Radeon RX 6500 XT vs HD 6990

Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon HD 6990 and Radeon RX 6500 XT, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

HD 6990
2011
2 GB GDDR5, 375 Watt
7.82

RX 6500 XT outperforms HD 6990 by a whopping 217% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.

Place in the ranking531229
Place by popularitynot in top-10095
Cost-effectiveness evaluation0.6458.18
Power efficiency1.4315.92
ArchitectureTeraScale 3 (2010−2013)RDNA 2.0 (2020−2024)
GPU code nameAntillesNavi 24
Market segmentDesktopDesktop
Release date8 March 2011 (13 years ago)19 January 2022 (3 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$699 $199

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

The higher the performance-to-price ratio, the better. We use the manufacturer's recommended prices for comparison.

RX 6500 XT has 8991% better value for money than HD 6990.

Detailed specifications

General parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores1536 ×21024
Core clock speed830 MHz2610 MHz
Boost clock speedno data2815 MHz
Number of transistors2,640 million5,400 million
Manufacturing process technology40 nm6 nm
Power consumption (TDP)375 Watt107 Watt
Texture fill rate79.68 ×2180.2
Floating-point processing power2.55 TFLOPS ×25.765 TFLOPS
ROPs32 ×232
TMUs96 ×264
Ray Tracing Coresno data16

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).

InterfacePCIe 2.0 x16PCIe 4.0 x4
Length295 mmno data
Width2-slot2-slot
Supplementary power connectors2x 8-pin1x 6-pin

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 typeGDDR5GDDR6
Maximum RAM amount2 GB ×28 GB
Memory bus width256 Bit ×264 Bit
Memory clock speed1250 MHz2248 MHz
Memory bandwidth160.0 GB/s ×2143.9 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 Connectors1x DVI, 4x mini-DisplayPort1x HDMI 2.1, 1x DisplayPort 1.4a
HDMI-+

API and SDK compatibility

List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectX11.2 (11_0)12 Ultimate (12_2)
Shader Model5.06.6
OpenGL4.44.6
OpenCL1.22.2
VulkanN/A1.3

Synthetic benchmark performance

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


Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark score.

HD 6990 7.82
RX 6500 XT 24.80
+217%

  • Other tests
    • Passmark
    • 3DMark Fire Strike Graphics

Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark. 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.

HD 6990 3013
RX 6500 XT 9556
+217%

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.

HD 6990 5830
RX 6500 XT 15712
+170%

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 HD18−21
−261%
65
+261%
1440p9−10
−233%
30
+233%
4K5−6
−220%
16
+220%

Cost per frame, $

1080p38.83
−1168%
3.06
+1168%
1440p77.67
−1071%
6.63
+1071%
4K139.80
−1024%
12.44
+1024%
  • RX 6500 XT has 1168% lower cost per frame in 1080p
  • RX 6500 XT has 1071% lower cost per frame in 1440p
  • RX 6500 XT has 1024% lower cost per frame in 4K

FPS performance in popular games

  • Full HD
    Low Preset
  • Full HD
    Medium Preset
  • Full HD
    High Preset
  • Full HD
    Ultra Preset
  • Full HD
    Epic Preset
  • 1440p
    High Preset
  • 1440p
    Ultra Preset
  • 1440p
    Epic Preset
  • 4K
    High Preset
  • 4K
    Ultra Preset
  • 4K
    Epic Preset
Atomic Heart 111
+0%
111
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 64
+0%
64
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 72
+0%
72
+0%
Atomic Heart 84
+0%
84
+0%
Battlefield 5 90−95
+0%
90−95
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 40
+0%
40
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 54
+0%
54
+0%
Far Cry 5 102
+0%
102
+0%
Fortnite 110−120
+0%
110−120
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 90−95
+0%
90−95
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 66
+0%
66
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 90−95
+0%
90−95
+0%
Valorant 160−170
+0%
160−170
+0%
Atomic Heart 48
+0%
48
+0%
Battlefield 5 90−95
+0%
90−95
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 28
+0%
28
+0%
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 250−260
+0%
250−260
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 34
+0%
34
+0%
Dota 2 145
+0%
145
+0%
Far Cry 5 92
+0%
92
+0%
Fortnite 110−120
+0%
110−120
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 90−95
+0%
90−95
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 35
+0%
35
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 86
+0%
86
+0%
Metro Exodus 52
+0%
52
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 90−95
+0%
90−95
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 92
+0%
92
+0%
Valorant 160−170
+0%
160−170
+0%
Battlefield 5 90−95
+0%
90−95
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 24
+0%
24
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 30
+0%
30
+0%
Dota 2 110
+0%
110
+0%
Far Cry 5 86
+0%
86
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 90−95
+0%
90−95
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 47
+0%
47
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 90−95
+0%
90−95
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 54
+0%
54
+0%
Valorant 160−170
+0%
160−170
+0%
Fortnite 110−120
+0%
110−120
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 160−170
+0%
160−170
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 37
+0%
37
+0%
Metro Exodus 18
+0%
18
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 170−180
+0%
170−180
+0%
Valorant 200−210
+0%
200−210
+0%
Battlefield 5 65−70
+0%
65−70
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 17
+0%
17
+0%
Far Cry 5 57
+0%
57
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 60−65
+0%
60−65
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 23
+0%
23
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
Fortnite 55−60
+0%
55−60
+0%
Atomic Heart 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 10−12
+0%
10−12
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 34
+0%
34
+0%
Metro Exodus 11
+0%
11
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 28
+0%
28
+0%
Valorant 130−140
+0%
130−140
+0%
Battlefield 5 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 10−12
+0%
10−12
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 4
+0%
4
+0%
Dota 2 67
+0%
67
+0%
Far Cry 5 23
+0%
23
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 40−45
+0%
40−45
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 3
+0%
3
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%
Fortnite 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%

This is how HD 6990 and RX 6500 XT compete in popular games:

  • RX 6500 XT is 261% faster in 1080p
  • RX 6500 XT is 233% faster in 1440p
  • RX 6500 XT is 220% faster in 4K

All in all, in popular games:

  • there's a draw in 67 tests (100%)

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 7.82 24.80
Recency 8 March 2011 19 January 2022
Maximum RAM amount 2 GB 8 GB
Chip lithography 40 nm 6 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 375 Watt 107 Watt

RX 6500 XT has a 217.1% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 10 years, a 300% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 566.7% more advanced lithography process, and 250.5% lower power consumption.

The Radeon RX 6500 XT is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon HD 6990 in performance tests.

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AMD Radeon HD 6990
Radeon HD 6990
AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT
Radeon RX 6500 XT

Other comparisons

We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.

Community ratings

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3.5
26 votes

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3.8
3422 votes

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