AMD Radeon RX 6600 vs. RX 6600 XT: How big is the difference in gaming?

The last-gen AMD RX 6600 and RX 6600 XT cards for budget gaming are still stocked and sold worldwide. These graphics cards directly compete against the RTX 3060 and 3060 Ti and deliver top-notch performance at FHD resolution without a ton of sacrifices. They even support the latest technologies like ray tracing and temporal upscaling, making them a solid option for gaming.

Recently, the mid-range RDNA 2 lineup saw a surge in sales following the disappointing launch of the mid-range RTX 4060 and 4060 Ti GPUs. Even the RX 7600 fails to deliver significant improvements at its price tag of $269.

Thus, it's natural that many gamers are gravitating to the last gen. However, choosing between the RX 6600 and the RX 6600 XT can be pretty difficult. We will fill you in on all the differences between these cards and look at the performance differences before concluding.

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Choosing between the AMD Radeon RX 6600 and RX 6600 XT can be difficult

Specs

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 is a cut-down version of the costlier 6600 XT. Although the graphics cards are based on the same graphics processor, Navi 23, the cheaper 6600 features much fewer shading units, RT cores, and Compute Units. This also means the cheaper RX 6600 is more power efficient. While the 6600 XT is rated for 160W, the 6600 only draws up to 132W.

However, one thing both the cards share is the memory buffer. The cards come with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory based on a 128-bit memory bus. While 8 GB of memory has seen better days, it still is enough for gaming at 1080p.

A detailed comparison of the specs of the RX 6600 and the RX 6600 XT is as follows. We have also added the RX 6650 XT to the list for a better look at what the cards offer.

	AMD Radeon RX 6600	AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT	AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT
Graphics processor	Navi 23	Navi 23	Navi 23
Shading cores	1792	2048	2048
RT cores	28	32	32
Compute units	28	32	32
Max. Boost clock	2491 MHz	2589 MHz	2635 MHz
VRAM	8 GB 128-bit GDDR6	8 GB 128-bit GDDR6	8 GB 128-bit GDDR6
TDP	132W	160W	176W
Price	$209	$289	$235

The 6600 XT is currently the costliest card among the three. This is primarily because supply chains have gotten disrupted as AMD is trying to sell more 6650 XTs.

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Performance differences

The RX 6600 XT is built to be much faster than the 6600 in video games. In addition, the higher-end card is about $85 costlier than the cheaper alternative. The performance of the AMD RX 6600, RX 6600 XT, and RX 6650 XT in different video games is as follows:

	AMD Radeon RX 6600	AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT	AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT
The Last of Us	53	65	71
Hogwarts Legacy	61	66	72
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2	102	123	125
Resident Evil 4 Remake	83	96	102
Elden Ring	86	98	106
Atomic Heart	65	77	81

The RX 6600 is a decent card even for playing some of the latest games in the market. While the RX 6600 XT delivers a ton of extra performance over the 6600, it is worth noting that the card is much costlier.

If you have some extra cash to spend on a graphics card, we believe the RX 6650 XT is a much better choice. It is currently selling for about $235, which makes it only slightly costlier than the 6600.