Radeon RX 6600 vs GeForce GTX 980

Place in performance ranking	180	106
Place by popularity	not in top-100	12
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	9.58	34.25
Architecture	Maxwell (2014−2018)	Navi / RDNA2 (2020−2022)
GPU code name	GM204	Navi 23
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Release date	19 September 2014 (9 years ago)	13 October 2021 (2 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$549	$329
Current price	$339 (0.6x MSRP)	$358 (1.1x MSRP)

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

RX 6600 has 258% better value for money than GTX 980.

Detailed specifications

General performance parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. These parameters indirectly speak of performance, but for precise assessment you have to consider their benchmark and gaming test results. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores	2048	1792
CUDA cores	2048	no data
Core clock speed	1064 MHz	2044 MHz
Boost clock speed	1216 MHz	2491 MHz
Number of transistors	5,200 million	11,060 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	7 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	165 Watt	132 Watt
Texture fill rate	144 billion/sec	279.0
Floating-point performance	4,981 gflops	no data

Form factor & compatibility

Information on compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop graphics cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility).

Bus support	PCI Express 3.0	no data
Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	PCIe 4.0 x8
Length	10.5" (26.7 cm)	190 mm
Height	4.376" (11.1 cm)	no data
Width	2-slot	2-slot
Recommended system power (PSU)	500 Watt	no data
Supplementary power connectors	2x 6-pins	1x 8-pin
SLI options	+	no data

VRAM capacity and type

Parameters of VRAM installed: its type, size, bus, clock and resulting bandwidth. Integrated GPUs have no dedicated video RAM and use a shared part of system RAM.

Memory type	GDDR5	GDDR6
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	8 GB
Memory bus width	256 Bit	128 Bit
Memory clock speed	7.0 GB/s	14500 MHz
Memory bandwidth	224 GB/s	224.0 GB/s
Shared memory	-	-

Connectivity and outputs

Types and number of video connectors present on the reviewed GPUs. As a rule, data in this section is precise only for desktop reference ones (so-called Founders Edition for NVIDIA chips). OEM manufacturers may change the number and type of output ports, while for notebook cards availability of certain video outputs ports depends on the laptop model rather than on the card itself.

Display Connectors	Dual Link DVI-I, HDMI 2.0, 3x DisplayPort 1.2	1x HDMI, 3x DisplayPort
Multi monitor support	4 displays	no data
VGA аnalog display support	+	no data
DisplayPort Multimode (DP++) support	+	no data
HDMI	+	+
HDCP	+	no data
Maximum VGA resolution	2048x1536	no data
G-SYNC support	+	no data
Audio input for HDMI	Internal	no data

Supported technologies

Supported technological solutions. This information will prove useful if you need some particular technology for your purposes.

GameStream	+	no data
GeForce ShadowPlay	+	no data
GPU Boost	2.0	no data
GameWorks	+	no data
H.264, VC1, MPEG2 1080p video decoder	+	no data
Optimus	+	no data
BatteryBoost	+	no data

API compatibility

List of supported graphics and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectX	12 (12_1)	12.0 Ultimate (12_2)
Shader Model	6.4	6.5
OpenGL	4.5	4.6
OpenCL	1.2	2.1
Vulkan	1.1.126	1.2
CUDA	+	no data

Synthetic benchmark performance

Non-gaming benchmark performance comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.

Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark performance score. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

GTX 980 28.75

RX 6600 39.06
+35.9%

Radeon RX 6600 outperforms GeForce GTX 980 by 36% based on our aggregated benchmark results.

Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark, part of Passmark PerformanceTest suite. It gives the graphics card a thorough evaluation under various types of load, providing four separate benchmarks for Direct3D versions 9, 10, 11 and 12 (the last being done in 4K resolution if possible), and few more tests engaging DirectCompute capabilities.

Benchmark coverage: 25%

GTX 980 11127

RX 6600 15118
+35.9%

Radeon RX 6600 outperforms GeForce GTX 980 by 36% in Passmark.

