- Provides great value both in new and used markets.
- Offers impressive raster performance even to this day.
- The 12GB of VRAM allows for better future-proofing than its 8GB counterparts.
Given the multitude of options currently available on the market, it’s hard to choose a value-oriented graphics card in 2024. However, one graphics card that particularly stands out to me is the RX 6700 XT for several justifiable reasons.
Having used and tested this card personally, I have realized how far AMD has come to deliver compelling performance at a competitive price.
A Great Bargain
Launching at the MSRP of $480, it was already an eye-catching product for budget gamers like me. However, the MSRP has come down significantly over the past 3 years, and it can be procured new for as low as $320 through Newegg. Whereas in the used market, you can find great bargains hovering around the $200 to $250 price tag on eBay.
I, myself, purchased one for $262 back in 2023. As far as upfront cost goes, this makes it a worthy pick over the likes of the RTX 4060 Ti, RX 7600 XT, and the RTX 3070, which cost more in the same performance bracket.
So, if I had to choose from one of these again, I would pick the RX 6700 XT without a doubt.
1440p Gaming is Still Possible
The RX 6700 XT was advertised as a 1440p graphics card, and I bought it for the same reason: to game at 1440p without spending too much. To my surprise, the card didn’t disappoint and delivered a pleasurable 1440p gaming experience. What’s more, it still provides the same level of gaming performance at 1440p resolution.
To substantiate the claims, let’s have a look at some tests that we conducted by placing the RX 6700 XT against the newly released RTX 4060 Ti, RX 7600, and the good old RTX 3060 Ti. Not only did the RX 6700 XT manage to output great raw performance at 1080p and 1440p resolutions against its competition, but it also delivered an acceptable RT performance in games at both resolutions without relying too much on AI upscaling techniques.
In memory-intensive titles like The Last of Us Part 1, the RX 6700 XT can deliver consistent performance thanks to the larger capacity of VRAM it boasts over its rivals.
I always find it disappointing when companies fail to provide their cards with the capacity they deserve and lock them behind a paywall, as is the case with the RTX 4060 Ti.
Specs and Features
On paper, the RX 6700 XT has the same number of stream processors (2560) and a similar TDP (230W) as the RX 5700 XT, while providing more VRAM and higher boost clocks. The RX 6700 XT proves to be an excellent replacement for its predecessor.
Moving over to its features, the RX 6700 XT is capable of handling Ray-Tracing, although the RT performance is inferior to its Nvidia counterparts. Nonetheless, it still delivers an acceptable experience in the vast majority of the titles. Another interesting feature that isn’t a gimmick is the AMD Smart Access Memory.
When enabled, it can enhance the in-game performance to some extent. It allows the CPU and GPU to communicate directly, leading to faster data transfers. Personally, I feel like there is no reason to not use SAM as it provides a positive bump in most titles.
It is Not Perfect
Despite being of great value and offering excellent rasterization performance, the RX 6700 XT falls short in certain areas. That can be enough reason for some not to invest in this graphics card.
The most common is the lack of CUDA shaders, which greatly helps in productivity applications like Blender. The second shortcoming is the absence of the NVENC encoder; even though AMD has its encoders, they’re not just as good.
Nvidia counterparts also have the upper hand in upscaling techniques since DLSS is still some ways ahead of FSR in terms of performance benefit.
Future-Proofing
As games become increasingly demanding in 2024, 8GB of VRAM isn’t enough to adequately process all the required resources, especially when the resolution and settings are cranked to the highest.
This is where you start to feel the need for more VRAM. The Last of Us Part 1 is one such game that eats more than 8GB, even at 1080p resolution. This is why I think the RX 6700 XT would fare better in the long run.
Final Thoughts
With a competitive value proposition, decent feature set, and loads of VRAM, the RX 6700 XT is certainly a no-brainer and should be under your consideration.
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