AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT review

Are you on a tight budget when choosing a current-generation GPU with high-quality performance? This item might become the best option for you. It’s highly affordable, yet it has some quality features including ray tracing. However, this doesn’t seem to be enough to replace the RTX 3060 Ti by Nvidia. Their card provides a proper performance in games for just a bit higher price.

Advantages:

• Decent performance at 1080p
• Loads of Ryzen builds features
• Low consumption

Disadvantages:

• FSR activation required for ray tracing
• Less mighty than RTX 3060 Ti

AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT – Price

It will cost you $429 (Amazon).

Main features

• Implementation of RDNA 2. It is based on the latest generation of architecture for best gaming graphics cards by AMD
• The ray tracing feature support. It is able to show light effects using this feature in respective games
• FidelityFX resolution. With the help of FSR, you get a faster refresh rate during resource-consuming processes

The device in our review is the latest graphics processor for 1080p games by AMD. This means it’s in the same price category as RTX 3060 Ti. As a result of RDNA 2 architecture implementation, the item performs better than expected. While having a really low price, It displays several high-quality features. One of the most notable ones is, of course, ray tracing.

The card has gone through some thorough testing and benchmarking on our side. As a consequence, we can confirm the fact that it’s a supreme and high-valued GPU. Considering the price that you can buy it for, it becomes an excellent option. It perfectly suits budget gamers’ preferences. The only drawback is having a winning competitor, namely, the RTX 3060 Ti. The opponent provides better performance at crucial points while its price is only $30 higher.

Specifications

• Based on RDNA 2 foundation
• Displays ray tracing
• The worst performance in the AMD RDNA 2 series

The given GPU is nowadays at the bottom of AMD’s most recent GPUs. The only one that we would rate even lower is the more expensive RX 6800. In other words, it keeps the most important benefit of RDNA 2.

Namely, applying the same architecture to run PS5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles. They include special light effects, such as ray tracing in games that are compatible. In addition, there are other technologies like Infinity Cache. There’s also Smart Access Memory. Finally, the FidelityFX Super Resolution, which was just recently implemented, now has support, as well.

Nvidia has been applying progressive ray tracing technology since 2018. It was the time of its 20-series cards release. This cutting-edge technical trick makes lighting effects look more realistic. For example, shadows and reflections move and change in real-time. While you read it, it might not seem so interesting. However, it essentially increases the game quality and makes the playing process more engaging.

The only shortcoming of this amazing technology is high demands. By the way, there’s a nuance in case you play a compatible game at maximized settings. The ray-tracing feature can cut the refresh rate in half.

Nvidia GPU last year releases notably outperformed their main rival, AMD. One of the reasons for that was applying extra technology called DLSS. Its main goal is to lessen the influence of ray tracing on refresh rates.

FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) technique by AMD works similarly to DLSS. However, some services slightly vary. FSR uses spatial resolution in order to get more frame rates. Meanwhile, DLSS applies modern machine learning technologies. They make it possible for a graphics card to predict and complete tasks more accurately. AMD considers that the adoption of such a technique will allow running FSR on different hardware.

Another advanced technology designed by AMD is known as Infinity Cache. It makes the workloads of Ray Accelerator and VRAM less heavy. This happens due to keeping more data used for ray tracing in local stores. The developers claim the method improves the RDNA functioning per watt by 50%. This is compared to GPUs of the previous generation.

One more exclusive by AMD is called Smart Access Memory. It makes it possible for the RX GPUs and Ryzen processors to collaborate. Or rather, do it in a more efficient way.

Overall, RX 6600 XT is right what you expect from a GPU for this price. More specifically, in terms of design and specs. We tested the XFX Quick 308 Black version of the device. In our opinion, with 3 fans the FE 3060 Ti is more stylish. However, there are smaller compatible versions of Micro-ATX available in stores. On the backside, there’s a standard port selection. It contains, as expected, two DisplayPort 1.4 and two HDMI 2.1 outputs. Therefore, all the connectivity needed to use a high-end monitor for gaming is there. TV and VR gaming headset are also available to connect to.

Speaking of specifications, 6600 XT is supreme and matches the 3060 Ti. But the clock speeds of our GPU are higher and it consumes less power (160W). In addition, it has the equivalent of 8GB of video memory. As for ray tracing performance, it’s hard to compare it on paper. Nevertheless, we would mention 32 compute and ray-tracing pedals which add some value.

There’s just one notable drawback we see in comparison to other AMD cards. There’s only 32 MB of Infinity Cache supported on the device. We break down the details and key features in the following table.

Testing and performance

• High-quality performance in 1080p in all aspects
• Not a good match for 3060 Ti
• FSR should be activated in order to avoid issues with ray tracing

However, we consider it reasonable not to judge overall performance by clock speed. Due to that, we conducted a series of synthetic performance and in-game tests. They allowed us to measure the GPU speed with high accuracy. More specifically, we used a rig with the configurations in the list below.

