AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT vs AMD Radeon R9 290X

VS
Performance
Radeon RX 6600 XT142% better
39,05137% of 104,598
Radeon R9 290X
16,167.515% of 104,598

The Radeon RX 6600 XT has 142% better performance than the Radeon R9 290X for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

Performance per dollar
Radeon RX 6600 XT250% better
103.0464% of 161.45
Radeon R9 290X
29.4518% of 161.45

The Radeon RX 6600 XT has 250% better value for the money than the Radeon R9 290X for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

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Summary

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About the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT GPU

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT is a desktop graphics card that launched in Q3 2021 with a MSRP of $379. It is built on the RDNA 2.0 GPU microarchitecture (codename Navi 23) and is manufactured on a 7 nm process.

Memory

The RX 6600 XT has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, with a 2,000 MHz memory clock and a 128 bit interface. This gives it a memory bandwidth of 256 Gb/s, which affects how fast it can transfer data to and from memory. GPU memory stores temporary data that helps the GPU with complex math and graphics operations. More memory is generally better, as not having enough can cause performance bottlenecks.

Cores and Clock Speeds

The RX 6600 XT includes 2,048 stream processors (SPs), the processing units for handling parallel computing tasks. The GPU operates at a core clock speed of 1,968 MHz and can dynamically boost its clock speed up to 2,589 MHz. It usually operates at 2,359 MHz during typical gaming workloads. Complementing the processing units are 128 texture mapping units (TMUs) for efficient texture filtering and 64 render output units (ROPs) for pixel processing. Additionally, the GPU features 32 ray accelerators dedicated to real-time ray tracing calculations.

Compatibility & Power Consumption

The RX 6600 XT occupies 2 PCIe expansion slots. It supports HDMI 2.1, DisplayPort 1.4a display connections. AMD recommends a power supply of at least 450 W to handle the GPU's thermal design power (TDP) of 160 W.

Benchmark Performance & Value

The RX 6600 XT has the 41st best 3DMark 11 Performance GPU score among the 543 benchmarked GPUs in our database. It achieves 37.33% of the performance of the best benchmarked GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090. Its 39,051 score and $379 launch price (MSRP) gives it a performance per dollar of 103.04. This is the 14th best in value for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

About the AMD Radeon R9 290X GPU

The AMD Radeon R9 290X is an end-of-life desktop graphics card that released in Q4 2013 with a MSRP of $549. It is built on the GCN 2.0 GPU microarchitecture (codename Hawaii) and is manufactured on a 28 nm process.

Memory

The R9 290X has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory, with a 1,250 MHz memory clock and a 512 bit interface. This gives it a memory bandwidth of 320 Gb/s, which affects how fast it can transfer data to and from memory. GPU memory stores temporary data that helps the GPU with complex math and graphics operations. More memory is generally better, as not having enough can cause performance bottlenecks.

Cores and Clock Speeds

The R9 290X includes 2,816 stream processors (SPs), the processing units for handling parallel computing tasks. The GPU operates at a core clock speed of 1,000 MHz. Complementing the processing units are 176 texture mapping units (TMUs) for efficient texture filtering and 64 render output units (ROPs) for pixel processing.

Compatibility & Power Consumption

The R9 290X occupies 2 PCIe expansion slots. It supports DVI, HDMI 1.4a, DisplayPort 1.2 display connections. AMD recommends a power supply of at least 600 W to handle the GPU's thermal design power (TDP) of 290 W.

Benchmark Performance & Value

The R9 290X has the 137th best 3DMark 11 Performance GPU score among the 543 benchmarked GPUs in our database. It achieves 15.46% of the performance of the best benchmarked GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090. Its 16,167.5 score and $549 launch price (MSRP) gives it a performance per dollar of 29.45. This is the 80th best in value for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

General Info

General overview of the GPU, including details like its manufacturer, release date, launch price, and current production status.