3DMark Vantage Performance

3DMark Vantage is an outdated DirectX 10 benchmark using 1280x1024 screen resolution. It taxes the graphics card with two scenes, one depicting a girl escaping some militarized base located within a sea cave, the other displaying a space fleet attack on a defenseless planet. It was discontinued in April 2017, and Time Spy benchmark is now recommended to be used instead.

Benchmark coverage: 17%

GTX 980 37997

RX 6600 94734
+149%

Radeon RX 6600 outperforms GeForce GTX 980 by 149% in 3DMark Vantage Performance.

3DMark 11 Performance GPU

3DMark 11 is an obsolete DirectX 11 benchmark by Futuremark. It used four tests based on two scenes, one being few submarines exploring the submerged wreck of a sunken ship, the other is an abandoned temple deep in the jungle. All the tests are heavy with volumetric lighting and tessellation, and despite being done in 1280x720 resolution, are relatively taxing. Discontinued in January 2020, 3DMark 11 is now superseded by Time Spy.

Benchmark coverage: 17%

GTX 980 17605

RX 6600 31774
+80.5%

Radeon RX 6600 outperforms GeForce GTX 980 by 80% in 3DMark 11 Performance GPU.

3DMark Fire Strike Graphics

Fire Strike is a DirectX 11 benchmark for gaming PCs. It features two separate tests displaying a fight between a humanoid and a fiery creature made of lava. Using 1920x1080 resolution, Fire Strike shows off some realistic graphics and is quite taxing on hardware.

Benchmark coverage: 14%

GTX 980 12938

RX 6600 23366
+80.6%

Radeon RX 6600 outperforms GeForce GTX 980 by 81% in 3DMark Fire Strike Graphics.

3DMark Cloud Gate GPU

Cloud Gate is an outdated DirectX 11 feature level 10 benchmark that was used for home PCs and basic notebooks. It displays a few scenes of some weird space teleportation device launching spaceships into unknown, using fixed resolution of 1280x720. Just like Ice Storm benchmark, it has been discontinued in January 2020 and replaced by 3DMark Night Raid.

Benchmark coverage: 14%

GTX 980 85374

RX 6600 145870
+70.9%

Radeon RX 6600 outperforms GeForce GTX 980 by 71% in 3DMark Cloud Gate GPU.

3DMark Ice Storm GPU

Ice Storm Graphics is an obsolete benchmark, part of 3DMark suite. Ice Storm was used to measure entry level laptops and Windows-based tablets performance. It utilizes DirectX 11 feature level 9 to display a battle between two space fleets near a frozen planet in 1280x720 resolution. Discontinued in January 2020, it is now superseded by 3DMark Night Raid.

Benchmark coverage: 8%

GTX 980 323076

RX 6600 545762
+68.9%

Radeon RX 6600 outperforms GeForce GTX 980 by 69% in 3DMark Ice Storm GPU.

Gaming performance

Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.

Average FPS across all PC games

Here are the average frames per second in a large set of popular games across different resolutions:

Full HD	94 −21.3%	114 +21.3%
1440p	51 −13.7%	58 +13.7%
4K	38 +18.8%	32 −18.8%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

