AMD makes some of the best graphics cards for gaming, with its Radeon RX lineup hugely popular among PC builders. The RX 5000 series first introduced the advanced RDNA architecture in 2019, while the latest RX 6000 GPUs leverage the improved RDNA 2 design for enhanced speeds and efficiencies.
Two cards that have piqued interest from the gaming community are the RX 6700 XT launched in March 2021, and the RX 5700 XT from July 2019. With only a couple of years separating them, how much faster is the newer 6700 XT? Does it warrant an upgrade from the venerable 5700 XT? We find out in this comprehensive face-off!
Overview and Pricing
The Radeon RX 6700 XT arrived as a 1440p gaming focused graphics card from AMD, serving as a step below the 4K-ready RX 6800 XT. Built on the cutting-edge 7nm TSMC manufacturing node, it comes equipped with 12GB of GDDR6 memory, 40 compute units and clock speeds reaching 2.5GHz.
In comparison, the RX 5700 XT catered to premium 1080p and 1440p gaming back in 2019. It was the first card powered by AMD‘s new RDNA architecture, promising to rival Nvidia‘s RTX Super GPUs. Sporting 8GB memory and boost clocks up to 1.9 GHz, it matched RTX 2070 Super speeds at attractive price points.
| Specification | RX 6700 XT | RX 5700 XT |
|---|---|---|
| Launch Date | March 2021 | July 2019 |
| Price (MSRP) | $479 | $399 |
| Target Resolution | 1440p | 1440p/1080p |
With only a $80 difference in launch pricing but over 1.5 years of advancement, does the RX 6700 XT take the crown for high refresh rate 1440p gaming from its predecessor? Let‘s analyze this contest from all angles!
Gaming Benchmark Performance Comparison
We‘ll start by comparing gaming fps scores across some popular titles at three mainstream resolutions – 1080p, 1440p and 4K:
1080p Performance
The RX 6700 XT is only 11% faster on average here over the 5700 XT, ranging between 5% to 15% gains depending on the game. Already hitting well above 100 fps, both GPUs can handle competitive esports smoothly.
1440p Performance
At 2560 x 1440 resolution the advantages of the newer architecture become very apparent. The RX 6700 XT pulls 20% ahead of the 5700 XT on average. Modern titles like Cyberpunk, Control and Horizon Zero Dawn gain over 25% buffs comfortably crossing 60 fps.
4K Performance
In demanding 4K gaming both cards struggle to maintain smooth fps, but important gains are visible. Here the RX 6700 XT performs 11% better than the RX 5700 XT on average. This can be the difference between dips into unplayable rates versus staying above 40 fps minimums.
Clearly at higher resolutions the architectural improvements start delivering tangible boosts to fps. But does this translate into real world advantages?
What do the benchmark numbers actually mean for gaming?
- At 1080p, both can enable you to max settings out while hitting well above 100+ fps required for silky smooth competitive online play or high refresh rate monitors.
- At 1440p, the RX 6700 XT provides plenty of headroom to enjoy AAA single player titles at over 60 fps with all eye candy enabled. This leads to a great overall gaming experience missing from the RX 5700 XT.
- At 4K, neither manage 60 fps in the most demanding games, so the RX 6700 XT just makes the experience slightly less choppy. For true 4K gaming, the RX 6800 XT or higher end GPUs are recommended.
Now that we‘ve compared raw fps metrics across resolutions, let‘s analyze the architectural and hardware improvements that enable the RX 6700 XT‘s strong 1440p and 4K capabilities.
Architectural Upgrades in RDNA 2
The switch from first gen RDNA architecture to the more advanced RDNA 2 in the RX 6000 series brings several key benefits:
- Higher performance per watt – By doubling the compute units per shader engine, RDNA 2 enhanced energy efficiency by 50% allowing higher sustained clock speeds.
- DirectX 12 Ultimate compatibility – RDNA 2 based GPUs fully support advanced graphics features like raytracing, mesh shaders and variable rate shading mandated by the DX12 Ultimate specification.
- AV1 decode acceleration – The video decode and encode engine offers vastly improved power efficiency for streaming and recording gameplay.
- Smart Access Memory and Rage Mode – These technologies boost fps by minimizing latency and allowing the CPU full access to the GPU memory.
Let‘s analyze the impact of these upgrades when it comes to gaming performance metrics:
Raytracing Support
While the RDNA architecture RX 5700 XT lacks dedicated RT cores, the RX 6700 XT has raytracing acceleration built right in enabling global illumination effects in games. This allows modern titles like Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War, Fortnite and upcoming releases to render complex reflections, shadows and lighting at reasonable frame rates.
