AMD Radeon RX 7600 evaluation: Lastly, , inexpensive graphics card

At a look

Knowledgeable’s Ranking

Execs

• Nice 1080p gaming efficiency
• Energy environment friendly
• AV1 encoding, DisplayPort 2.1 (non-obligatory)
• The primary good price range card for the reason that pandemic kicked off
• Solely wants 8-pin energy connector (no adapter wanted)
• Reference card is nearly silent

Cons

• Ray tracing efficiency is dangerous
• Upscaling options (FSR/DLSS) look ugly at 1080p
• 8GB of VRAM; could have to dial graphics from Extremely to Excessive in some significantly intensive video games, even at 1080p

Our Verdict

After years of horrible GPU costs, the $269 Radeon RX 7600 is a breath of contemporary air. It gives glorious 1080p gaming in an influence environment friendly package deal at an inexpensive worth—if you happen to don’t thoughts skipping ray tracing.

Now this is a graphics card launch we are able to lastly reward.

AMD’s new $269 Radeon RX 7600 (launching Might 25) delivers improbable 1080p gaming that may preserve even a excessive refresh charge monitor well-fed in a tiny, quiet, extremely power-efficient package deal. Higher but, whereas Nvidia continues to push both stagnant generational efficiency upgrades or exorbitant costs for its rival GeForce RTX 40-series graphics playing cards, AMD’s price range champion delivers an enormous step-up in body charges for $60 lower than its predecessor’s launch worth.

Funds gaming requires compromise, and the Radeon RX 7600 isn’t good at ray tracing, particularly since picture upsampling applied sciences like FSR 2.0 and Nvidia’s DLSS don’t look nice at 1080p decision. Don’t get it twisted although; aside from the ferociously highly effective (and expensive) RTX 4090 and Radeon RX 7900 XTX flagships, this modest GPU is the primary of this era price being attentive to—and the primary new sub-$300 graphics card to get enthusiastic about for the reason that pandemic threw the world into chaos. Severely.

Let’s go.

What are the AMD Radeon RX 7600’s specs and options?

AMD constructed the Radeon RX 7600 utilizing the identical RDNA 3 graphics cores that debuted within the flagship 7900-series GPUs. This new structure gives devoted AI accelerators, AV1 encoding, DisplayPort 2.1 (RTX 40-series has 1.4a), second-generation ray tracing and Infinity Cache {hardware}, and extra.

One distinction between this and the RX 7900-series? Whereas the extra superior GPUs use a cutting-edge chiplet design that flanks the principle die with reminiscence controllers, this price range chip sticks to a conventional single 6-nanometer die (204mm2) that packs every thing in.

AMD

As you’ll be able to see, the Radeon RX 7600 packs in additional {hardware} for a cheaper price than the older (still-good) Radeon RX 6600. Reminiscence and GPU clock speeds are up, stream processor and RT accelerator counts are up, and AI accelerators make their debut as a part of AMD’s AI push. Spoiler alert: The Radeon RX 7600 delivers a correct generational efficiency improve, not like Nvidia’s $400 GeForce RTX 4060 Ti.

Just like the 4060 Ti (and the Radeon RX 6600 earlier than it), the Radeon RX 7600 is outfitted with 8GB of GDDR6 reminiscence and a slender 128-bit bus. Which means this graphics card actually is constructed for 1080p gaming—an inexpensive expectation for an inexpensive graphics card like this. You’ll be able to definitely play at 1440p decision if you happen to dial again some settings, however it could hit its limits rapidly with the way in which trendy video games have been gobbling up VRAM. AMD’s on-die Infinity Cache helps preserve issues buzzing at 1080p as effectively. Bumping as much as 1440p will lead to extra knowledge being despatched over that pokey 128-bit bus. You gained’t need that. (We delve right into a wonky dialogue about reminiscence capability, bus widths, and on-die cache configurations within the specs part of our RTX 4060 Ti evaluation.)

The Radeon RX 7600 ought to play the overwhelming majority of video games at Extremely settings and excessive body charges simply high quality at 1080p decision, however some particularly memory-hungry video games could require minor graphics tuning to suit contained in the 8GB reminiscence buffer. Alokito Mymensingh 24 contributor Keith Might has been testing the customized Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 7600 and studies that Hogwarts Legacy and The Final of Us—two of the worst VRAM offenders—soar at Excessive settings whereas nonetheless trying spectacular. Once more, it’s an inexpensive compromise at this worth level. (It isn’t at $400, Nvidia.)

Brad Chacos/IDG

When requested in regards to the 8GB capability, AMD’s Aaron Steinman stated, “We nonetheless consider (and testing helps) that even essentially the most demanding trendy video games ship an excellent expertise for 1080p gaming. And reminiscence is pricey.”

