AMD RX 6700 XT review: the typical performance upgrade spectrum

Our final four rasterised games offer technical brilliance and satisfying gameplay aplenty; they are Metro Exodus, Dirt Rally 2.0, Assassin's Creed Unity and Assassin's Creed Valhalla.

In order to deliver precise results, our performance data is more than just an average frame-rate readout at the end of a canned bench. Instead, we use the FCAT tool built into Rivatuner Statistics Server (RTSS), which overlays a coloured border to the left side of the screen. Each new frame is represented by a coloured box in the sequence, with its height proportional to the number of milliseconds it took to generate. We capture a direct feed of the game footage and border from the graphics card we're testing, analysing the video file with our own tools to record every single fame time. This metadata is then uploaded to the Eurogamer website and then rendered by the server into the live performance widgets you see below, allowing us to pick and choose the comparisons you'll find most interesting or helpful - and give you the power to make your own choices too.

Metro Exodus

We once used the opening moments of Metro's Volga level as our graphics benchmark of choice, but we've since switched to the game's integrated benchmark which also provides a robust workout for even next-gen GPUs and offers more repeatable results. The RX 6700 XT is only around 25 per cent faster than its predecessor, the RX 5700 XT, in this benchmark, and it doesn't impress against Nvidia either, only drawing level with the RTX 3060 Ti at 1440p despite costing significantly more. Meanwhile, the RTX 3070 that the AMD card obstensibly competes against is 13 per cent faster.

The 74fps result is still quite playable of course, showing that AMD's claim of strong 1440p performance at maximum graphical settings (apart from ray tracing) is upheld. If you're also considering the RX 6800, both cards offer more or less the same value in this test, with the 6700 XT costing around 83 per cent as much as the 6800 and delivering exactly the same percentage of performance.

Dirt Rally 2.0

Dirt Rally 2.0 is another game where the RX 6700 XT just barely exceeds the RTX 3060 Ti, despite costing nearly as much as the RTX 3070. The 6700 XT manages an 88fps average at 1440p, meaning it's only 79 per cent as performant as the RX 6800 and only 81 per cent as fast as the RTX 3070. Compared to the last-gen RX 5700 XT, the new card is just 28 per cent faster; not really enough to justify an upgrade. Compared to the classic GTX 1070, the RX 6700 XT delivers a more worthwhile 80 per cent better performance here.

Assassin's Creed Unity

It's something of a shame that Assassin's Creed Unity is a bit of a meme thanks to its buggy launch, as these quickly-fixed bugs have overshadowed the technically impressive PC version of the game (which you can also experience running in back-compat on the Xbox Series X). We're testing at high settings here, where the RX 6700 XT delivers a near-perfect 60fps at 4K and a comfy 120fps at 1440p. That's a solid 36 per cent faster than the RX 5700 XT, and more like double the frame-rate we recorded on pre-Navi designs. Compared to the competition, the RX 6700 XT is overshadowed by both the RTX 3060 Ti and RTX 3070 at 1440p, with the latter holding a solid 13 per cent advantage.

Assassin's Creed Valhalla

Valhalla is a new title, so we've only got a few cards tested in it. Still, it's interesting to see how AMD and Nvidia cards handle the latest game in the popular open world franchise. The RX 6700 XT outpaces the RTX 3070 at 1440p here, by a good four per cent margin, and leads the RTX 3060 Ti by 12 per cent. The RX 6700 XT also provides 88 per cent of the performance of the RX 6800, making the lower-end card the better value at this resolution. If you're running at 4K, you can still expect a decent frame-rate out of the RX 6700 XT, 43fps on average, which is reasonable given that we're operating on ultra high settings. However, the RTX 3070 does considerably better here, and leads by almost a ten per cent margin. It's fascinating to see how different resolutions can impact results so significantly, perhaps as driver utilisation becomes a greater differentiating factor at 1440p and 1080p where AMD shines.

That brings our analysis of traditional rasterised games to a close, but now it's time to check out RT performance. This has proven to be something of a weakness of the Big Navi cards we've tested so far, but can the RX 6700 XT make any strides forward?

AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT Analysis

• Introduction, Hardware and Power Analysis
• Doom Eternal, Control, Borderlands 3, Shadow of the Tomb Raider - Game Benchmarks Part 1
• Death Stranding, Far Cry 5, Hitman 2, Assassin's Creed Odyssey - Game Benchmarks Part 2
• Metro Exodus, Dirt Rally 2, Assassin's Creed Unity, Assassin's Creed Valhalla - Game Benchmarks Part 3 [This Page]
• RT Game Benchmarks - Control, Metro Exodus, Battlefield 5
• Resizeable BAR Testing - Watch Dogs Legion, Battlefield 5, Metro Exodus
• AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT - the Digital Foundry verdict