Radeon RX 6900 XT vs RX 590

Place in the ranking	232	23
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	24.35	29.52
Power efficiency	9.61	15.96
Architecture	GCN 4.0 (2016−2020)	RDNA 2.0 (2020−2024)
GPU code name	Polaris 30	Navi 21
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Release date	15 November 2018 (6 years ago)	28 October 2020 (4 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$279	$999

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

RX 6900 XT has 21% better value for money than RX 590.

Detailed specifications

General parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores	2304	5120
Core clock speed	1469 MHz	1825 MHz
Boost clock speed	1545 MHz	2250 MHz
Number of transistors	5,700 million	26,800 million
Manufacturing process technology	12 nm	7 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	175 Watt	300 Watt
Texture fill rate	222.5	720.0
Floating-point processing power	7.119 TFLOPS	23.04 TFLOPS
ROPs	32	128
TMUs	144	320
Ray Tracing Cores	no data	80

Form factor & compatibility

Information on compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop graphics cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility).

Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	PCIe 4.0 x16
Length	241 mm	267 mm
Width	2-slot	3-slot
Supplementary power connectors	1x 8-pin	2x 8-pin

VRAM capacity and type

Parameters of VRAM installed: its type, size, bus, clock and resulting bandwidth. Integrated GPUs have no dedicated video RAM and use a shared part of system RAM.

Memory type	GDDR5	GDDR6
Maximum RAM amount	8 GB	16 GB
Memory bus width	256 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	2000 MHz	2000 MHz
Memory bandwidth	256.0 GB/s	512.0 GB/s
Shared memory	-	-

Connectivity and outputs

Types and number of video connectors present on the reviewed GPUs. As a rule, data in this section is precise only for desktop reference ones (so-called Founders Edition for NVIDIA chips). OEM manufacturers may change the number and type of output ports, while for notebook cards availability of certain video outputs ports depends on the laptop model rather than on the card itself.

Display Connectors	1x HDMI, 3x DisplayPort	1x HDMI, 2x DisplayPort, 1x USB Type-C
HDMI	+	+

Supported technologies

Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.

FreeSync

API compatibility

List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectX	12 (12_0)	12 Ultimate (12_2)
Shader Model	6.4	6.5
OpenGL	4.6	4.6
OpenCL	2.0	2.1
Vulkan	1.2.131	1.2

Synthetic benchmark performance

Non-gaming benchmark results comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.

Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark score. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

RX 590 24.42

RX 6900 XT 69.55
+185%

Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark. It gives the graphics card a thorough evaluation under various types of load, providing four separate benchmarks for Direct3D versions 9, 10, 11 and 12 (the last being done in 4K resolution if possible), and few more tests engaging DirectCompute capabilities.

RX 590 9387

RX 6900 XT 26740
+185%

3DMark 11 Performance GPU

3DMark 11 is an obsolete DirectX 11 benchmark by Futuremark. It used four tests based on two scenes, one being few submarines exploring the submerged wreck of a sunken ship, the other is an abandoned temple deep in the jungle. All the tests are heavy with volumetric lighting and tessellation, and despite being done in 1280x720 resolution, are relatively taxing. Discontinued in January 2020, 3DMark 11 is now superseded by Time Spy.

RX 590 23363

RX 6900 XT 59119
+153%

3DMark Fire Strike Graphics

Fire Strike is a DirectX 11 benchmark for gaming PCs. It features two separate tests displaying a fight between a humanoid and a fiery creature made of lava. Using 1920x1080 resolution, Fire Strike shows off some realistic graphics and is quite taxing on hardware.

RX 590 16814

RX 6900 XT 50587
+201%

Gaming performance

Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.

Average FPS across all PC games

Here are the average frames per second in a large set of popular games across different resolutions:

Full HD	102 −84.3%	188 +84.3%
1440p	61 −113%	130 +113%
4K	37 −119%	81 +119%

Cost per frame, $

1080p	2.74 +94.3%	5.31 −94.3%
1440p	4.57 +68%	7.68 −68%
4K	7.54 +63.6%	12.33 −63.6%

RX 590 has 94% lower cost per frame in 1080p
RX 590 has 68% lower cost per frame in 1440p
RX 590 has 64% lower cost per frame in 4K

