Today, let’s compare NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 3060 and AMD’s Radeon RX 6600 XT. Both GPUs are designed for 1080p gaming and are also capable of driving games at 1440p. The RTX 3060 came with an (original) MSRP of $329, while the RX 6600 XT starts at $379. However, these days, both GPUs are selling for around $480 to $580 price range. Their current retail price is somewhat similar. So, if you’re planning to buy a new graphics card and you are torn between an RTX 3060 or an RX 6600 XT, continue reading below and find out which is the better GPU for you.
AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT or NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060?
To start, the GeForce RTX 3060 is based on NVIDIA’s Ampere architecture and uses an 8nm fabrication process from Samsung. It features 3584 CUDA cores with 12GB of GDDR6 memory. Speed-wise, it has a base clock speed of 1320MHz and boosts to 1777MHz, sometimes a bit higher. It has a graphics power of 170W and the recommended PSU is 550W. Some RTX 3060 from AIB partners, especially the overclock variants may have a slightly higher GPU power draw.
On the other hand, the AMD’s Radeon RX 6600 XT is based on RDNA 2.0 technology and uses a 7nm fab process from TSMC. It has 2048 Stream processors paired with a (smaller) 8GB GDDR6 memory, but with a slightly faster clock speed of 16Gbps effective. The RX 6600 XT has a GPU power of 160W and the recommended PSU is at least 500W.
Unlike the RTX 3060, the RX 6600 XT doesn’t have Tensor cores. But it has 32 Ray Accelerators for ray tracing. It has a game frequency speed of 2359 MHz and can boost up to 2589 MHz.
Additional Features
Aside from the specifications mentioned above, the GeForce RTX 3060 supports features like Resizable BAR, 2nd gen Ray Tracing, NVIDIA DLSS, NVIDIA Reflex, and Broadcast, GeForce Experience, NVIDIA Ansel, NVIDIA Encoder (NVENC), DirectX 12 Ultimate, NVIDIA G-Sync, and VR.
Meanwhile, the Radeon RX 6600 XT also supports Ray Tracing, AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution (AMD’s version of DLSS), AMD Smart Access Memory (Resizable BAR), DirectX 12 Ultimate Support, AMD Radeon Anti-Lay, Radeon Boost, AMD FreeSync, and H264/H265/HEVC encoders.
Below are the rest of the specifications of both GPUs, after that let’s get straight to the benchmark results.
NVIDIA RTX 3060 vs AMD RX 6600 XT Specifications
| Specifications | RTX 3060 | RX 6600 XT |
|---|---|---|
| Fab Process | 8nm Samsung | 7nm TSMC |
| Architecture | Ampere | RDNA 2.0 |
| GPU | GA106 | Navi 23 |
| Cores | 3584 | 2048 |
| TMUs | 112 | 128 |
| ROPs | 48 | 64 |
| Base Clock | 1320 MHz | 1968 MHz |
| Boost Clock | 1777 MHz | 2589 MHz |
| Memory Size | 12GB | 8GB |
| Memory Type | GDDR6 | GDDR6 |
| Memory Clock | 15 Gbps | 16 Gbps |
| Memory Bandwidth | 360 GBps | 256.0 GBps |
| Memory Interface | 192 bit | 128 bit |
| Power Connectors | 8-pin | 8-pin |
| Graphics Card Power | 170W | 160 W |
| Recommended PSU | 550W | 500 W |
| Starting at (MSRP) | $329 | $379 |
For latest pricing and availability: (#ad)
GeForce RTX 3060 graphics cards available on Amazon here or Amazon UK here.
Radeon RX 6600 XT graphics cards available on Amazon here or Amazon UK here.
RTX 3060 vs RX 6600 XT – Synthetic Benchmarks
In our synthetic benchmarks, the Radeon RX 6600 XT graphics cards outperformed the GeForce RTX 3060 cards by a substantial margin; especially in benchmarks that use a lower resolution. However, as the benchmark test becomes more demanding or uses a higher resolution, like Time Spy Extreme, the gap between the two becomes narrower.
But generally speaking, the RX 6600 XT outperformed the RTX 3060, except on the Port Royal benchmark. Port Royal is a ray tracing benchmark. The Radeon 6000 series is AMD’s first attempt at ray tracing technology. Meanwhile, with the RTX 30 series, NVIDIA is already using 2nd gen ray tracing technology. So, don’t expect AMD’s RX 6000 GPUs to perform well on ray tracing. They are “capable”, but their performance is lackluster.
