Radeon RX 6600 vs R9 290

Place in the ranking	259	110
Place by popularity	not in top-100	15
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	7.90	67.93
Power efficiency	5.32	20.76
Architecture	GCN 2.0 (2013−2017)	RDNA 2.0 (2020−2024)
GPU code name	Hawaii	Navi 23
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Release date	5 November 2013 (11 years ago)	13 October 2021 (3 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$399	$329

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

RX 6600 has 760% better value for money than R9 290.

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 cores	2560	1792
Core clock speed	947 MHz	1626 MHz
Boost clock speed	no data	2491 MHz
Number of transistors	6,200 million	11,060 million
Manufacturing process technology	28 nm	7 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	275 Watt	132 Watt
Texture fill rate	151.5	279.0
Floating-point processing power	4.849 TFLOPS	8.928 TFLOPS
ROPs	64	64
TMUs	160	112
Ray Tracing Cores	no data	28

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).

Interface	PCIe 3.0 x16	PCIe 4.0 x8
Length	275 mm	190 mm
Width	2-slot	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin	1x 8-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 type	GDDR5	GDDR6
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	8 GB
Memory bus width	512 Bit	128 Bit
Memory clock speed	1250 MHz	1750 MHz
Memory bandwidth	320.0 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	2x DVI, 1x HDMI, 1x DisplayPort	1x HDMI, 3x DisplayPort
HDMI	+	+

API compatibility

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

DirectX	12 (12_0)	12.0 Ultimate (12_2)
Shader Model	6.3	6.5
OpenGL	4.6	4.6
OpenCL	2.0	2.1
Vulkan	1.2.131	1.2

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. 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.

R9 290 20.98

RX 6600 39.31
+87.4%

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.

R9 290 8093

RX 6600 15165
+87.4%

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.

R9 290 11860

RX 6600 23366
+97%

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	60−65 −90%	114 +90%
1440p	30−35 −90%	57 +90%
4K	16−18 −93.8%	31 +93.8%

Cost per frame, $

1080p	6.65	2.89
1440p	13.30	5.77
4K	24.94	10.61

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

107

+0%

107

+0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	80−85 +0%	80−85 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	113 +0%	113 +0%
Battlefield 5	120−130 +0%	120−130 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	75−80 +0%	75−80 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	91 +0%	91 +0%
Far Cry 5	85−90 +0%	85−90 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	95−100 +0%	95−100 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	190−200 +0%	190−200 +0%
Hitman 3	99 +0%	99 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	160−170 +0%	160−170 +0%
Metro Exodus	120−130 +0%	120−130 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	90−95 +0%	90−95 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	140−150 +0%	140−150 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	120−130 +0%	120−130 +0%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	80−85 +0%	80−85 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	92 +0%	92 +0%
Battlefield 5	120−130 +0%	120−130 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	75−80 +0%	75−80 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	73 +0%	73 +0%
Far Cry 5	85−90 +0%	85−90 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	95−100 +0%	95−100 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	190−200 +0%	190−200 +0%
Hitman 3	95 +0%	95 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	160−170 +0%	160−170 +0%
Metro Exodus	120−130 +0%	120−130 +0%
Red Dead Redemption 2	90−95 +0%	90−95 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	182 +0%	182 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	80−85 +0%	80−85 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	120−130 +0%	120−130 +0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	80−85 +0%	80−85 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	78 +0%	78 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	75−80 +0%	75−80 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	59 +0%	59 +0%
Far Cry 5	85−90 +0%	85−90 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	190−200 +0%	190−200 +0%
Hitman 3	86 +0%	86 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	142 +0%	142 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	157 +0%	157 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	90 +0%	90 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	58 +0%	58 +0%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

90−95

+0%

90−95

+0%

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	75−80 +0%	75−80 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	60−65 +0%	60−65 +0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	40−45 +0%	40−45 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	52 +0%	52 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	34 +0%	34 +0%
Far Cry 5	45−50 +0%	45−50 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	220−230 +0%	220−230 +0%
Hitman 3	54 +0%	54 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	102 +0%	102 +0%
Metro Exodus	97 +0%	97 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	101 +0%	101 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	55−60 +0%	55−60 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	190−200 +0%	190−200 +0%

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

65−70

+0%

65−70

+0%

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	35−40 +0%	35−40 +0%
Far Cry New Dawn	30−35 +0%	30−35 +0%
Hitman 3	36 +0%	36 +0%
Horizon Zero Dawn	180−190 +0%	180−190 +0%
Metro Exodus	50−55 +0%	50−55 +0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	44 +0%	44 +0%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	27−30 +0%	27−30 +0%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	24 +0%	24 +0%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	24−27 +0%	24−27 +0%
Cyberpunk 2077	14 +0%	14 +0%
Far Cry 5	21−24 +0%	21−24 +0%
Forza Horizon 4	50−55 +0%	50−55 +0%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	53 +0%	53 +0%
Watch Dogs: Legion	21 +0%	21 +0%

4K
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

35−40

+0%

35−40

+0%

This is how R9 290 and RX 6600 compete in popular games:

RX 6600 is 90% faster in 1080p
RX 6600 is 90% faster in 1440p
RX 6600 is 94% faster in 4K

All in all, in popular games:

there's a draw in 72 tests (100%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	20.98	39.31
Recency	5 November 2013	13 October 2021
Maximum RAM amount	4 GB	8 GB
Chip lithography	28 nm	7 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	275 Watt	132 Watt

RX 6600 has a 87.4% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 7 years, a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 300% more advanced lithography process, and 108.3% lower power consumption.

The Radeon RX 6600 is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon R9 290 in performance tests.

Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.