
AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT Review: Near-RTX 3090 performance for US$500 less but only marginally better than RX 6800 XT
AMD Ryzen 9 5950X | AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT
The AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT is a high-end desktop GPU based on the RDNA2 architecture and uses the Navi 21 chip which is manufactured in 7nm at TSMC. The GPU has 80 compute units (CUs) / 5,120 shader units, as well as 16 GB of GDDR6 VRAM with a 256-bit interface (16 Gbps, 512 GB/s). The GPU supports hardware accelerated raytracing thanks to the RDNA2 architecture.
Features
RDNA2 serves as the basis for the Navi 21 graphics chip, which is the successor to the Navi 10 graphics chip from the previous RX 5700 series. A number of new features like SAM (Smart Access Memory) and the Infinity Cache make the RX 6800 series very interesting. PCI Express 4.0 and RIS (Radeon Image Sharpening) are still available. The new Media Engine lets you decode video at up to 8K resolution, and the new Display Engine supports screens up to 8K at 60Hz including HDR or 4K HDR at 144Hz.
Performance
The performance of the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT is between a Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 and RTX 3090 (when Raytracing is not used). Using Raytracing, the performance falls back a bit (depending on the game) as the RTX cards offer a faster Raytracing rendering. Still, the RX 6900XT is one of the fastest desktop cards in 2021 and well suited for 4K gaming. Read our full review on the RX 6900 XT for more details.
Power consumption
The power consumption of the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT is quantified by the manufacturer at 300 Watts (TGP) and is thus somewhat less power-hungry than the GeForce RTX 3080 (320 Watts).
Architecture | Navi / RDNA2 |
Pipelines | 5120 - unified |
Core Speed | 1825 - 2250 (Boost) MHz |
Memory Speed | 16000 MHz |
Memory Bus Width | 256 Bit |
Memory Type | GDDR6 |
Max. Amount of Memory | 16 GB |
Shared Memory | no |
API | DirectX 12_2, Shader 6.5, OpenGL 4.6 |
Power Consumption | 300 Watt |
Transistor Count | 26.8 Billion |
technology | 7 nm |
Features | DisplayPort 1.4 w/DFSC, HDMI 2.1 VRR, PCIe 4.0, Radeon Media Engine (H.264 4K150 decode, 4K90 encode / H.265 4K90 decode, 8K24, 4K60 encode / VP9 4K90. 8K24 decode) |
Date of Announcement | 08.12.2020 |
Link to Manufacturer Page | www.amd.com |
The following benchmarks stem from our benchmarks of review laptops. The performance depends on the used graphics memory, clock rate, processor, system settings, drivers, and operating systems. So the results don't have to be representative for all laptops with this GPU. For detailed information on the benchmark results, click on the fps number.
low | med. | high | ultra | QHD | 4K | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hitman 3 | 352.8 | 283.2 | 279.9 | 273 | 213 | 128 |
Cyberpunk 2077 1.0 | 160 | 152 | 127 | 106 | 72.3 | 34.8 |
Immortals Fenyx Rising | 139 | 126 | 127 | 122 | 121 | 83 |
Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War | 298 | 198 | 169 | 153 | 115 | 68.1 |
Assassin´s Creed Valhalla | 227 | 169 | 142 | 137 | 109 | 66 |
Watch Dogs Legion | 191 | 190 | 170 | 121 | 91 | 54 |
Mafia Definitive Edition | 160 | 142 | 138 | 120 | 67 | |
Horizon Zero Dawn | 245 | 205 | 184 | 164 | 136 | 76 |
F1 2020 | 520 | 442 | 395 | 283 | 224 | 137 |
Gears Tactics | 495.8 | 338.1 | 249 | 175.1 | 136.4 | 74.1 |
Doom Eternal | 624 | 480 | 416 | 411 | 328 | 185 |
Red Dead Redemption 2 | 208 | 196 | 150 | 98 | 82.1 | 54.6 |
Borderlands 3 | 197 | 169 | 152 | 131 | 106 | 58 |
Control | 240 | 234 | 175 | 113 | 54 | |
Total War: Three Kingdoms | 429.7 | 263 | 180.3 | 141.3 | 92.9 | 44.9 |
Anno 1800 | 223 | 162 | 139 | 87.1 | 70.7 | 52 |
The Division 2 | 217 | 190 | 157 | 138 | 118 | 66.6 |
Far Cry New Dawn | 141 | 126 | 123 | 118 | 117 | 101 |
Metro Exodus | 274 | 214 | 154 | 123 | 102 | 66.7 |
Battlefield V | 196 | 195 | 196 | 197 | 196 | 134 |
Assassin´s Creed Odyssey | 124 | 117 | 106 | 98 | 99 | 68 |
Forza Horizon 4 | 350 | 283 | 279 | 248 | 231 | 162 |
Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 248 | 222 | 213 | 201 | 159 | 85 |
The Witcher 3 | 589 | 375 | 323 | 163.6 | 122 | |
low | med. | high | ultra | QHD | 4K | < 30 fps < 60 fps < 120 fps ≥ 120 fps | 24 | 1 23 | 1 23 | 5 17 | 13 10 | 7 11 6 |
For more games that might be playable and a list of all games and graphics cards visit our Gaming List
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