AMD recently released its latest 1080p gaming GPU, the Radeon RX 7600 XT. The RX 7600 XT is basically a refresh of its predecessor, the RX 7600 (non-XT), offering higher clock speeds and double the VRAM. But does doubling the VRAM help increase its performance? Do you really need 16GB of memory for 1080p gaming? And can it beat NVIDIA’s RTX 4060 8GB GPU? I have the XFX Radeon RX 7600 XT 16GB Speedster Qick 309 to test for this review. There is no Made By AMD RX 7600 XT card; only custom graphics card models are available from AMD’s partners. So, if you are looking for a GPU for 1080p gaming, let’s find out if the RX 7600 XT 16GB satisfies your gaming needs. Please continue reading our review below.
XFX Radeon RX 7600 XT 16GB Review
AMD announced the RX 7600 XT a couple of weeks ago, and they dubbed it as “incredible Gaming at 1080p and Beyond for Under $350”. In this review, let’s find out if the RX 7600 XT is a good value for 1080p gaming at around $329.
The Radeon RX 7600 XT uses the same GPU and architecture as the RX 7600 GPU released last year. The only difference that the RX 7600 XT offers are higher clock speeds and double the VRAM. Unfortunately, the total board power also increased as well.
AMD’s new 1080p GPU, the RX 7600 XT, features 2048 Stream Processors, 32 Compute Units, 32 Ray Accelerators, and 64 AI accelerators. It is based on a 6nm manufacturing process and features AMD’s RDNA 3 architecture.
Regarding clock speed, the RX 7600 XT features 2470MHz of game clock speed and up to 2755MHz of boost clock speed. That’s a 200MHz increase from the RX 7600 GPU. The RX 7600 XT also features 16GB GDDR6 memory but has the same clock speed of 18Gbps and up to 476.9 GB/s memory bandwidth running on a 128-bit memory interface as the non-XT model.
The specs I mentioned are for reference models only. XFX’s RX 7600 XT features a slightly higher game clock speed of 2539MHz and a boost clock speed of up to 2810MHz.
Key Features:
Below are the key features and specifications of the RX 7600 XT GPU.
- Higher FPS In Thousands of Games – Available in the next AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition™ application release, the driver-based AMD Fluid Motion Frames frame generation technology increases FPS to deliver a massive performance improvement and smooth gameplay in thousands of games.
- Performance Made Easy – AMD HYPR-RX technology simplifies and manages the simultaneous interoperation of AMD Fluid Motion Frames, AMD Radeon Super Resolution (RSR), and AMD Radeon Boost technologies to achieve a performance-stacking effect. In addition, in a select number of ‘HYPR-tuned’ games, AMD HYPR-RX also automatically enables AMD FidelityFX™ Super Resolution (FSR) and AMD RSR with one click, making it easy for users to maximize performance in supported games.
- Ultra-High Definition Encoding – The encode/decode media engine provides the ultimate performance, unlocking new multi-media experiences with full AV1 encode/decode support, wide color gamut, and high-dynamic range enhancements. Furthermore, AV1, AVC, and HEVC rate control optimizations deliver enhanced video quality encoding and decoding.
- Improved Streaming Quality and Performance – Enables high-fidelity streaming with hardware AV1 encoding when using OBS Studio, the AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition, or other streaming applications. AMD AI and content-adaptive machine learning technology have also been integrated into the AMD Media Framework to enable better-looking and crisper text when streaming at low bitrates and resolutions. In addition, the AI-powered AMD Noise Suppression technology helps reduce ambient noise for superior streaming quality.
- Accelerating AI – Integrated AI accelerators are optimized for cutting-edge AI workloads. Leveraging Windows DirectML technology, the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT graphics card powers next-generation generative AI and upscaling consumer applications.
- New Levels of Immersion – The AMD Radiance Display™ Engine supports next-gen DisplayPort 2.1 and HDMI® 2.1a-based displays for ultra-high resolutions and high refresh rates for gaming and content creation workloads.