45−50

−123%

107
+123%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	69 +0%	65−70 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	50−55 −122%	113 +122%
Battlefield 5	109 −3.7%	110−120 +3.7%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	75−80 −39%	100−110 +39%
Cyberpunk 2077	45−50 −89.6%	91 +89.6%
Far Cry 5	80 −92.5%	154 +92.5%
Far Cry New Dawn	70−75 −89.2%	140 +89.2%
Forza Horizon 4	90 −32.2%	110−120 +32.2%
Hitman 3	85−90 −40.9%	120−130 +40.9%
Horizon Zero Dawn	60−65 −93.5%	120 +93.5%
Red Dead Redemption 2	45−50 −37%	60−65 +37%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	66 −115%	142 +115%
Watch Dogs: Legion	55−60 −90.9%	105 +90.9%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	58 −19%	65−70 +19%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	50−55 −80.4%	92 +80.4%
Battlefield 5	90 −25.6%	110−120 +25.6%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	75−80 −39%	100−110 +39%
Cyberpunk 2077	45−50 −52.1%	73 +52.1%
Far Cry 5	73 −94.5%	142 +94.5%
Far Cry New Dawn	70−75 −79.7%	133 +79.7%
Forza Horizon 4	83 −43.4%	110−120 +43.4%
Hitman 3	85−90 −40.9%	120−130 +40.9%
Horizon Zero Dawn	60−65 −50%	93 +50%
Metro Exodus	45−50 −67.3%	82 +67.3%
Red Dead Redemption 2	45−50 −37%	60−65 +37%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	55 −116%	119 +116%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	85 −72.9%	147 +72.9%
Watch Dogs: Legion	55−60 −70.9%	94 +70.9%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	35 −97.1%	65−70 +97.1%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	50−55 −52.9%	78 +52.9%
Battlefield 5	82 −37.8%	110−120 +37.8%
Cyberpunk 2077	45−50 −22.9%	59 +22.9%
Far Cry 5	69 −94.2%	134 +94.2%
Far Cry New Dawn	70−75 −59.5%	118 +59.5%
Forza Horizon 4	59 −102%	110−120 +102%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	46 −95.7%	90 +95.7%
Watch Dogs: Legion	55−60 −5.5%	58 +5.5%

1440p
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	45−50 −44.4%	65−70 +44.4%
Hitman 3	50−55 −46%	70−75 +46%
Horizon Zero Dawn	35−40 −68.4%	64 +68.4%
Metro Exodus	30−33 −60%	48 +60%
Red Dead Redemption 2	21−24 −40.9%	30−35 +40.9%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	34 −103%	69 +103%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	27 −59.3%	40−45 +59.3%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	30−33 −73.3%	52 +73.3%
Battlefield 5	62 −32.3%	80−85 +32.3%
Cyberpunk 2077	20−22 −70%	34 +70%
Far Cry 5	48 −89.6%	91 +89.6%
Far Cry New Dawn	55−60 −76.4%	97 +76.4%
Forza Horizon 4	48 −70.8%	80−85 +70.8%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	35−40 −55.6%	55−60 +55.6%
Watch Dogs: Legion	21−24 −78.3%	41 +78.3%

4K
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	21−24 −52.2%	35−40 +52.2%
Hitman 3	27−30 −44.4%	35−40 +44.4%
Horizon Zero Dawn	20−22 +25%	16 −25%
Metro Exodus	18−20 −61.1%	29 +61.1%
Red Dead Redemption 2	14−16 −40%	21−24 +40%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	17 −94.1%	33 +94.1%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	29 −51.7%	44 +51.7%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	14 −92.9%	27−30 +92.9%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	16−18 −50%	24 +50%
Battlefield 5	32 −50%	45−50 +50%
Cyberpunk 2077	8−9 −75%	14 +75%
Far Cry 5	24 −83.3%	44 +83.3%
Far Cry New Dawn	27−30 −71.4%	48 +71.4%
Forza Horizon 4	34 −61.8%	55−60 +61.8%
Watch Dogs: Legion	14−16 −50%	21 +50%

This is how GTX 980 and RX 6600 compete in popular games:

RX 6600 is 21.3% faster than GTX 980 in 1080p
RX 6600 is 13.7% faster than GTX 980 in 1440p
GTX 980 is 18.8% faster than RX 6600 in 4K

Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:

in Horizon Zero Dawn, with 4K resolution and the High Preset, the GTX 980 is 25% faster than the RX 6600.
in Cyberpunk 2077, with 1080p resolution and the Low Preset, the RX 6600 is 123% faster than the GTX 980.

All in all, in popular games:

GTX 980 is ahead in 1 test (1%)
RX 6600 is ahead in 66 tests (97%)
there's a draw in 1 test (1%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	28.75	39.06
Recency	19 September 2014	13 October 2021
Cost	$549	$329
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	8 GB
Chip lithography	28 nm	7 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	165 Watt	132 Watt