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AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060: Which one Should You Buy?

AMD’s Radeon RX 5600 XT was launched to slot the gap between the RX 5500XT and the RX 5700. It goes head to head against NVIDIA’s RTX 2060 while costing $60 less. In this post, we compare the RX 5600 XT against the GeForce RTX 2060 across ten games and see which one is the better buy for 1080p gaming.

TestBench

  • CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 3900X
  • GPU: Zotac RTX 2060 Gaming|Sapphire Pulse RX 5600 XT
  • Motherboard: ASRock X570 Taichi
  • Memory: Trident Z Royal 8GB x 2 @ 3600MHz CL16
  • Power Supply: Corsair HX1000i
  • All the titles except Wildlands were tested at 1080p and 1440p ultra.

AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060: Specifications

NVIDIA RTX 2060AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT
Cores1,9202,304
Boost Clock1,755MHz1,750MHz
Memory6GB GDDR66GB GDDR6
Memory Speed14 Gbps14 Gbps
Bus Width192-bit192-bit
TDP160W160W
Price$329$269

On paper, the Radeon RX 5600 XT has a clear advantage in terms of shader count. The memory size, bus, and bandwidth are identical and so is the rated TDP. Although the 5600 XT supports PCIe 4.0, it’s not really an advantage considering most GPUs fail to saturate the PCIe 3.0 bus.

AMD RX 5600 XT vs NVIDIA RTX 2060: 1080p Gaming Benchmarks

At 1080p, the Radeon RX 5600 XT quite easily squishes the GeForce RTX 2060. Other than Assassins’ Creed, the Navi GPU marks a clear victory over the RTX card in all 9 titles. In some games like Ashes and Deus Ex, the deltas are as wide as 10 FPS. Considering that the RTX 2060 costs more than the 5600 XT, that’s impressive, to say the least.

Let’s have a look at the frame rate graphs to get an idea of the sustained frame rates. Better frame pacing higher lows usually result in smoother gameplay even if the averages are lower:

In both Metro Exodus and Borderlands 3, the Radeon RX 5600 XT performs more consistently than the RTX 2060. In Borderlands 3, the RTX 2060 sees numerous FPS drops that occur throughout the duration of the benchmark. In comparison, the RX 5600 XT runs notably smoother with fewer dips.

AMD RX 5600 XT vs NVIDIA RTX 2060: 1440p Gaming Benchmarks

Neither cards are capable of smooth sailing at 1440p ultra in newer titles. You’ll have to drop the settings to high or even medium in certain games. The deltas have shrunk, but the results are largely the same. The AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT reigns supreme. In Shadow of the Tomb Raider, the RTX 2060 manages to take a slim lead of 2 FPS, but that’s about it.

Borderlands 3 really hates NVIDIA GPUs. The RX 5600 XT is nearly 10 FPS faster than the RTX 2060 in the first half of the benchmark. After that, both cards start stuttering like crazy and the game becomes unplayable at the highest preset.

Conclusion: The Ultimate 1080p Graphics Card!

The conclusion is a no brainer. The Radeon RX 5600 XT wins by a decent margin. On top of that, it’s cheaper too. EVGA’s RTX 2060 KO Edition is only available in the US and is now going for $329. As for the vast majority of gamers, the RTX 2060 still costs nearly $350. AMD’s RX 5600 XT now starts at just $269 and all models come with 14Gbps memory and near-5700 level boost clocks. You just can’t go wrong here.

Areej Syed

Processors, PC gaming, and the past. I have been writing about computer hardware for over seven years with more than 5000 published articles. Started off during engineering college and haven't stopped since. Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Divinity, Torment, Baldur's Gate and so much more... Contact: areejs12@hardwaretimes.com.
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