AMD Radeon RX 7000 GPU Specifications
| Specifications | Radeon RX 7600 XT | Radeon RX 7700 XT | Radeon RX 7800 XT | Radeon RX 7900 XT | Radeon RX 7900 XTX |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturing Process | TSMC 6nm | GCD: TSMC 5nm MCD: TSMC 6nm | GCD: TSMC 5nm MCD: TSMC 6nm | GCD: TSMC 5nm MCD: TSMC 6nm | GCD: TSMC 5nm MCD: TSMC 6nm |
| Transistor Count | 13.3 B | 28.1 B | 28.1 B | 58B | 58B |
| Architecture | RDNA3 | RDNA3 | RDNA3 | RDNA3 | RDNA3 |
| GPU | Navi 33 | Navi 32 | Navi 32 | Navi 31 | Navi 31 |
| Stream Processors | 2048 | 3456 | 3840 | 5376 | 6144 |
| Compute Units | 32 | 54 | 60 | 84 | 96 |
| ROPs | 64 | 96 | 96 | 192 | 192 |
| Infinity Cache | 32 MB | 48MB | 64MB | 80MB | 96MB |
| Game Clock | 2470 MHz | 2171 MHz | 2124 MHz | 2000 MHz | 2300 MHz |
| Boost Clock | 2755 MHz | 2544 MHz | 2430 MHz | 2400 MHz | 2500 MHz |
| Memory Size Type | 16GB GDDR6 | 12GB GDDR6 | 16GB GDDR6 | 20GB GDDR6 | 24GB GDDR6 |
| Memory Clock | 18 Gbps | 18 Gbps | 19.5 Gbps | 20 Gbps | 20 Gbps |
| Memory Bus Width | 128-bit | 192-bit | 256-bit | 320-bit | 384-bit |
| TBP | 190W | 245W | 263W | 300W | 355W |
| Release Date | January 2024 | September 2023 | September 2023 | December 2022 | December 2022 |
| Launch Price | $329 | $449 | $499 | $899 | $999 |
Check the latest pricing and availability: (#ad)
Radeon RX 7600 XT 16GB graphics cards on Amazon here.
Radeon RX 7600 XT 16GB graphics cards on Newegg.com.
The XFX Radeon RX 7600 XT 16GB Speedster Qick309 Graphics Card
The packaging of the XFX Speedster Qick 309 graphics card is similar to the RX 7700 XT and 7800 XT Qick 319 cards we reviewed before. XFX’s QuickSilver graphics cards generally look identical. They feature an all-black design with no RGB lighting at all. It’s a plain graphics card that looks good if you want to build a simple gaming machine.
Its front cooler shroud is made of plastic, but the back plate is metal. Similar to the other QuickSilver cards, the Qick309 features a triple-fan design, and there’s a cutout towards the rear end for hot air to pass through.
The Qick309 is slightly different than the Qick 319 in the sense that the BIOS switch selector is near the PCIe power connectors. On the Qick 319 cards, the BIOS switch selector is near the output ports. There’s also a slight difference in the cutouts, but these graphics cards almost all look identical.
Regarding output ports, the XFX Qick 309 Radeon RX 7600 XT features three DisplayPort 2.1 ports and one HDMI 2.1 port. You’ll need at least a 600W PSU and two 8-pin PCIe power connectors to power this card.
Size-wise, the XFX RX 7600 XT Qick 309 measures 30.2mm in length, 11.4mm in height, and 5mm in thickness. It’s slightly thicker than a dual-slot graphics card but has a long body due to its large heatsink and triple fan design.
XFX Qick 309 RX 7600 XT Specifications
Above are the specifications of the XFX RX 7600 XT Qick 309. AMD’s reference total board power for the RX 7600 XT is 190W. However, XFX indicated its TGP to be only 165W. TBP is Total Board Power, while TGP is Total Graphics Power.
While I don’t have a way to accurately measure its power usage while gaming, other reviews suggest that this graphics card can consume up to 200W+. Speaking of gaming, let’s now see how this graphics card performs.
Test Setup
I’m using an X670E motherboard with an AMD Ryzen 7 7700X to test the RX 7600 XT graphics card. It is paired with a DDR5-5600MHz CL36 memory kit with the AMD EXPO profile enabled. Resizable BAR was also enabled from the BIOS settings. Below are the rest of the specifications of the system:
| Operating System | Windows 11 Pro |
| Processor | AMD Ryzen 7 7700X |
| Motherboard | MSI MPG X670E Carbon WiFi |
| Memory | Corsair Vengeance RGB DDR5-6000MHz CL30 AMD EXPO |
| Graphics Card | XFX Speedster Qick 309 Radeon RX 7600 XT |
| OS Drive | MSI Spatium M480 Play |
| Game Drive | SanDisk Extreme PRO Portable SSD V2 and Extreme Portable SSD V2 |
| Power Supply | MSI MPG A1000G PCIE5 |
| Chassis | OpenBench BC1 V2 |
| Monitor | MSI Optix MPG321UR-QD 4K 144Hz |
For synthetic benchmarks, I used 3DMark’s benchmark suite and 12 games for rasterization. I did not test any ray tracing in this review since the RX 7600 XT isn’t really a good GPU for ray tracing, as you can see from the Speed Way test below.
Below is the GPU-Z screenshot of the Radeon RX 7600 XT, and you can also see the driver version used in the screenshot.
XFX AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT 16GB Benchmarks
Synthetic Benchmark Results
Here are the benchmark results from 3D Mark, with the RX 7600 XT’s score highlighted in red.
Since the RX 7600 XT is a 1080p GPU, expect it to sit towards the bottom of the stack. It performed well during Fire Strike benchmarks but not during Port Royal and Speed Way tests. These two benchmarks involve ray tracing, and AMD’s current generation of GPU is still behind NVIDIA’s when it comes to ray tracing performance.
