AMD Radeon RX 7600 vs Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 vs Intel Arc A750: the 1080p graphics shoot-out

RT benchmarks: Dying Light 2, Cyberpunk 2077, Control.

Review by Richard Leadbetter Technology Editor, Digital Foundry

Published on June 17, 2023

Since the arrival of Intel Arc and RTX 40-series GPUs, we've completely revised our test bench, in order to better reflect the future of gaming technology - that means we're zeroing in on titles using key engines and low-level gaming APIs, while we've beefed up representation for ray tracing and image reconstruction. Some of our line-up may need tweaks as the results come in, but right now, we're mostly happy with this more forward-looking approach. 1080p resolution is our core focus where, but we've supplied 1440p metrics too. 4K is ruled out as we actually found that many games simply turn into unplayable slideshows, making the data irrelevant.

Ray tracing is no longer a second class citizen and with the new wave of GPUs, we're seeing some of the most intensive GPU workloads you can get delivered at really decent frame-rates - even before we factor in image reconstruction technologies like DLSS and FSR2.

Our benchmarking system below offers a number of ways to get to the data you want, the presentation varying according to the device you're looking at right now. You'll get a basic overview of our findings on mobile, with metadata from the video capture of each GPU being translated into simple bar charts with average frame-rate and lowest one per cent measurements for easy comparisons.

On a desktop-class browser, you'll get the full-fat DF experience with embedded YouTube videos of each test scene and live performance metrics. Play the video, and you'll see exactly how each card handled the scene as it progresses. Below the real-time metrics is a bar chart, which you can mouse over to see different measurements and click to switch between actual frame-rates and percentage differences. All the data here is derived from video captured directly from each GPU, ensuring an accurate replay of real performance.

Dying Light 2

Despite the arrival of an actual official benchmark, we're sticking with our introductory run into the game - a beautiful cutscene that stress-tests RT hardware effectively - though perhaps less so when you're looking at the sky briefly! What's most notable about this one is just how performant Intel Arc is on Dying Light 2. Arc A750's value ratio is immense, even against the more potent RTX 4060 Ti and it's knocking on the door of RTX 3060 Ti performance, meaning it's 20 percent faster than a 12GB RTX 3060 while also being a good chunk cheaper, even with the Nvidia card currently being discounted.

The new RX 7600 is in a weird position. Compared to last-gen MSRPs, this $270 offering looks great against the $400 RX 6650 XT and the $330 RX 6600. The problem is that both of those RDNA 2 cards now cost less than the RX 7600, making the value win less compelling. The RX 6600 routinely sells now in the US for around $180. The RX 6600 may be the least capable card of the bunch, but it's also by far the cheapest... unless you manage to get a cut-price Arc A750, which has been seen for as low as $199.

Dying Light 2, High RT, TAA

Cyberpunk 2077

We're continuing our testing with the CD Projekt RED classic running in its ultra RT mode, using an internal streaming test used by the developer to zip around the Kabuki area of Night City. The RT features of Cyberpunk 2077 were developed in close cooperation with Nvidia, so it's no surprise to see the RTX 3060, 3060 Ti and especially the 4060 Ti roundly despatching the competition.

What's also interesting about this result is that it's one of the few where the Intel Arc A770 actually provides a meaningful performance boost over the Arc A750. The lower-spec Intel card puts up a good fight against the RTX 3060 at 1080p, and all of the AMD offerings in this chart are roundly seen off. The exception is the RX 6700 XT, which still isn't exactly amazing, only slightly faster than Arc A750. This game supports all the major upscalers - just like Dying Light 2 - so we'll be returning to them later.

Cyberpunk 2077, Ultra RT, TAA

Control

Alex Battaglia's corridor of doom is the home of our Control stress-testing and once again it highlights just how performant the Intel Arc cards when facing challenging RT scenarios. While there's not much to separate Arc A750 and A770 (despite their respective price-points), Intel is putting up one hell of a fight against the more expensive Nvidia offerings - and remember, Arc A750's MSRP is highly competitive, let alone when it's on sale.

Nvidia's RTX 3060 sits in the centre spot in our tests here, with Arc and its more performant siblings head, with virtually all of the AMD competitors lagging significantly behind. Only the RX 6700 XT can compete, and it exists in a different pricing tier. It's here to show AMD's competing product against RTX 4060 Ti and Arc A770.