This GPU attracts down barely extra juice than its predecessor however delivers a lot greater efficiency and the very best idle energy use we’ve ever seen—it’s splendidly environment friendly. Energy is equipped by way of a single 8-pin connector, with no need to make use of an unsightly 12VHPWR adapter such as you do on the 4060 Ti. The reference card AMD despatched over isn’t solely an inexpensive two-slots thick, it’s additionally adorably tiny at simply 8 inches lengthy. Regardless of the pint-sized cooler, the reference card runs damned close to silent—one other testomony to the 7600 GPU’s effectivity.

The reference card packs a single HDMI port and three of these speedy DisplayPort 2.1 connections. (Observe that that is non-obligatory, nevertheless; AMD’s companions can use DisplayPort 1.4 on customized 7600 playing cards as a substitute to economize.)

Brad Chacos/IDG

In the event you’re into streaming, you’ll respect the inclusion of cutting-edge AV1 encoders, particularly now that YouTube and OBS help AV1 uploads. We examined AMD’s new RDNA 3 AV1 encoder on the Radeon RX 7900 XTX and it’s improbable. The File & Stream choices in AMD’s Adrenalin software program is a complete lot higher than it was, too, as we lined in the identical analysis by “Stream Professor” EposVox:

“AMD ships their very own recording and streaming software program with their GPUs, akin to Nvidia Shadowplay. Besides, it’s far far higher than Shadowplay in virtually each means. Extra settings, extra capabilities, extra options. Nvidia actually must replace Shadowplay ASAP.”

Don’t sleep on it. Don’t sleep on any of AMD’s Adrenalin Software program, whilst you’re at it. Nvidia will get (and deserves) a whole lot of credit score for glorious software program options like DLSS 3, Reflex, and Nvidia Broadcast, however Crew Pink has some darned useful software program of its personal.

Brad Chacos/IDG

Good Entry Reminiscence boosts efficiency on trendy methods extra reliably than any PC combo of Intel and Nvidia chips. A brand new Good Entry Video function improves DaVinci Resolve encoding efficiency by as much as 32 % in Ryzen + Radeon methods. FSR 2.0 offers Nvidia’s DLSS a tricky combat, whereas Radeon Tremendous Decision brings the less complicated FSR 1.0 expertise proper inside AMD’s driver to allow you to enhance efficiency by way of upscaling in any sport. Radeon Increase and Anti-Lag preserve temperatures and latency low. You too can use Adrenalin to overclock and even undervolt your graphics card.

The one factor lacking is a DLSS 3 Body Technology competitor, however AMD is engaged on it with FSR 3.0, scheduled to launch someday this yr.

Sufficient speak. On to the benchmarks!

Our check system

We check graphics playing cards on an AMD Ryzen 5900X PC used solely for benchmarking GPUs. We check with PCIe Resizable BAR (also called Good Entry Reminiscence on Ryzen methods) energetic, as most trendy gaming PCs launched within the final 4 years help the performance-boosting function, both natively or by way of a motherboard firmware replace. Nvidia additionally recommends turning on the non-obligatory “{Hardware}-accelerated GPU scheduling” possibility in Home windows to let the RTX 40-series stretch its legs to the fullest, so we’ve made that tweak as effectively. Many of the {hardware} was supplied by the producers, however we bought the storage ourselves.

We check a wide range of video games spanning varied engines, genres, vendor sponsorships (Nvidia, AMD, and Intel), and graphics APIs (DirectX 9, 11, DX12, and Vulkan), to attempt to symbolize a full vary of efficiency potential. Every sport is examined utilizing its in-game benchmark, sanity checked by Nvidia’s FrameView instrument, on the highest attainable graphics presets except in any other case famous, with VSync, body charge caps, real-time ray tracing or DLSS results, and FreeSync/G-Sync disabled, together with every other vendor-specific applied sciences like FidelityFX instruments or Nvidia Reflex. We’ve additionally enabled temporal anti-aliasing (TAA) to push these playing cards to their limits.

We run every benchmark not less than 3 times and listing the common consequence for every check. Exterior of esports, we’ve restricted our benchmarks to 1440p and 1080p resolutions. With this reminiscence configuration, the Radeon RX 7600 is a 1080p graphics card, nevertheless it’s price exhibiting what you get at 1440p as effectively, each for sensible causes and to see how the GPU’s efficiency scales as you ramp up decision. We check options like ray tracing and DLSS in a separate part, as upscaling options like DLSS and AMD’s rival FSR tweak the look of video games to assist them run sooner. 

Normally we current our knowledge in a sequence of per-game bar charts, however given some extreme time restraints, we’re working our knowledge in uncooked charts right this moment and supplementing it with extra efficiency commentary as a substitute. (Hit me up on Twitter to let me know if you happen to find it irresistible or hate it!) These time restrictions additionally prevented us from working new benchmark knowledge for the $330 16GB Intel Arc A770, alas, which is one other sturdy contender on this worth phase.