RTX 3060 vs RX 6600 XT – 1080p Benchmarks
According to the Steam hardware survey, 1080p is still the most widely used resolution for gaming. At 1080p, we can see the RX 600 XT cards outperforming the RTX 3060 cards by a good margin. However, there are games, like Cyberpunk 2077, Read Dead Redemption 2, and Shadow of the Tomb Raider, where both GPUs are neck-and-neck.
Interestingly, the RTX 3060 was a hairline faster than the RX 6600 XT on Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Although, if I am not mistaken, Shadow of the Tomb Raider is an NVIDIA-sponsored title. And it is also one of the earliest games to adopt ray tracing technology in the form of ray-traced shadows.
RTX 3060 vs RX 6600 XT – 1440p Benchmarks
Similar to what we have seen on our synthetic benchmarks, the gap between the RTX 3060 and RX 6600 XT became narrower at higher resolutions. At 1440p, the performance difference between the two GPUs is just a few frames away. And in most games, they are basically on par with each other or the difference is negligible at best.
I didn’t include and test these GPUs at 4K resolution. The RTX 3060 and RX 6600 XT are not designed for 4K gaming. Although, you can use either GPU to output on a 4K monitor or even play at 4K but with a significant loss in graphics quality. Generally, I would not recommend these GPUs for 4K gaming.
Summary Result
In summary, the Radeon RX 6600 XT is the faster GPU, especially at 1080p resolution. The performance difference between the RTX 3060 and RX 6600 XT becomes slimmer at 1440p. An RTX 3060 can outperform (by a little bit) the 6600 XT at this resolution, especially if the game is an NVIDIA-sponsored title, or at least leans towards NVIDIA GPUs.
When it comes to ray tracing, the RTX 3060 would be the better graphics card for ray tracing. AMD is one generation behind ray tracing, but they are catching up when it comes to upscaling technology with their FidelityFX Super Resolution. Although, if you (really) want to enjoy ray tracing, I would recommend a higher-end GPU instead. Ray tracing is a graphics-intensive feature and even with the help of DLSS, the RTX 3060 may still struggle to get higher than 60 fps on average.
GeForce RTX 3060 vs Radeon RX 6600 XT Conclusion
So, between the RTX 3060 and RX 6600 XT, the latter is definitely the faster GPU when it comes to traditional rasterization. The performance difference between the two is more obvious at 1080p, with the RX 6600 XT having the advantage.
At the time of writing, both the RTX 3060 and RX 6600 XT are selling for around $480 to $580 give or take. It depends on the model of the graphics card and/or retailer. Overclock variants tend to be pricier than non-OC graphics cards or reference-based cards.
UPDATE: Prices for the RTX 3060 and RX 6600 XT GPUs have gone down since. As of March 2023, I see RX 6600 XT selling for around $230 to $300. Meanwhile, the RTX 3060 cards sell north of $330 depending on the model and/or retailer. NVIDIA has yet to release the RTX 3060’s successor, presumably the RTX 4060. Unfortunately, AMD has no sign of releasing a mid-range to lower-tier GPU (ex. “RX 7600 XT”) at this time. Maybe in Q3 or Q4 this year.
If you want raw performance and don’t care about features like ray tracing, I think the RX 6600 XT may be the obvious choice. However, raw performance may not be enough to justify, especially if both are selling for the same price.
When it comes to (additional) features, the GeForce RTX 3060 offers a more mature DLSS and ray tracing implementation. It also offers an NVENC encoder, which I believe is better than what AMD has. Some apps, like Adobe Premiere Pro, benefit from NVIDIA GPUs as well. The RTX 3060 has more VRAM memory (buffer) and offers a full PCIe 4.0 x16 connection.
By the way, if you are planning to enjoy ray-traced games, you might want to look at higher-end GPUs, like the RTX 3060 Ti or above, especially if you have a bigger budget. Ray tracing is (usually) demanding, even with the help of DLSS.
For latest pricing and availability: (#ad)
GeForce RTX 3060 graphics cards available on Amazon or Amazon UK here
Radeon RX 6600 XT graphics cards available on Amazon or Amazon UK here
