, which are in the same range as the RX 7600S’s lowest recorded scores from its Passmark suite. For context, the RX 7600S’s Passmark G3D score alone is 15,408, nearly matching the GTX 690’s entire average.

The individual scores tell a story of architectural obsolescence. The GTX 690’s best result, its 17,399 OpenCL score, is less than a quarter of the RX 7600S’s OpenCL result. The RX 7600S’s Vulkan score of 73,868 is not just higher; it is in a different performance class, reflecting the massive improvements in compute and graphics API efficiency over the decade separating these products. The GTX 690’s nearest rivals, such as the AMD Radeon HD 7970M (avg 17,019) and NVIDIA Tesla M4 (avg 16,932), show that its performance level was typical for high-end 2012 hardware, but that level is now firmly in the entry-level segment.

Where Each One Wins

Based on the benchmark results, the AMD Radeon RX 7600S wins in every measurable category. Its OpenCL score of 68,012 indicates overwhelming superiority in general-purpose compute workloads. Its Vulkan score of 73,868 demonstrates a commanding lead in modern graphics APIs, which are increasingly important in current games and applications. The RX 7600S also shows strength across its other tests: a Passmark G3D score of 15,408, a GPU Compute score of 6,520, and strong legacy DirectX results (Passmark DirectX 9: 211, DirectX 11: 140).

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 has no benchmark victories. Its only competitive figures are its Geekbench scores, which are in the 16,000-17,000 range, a level that the RX 7600S exceeds by nearly four times in the same tests. The GTX 690’s performance is effectively superseded. It cannot compete in modern API tests, and its older Kepler architecture lacks the features and throughput of the RDNA 3.0 design in the RX 7600S.

The use-case split is therefore stark. For anyone running Geekbench OpenCL or Vulkan workloads, the RX 7600S is the only viable choice. For legacy DirectX 9 and 10 applications, the RX 7600S still shows respectable scores (211 and 74 respectively), suggesting it handles older titles well. The GTX 690, while historically significant, offers no scenario where its data suggests a win. Its sole advantage is its dual-GPU configuration, which was designed for high-resolution gaming of its era, but the benchmark data shows that even in synthetic tests, the single-die RX 7600S is dramatically faster.

The Verdict

The verdict is unambiguous: the AMD Radeon RX 7600S is the superior product by every data point available. It wins both head-to-head benchmarks with deltas exceeding 74%. Its average benchmark score of 16,696 is statistically similar to the GTX 690’s 17,037, but this is a statistical artifact; the RX 7600S’s score is derived from a broader range of tests, including modern DirectX 12 and compute workloads, while the GTX 690 only has two Geekbench results.

Who should pick the AMD Radeon RX 7600S? Anyone who needs modern graphics performance. It supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, Vulkan 1.4, and has 28 ray tracing cores. It produces 15.77 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power, compared to the GTX 690’s 3.130 TFLOPS. The RX 7600S is also an active product with a 6 nm process node, 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, and a 256.0 GB/s memory bandwidth. It is a current, capable mobile GPU.

Who should pick the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690? Only a collector or someone running software specifically designed for 2012-era dual-GPU Kepler configurations. The data shows it is end-of-life, with a 28 nm process node, 2 GB of GDDR5 memory, and no ray tracing support. Its 300 W TDP is four times higher than the RX 7600S’s 75 W, yet it delivers a fraction of the performance. There is no benchmark-based argument for choosing the GTX 690 today.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher Geekbench OpenCL score?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7600S scores 68,012, which is 74.4% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690’s 17,399.

Q: How do the Vulkan scores compare?

A: The RX 7600S scores 73,868 in Vulkan, while the GTX 690 scores 16,675. The AMD card is 77.4% faster in this test.

Q: What is the average benchmark score for each card?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 has an average benchmark score of 17,037, while the AMD Radeon RX 7600S has an average of 16,696.

Q: Which card has more memory?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7600S has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 has 2 GB of GDDR5 memory.

Q: Does the GTX 690 support ray tracing?

A: No. The GTX 690 has no ray tracing cores (null in the data). The RX 7600S has 28 ray tracing cores.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are separated by a decade of architectural evolution. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 is built on the Kepler architecture (chip GK104), manufactured on a 28 nm process at TSMC. It contains 3,540 million transistors on a 294 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 12.0M / mm². It features 1536 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The architecture supports DirectX 12 (11_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.175. It lacks dedicated ray tracing or tensor cores.

The AMD Radeon RX 7600S uses the RDNA 3.0 architecture (chip Navi 33, codename "Hotpink Bonefish"). It is manufactured on a 6 nm process at TSMC, packing 13,300 million transistors into a 204 mm² die, achieving a much higher transistor density of 65.2M / mm². It has 1792 shading units, 112 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. Critically, it includes 28 ray tracing cores, enabling hardware-accelerated ray tracing. Its API support is modern: DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The RX 7600S also supports FP16 compute at a 2:1 ratio (31.54 TFLOPS), a feature the GTX 690 lacks entirely.

Specification Differences

The specification sheets highlight the generational gap. The process node shrunk from 28 nm (GTX 690) to 6 nm (RX 7600S). Transistor count rose from 3,540 million to 13,300 million, while die size shrunk from 294 mm² to 204 mm². The RX 7600S has more shading units (1792 vs 1536) and more ROPs (64 vs 32), but fewer TMUs (112 vs 128). Clock speeds are dramatically higher on the AMD part: base 1500 MHz vs 915 MHz, boost 2200 MHz vs 1019 MHz.

Memory configuration also differs significantly. The GTX 690 uses 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 192.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The RX 7600S uses 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, delivering 256.0 GB/s. The AMD card has a higher pixel rate (140.8 GPixel/s vs 32.61 GPixel/s) and texture rate (246.4 GTexel/s vs 130.4 GTexel/s). FP32 compute is 15.77 TFLOPS for the RX 7600S versus 3.130 TFLOPS for the GTX 690. Power consumption is starkly different: the GTX 690 has a 300 W TDP and requires dual 8-pin power connectors and a 700 W PSU, while the RX 7600S has a 75 W TDP, uses no power connectors, and is an IGP (integrated graphics processor) for portable devices. The bus interface also upgrades from PCIe 3.0 x16 to PCIe 4.0 x16. Finally, the GTX 690 has a launch MSRP of 999 USD, while the RX 7600S has no launch MSRP listed.