AMD Radeon RX 7600 1080p gaming efficiency

This can be a graphics card constructed for 1080p gaming, so let’s begin there!

Brad Chacos/IDG

As you’ll be able to see, the Radeon RX 7600 delivers spectacular 1080p gaming even at Extremely settings, delivering 80 frames per second or extra in all video games besides the exceptionally stunning Pink Useless Redemption 2 cranked to absolutely the max—and even then, it nonetheless hits the golden 60fps mark. In the event you exclude Counter-Strike: World Offensive’s ludicrously excessive body charges, the Radeon RX 7600 averages 107fps throughout our suite, a correctly generational 35 % enhance over its predecessor.

Nvidia’s new $400 RTX 4060 Ti is quicker than the RX 7600 by one other 20 % on common if you happen to’re seeking to push a high-refresh charge 1080p monitor even additional, however prices $130 greater than AMD’s providing. The Radeon RX 7600 gives loads of efficiency for an entire lot much less cash—and it holds the lead in Cyberpunk 2077 efficiency right here!

Observe, nevertheless, that because of its 8GB reminiscence capability, it’s possible you’ll want to scale back graphics from Extremely to Excessive in significantly VRAM-intensive trendy video games, corresponding to Hogwarts Legacy and The Final of Us. Video games nonetheless look nice on Excessive and that compromise is way more welcome in a $269 graphics card than a $400 one.

AMD Radeon RX 7600 1440p gaming efficiency

Subsequent up: Larger decision.

Brad Chacos/IDG

The Radeon RX 7600 can undoubtedly be used to play video games at 1440p, as our testing reveals—it averages 75fps+ throughout our suite, solely dipping under 60fps in Cyberpunk 2077 and Watch Canine Legion. However the 8GB of VRAM and tiny 128-bit bus means you’ll already have to drop graphics settings in a whole lot of trendy video games (together with Watch Canine), and reminiscence calls for are solely getting greater.

Observe how the Radeon RX 6700 XT (which has 12GB and a 256-bit bus for $350 on the road) overtakes the brand new 7600 in Cyberpunk 2077 by about 10 % after falling behind it at 1080p. Averaged general, the 6700 XT was 12 % sooner than the 7600 at 1080p however leaps as much as a 20 % lead at 1440p.

The RTX 4060 Ti, the one different trendy sub-$500 GPU out there to date, is as soon as once more a lot sooner than the 7600 for way more cash, however because it has a equally skimpy reminiscence configuration, it shouldn’t be thought of for 1440p gaming both.

AMD Radeon RX 7600 ray tracing and FSR efficiency

You don’t wish to use the Radeon RX 7600 for ray tracing, or activate FSR to extend efficiency.

Positive, this GPU packs in AMD’s second-gen RT accelerator {hardware}, which shined within the monstrous Radeon RX 7900 XTX, however as you’ll be able to see within the benchmarks under, it just about sucks down right here on extra inexpensive {hardware}, particularly with out an help from FSR picture upscaling. That stated, ray tracing is extra of a “good to have” than a “will need to have” in price range GPUs.

And also you shouldn’t use FSR (or DLSS) on a 1080p graphics card, for my part. As I detailed in-depth in my RTX 4060 Ti evaluation, picture upscaling works wonders at greater 1440p and 4K resolutions, however upscaling video games to 1080p from an inside 720p (or worse, within the case of the Balanced preset examined under) decision ends in jagged, blurry visuals. It’s ugly and never price the additional frames.

Brad Chacos/IDG

We included FSR/DLSS knowledge above so that you can reference, however suggest leaving each ray tracing and upscaling off on this card. You’ll be able to allow it at decrease settings in additional flippantly ray traced video games like F1 22 and Hitman if you happen to’d like, however we don’t suppose the hit to efficiency is definitely worth the visuals ray tracing supplies at Medium settings. Additionally notice that solely RTX 40-series playing cards help DLSS 3, and Watch Canine Legion lacks FSR help, therefore the varied “Not relevant” fields above. 

Given AMD’s poor ray tracing exhibiting and our recommendation to skip upscaling at this decision, the $400 GeForce RTX 4060 Ti may truly be price contemplating if you happen to want these cutting-edge lighting results—although we’d suggest ready to see how the $300 RTX 4060 handles when it launches in July as a substitute.

How are the Radeon RX 7600’s energy and thermals?

Similar to the RTX 4060 Ti, they’re glorious, although not as glorious as Nvidia’s effectivity.