Reduced Latency
Smart Access Memory reduces the time taken to transfer data between CPU and GPU by giving the processor full access to VRAM. This leads to 2-15% lower frame times, delivering a more responsive feel in multiplayer titles where every millisecond counts. The RX 5700 XT misses out on this benefit.
Higher Sustained Clock Speeds
Thanks to the energy efficiency enhancements in RDNA 2, the RX 6700 XT maintains gaming clock rates above 2400 MHz even under sustained heavy loads. The older RDNA design of RX 5700 XT couldn‘t avoid throttling below rated speeds leading to occasional stutters when gaming for longer periods.
The architectural redesign unlocks key visual features and optimizes critical rendering paths to remove a major bottleneck the previous generation faced – maintaining boosted speeds under pressure. This directly bolsters real world gaming experiences.
Memory Configuration – Bandwidth vs Capacity
While RX 5000 series cards like the RX 5700 XT favored memory bandwidth to keep the GPU saturated, RDNA 2 opts for increased capacity. Let‘s compare the memory setup:
| Specification | RX 6700 XT | RX 5700 XT |
|---|---|---|
| Memory Size | 12 GB GDDR6 | 8 GB GDDR6 |
| Memory Bus | 192 bits | 256 bits |
| Bandwidth | 384 GB/s | 448 GB/s |
The narrower 192-bit bus drops bandwidth figures in exchange for 50% more onboard memory. How does this impact gaming?
Future Proofing for Next-Gen Games
The 12GB frame buffer future proofs the RX 6700 XT for upcoming games expanding in world size and texture detail as developers harness new consoles and graphics APIs. We are already seeing titles like Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 and Far Cry 6 easily exceed 8GB limits at 1440p highest settings.
Stable Ultra Texture Performance
With 50% more memory, the RX 6700 XT can comfortably run latest games with 4K texture packs enabled while avoiding lag spikes when streaming in huge assets that overflow the 8GB buffer and have to fetch from system RAM. Performance stays stable.
While hardcore competitive esports gamers might still prefer the marginally better input latency of the RX 5700 XT, the RX 6700 XT certainly seems better positioned to handle next gen games thanks to its VRAM upgrade.
Thermal Design and Acoustics
Let‘s move on to the all important thermal design and cooling system that determines how reliably these GPUs maintain their gaming performance without crossing temperature thresholds:
The Navi 22 die onboard the Radeon RX 6700 XT is much smaller at 335 mm2 vs 251 mm2 of Navi 10 inside RX 5700 XT. Combined with RDNA 2‘s efficiency this results in 60W less heat output from the newer card.
| Specification | RX 6700 XT | RX 5700 XT |
|---|---|---|
| Peak Gaming Power Draw | 186 Watts | 211 Watts |
| Idle Power Draw | 18 Watts | 37 Watts |
| Load Temperatures | 60°C | 72°C |
| Idle Temperatures | 32°C | 42°C |
Clearly the advanced 7nm manufacturing node and architectural improvements translate directly into lower energy needs from the wall and in turn less heat dissipated. This keeps the RX 6700 XT GPU running cooler at just 60°C under sustained loads versus a hot 72°C figure on the RX 5700 XT. Clock speeds hold steadier as a result, without noise ramping up.
This directly contributes to the 25%+ fps gains at 1440p by preventing frequency drops after long hours of gaming thanks to more stable temperatures maintained by the triple fan coolers equipped on most RX 6700 XT models. Overall a better thermal experience that indirectly impacts gaming performance.
Power Efficiency Compared
We just discussed total board power, but how efficiently do these GPUs convert electrical energy into frames? Finding performance per watt reveals the architectural differences:
When idling on desktop without any 3D application running, the RX 6700 XT manages to stay below 20W saving lots of power, whereas RX 5700 XT uses 37W. The gains while gaming are impressive too – up to 25% better energy efficiency that contributes directly to more fps.
The move to 7nm manufacturing helped the Radeon RX 5000 family improve efficiency over past generations already. RDNA 2 builds further upon this by enhancing nearly every aspect at an architectural level – compute utilization, visual and geometry pipelines, video encoding and memory control.
Every watt of power translates to extra frames thanks to these comprehensive optimizations rather than getting wasted as heat. Adding this to actual fps numbers gives us the complete picture.
