Radeon RX 590 vs Radeon RX 6400
The Radeon RX 590 pulls ahead here — clearly quicker, about 17% ahead of the Radeon RX 6400. But the Radeon RX 6400 is the better value, undercutting it by $3,225 CAD for the performance you get.
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Radeon RX 590 vs Radeon RX 6400: In-Depth Breakdown
Performance: Radeon RX 590 vs Radeon RX 6400
The Radeon RX 590 is noticeably faster, around 17% ahead of the Radeon RX 6400. Both cards sit in the same broad class, well suited to entry-level 1080p. The Radeon RX 590 packs 2,304 stream processors versus 768 on the Radeon RX 6400.
Price & Value
Pricing has the Radeon RX 6400 at $196 CAD, $3,225 CAD under the Radeon RX 590's $3,421 CAD. Despite being slower, the Radeon RX 6400 offers the better performance-per-dollar (~1393% better value), so budget-focused buyers should weigh it carefully. The Radeon RX 590 still sits about $3,142 CAD above its $279 CAD MSRP.
Power & Efficiency
Power draw favors the Radeon RX 6400 (53W vs 225W), and it's the more efficient card too, so it's the easy pick if thermals or a smaller PSU matter. Its more modern RDNA 2 architecture on a TSMC N6 process is part of why it does more with each watt.
VRAM & Future-Proofing
The Radeon RX 590 carries 8GB versus 4GB on the Radeon RX 6400. The extra 4GB helps at 4K, with high-resolution texture packs, and for content-creation or local-AI workloads that exhaust smaller buffers. The Radeon RX 590's memory is also faster — 256 GB/s versus 128 GB/s (256-bit vs 64-bit bus) — which helps feed the GPU at 4K and with heavy textures.
Generation & Longevity
The Radeon RX 6400 is roughly 4 years newer than the Radeon RX 590 (RDNA 2 vs GCN 4.0 (Polaris)), so it generally benefits from a more modern architecture and longer driver-support runway.
Which should you buy: Radeon RX 590 or Radeon RX 6400?
Choose the Radeon RX 590 if you want the most performance and can absorb the higher price. If you're optimizing for value, the Radeon RX 6400 stretches your money further for only slightly lower performance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Radeon RX 590 better than the Radeon RX 6400?
Which is better for 4K gaming, the Radeon RX 590 or the Radeon RX 6400?
Is the Radeon RX 590 worth the extra $3,225 CAD over the Radeon RX 6400?
Does the Radeon RX 590 have enough VRAM advantage to matter?
Which should you buy: Radeon RX 590 or Radeon RX 6400?
Technical Specifications Comparison
Architecture & Cores
| Specification | Radeon RX 590 | Radeon RX 6400 |
|---|---|---|
| Architecture | GCN 4.0 (Polaris) | RDNA 2 |
| Process Node | GloFo 12nm | TSMC N6 |
| CUDA Cores (Stream Processors / Stream Processors) | 2,304✓ | 768 |
| Ray Tracing Cores | — | 12 |
Clock Speeds
| Specification | Radeon RX 590 | Radeon RX 6400 |
|---|---|---|
| Base Clock | 1,469 MHz | 1,923 MHz✓ |
| Boost Clock | 1,545 MHz | 2,321 MHz✓ |
Memory
| Specification | Radeon RX 590 | Radeon RX 6400 |
|---|---|---|
| VRAM Capacity | 8 GB✓ | 4 GB |
| Memory Type | GDDR5 | GDDR6 |
| Memory Bus | 256-bit✓ | 64-bit |
| Memory Speed | 8 Gbps | 16 Gbps✓ |
| Bandwidth | 256 GB/s✓ | 128 GB/s |
Connectivity & Power
| Specification | Radeon RX 590 | Radeon RX 6400 |
|---|---|---|
| Interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | PCIe 4.0 x4 |
| TDP | 225 W | 53 W✓ |
| Power Connectors | 1x 8-pin | None |
| Released | Nov 2018 | Jan 2022 |