We check energy draw by looping the F1 22 benchmark at 4K for about 20 minutes after we’ve benchmarked every thing else (to heat up the GPU) and noting the best studying on our Watts Up Professional meter, which measures the ability consumption of our whole check system. The preliminary a part of the race, the place all competing automobiles are onscreen concurrently, tends to be essentially the most demanding portion. 

This isn’t a worst-case check; it is a GPU-bound sport working at a GPU-bound decision to gauge efficiency when the graphics card is sweating arduous. In the event you’re enjoying a sport that additionally hammers the CPU, you would see greater general system energy attracts. Take into account your self warned.

Brad Chacos/IDG

Sure, the Radeon RX 7600 consumes about 15 % extra energy than its predecessor at peak below load, nevertheless it delivers a whopping 35 % common efficiency enhance in return—an outstanding consequence. Against this, the RTX 4060 Ti is just sooner than the RTX 3060 Ti by single digit share factors. And whereas we thought the ultra-low idle energy measurements of the RTX 4060 Ti had been bonkers, AMD does barely higher right here. You like to see it from each camps!

We check thermals by leaving GPU-Z open in the course of the F1 22 energy draw check, noting the best most temperature on the finish.

The tiny AMD reference RX 7600 hits a lot greater temperatures than the opposite GPUs we examined, however don’t be fooled: 75 levels Celsius remains to be a lot cool for a graphics card, and in alternate for the upper temps, AMD offers you damned close to completely silent noise ranges. The reference Radeon RX 7600 ran quieter than every other GPU we examined right here and was nearly inaudible over the remainder of our system followers. Quiet followers supply a a lot better day-to-day expertise than unnecessarily low warmth ranges, and the reference card’s diminutive design can match into much more PCs than the opposite, longer playing cards. I’ll take it!

Do you have to purchase the Radeon RX 7600?

In the event you’re in search of a graphics card with low energy and sufficient oomph to energy a excessive refresh charge 1080p monitor, the $269 Radeon RX 7600 is a spectacular possibility. It’s a superb inexpensive graphics card. It could actually deal with 1440p gaming as effectively, however the 8GB VRAM capability and tiny reminiscence bus width means it’ll wrestle extra at that decision as video games turn out to be extra demanding.

Some video games are already too demanding, with titles like Hogwarts Legacy and The Final of Us already blowing previous the 8GB reminiscence capability even at 1080p. In our experiential testing, dropping settings to Excessive ends in a extremely playable expertise that appears and runs nice. That’s acceptable on an inexpensive GPU just like the RX 7600, however unacceptable on a $400 graphics card like Nvidia’s new RTX 4060 Ti, which gives an analogous reminiscence configuration.

At 1080p decision, the RTX 4060 Ti runs about 20 % sooner than the Radeon RX 7600 on common, however for 48 % extra money. Contemplating that the Radeon RX 7600 delivers already-exceptional 1080p gaming efficiency, it’s a no brainer.

Brad Chacos/IDG

Until you wish to play ray traced video games. The Radeon RX 7600’s second-gen RT accelerators supply largely unplayable efficiency on this price range card. Contemplating that picture upsampling applied sciences like FSR and DLSS look horrible at 1080p decision, you’ll be able to’t use these to claw again efficiency after flipping on ray tracing—your sport will look worse even with these fancy rays flying round, although ray tracing is extra of a “good to have” than “will need to have” at this worth. If you need ray tracing and DLSS 3’s Body Technology capabilities, you may contemplate the 4060 Ti, however I’d counsel ready to see how the $299 RTX 4060 performs when it launches in July.

Alternatively, if you happen to don’t care about DLSS 3 and ray tracing, however desire a beefier reminiscence setup for higher future-proofing and the flexibility to dabble in additional 1440p video games, the last-gen Radeon RX 6700 XT gives 12GB and a giant 256-bit for simply $350 on the road today. That’s $80 greater than the budget-friendly Radeon RX 7600, nevertheless (although it’s sooner as effectively). If you should save much more cash, the Radeon RX 6600 stays a high quality possibility for 1080p/60Hz gaming at round $200. Each last-gen playing cards lack the newer GPU’s AV1 encoding, AI accelerators, and DisplayPort 2.1 capabilities, if that issues to you, however in any other case supply function parity.

However after years of wandering in a GPU wasteland, and months of tolerating Nvidia’s stagnant-to-downright–exorbitant RTX 40-series releases, the Radeon RX 7600 is a breath of contemporary air. It gives a very generational efficiency uplift (35 %) for much less cash than its predecessor (18 %), together with trendy options like AV1 encoding and DisplayPort 2.1, all wrapped in a tiny, silent, inexpensive package deal. It’s the one GPU we’ve been enthusiastic about this era except for flagships promoting for quadruple digits.

The Radeon RX 7600 is the graphics card that players on a price range have been begging for without end. Go purchase it…except you need ray tracing.