RX 7900 GRE Vs RX 6800 XT: [Performance Benchmarks]

Confused about which GPU to choose for your rig? Don’t worry, our RX 7900 GRE vs RX 6800 XT comparison is here to help you understand the major differences between the two GPUs along with how they perform in several games. 

Key Takeaways

• The RX 7900 GRE performed 8% better than the RX 6800 XT in our testing, especially excelling in ray tracing.
• The 6800 XT drew about 70 watts more power than the RX 7900 GRE despite the lower performance.
• The RX 7900 GRE has a retail MSRP of $650, whereas the RX 6800 XT can be had for around $530 on Newegg.

RX 7900 GRE Vs RX 6800 XT

Comparison Table

Architectural Differences

1. Clock Speed: The RX 6800 XT has a higher base clock than the newer card at 1825MHz, compared to the RX 7900 GRE’s 1500MHz. The boost clock is also slightly higher on the RX 6800 XT at 2250MHz, compared to the GRE’s slightly lower boost clock of 2245MHz.
2. Process Node: The RX 6800 XT uses the older 7nm manufacturing process, whereas the newer RX 7900 GRE utilizes a chiplet design, incorporating both 5nm and 6nm transistors, allowing it to get much better performance per watt than the past graphics cards from AMD.
3. TDP: The RX 7900 GRE has a rated TDP of 260 watts, a smidge higher than the RX 6800 XT, which has a TDP of around 250 watts.
4. VRAM: To further cement that both cards are more alike than different, the RX 7900 GRE and the RX 6800 XT have the same VRAM buffer of 16GB.
5. Bus Width: The RX 7900 GRE also has the same bus width as the RX 6800 XT; 256-bit.
6. Other Differences: Because of the more mature RT cores on the RX 7900 GRE, it takes a smaller performance hit when you turn ray tracing on, whereas the first-gen RT cores on the RX 6800 XT do not give a comfortable ray traced gaming experience. Both graphics cards can also use AMD’s open-source superscaling software, FSR.

Also Read: RX 7900 GRE Vs RX 6950 XT 

Gaming Benchmarks

The different architectures of the RX 7900 GRE and RX 6800 XT may make it difficult to compare them one-on-one in terms of paper specs and get a feel for their performance, which is why we put these cards on our Ryzen 7 7800X3D test bench fitted with 32GB of DDR5 RAM to give you an accurate gauge of the performance of these cards in modern games.

These cards will be tested at the 4k resolution to allow both cards to flex their muscles. Now without any further due, let’s dive into the RX 7900 GRE vs RX 6800 XT benchmarks. 

Similar Comparison: RX 7900 GRE Vs RTX 4070

The Last Of Us Part 1

• Both the RX 6800 XT and the RX 7900 GRE had an unappetizing performance in The Last Of Us Part 1, with the average framerate of the 7900 GRE being around 45 FPS, just a little bit better than last year’s card at 41 FPS.
• The 1% lows were somehow better on the 6800 XT, despite its lower performance in terms of average framerates. The card got a minimum framerate of around 37 FPS, whereas the 7900 GRE could maintain a framerate of 34 FPS when demanding scenes were at hand.

Also Read: RX 6800 XT Vs RTX 3070 Ti

Resident Evil 4

• The ghastly world of Resident Evil 4 performed great on both cards at 4k with the Prioritize Graphics settings. Both cards enjoyed framerates over 60 frames, with the RX 7900 GRE getting an average framerate of 78 FPS. In contrast, the RX 6800 XT was just a few frames behind with a performance of 72 FPS.
• Lows were also comfortable across the two cards, with the RX 6800 XT venturing into 60 frames with a 65 FPS average, whereas the RX 7900 GRE maintained strong ground with a performance of 71 FPS.

Similar Guide: RX 7900 XT Vs RX 6800 XT

Forza Horizon 5

• This game showed the biggest difference so far in our testing, with the RX 7900 GRE getting an average framerate of 108 FPS, whereas the RX 6800 XT had an average framerate of around 96 FPS. 
• 1% lows brought the playing field back to what we expect out of the pair of these cards, with the RX 6800 XT getting lows of 80 FPS, whereas the RX 7900 GRE was a small amount ahead with a performance of 85 FPS as its minimums.

Also Check: RX 6800 XT Vs RTX 3080 Ti

Hogwarts Legacy

• When framerates are as low as we saw in Hogwarts Legacy, a difference of a few frames can make a noticeable difference. The RX 7900 GRE had a higher average of 54 FPS, whereas the RX 6800 XT got an even 50 FPS as its average framerate.
• 1% lows were identical between the RX 6800 XT and RX 7900 GRE at 44 FPS.

