Radeon RX 6500 XT vs Vega Frontier Edition
Aggregate performance score
We've compared Radeon Vega Frontier Edition with Radeon RX 6500 XT, including specs and performance data.
Vega Frontier Edition outperforms RX 6500 XT by a substantial 36% based on our aggregate benchmark results.
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in the ranking | 163 | 228 |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | 95 |
| Cost-effectiveness evaluation | 19.70 | 58.08 |
| Power efficiency | 7.76 | 15.99 |
| Architecture | GCN 5.0 (2017−2020) | RDNA 2.0 (2020−2024) |
| GPU code name | Vega 10 | Navi 24 |
| Market segment | Workstation | Desktop |
| Release date | 27 June 2017 (7 years ago) | 19 January 2022 (3 years ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $999 | $199 |
Cost-effectiveness evaluation
The higher the performance-to-price ratio, the better. We use the manufacturer's recommended prices for comparison.
RX 6500 XT has 195% better value for money than Vega Frontier Edition.
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 | 4096 | 1024 |
| Core clock speed | 1382 MHz | 2610 MHz |
| Boost clock speed | 1600 MHz | 2815 MHz |
| Number of transistors | 12,500 million | 5,400 million |
| Manufacturing process technology | 14 nm | 6 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 300 Watt | 107 Watt |
| Texture fill rate | 409.6 | 180.2 |
| Floating-point processing power | 13.11 TFLOPS | 5.765 TFLOPS |
| ROPs | 64 | 32 |
| TMUs | 256 | 64 |
| Ray Tracing Cores | no data | 16 |
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 x4 |
| Length | 267 mm | no data |
| Width | 2-slot | 2-slot |
| Supplementary power connectors | 2x 8-pin | 1x 6-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 | HBM2 | GDDR6 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 16 GB | 8 GB |
| Memory bus width | 2048 Bit | 64 Bit |
| Memory clock speed | 945 MHz | 2248 MHz |
| Memory bandwidth | 483.8 GB/s | 143.9 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 2.1, 1x DisplayPort 1.4a |
| HDMI | + | + |
API and SDK compatibility
List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 12 (12_1) | 12 Ultimate (12_2) |
| Shader Model | 6.4 | 6.6 |
| OpenGL | 4.6 | 4.6 |
| OpenCL | 2.0 | 2.2 |
| Vulkan | 1.1.125 | 1.3 |
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.
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.
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 | 85−90
+30.8%
| 65
−30.8%
|
| 1440p | 40−45
+33.3%
| 30
−33.3%
|
| 4K | 21−24
+31.3%
| 16
−31.3%
|
Cost per frame, $
| 1080p | 11.75
−284%
| 3.06
+284%
|
| 1440p | 24.98
−277%
| 6.63
+277%
|
| 4K | 47.57
−282%
| 12.44
+282%
|
- RX 6500 XT has 284% lower cost per frame in 1080p
- RX 6500 XT has 277% lower cost per frame in 1440p
- RX 6500 XT has 282% lower cost per frame in 4K
FPS performance in popular games
Full HD
Low Preset
| Atomic Heart | 111
+0%
|
111
+0%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 64
+0%
|
64
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 72
+0%
|
72
+0%
|
Full HD
Medium Preset
| Atomic Heart | 84
+0%
|
84
+0%
|
| Battlefield 5 | 90−95
+0%
|
90−95
+0%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 40
+0%
|
40
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 54
+0%
|
54
+0%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 102
+0%
|
102
+0%
|
| Fortnite | 110−120
+0%
|
110−120
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 90−95
+0%
|
90−95
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 5 | 66
+0%
|
66
+0%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 90−95
+0%
|
90−95
+0%
|
| Valorant | 160−170
+0%
|
160−170
+0%
|
Full HD
High Preset
| Atomic Heart | 48
+0%
|
48
+0%
|
| Battlefield 5 | 90−95
+0%
|
90−95
+0%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 28
+0%
|
28
+0%
|
| Counter-Strike: Global Offensive | 250−260
+0%
|
250−260
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 34
+0%
|
34
+0%
|
| Dota 2 | 145
+0%
|
145
