7900 XTX vs 6900 XT
Reviewed By: Kevin Pocock
Table of Contents
With the release of AMD's 7000 series, users have started to wonder if it's wise to upgrade or not. We'll help you get to that realization by making a direct comparison between the 7000-series flagship: pitting the RX 7900 XTX vs the 6900 XT. In this article, you'll be able to make a better-informed decision if it's worth the upgrade or not. At the outset, it is certainly worth it. This is the best AMD GPU, by far.
According to AMD, the RX 7900 XTX is “the most advanced graphics for gamers & creators.” This GPU was built on the long-expected RDNA 3 architecture, which is supposed to double previous-gen performances. The first aspect to note is that this GPU should be able to handle 4K resolutions and beyond.
On the other hand, the RX 6900 XT was built under the RDNA 2 architecture and shows the world how the innovative AMD Infinity Cache can be used to the user's advantage. This GPU was created to deliver ultra-high frame rates and “serious 4K resolution gaming.”
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RX 7900 XTX vs 6900 XT specs comparison
AMD’s RDNA 3 architecture is a groundbreaking technology. It changed the way AMD's GPUs deliver power. This new architecture comes packed with quite a lot of changes. It features ray tracing and AMD Infinity Cache, the same as the previous RDNA but on its 2nd generation, which makes it feel like a brand-new, never-before-seen technology.
AMD knows its weak side compared to Nvidia is the AI-powered graphics. While Nvidia's DLSS has been working perfectly, Team Red is still having some problems. Hence, they've included in RDNA 3 AI Acceleration, AMD Radiance Display™ Engine, and a new Chiplet Design.
This gives us an important difference, right from the get-go: the RDNA 3 architecture has finally included a chipset design for the GPU. This type of design has been around in CPUs for a while but has yet to be added to graphics cards and AMD just did it. It added a chipset design instead of the classic monolithic design to try to increase core speed, decrease production costs and improve overall performance. This change doesn't add too much to the performance but overall it would be hard to notice due to the high infinity cache the new GPU has to compensate for the change.
| RX 7900 XTX | RX 6900 XT | |
| Architecture | RDNA 3 | RDNA 2 |
| Compute units | 96 | 80 |
| Ray accelerators | 96 | 80 |
| Peak Single Precision compute Performance | 61 TFLOPs | 23.04 TFLOPs |
| Stream Processors | 6144 | 5120 |
| Shader engines | 6 | X |
| Game clock speed | 2300 MHz | 2015 MHz |
| Boost Clock speed | 2500 MHz | 2250 MHz |
| Peak Pixel Fill-Rate | Up to 480 GP/s | Up to 288 GP/s |
| Transistor Count | 58 B | 26.8 B |
| Max Memory Size | 24 GB | 16 GB |
| Memory Speed | 20 Gbps | 16 Gbps |
| Memory Bandwidth | Up to 960 GB/s | Up to 512 GB/s |
| TBP | 355 W | 300 W |
The change in the design and node process allowed AMD to pack the RX 7900 XTX with almost double the features the RX 6900 XT has. The first difference to notice in specs is how many TFLOPS the 7900 XTX is able to achieve. The new graphics card is able to get to an enormous peak single precision compute performance of 61 Teraflops. That’s 3x higher than the 23.04 TFLOPs of the 6900 XT.
Attached to those TFLOPS, we have clock speeds. The RX 7900 XTX can achieve 2500 MHz, while the 6900 XT can only get to 2250 MHz. This might not look like much but the difference is huge when we factor in the almost double memory bandwidth (960 GB/s vs 512 GB/s)
In conclusion, the RX 7900 XTX is double the 6900 XT in almost every aspect spec-wise. Team Red knew exactly where to look and how to improve the new gen. One single drawback might be its TBP (Typical Board Power). The new-gen GPU is consuming 55 more watts than the previous iteration and it's already popular for running hotter than the 6900 XT and even than the 6950 XT.
RX 7900 XTX vs 6900 XT price
This comparison becomes more interesting when we start talking about pricing. These past years in GPU pricing have been weird. We know now that mining and component shortages have done a lot of damage to these PC components. However, we're starting to get out of that rabbit hole. Mining has become obsolete, and the shortage is going something of the past.
Nonetheless, prices are still weird. The RX 6900 XT was launched back in December 2020 at an MSRP of $999. Since then, the GPU price has been up and down to maintain today at an average of $1,152.
Following the same path, the RX 7900 XTX was launched under the same MSRP of $999, making the 7900 XTX cheaper than the 6900 XT by almost $200. This would be amazing if we lived in a perfect world, but we don't. So, we have to consider availability, market behavior, and scalpers. Most likely, the brand-new GPU price will wobble a bit.
RX 7900 XTX vs 6900 XT Performance
As expected, the RX 7900 XTX beats in performance the 6900 XT. This new GPU makes use of all its advantages to deliver three-digit frames per second in every game it encounters with.
According to AMD's website, the new 7000-series is built to beat the flagship 6000-series GPU. AMD states that the user will “Experience over 50% greater Performance-per-watt with AMD RDNA™ 3, compared against the previous generation AMD RDNA™ 2”.
This is a very bold statement, and the fact that they can say that is because it has numbers to back that up. The RX 7900 XTX is simply better than any other AMD GPU ever built.
The YouTube channel Mark PC released a video comparing the RX 7900 XTX against the RX 6900 XT and the 7900 XT. They benchmarked over seven video games at the highest settings and provide FPS percentages alongside other helpful data. Here are the results:
| 4K Ultra | RX 7900 XTX | RX 6900 XT |
| God of War | 118 FPS | 77 FPS |
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 86 FPS | 40 FPS |
| Assassin’s Creed Valhalla | 108 FPS | 70 FPS |
| Watch Dogs Legion | 85 FPS | 53 FPS |
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 109 FPS | 51 FPS |
| Doom Eternal | 310 FPS | 200 FPS |
| Horizon Zero Dawn | 124 FPS | 73 FPS |
For the test, the YouTube creator used an Intel Core i-912900K and 2x16GB DDR4 3600MHz G.Skill. As we can see, the new GPU reaches a 30%-50% improvement in the games shown above. This is pretty close to what AMD has stated, and the truth is: we're still waiting for additional benchmarks to compare these two GPUs more accurately. For now, it's safe to say, the RX 7900 XTX beats the floor with the RX 6900 XT performance for a similar price.
RX 7900 XTX vs 6900 XT Final thoughts
The RX 6900 XT is a strong GPU. It has shown itself capable of the most demanding 4K gaming and tasks. Since it was dropped two years ago, Team Red has been working on improving bit by bit every aspect of its performance, until the firm got to the behemoth that is the RX 7900 XTX. The enhancements in clock speed, cache memory, TFLOPs, and overall architecture are more than enough proof that this is the best GPU ever released from the brand.
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