InfoRadeon RX 6600 XTRadeon R9 290X
ManufacturerAMDAMD
ArchitectureRDNA 2.0GCN 2.0
Market SegmentDesktopDesktop
Release DateQ3 2021Q4 2013
Launch Price (MSRP)$379$549
Production StatusActiveEnd-of-life
ShopCheck PriceCheck Price

Gaming Performance

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Select a game to compare FPS metrics

Display FPS for Star Wars Outlaws
Star Wars Outlaws
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Black Myth: Wukong
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Display FPS for Far Cry 6
Far Cry 6

FPS Benchmarks

This table showcases the average frame rate (FPS) achieved both GPUs in at various resolutions. Frame rate is a crucial indicator of how smoothly the GPU can run the game. A higher FPS generally translates to a smoother gameplay experience.

  • Frames Per Second
FPS data for Star Wars Outlaws
Star Wars Outlaws
Radeon RX 6600 XTRadeon R9 290X
Low - 1080p
--
--
Medium - 1080p
--
--
High - 1080p
41 FPS
--
Ultra - 1080p
33 FPS
--
QHD - 1440p
23 FPS
--
4K UHD - 2160p
--
--
FPS Source: Notebookcheck

Compare Frames Per Second (FPS)

The average frame rate (FPS) in can be compared to similar GPUs to assess relative performance. Generally, higher FPS results in a smoother gameplay experience.

Choose Baseline GPU:Radeon RX 6600 XT orRadeon R9 290X
GPUFrames Per Second
Our database does not have enough FPS data to compare with other GPUs.

Compare Cost Per Frame

The average cost per frame in can be compared to similar GPUs to assess relative value. Generally, a lower cost per frame implies better value for your money.

Choose Baseline GPU:Radeon RX 6600 XT orRadeon R9 290X
GPUCost Per Frame
Our database does not have enough data to compare the FPS per dollar with other GPUs.

Benchmark Performance

#
Performance
Radeon RX 6600 XT142% better
39,05137% of 104,598
Radeon R9 290X
16,167.515% of 104,598

The Radeon RX 6600 XT has 142% better performance than the Radeon R9 290X for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

The Radeon RX 6600 XT is ranked 41st with a score of 39,051, and the Radeon R9 290X is ranked 137th with a score of 16,167.5.

Performance per dollar
Radeon RX 6600 XT250% better
103.0464% of 161.45
Radeon R9 290X
29.4518% of 161.45

The Radeon RX 6600 XT has 250% better value for the money than the Radeon R9 290X for the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark.

The Radeon RX 6600 XT is ranked 14th with a performance per dollar of 103.04, and the Radeon R9 290X is ranked 80th with a performance per dollar of 29.45.

Relative Performance

The average score in the benchmark test can be compared to similar GPUs to assess relative performance. Generally, powerful GPUs tend to have higher scores.

Choose Baseline GPU:Radeon RX 6600 XT or
GPUBenchmark Performance
GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER40,963+5%
GeForce RTX 208040,278+3%
Radeon RX 6600 XT39,051
GeForce RTX 406038,191-2%
GeForce RTX 3060 Ti37,941-3%
GeForce GTX 1060 (6 GB)17,401-55%
Radeon R9 Nano17,282-56%
Radeon R9 290X16,167.5-59%
GeForce GTX 97016,033-59%
GeForce GTX 780 Ti15,619-60%

Relative Value For Money

The average performance per dollar in the benchmark test can be compared to similar GPUs to assess relative value. A higher score implies a better value for your money.

Choose Baseline GPU:Radeon RX 6600 XT or
GPUPerformance Per Dollar
GeForce RTX 4060 Ti (8 GB)119.81+16%
Radeon RX 5600 XT112.22+9%
Radeon RX 6600 XT103.04
GeForce RTX 4070100.12-3%
Radeon RX 660096.58-6%
GeForce GTX 76031.98-69%
Radeon R9 FURY31.95-69%
Radeon R9 290X29.45-71%
GeForce GTX 660 Ti28.14-73%
Radeon R9 Nano26.63-74%

Benchmark Scores

This table showcases the average performance scores achieved by both GPUs across industry-standard benchmark tests. These scores provide a valuable insight into overall performance. Powerful GPUs tend to have higher scores.