Ray Tracing and Content Creation Performance
While we‘ve compared conventional rasterization engines using fps as the metric so far, the RDNA 2 architecture used in the RX 6700 XT brings support for cutting edge graphics workloads as well:
Ray Tracing Performance in Games
The RX 5700 XT completely lacks any dedicated raytracing hardware, hence it fails to run titles with such effects enabled. Meanwhile the RX 6700 XT manages to render complex reflections, shadows and global illumination at reasonable frame rates thanks to its Ray Accelerators.
So while the older RDNA card struggles in any game utilizing raytracing effects like Metro Exodus and Fortnite, the RX 6700 XT offers playable performance with some compromises to resolution or general settings. Still, having the option enabled expands scope for improved visuals going forward.
Content Creation Benchmarks
When it comes to GPU accelerated workloads like video editing, 3D modeling or code compilation, both of these graphics cards perform very similarly. The major advantage RDNA 2 based RX 6700 XT has is vastly more efficient video encoding and decoding during livestreams, recording and playback.
Outside of specific raytracing focused games, even with conventional graphics workloads, having RX 6700 XT only leads to slightly better scores overall rather than a radical change. For content creation tasks RX 5700 XT continues to hold its own.
Driver Support and Game Optimization
One advantage of AMD graphics cards lies in comprehensive software support over years of updates that continue refining stability and enhancing functionality. Here‘s how the drivers stack up:
Game Optimization
AMD regularly analyzes popular games and releases driver level optimizations boosting performance by up to 10%, beyond what factory overclocking can achieve. These are offered for new titles and backported to existing ones as well. Nvidia restricts such benefits only to recent cards.
Support Lifecycle
The Radeon RX 5000 series will continue receiving driver updates focused on fixing bugs, improving features and updating compliance up to 2022 at least. AMD usually supports a given architecture for 5 years minimum. So the RX 5700 XT has lots of runaway left.
The RX 6000 series can expect to see software support for the rest of the decade thanks to its leading edge RDNA 2 architecture and new consoles also utilizing it. You‘re covered on all fronts.
Stability Improvements
A major complaint regarding the Radeon RX 5000 family was stability issues ranging from BSOD errors to black screens when gaming. But most teething troubles were eventually ironed out in 2020 itself. Both GPU generations now work reliably so don‘t base your buying choice on old information.
Availability and Pricing
At launch in March 2021, the Radeon RX 6700 XT was supposed to retail for $479, similar to the RX 5700 XT launch price. However, recent corrections across GPU markets have led to attractive discounts:
Current Pricing
| Card | Current Price | Difference |
|---|---|---|
| RX 6700 XT | $399 | -16% |
| RX 5700 XT | $299 | -25% |
Stocks Overview
While the mid-range RX 6700 XT is still relatively recent, sellers have enough supply with most models ready to ship. In comparison the older RX 5700 XT ranges from instantly available to taking weeks depending on specific variants. Manage expectations accordingly.
When we combine over 20% faster 1440p speeds with similar pricing and prime availability, the Radeon RX 6700 XT seems like an obvious value choice for high refresh rate 2560 x 1440 gaming. Only those specifically looking to save money should still consider RX 5700 XT if found under $250.
Conclusion
To summarize our key findings:
- At 1080p gaming both GPUs are evenly matched. Esports gamers prioritizing 300+ fps for their 240Hz monitors can save money with the RX 5700 XT.
- At 1440p the RDNA 2 architecture makes its impact very obvious delivering 25% better gaming performance even with raytracing enabled in supported titles.
- The architectural upgrades focused on real world gaming also provide more stable frame delivery and lower memory latency all of which contribute to smoother experiences.
- Better power efficiency gives the RX 6700 XT advantages running cooler, quieter and more reliably under load without any frequency drops over long gaming sessions.
- Having hardware raytracing acceleration along with DX12 Ultimate support future proofs RX 6700 XT for next gen games and engines leveraging such capabilities.
- More onboard memory allows maxing out graphics settings without performance cliffs when streaming in huge ultra HD textures for modern games.
Overall there is no competition – the Radeon RX 6700 XT is clearly the new 1440p gaming champion among Radeons, keeping up with RTX 3070 level speeds. It wins across all key areas. Only pricing prevented an absolute knock out earlier, but even that advantage has disappeared recently.
For under $400 you can enjoy silky smooth high fps 1440p gaming with all the visual bells and whistles for at least a couple of years. If you already own a FreeSync monitor, the RX 6700 XT will unlock its full potential. Competitive and casual gamers alike will find its capabilities very enticing.
I hope this guide helped illustrate the precise differences between the RX 6700 XT and RX 5700 XT – from gaming performance and architecture to thermal design. Let me know which GPU you ended up buying and how your experience has been!
