Anyone shopping for a budget PC GPU has two excellent options from AMD to consider — including the Radeon RX 6600 XT and RX 6700 XT. It's often fun to talk about top-end GPUs like the RTX 3090 and RX 6900, but the fact of the matter is that those options are often overkill for many people. They're undeniably powerful, sure, but they're also extremely expensive. More affordable, mid-tier GPUs are much more realistic if someone just wants to play the latest games with quality resolution and graphics.
While many gamers often think of Nvidia as the go-to company for graphics cards, AMD's lineup is just as strong these days. The company's Radeon cards are available at a wide array of prices, come with ample specs, and a host of exclusive features like FidelityFX and FreeSync. Some gamers will still argue that Nvidia is better, but when comparing the two companies side-by-side, it's clear that AMD can go to-to with Nvidia any day of the week.
Digging into AMD's GPU lineup, two of its most compelling options right now are the Radeon RX 6600 XT and Radeon RX 6700 XT. The RX 6600 XT is the most affordable of the duo with a retail price of $379. The RX 6700 XT is a bit more expensive, coming in at $479. Keep in mind those are the retail prices for the cards. As has been the case with GPUs for the last few months, buying a graphics card at its MSRP isn't always a given. Inventory is often low, scalpers continue to upcharge any available GPUs, and it makes the whole buying process an enormous headache. When these two cards are available for the prices they should be sold at, quite a few differences come into play with that $100 separator.
Performance And Specs Comparison For 6600 XT & 6700 XT
Starting with the RX 6600 XT, AMD describes this as a card that delivers "the ultimate 1080p gaming experience." It's possible to run some titles at a higher 1440p resolution, but 1080p is clearly where the 6600 XT shines. Running games in 1080p at max graphics settings, AMD says the RX 6600 XT pushes out 92 FPS for Assassin's Creed Valhalla, 137 FPS in Forza Horizon 4, and a whopping 164 FPS while playing Battlefield 5. In a less demanding game like Valorant, the RX6600 XT is capable of 553 FPS. Switching gears to the more powerful RX 6700 XT, this is a card which AMD promises "ultra-high frame rates and powerhouse 1440p resolution gaming." Playing Assassin's Creed Valhalla at Ultra High graphics settings in 1440p, the 6700 XT is capable of up to 82 FPS. In a demanding racing game such as Dirt 5, the RX 6700 XT pulls out up to 71 FPS with the same settings. Furthermore, playing Fortnite and Overwatch at 1440p with Epic graphics, gamers can expect up to 126 FPS and 212 FPS, respectively.
For folks who prefer technical specs over benchmarks, the prowess of the RX 6700 XT continues to shine. AMD's more expensive GPU touts 40 compute units, a 2424MHz base clock speed, boost clock speed up to 2581MHz, and 12GB of RAM with bandwidth up to 384GB/s. By comparison, the RX 6600 XT offers 32 compute units, a 2359MHz base speed, 2589MHz boost speed, and 8GB of RAM with up to 256GB/s of bandwidth. Power consumption-wise, the RX 6700 XT has a typical power draw of 230W with a 650W minimum PSU recommendation. With the RX 6600 XT, those numbers are lowered to 160W and 500W.
At the end of the day, these are two capable cards for two different groups of people. For the gamer with a tighter budget and is satisfied with a 1080p resolution, the Radeon RX 6600 XT is a solid value. It has good specs, impressive performance, and the $379 asking price is easy to work with. Spending an extra $100 for the RX 6700 XT does come with tangible benefits, but it'll come down to each person to decide if that upgrade is worth it for them.