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2	45−50 −264%	160−170 +264%
Cyberpunk 2077	45−50 −229%	160−170 +229%
Elden Ring	80−85 −235%	260−270 +235%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5	87 −34.5%	110−120 +34.5%
Counter-Strike 2	45−50 −264%	160−170 +264%
Cyberpunk 2077	45−50 −55.1%	76 +55.1%
Forza Horizon 4	137 −184%	350−400 +184%
Metro Exodus	88 −43.2%	126 +43.2%
Red Dead Redemption 2	91 −39.6%	120−130 +39.6%
Valorant	128 −275%	480 +275%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5	129 +10.3%	110−120 −10.3%
Counter-Strike 2	45−50 −264%	160−170 +264%
Cyberpunk 2077	45−50 −30.6%	64 +30.6%
Dota 2	52 −221%	160−170 +221%
Elden Ring	80−85 −235%	260−270 +235%
Far Cry 5	75−80 −73.7%	130−140 +73.7%
Fortnite	116 −135%	270−280 +135%
Forza Horizon 4	114 −241%	350−400 +241%
Grand Theft Auto V	79 −111%	160−170 +111%
Metro Exodus	60 −105%	123 +105%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	239 +11.2%	210−220 −11.2%
Red Dead Redemption 2	39 −218%	124 +218%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	75−80 −120%	170−180 +120%
Valorant	64 −444%	300−350 +444%
World of Tanks	250−260 −9.4%	270−280 +9.4%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	71 −64.8%	110−120 +64.8%
Counter-Strike 2	45−50 −264%	160−170 +264%
Cyberpunk 2077	45−50 −8.2%	53 +8.2%
Dota 2	80−85 −98.8%	160−170 +98.8%
Far Cry 5	75−80 −73.7%	130−140 +73.7%
Forza Horizon 4	100 −289%	350−400 +289%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	79 −172%	210−220 +172%
Valorant	110 −274%	411 +274%

1440p
High Preset

Dota 2	40−45 −229%	130−140 +229%
Elden Ring	40−45 −326%	180−190 +326%
Grand Theft Auto V	40−45 −229%	130−140 +229%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	170−180 +0%	170−180 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	25 −228%	82 +228%
World of Tanks	160−170 −201%	450−500 +201%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	45−50 −77.6%	85−90 +77.6%
Counter-Strike 2	21−24 −343%	90−95 +343%
Cyberpunk 2077	20−22 −80%	36 +80%
Far Cry 5	70−75 −125%	160−170 +125%
Forza Horizon 4	70 −260%	250−260 +260%
Metro Exodus	58 −102%	117 +102%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	35−40 −340%	150−160 +340%
Valorant	75 −337%	328 +337%

4K
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2	21−24 −291%	85−90 +291%
Dota 2	41 −280%	150−160 +280%
Elden Ring	18−20 −411%	95−100 +411%
Grand Theft Auto V	41 −280%	150−160 +280%
Metro Exodus	19 −253%	67 +253%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	82 −155%	200−210 +155%
Red Dead Redemption 2	16 −244%	55 +244%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	41 −283%	150−160 +283%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	30 −200%	90−95 +200%
Counter-Strike 2	21−24 −291%	85−90 +291%
Cyberpunk 2077	8−9 −113%	17 +113%
Dota 2	40−45 −271%	150−160 +271%
Far Cry 5	30−35 −228%	100−110 +228%
Fortnite	34 −182%	95−100 +182%
Forza Horizon 4	40 −248%	130−140 +248%
Valorant	39 −374%	185 +374%

This is how RX 590 and RX 6900 XT compete in popular games:

RX 6900 XT is 84% faster in 1080p
RX 6900 XT is 113% faster in 1440p
RX 6900 XT is 119% faster in 4K

Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:

in PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS, with 1080p resolution and the High Preset, the RX 590 is 11% faster.
in Valorant, with 1080p resolution and the High Preset, the RX 6900 XT is 444% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

RX 590 is ahead in 2 tests (3%)
RX 6900 XT is ahead in 60 tests (95%)
there's a draw in 1 test (2%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	24.42	69.55
Recency	15 November 2018	28 October 2020
Maximum RAM amount	8 GB	16 GB
Chip lithography	12 nm	7 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	175 Watt	300 Watt

RX 590 has 71.4% lower power consumption.

RX 6900 XT, on the other hand, has a 184.8% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 1 year, a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount, and a 71.4% more advanced lithography process.

The Radeon RX 6900 XT is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon RX 590 in performance tests.

Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.