+0%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 92
+0%
|
92
+0%
|
| Fortnite | 110−120
+0%
|
110−120
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 90−95
+0%
|
90−95
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 5 | 35
+0%
|
35
+0%
|
| Grand Theft Auto V | 86
+0%
|
86
+0%
|
| Metro Exodus | 52
+0%
|
52
+0%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 90−95
+0%
|
90−95
+0%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 92
+0%
|
92
+0%
|
| Valorant | 160−170
+0%
|
160−170
+0%
|
Full HD
Ultra Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 90−95
+0%
|
90−95
+0%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 24
+0%
|
24
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 30
+0%
|
30
+0%
|
| Dota 2 | 110
+0%
|
110
+0%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 86
+0%
|
86
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 90−95
+0%
|
90−95
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 5 | 47
+0%
|
47
+0%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 90−95
+0%
|
90−95
+0%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 54
+0%
|
54
+0%
|
| Valorant | 160−170
+0%
|
160−170
+0%
|
Full HD
Epic Preset
| Fortnite | 110−120
+0%
|
110−120
+0%
|
1440p
High Preset
| Counter-Strike 2 | 21−24
+0%
|
21−24
+0%
|
| Counter-Strike: Global Offensive | 160−170
+0%
|
160−170
+0%
|
| Grand Theft Auto V | 37
+0%
|
37
+0%
|
| Metro Exodus | 18
+0%
|
18
+0%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 170−180
+0%
|
170−180
+0%
|
| Valorant | 200−210
+0%
|
200−210
+0%
|
1440p
Ultra Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 65−70
+0%
|
65−70
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 17
+0%
|
17
+0%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 57
+0%
|
57
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 60−65
+0%
|
60−65
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 5 | 23
+0%
|
23
+0%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 35−40
+0%
|
35−40
+0%
|
1440p
Epic Preset
| Fortnite | 55−60
+0%
|
55−60
+0%
|
4K
High Preset
| Atomic Heart | 18−20
+0%
|
18−20
+0%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 10−12
+0%
|
10−12
+0%
|
| Grand Theft Auto V | 34
+0%
|
34
+0%
|
| Metro Exodus | 11
+0%
|
11
+0%
|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 28
+0%
|
28
+0%
|
| Valorant | 130−140
+0%
|
130−140
+0%
|
4K
Ultra Preset
| Battlefield 5 | 35−40
+0%
|
35−40
+0%
|
| Counter-Strike 2 | 10−12
+0%
|
10−12
+0%
|
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 4
+0%
|
4
+0%
|
| Dota 2 | 67
+0%
|
67
+0%
|
| Far Cry 5 | 23
+0%
|
23
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 4 | 40−45
+0%
|
40−45
+0%
|
| Forza Horizon 5 | 3
+0%
|
3
+0%
|
| PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS | 24−27
+0%
|
24−27
+0%
|
4K
Epic Preset
| Fortnite | 24−27
+0%
|
24−27
+0%
|
This is how Vega Frontier Edition and RX 6500 XT compete in popular games:
- Vega Frontier Edition is 31% faster in 1080p
- Vega Frontier Edition is 33% faster in 1440p
- Vega Frontier Edition is 31% faster in 4K
All in all, in popular games:
- there's a draw in 67 tests (100%)
Pros & cons summary
| Performance score | 33.41 | 24.54 |
| Recency | 27 June 2017 | 19 January 2022 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 16 GB | 8 GB |
| Chip lithography | 14 nm | 6 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 300 Watt | 107 Watt |
Vega Frontier Edition has a 36.1% higher aggregate performance score, and a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount.
RX 6500 XT, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 4 years, a 133.3% more advanced lithography process, and 180.4% lower power consumption.
The Radeon Vega Frontier Edition is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon RX 6500 XT in performance tests.
Be aware that Radeon Vega Frontier Edition is a workstation graphics card while Radeon RX 6500 XT is a desktop one.
Other comparisons
We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.