Similar Comparison: Radeon RX 6800 Vs RX 6800 XT

Fortnite

• The lead of the RX 7900 GRE was cemented firmly with the difference in performance we saw in Fortnite with Epic Quality, probably because the new Lumen setting uses the better RT cores of the newer card. The GRE had an average framerate of 82 FPS, whereas the 6800 XT went all the way down to 63 FPS.
• 1% lows also had a substantial advantage with the RX 7900 GRE, which pumped out 45 FPS as its minimum, whereas the RX 6800 XT had a framerate of around 33 FPS as its minimum.

Also Read: RTX 3080 Vs RX 6800 XT

A Plague Tale Requiem

• For the last game of our testing, the RX 6800 XT actually outperformed its newer, higher-end counterpart. The RX 7900 GRE had an average framerate of 54 FPS, whereas the 6800 XT eeked out a small victory by getting an average of 56 FPS.
• Lows were also neck and neck between the two cards, but the RX 6800 XT came out a frame ahead with a framerate of 48 FPS on minimum, whereas the RX 7900 GRE had a framerate of around 47 FPS.

Similar Guide: RX 6950 XT Vs RX 6800 XT

Overall Gaming Performance

Now that we’ve gathered bits and pieces of information on the behavior of these two cards, this part of the RX 7900 GRE vs RX 6800 XT comparison will piece them together to paint a full picture of the performance these GPUs offer.

Framerate

• According to our performance tests at 4k with settings turned to the maximum, the RX 7900 GRE had an average framerate of 70 FPS over the 6 games.
• The performance tests also indicated that the RX 6800 XT had an average framerate of close to 64 FPS, which was 8% slower than the RX 7900 XT.
• The biggest gap in performance we saw was in Fortnite, which utilized ray tracing. This means that though the raw performance of these cards is neck and neck, the newer card has much more mature RT cores than its older brother.

Also Check: RX 6800 XT Vs RX 6750 XT

Power Consumption

• The newer card excelled in its power efficiency, with our 7900 GRE test bench drawing 371 watts of power on average, whereas the RX 6800 XT test bench drew around 439 watts on average.
• As the difference between the two test benches was only the graphics card used, the RX 7900 GRE drew approximately 70 watts less than the RX 6800 XT.

Similar Guide: RTX 4060 Ti Vs RX 6800 XT

Price And Availability

• The RX 6800 XT goes for around $529 on Newegg and can be had even less if you buy from a reputable used retailer like eBay.
• The RX 7900 GRE is marketed to come with a price tag of $650, but it has only broken the market in China as of yet, whereas the only way to get this card in the rest of the world is to get it inside a computer form a prebuilt PC retailer.

Also Read: RTX 4070 Ti Vs RX 6800 XT

RX 7900 GRE Vs RX 6800 XT: Which One Should You Go For?

Now that most major aspects of the performance of these graphics cards have been covered, this part of the RX 7900 GRE vs RX 6800 XT will guide you toward a better graphics card for your gaming needs.

• Don’t let the name fool you. The RX 7900 GRE does not have the same performance level we expected from an RX x900 series card. Instead, the 20% performance reduction from the XT is characteristic of the RX x800 XT series of cards from AMD, so you should consider this card as such.
• In our testing, the RX 7900 GRE was 8% faster than the RX 6800 XT, but it performed much better in some games than others. 
• The performance gap between the RX 6800 XT and the RX 7900 GRE can be eliminated by using FSR on the former, but at that point, you can do so on the latter and keep the difference. Nevertheless, you can get some extra performance from the pair of these cards by using AMD’s superscaling software.
• The RT cores on the 7900 GRE are more mature than those found on the RX 6800 XT, meaning that ray tracing gives less of a performance hit on the newer card.
• The RX 6800 XT drew 70 watts more than the RX 7900 GRE while giving a slightly inferior performance. 
• The extra bit of performance that the RX 7900 XT gives is not worth the 23% higher price it has over the RX 6800 XT, so if you have a tighter budget or you’re just looking for a better deal, the RX 6800 XT is one of the best cards you can get.
• If you want a graphics card with more creature comforts like better ray tracing, the RX 7900 GRE is not as bad of a deal as most people make of it; granted, you can get your hands on it for MSRP.

Pros And Cons