Testing equipment specifications

• Central Processing Unit: Intel Core i9-9900KF
• Main circuit board: Asus ROG Strix Z370-E Gaming (LGA1151)
• Random Access Memory: 16GB DDR4
• Power supply: Corsair RM750X
• Solid State Drive: Samsung SSD 860 EVO 500GB SATA
• Cooling system: MasterLiquid Pro 280

We maxed out the graphic settings in all games. You will find the details of the RX 6600 XT productivity in each game further.

Godfall

This RPG is optimized for AMD and works with both FSR and ray tracing. It’s not the best game, but it’s a great platform to demonstrate ray tracing. There are lots of reflective surfaces and broad expanses in Godfall to check the feature. Its built-in test is a convenient tool.

It helps to see how the GPU handles the most recently released Triple-A RPGs. In this particular game, we witnessed just how decent FSR can function. The game refresh rate tripled as we played with ray tracing applying modern technology. Without it, the game wouldn’t show a decent refresh rate with ray tracing on.

Control

One of the earliest games that started to engage ray tracing was Control. Nowadays it remains an appropriate place to demonstrate the greatness of technology. The game is full of unexpectedly complicated forms and reflective environments.

Here you can fully evaluate the way the GPU processes ray tracing. Unfortunately, Control doesn’t have any built-in performance test. Neither does it support FSR. As a consequence, we recorded the average refresh rate in a particular game fragment. It helped us to measure the performance.

And again, 6600 XT provided an acceptable frame rate at all resolutions with ray tracing off. Only in 4K it dropped below 60 fps. Meanwhile, with ray tracing enabled we experienced serious lags. It was impossible to play at 60 fps at any resolution we selected.

Doom Eternal

This awesome game runs on Vulkan, not on the more typical DirectX API. Besides, it was updated. That is to say, now it’s compatible with ray tracing. The game can serve as an accurate indicator of the GPU performance in first-person shooters.

There’s no internal test in the game, so we made records. It helped us to note the average frame rate. We should say, the GPU performed fairly well in this test. We were able to play at a normal frame rate at all resolutions. However, the 3060 Ti’s results in this competition are noticeably better.

The Division 2

This is one of the live service games created by Ubisoft. It’s a third-person shooter with a multiplayer option. The environment is based on American landscapes during the post-apocalypse time. The system requirements are really low.

Nevertheless, Division 2 can serve as a proper gauge of GPU performance. Its internal test will show the ability of the 6600 XT to run modern games. Specifically, the ones with live services. Here the GPU did well at all resolutions. The only exception was 4K, where it failed the test.

Borderlands 3

This is a first-person shooter adjusted by AMD with a multiplayer option. Neither FSR nor ray tracing is active in the game. However, its vast world contains a lot of complex effects, NPCs, and explosions. Therefore, its built-in benchmark becomes a great measure of GPU performance.

With such a reference point we’ll see how the card handles recent Triple-A games. The GPU was fairly good here. It reached 60 fps in all tests, except for 4K.

Horizon Zero Dawn

This computer game once was a PS4 exclusive. It has beautiful graphics, while the optimization is utterly bad. This, in turn, makes it a real challenge for any system.

There’s a built-in test to indicate the GPU’s performance in games with high demands. Our card could handle 1080p resolution. But at 4K it fell lower than 60 fps. One more time, it goes one step behind the 3060 Ti.

3DMark

This is a set of tools for conducting synthetic performance tests. First of all, we launched Time Spy Extreme. Its aim was to rate Direct X 12 4K GPU performance in games. Another program we used was Port Royal. It determines the GPU ability to deal with ray tracing. In both cases, higher scores mean better results.

In Time Spy Extreme, our card performed similarly to the RTX 2070 series. Such a result makes it less powerful than the 3060 Ti. The Ti has gone through the evaluation with much better scores.

Considering the card’s specifications, we were really surprised to see uncommonly low Port Royal’s results. We received a comment on that from an AMD representative. He said it was due to a problem with the pre-release driver variety we used. Therefore, we will do a retest in the near future. The only thing left is to wait for the final driver’s version release.

Power consumption and overclocking

• Little space for overclocking
• Moderate power consumption

Usually, third-party GPUs are not overclockable. The reason for that is OEMs setting the speed right at the production level. That’s why we weren’t surprised at our inability to overclock the XFX unit.

After running through a pre-overclock we only gained 6% on the clock speed. The memory improved by 2%. That didn’t look like a serious change. Neither did it have any significant effect on the playing process.

The review item focuses on the low specifications and the 1080p market sector. For that reason, it doesn’t need too much power to function. The highest peak of power consumption was 253 W during the Time Spy Extreme evaluation. Therefore, the card is not demanding at all compared to 3060 Ti. We recommend it for users wanting to tweak their PC with a low power supply.

Video-review on gaming graphics card AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT – The State Of 1080p Gaming

Gaming graphics card AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT

AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT review - the latest graphics card for 1080p games. It’s highly affordable, yet it has some quality features including ray tracing.

Product SKU: RX6600XT

Product Brand: AMD

Product Currency: $

Product Price: 429

Price Valid Until: 2023-04-26

Product In-Stock: InStock

Editor's Rating:
8.5