GPU Comparison
Select up to 2 GPUs to analyze their pricing, performance, and specifications side-by-side.
The Radeon RX 6800 XT is dramatically faster than the Radeon RX 590, leading by roughly 429% in our performance index. The Radeon RX 590, however, delivers more performance per dollar — $569 EUR cheaper.
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Radeon RX 6800 XT vs Radeon RX 590: In-Depth Breakdown
Performance: Radeon RX 6800 XT vs Radeon RX 590
The Radeon RX 6800 XT is dramatically faster, around 429% ahead of the Radeon RX 590. That gap is enough to move it up a tier: the Radeon RX 6800 XT is comfortable at 1440p, while the Radeon RX 590 is better matched to entry-level 1080p. The Radeon RX 6800 XT packs 4,608 stream processors versus 2,304 on the Radeon RX 590.
Price & Value
Right now the Radeon RX 590 starts at $31 EUR against $600 EUR for the Radeon RX 6800 XT. Despite being slower, the Radeon RX 590 offers the better performance-per-dollar (~262% better value), so budget-focused buyers should weigh it carefully. The Radeon RX 590 is trading below its $279 EUR MSRP — a genuine deal. The Radeon RX 6800 XT is trading below its $649 EUR MSRP — a genuine deal.
Power & Efficiency
The Radeon RX 590 pulls less power (225W vs 300W), so it's the easier card to cool and the lighter load on your PSU. The faster Radeon RX 6800 XT draws more overall but extracts more performance from each watt — plan for a sturdier power supply if you pick it. Its more modern RDNA 2 architecture on a TSMC N7 process is part of why it does more with each watt.
VRAM & Future-Proofing
With 16GB against 8GB, the Radeon RX 6800 XT has more headroom for 4K textures and memory-hungry creative/AI tasks where the Radeon RX 590's 8GB can fall short. The Radeon RX 6800 XT's memory is also faster — 512 GB/s versus 256 GB/s — which helps feed the GPU at 4K and with heavy textures.
Generation & Longevity
The Radeon RX 6800 XT is roughly 2 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 6800 XT?
Choose the Radeon RX 6800 XT if you want the most performance and can absorb the higher price. If you're optimizing for value, the Radeon RX 590 stretches your money further for only slightly lower performance.