1080p Game Benchmark Results
Here are the 1080p benchmark results, focusing solely on rasterization. All games are benchmarked using their highest graphics settings or presets.
Generally speaking, the RX 7600 XT performs well at 1080p resolution. Call of Duty likes AMD GPUs, and as you can see from the graph, the RX 7600 XT performed well in this game. However, it struggled on graphics-intensive games, especially NVIDIA-leaning games like The Witcher 3 Next Gen and A Plague Tale.
1440p Game Benchmark Results
The RX 7600 XT 16GB is not designed for 1440p gaming. However, you can still use this GPU for 1440p if you adjust the graphics quality in some game titles. If the game supports it, you can also use FSR to help improve the frame rate. Below are the results I got.
At 1440p, the Radeon RX 7600 XT struggles at this resolution. There are some game titles, especially AMD-sponsored titles or AMD GPU-leaning titles, where the RX 7600 XT can offer a frame rate above 60fps. A 60 to 90 fps frame rate is playable, and mind you, these games are running using their highest graphics settings.
Unfortunately, you’ll have to tone down the graphics settings on games like Witcher 3, Cyberpunk 2077, and Plague Tale to get a smooth playable frame rate.
The RTX 4060 8GB is the RX 7600 XT’s direct competitor. Our benchmark results show that it trades blows with the RTX 4060, despite the RTX 4060 having only half the VRAM, a gimp memory configuration, and only a PCIe x8 interface. Generally speaking, though, the RX 7600 XT is slightly faster than the RTX 4060 in pure rasterization by a small margin.
So, is it a win for AMD? Did the 16GB VRAM help? It’s a little bit complicated. Let’s check out the current pricing first.
Radeon RX 7600 XT 16GB Pricing and Availability
The Radeon RX 7600 XT comes with a starting price of $329 USD. That is the MSRP for the reference model. However, the XFX RX 7600 XT Wick 309 comes with an MSRP of $349, and I’m sure other custom-designed RX 7600 XT with better design and aesthetics will be more expensive. For the updated pricing and availability, visit the links below.
Check the latest pricing and availability: (#ad)
Radeon RX 7600 XT 16GB graphics cards on Amazon here.
Radeon RX 7600 XT 16GB graphics cards on Newegg.com.
AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT 16GB Review Conclusion
Let’s talk about the positives of this graphics card first. The RX 7600 XT has a massive 16GB of VRAM and a faster clock speed than the non-XT variant. I think those two helped in the performance boost. While 16GB of VRAM might be unnecessary for 1080p gaming, there may be a use for it outside of gaming. But it’s a relatively niche segment. 12GB of VRAM would have been enough already for this GPU.
When it comes to noise and thermals, the XFX Qick 309 model runs silently. Its massive heatsink and triple-fan design can easily handle the GPU’s temperature. The average temperature I got throughout the testing was only 59°C, which is impressive.
Now let’s talk about its performance in general. I don’t have an RX 7600 card, so I don’t know how fast the XT is than the non-XT. But based on the first round of reviews, the RX 7600 XT is about 5% to 8% faster than the RX 7600. Regarding the price difference, the RX 7600 XT is about 22% more expensive than the RX 7600, which doesn’t look good for the RX 7600 XT.
Based on my results, the RX 7600 XT is about 3% to 4% faster than the RTX 4060 on average. That’s a very slim win for the RX 7600 XT. But this is only for pure rasterization. If ray tracing is involved, the RTX 4060 would easily outperform the RX 7600 XT.
Is it worth it?
Honestly, I am having difficulty recommending this GPU at its current pricing. Between the RX 7600 XT and the RTX 4060, I would choose the RTX 4060 despite having only 8GB of VRAM. While the RX 7600 XT did end up being the faster card, the difference is only about 5% at best. Not to mention, the RTX 4060 is slightly cheaper and far more efficient (consumes less power) than the RX 7600 XT.
I have yet to include the DLSS and Frame Generation in the equation. And unfortunately for AMD, NVIDIA’s upscaling solution is still noticeably better at this point. AMD will release a feature competing against DLSS 3 (Frame Gen). It’s called Fluid Motion Frames (AFMF), but it still has a long way to go to compete with NVIDIA’s FG.
If the RX 7600 XT 16GB were a $300 card or below $300, it would be much easier to recommend the RX 7600 XT over the RTX 4060.
Maybe, wait for a bit.
Currently, it’s hard to recommend the RX 7600 XT at its current pricing. If you really want an AMD GPU and think you need that 16GB of VRAM, wait a bit for the price to drop to $300 or below. Better yet, get an RX 7700 XT instead. Although, the cheapest RX 7700 XT I could find is around $450 at the moment. But the RX 7700 XT is a much faster GPU and offers a better value than the RX 7600 XT.
As for the XFX RX 7600 XT Qick 309 model, if you’re asking me whether this is a good graphics card or not, my answer is yes. It is a simple graphics card that works as intended, runs quietly, and has excellent operating temperature. But I would like to see it at a lower price.
