Radeon RX 6900 vs RX 6500 XT

VS

Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon RX 6500 XT and Radeon RX 6900, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

RX 6500 XT
2022
8 GB GDDR6, 107 Watt
24.79

RX 6900 outperforms RX 6500 XT by a whopping 180% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.

Place in the ranking21621
Place by popularity84not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation58.29no data
Power efficiency16.1118.93
ArchitectureRDNA 2.0 (2020−2024)RDNA 2.0 (2020−2024)
GPU code nameNavi 24Navi 21
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Release date19 January 2022 (2 years ago)28 October 2020 (4 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$199 no data

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

no data

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 cores10244608
Core clock speed2610 MHzno data
Boost clock speed2815 MHz2105 MHz
Number of transistors5,400 million23,000 million
Manufacturing process technology6 nm7 nm
Power consumption (TDP)107 Watt255 Watt
Texture fill rate180.2606.2
Floating-point processing power5.765 TFLOPS19.4 TFLOPS
ROPs3264
TMUs64288
Ray Tracing Cores16no data

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).

InterfacePCIe 4.0 x4PCIe 4.0 x16
Width2-slot2-slot
Supplementary power connectors1x 6-pin2x 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 typeGDDR6GDDR6
Maximum RAM amount8 GB16 GB
Memory bus width64 Bit256 Bit
Memory clock speed2248 MHz16 GB/s
Memory bandwidth143.9 GB/s512.0 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 Connectors1x HDMI 2.1, 1x DisplayPort 1.4a1x HDMI, 2x DisplayPort, 1x USB Type-C
HDMI++

API compatibility

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

DirectX12 Ultimate (12_2)12 Ultimate (12_2)
Shader Model6.66.5
OpenGL4.64.6
OpenCL2.22.0
Vulkan1.31.2

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 6500 XT 24.79
RX 6900 69.42
+180%

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 6500 XT 9567
RX 6900 26790
+180%

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 HD66
−173%
180−190
+173%
1440p34
−179%
95−100
+179%
4K16
−150%
40−45
+150%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077 72
−178%
200−210
+178%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 50−55
−178%
150−160
+178%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 51
−175%
140−150
+175%
Battlefield 5 80−85
−172%
220−230
+172%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 50−55
−180%
140−150
+180%
Cyberpunk 2077 54
−178%
150−160
+178%
Far Cry 5 55−60
−163%
150−160
+163%
Far Cry New Dawn 65−70
−177%
180−190
+177%
Forza Horizon 4 140−150
−176%
400−450
+176%
Hitman 3 50−55
−180%
140−150
+180%
Horizon Zero Dawn 110−120
−163%
300−310
+163%
Metro Exodus 85−90
−171%
230−240
+171%
Red Dead Redemption 2 60−65
−166%
170−180
+166%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 80−85
−174%
230−240
+174%
Watch Dogs: Legion 100−110
−172%
280−290
+172%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 50−55
−178%
150−160
+178%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 43
−179%
120−130
+179%
Battlefield 5 80−85
−172%
220−230
+172%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 50−55
−180%
140−150
+180%
Cyberpunk 2077 34
−179%
95−100
+179%
Far Cry 5 55−60
−163%
150−160
+163%
Far Cry New Dawn 65−70
−177%
180−190
+177%
Forza Horizon 4 140−150
−176%
400−450
+176%
Hitman 3 50−55
−180%
140−150
+180%
Horizon Zero Dawn 110−120
−163%
300−310
+163%
Metro Exodus 85−90
−171%
230−240
+171%
Red Dead Redemption 2 60−65
−166%
170−180
+166%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 107
−171%
290−300
+171%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 50−55
−164%
140−150
+164%
Watch Dogs: Legion 100−110
−172%
280−290
+172%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 50−55
−178%
150−160
+178%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 31
−174%
85−90
+174%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 50−55
−180%
140−150
+180%
Cyberpunk 2077 30
−167%
80−85
+167%
Far Cry 5 55−60
−163%
150−160
+163%
Forza Horizon 4 140−150
−176%
400−450
+176%
Hitman 3 50−55
−180%
140−150
+180%
Horizon Zero Dawn 92
−172%
250−260
+172%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 83
−177%
230−240
+177%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 54
−178%
150−160
+178%
Watch Dogs: Legion 25
−180%
70−75
+180%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 60−65
−166%
170−180
+166%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5 45−50
−177%
130−140
+177%
Far Cry New Dawn 35−40
−163%
100−105
+163%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 24−27
−169%
70−75
+169%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 23
−161%
60−65
+161%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 27−30
−168%
75−80
+168%
Cyberpunk 2077 17
−165%
45−50
+165%
Far Cry 5 27−30
−168%
75−80
+168%
Forza Horizon 4 140−150
−148%
350−400
+148%
Hitman 3 27−30
−176%
80−85
+176%
Horizon Zero Dawn 66
−173%
180−190
+173%
Metro Exodus 57
−163%
150−160
+163%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 56
−168%
150−160
+168%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 30−33
−167%
80−85
+167%
Watch Dogs: Legion 140−150
−150%
350−400
+150%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 40−45
−168%
110−120
+168%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5 24−27
−171%
65−70
+171%
Far Cry New Dawn 18−20
−163%
50−55
+163%
Hitman 3 10
−170%
27−30
+170%
Horizon Zero Dawn 120−130
−176%
350−400
+176%
Metro Exodus 27−30
−168%
75−80
+168%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 28
−168%
75−80
+168%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey 14−16
−167%
40−45
+167%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla 6
−167%
16−18
+167%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 14−16
−150%
35−40
+150%
Cyberpunk 2077 4
−150%
10−11
+150%
Far Cry 5 14−16
−150%
35−40
+150%
Forza Horizon 4 30−35
−179%
95−100
+179%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider 25
−180%
70−75
+180%
Watch Dogs: Legion 10
−170%
27−30
+170%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2 21−24
−162%
55−60
+162%

This is how RX 6500 XT and RX 6900 compete in popular games:

  • RX 6900 is 173% faster in 1080p
  • RX 6900 is 179% faster in 1440p
  • RX 6900 is 150% faster in 4K

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 24.79 69.42
Recency 19 January 2022 28 October 2020
Maximum RAM amount 8 GB 16 GB
Chip lithography 6 nm 7 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 107 Watt 255 Watt

RX 6500 XT has an age advantage of 1 year, a 16.7% more advanced lithography process, and 138.3% lower power consumption.

RX 6900, on the other hand, has a 180% higher aggregate performance score, and a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount.

The Radeon RX 6900 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon RX 6500 XT in performance tests.


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

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AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT
Radeon RX 6500 XT
AMD Radeon RX 6900
Radeon RX 6900

Comparisons with similar GPUs

We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.

Community ratings

Here you can see the user ratings of the compared graphics cards, as well as rate them yourself.


3.8 3213 votes

Rate Radeon RX 6500 XT on a scale of 1 to 5:

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3.9 66 votes

Rate Radeon RX 6900 on a scale of 1 to 5:

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Questions & comments

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