Radeon RX 6800 XT Vs. RX 6900 XT: How AMD's New GPUs Compare
The Radeon RX 6800 XT and RX 6900 XT are the two top-performers of AMD's RX 6000 series PC graphics cards. Just because the latter is deemed as the best graphics card in the new lineup, it doesn't automatically mean it's also the better deal. AMD's next-generation GPUs arrive just in time to compete with Nvidia's high-end Ampere RTX 30 series.
AMD unveiled the Radeon RX 6000 series with gamers in mind, placing the emphasis on delivering better performance across all three of its latest GPUs. The cutting-edge GPUs are powered the company's RDNA 2 architecture, which promises a boost in performance by more than 50-percent. Both the RX 6800 XT and the RX 6900 XT are undoubtedly at the top of the AMD gaming hardware spectrum, as they both come with plenty of features to justify the hype.
According to AMD, there are a couple of standout features that both graphics cards share, such as the Infinity Cache and Smart Access Memory. The two top-tier GPUs come with a one-click 'Rage Mode' performance-boosting feature, as well as ray tracing support, better performance optimization, and lower power consumption. Despite being regarded as the fastest graphics card that AMD has ever produced, the RX 6900 XT isn't any bigger than the RX 6800 XT, as both are actually the same size. Where they do definitely differ is in price. While the RX 6800 XT costs $649, the RX 6900 XT requires the buyer to hand over $999.
Although AMD's latest GPUs have a substantial price gap, are they different enough to justify an upgrade to the most expensive model? For starters, both GPUs have matching 16GB GDDR6 memory and the same 300-watt total power consumption. The main difference will be the RX 6900 XT's 80 compute units over the 6800 XT's 72. The company claims that its flagship GPU was able to increase the performance-per-watt, compared to the last-generation RDNA, by up to 65-percent. In comparison, 6800 XT's generation-over-generation improvement is 54-percent. However, any difference in performance in general gaming might not be that discernibly, especially after considering the $350 price difference.
The frames-per-second performance chart revealed during AMD's unveiling event didn't exactly highlight that big of a gains margin between the RX 6800 XT and the RX 6900 XT. Not to mention, the comparison chart for the flagship GPU was based on testing with Rage Mode turned on. The flagship model is clearly geared towards competitive gaming that typically requires higher frame rates and smoother performance. In this sense, the RX 6800 XT's power is likely to be more than sufficient when it comes to gaming in general. Regardless, investing in either of AMD's new graphics cards is likely to be a good first step for anyone looking to play the latest PC titles, since even next-generation consoles are already adapting to the company's new RDNA architecture.
Source: AMD