  • Popular
BenchmarkRadeon RX 6600 XTRadeon R9 290X
3DMark Time Spy Graphics
9,565
(+138.95%)
4,003
3DMark Time Spy Score
9,971
(+142.37%)
4,114
3DMark Cloud Gate Graphics
156,297
(+111.25%)
73,987
3DMark Fire Strike Standard Graphics
28,342
(+141.89%)
11,717
3DMark 11 Performance Score
31,304
(+133.35%)
13,415
Cinebench R15 OpenGL 64 Bit
308
(+116.9%)
142
PassMark G3D Mark
16,509
(+91.45%)
8,623
PassMark G2D Mark
913
(+19.35%)
765
Unigine Heaven 3.0 DirectX 11
--
140
Unigine Heaven 3.0 OpenGL
--
111
Benchmarks Source: Notebookcheck

Technical Specs

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Graphics Processor

General information about the graphics processing unit like their architecture, manufacturing process size, and transistor count. Newer GPU architectures generally bring efficiency improvements and may introduce technologies that enhance graphical capabilities.

SpecRadeon RX 6600 XTRadeon R9 290X
CodenameNavi 23Hawaii
ArchitectureRDNA 2.0GCN 2.0
Process Size7 nm28 nm
Transistors11,060 million6,200 million

Memory Details

Memory specifications like their capacity, bandwidth, and clock speeds. GPU memory stores graphics data like frames, textures, and shadows which helps display rendered images. These specs are crucial for graphics-intense applications like gaming and 3D modeling.

SpecRadeon RX 6600 XTRadeon R9 290X
Memory Size8 GB4 GB
Memory TypeGDDR6GDDR5
Memory Bandwidth256 Gb/s320 Gb/s
Memory Clock2,000 MHz1,250 MHz
Memory Interface128 bit512 bit
L1 Cache128 KB16 KB
L2 Cache2 MB1,024 KB

Board Compatibility

Compatibility information like their slot size, bus interface, power consumption, and display support. These specs are useful for verifying compatibility with your motherboard, power supply, and monitor.

SpecRadeon RX 6600 XTRadeon R9 290X
Slots2 slots2 slots
Bus InterfacePCIe 4.0 x8PCIe 3.0 x16
Thermal Design Power (TDP)160 W290 W
Suggested PSU450 W600 W
Power Connectors1x 8-pin1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin
OutputsHDMI 2.1, DisplayPort 1.4aDVI, HDMI 1.4a, DisplayPort 1.2

Cores & Clock Speeds

Processing power information like its cores and clock speed. These specs impact how fast they can process graphics. Each type of core or component serves a specific computational purpose.

SpecRadeon RX 6600 XTRadeon R9 290X
Stream Processors (SP)2,0482,816
Compute Units (CU)3244
Texture Mapping Units (TMU)128176
Render Output Units (ROP)6464
Ray Accelerators32--
Core Clock Speed1,968 MHz1,000 MHz
Core Clock Speed (Boost)2,589 MHz--
Core Clock Speed (Game)2,359 MHz--

Theoretical Performance

Theoretical performance numbers derived from the raw specifications of the different components like core count and clock speeds. While these provide a glimpse into peak processing power, they do not represent real-world performance.

SpecRadeon RX 6600 XTRadeon R9 290X
Pixel Fill Rate165.7 GPixel/s64 GPixel/s
Texture Fill Rate331.4 GTexel/s176 GTexel/s
FP32 Performance10.6 TFLOPS5.63 TFLOPS
FP64 Performance662.8 GFLOPS704 GFLOPS

API Support

Graphics API versions supported by these graphics cards. APIs evolve over time, introducing new features and functionalities. Older GPUs may not support recent versions.

SpecRadeon RX 6600 XTRadeon R9 290X
DirectX12 Ultimate (12_2)12 (12_0)
OpenCL2.12.1
OpenGL4.64.6
Shader Model6.86.5

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* Performance rating, performance per dollar, and rankings are based on the 3DMark 11 Performance GPU benchmark and MSRP.