Today we're comparison Nvidia's GeForce RTX 2060 and AMD's Radeon RX 5600 XT caput to head in over 30 games at two resolutions: 1080p and 1440p. But earlier we move on to the criterion phase, allow'due south put things in perspective for the newly launched mid-range Radeon and the year-old RTX 2060 that has received a cost cut downwards to $300 for some models.

It's been a month since our initial 5600 XT review and it'south fair to say nosotros weren't blown abroad past the new sub-$300 Radeon. Wrapping up that review we said "The Radeon RX 5600 XT is a respectable product that has pushed for lower prices and better functioning at $300. For that alone, we commend it. The GPU won't blow your socks off and yet it's better value than the Radeon RX 5700 and makes the RTX 2060 Super a really tough buy. Given the competition in this price range, we think AMD has done fine."

We also questioned whether many RTX 2060 models would actually hitting $300 and what kind of stock you could expect for so-chosen KO and FE models at that more aggressive price point.

About a month later, where are nosotros now? Well, the RTX 2060 is nonetheless kind of a $300 GPU as you tin buy the FE model for $300 directly from Nvidia and the EVGA KO version is also bachelor for $300. Meanwhile, xiv Gbps 5600 XT'due south can be had for $290. That makes the RTX 2060 just four% more expensive for the Atomic number 26 version, or most ten% more than when comparison near AIB models. In some regions 2060 Fe/KO models are not available, making the GeForce choice a little more costly.

But price is but role of the equation, there's obviously the functioning aspect which we'll look at in a moment, and and so there'south drivers. Later on seeing numerous user reports of AMD driver bug, we ranted about it recently and the reports have kept coming. Drivers with these Navi GPUs is unfortunately some other cistron that needs to exist considered.

For today's testing we are using the MSI RTX 2060 Gaming Z and the Sapphire Pulse 5600 XT, equipped with the latest VBIOS supporting 14 Gbps memory transfer speeds. Powering our GPU test rig is the Core i9-9900K overclocked to 5 GHz with 16GB of DDR4-3400 memory. Every bit usual, rather than roofing each of the 32 game benchmarks nosotros'll await at a dozen closely and so jump into performance breakdown graphs.

Benchmarks

Start up we have Assassin's Creed Odyssey and here the 5600 XT merely nudges ahead of the RTX 2060 at both tested resolutions, offering 5% more operation at 1080p and just a unmarried extra frame at 1440p. Yous can safely call this identical performance.

In Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order we come across that using the latest drivers information technology'south very tight between the RTX 2060 and 5600 XT, again we're looking at basically identical performance.

The Outer Worlds about always favors Nvidia hardware and we see this is one time again the case. It'south worth noting that the 1% low performance is identical at both tested resolutions, so at least the 5600 XT is offer a polish gaming experience in this title.

Next up we have Phone call of Duty: Modern Warfare and over again we see very close numbers at 1080p and 1440p, the old in particular is an identical match.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is another title where these two GPUs evangelize virtually identical performance at both tested resolutions, with no more than 2 fps in information technology which is negligible.

The 5600 XT struggles a piddling scrap in Control when using MSAAx4 which can be magnified when you lot look at the i% low functioning dipping downward a trivial, fifty-fifty at 1080p. If we only look at the average frame rate, the RTX 2060 is up to 7% faster, simply if we focus on the 1% low results, the GeForce GPU is up to 14% faster.

AMD frequently does well in Globe State of war Z and we encounter that the 5600 XT had no trouble taking it to the RTX 2060 at 1080p. Here the Radeon GPU was xi% faster. However the margin does swing back in Nvidia's favor at 1440p, and now the 5600 XT is 7% slower.

Radeon GPUs have always performed well in the F1 titles and the 5600 XT is able to beat out the RTX 2060 here, offer ten% more performance at 1080p and 14% more at 1440p, a solid win for the blood-red squad.

The RTX 2060 offers stronger operation in Tom Clancy's Rainbow 6 Siege, at least when using the Vulkan API which AMD doesn't appear to have optimized for yet. The i% depression performance suffers compared to what nosotros run into when using DX11. We'll stick with Vulkan for the foreseeable futurity and meet how AMD gets on over the coming months.

We expected the RTX 2060 to make up more ground on the 5600 XT in Fortnite but AMD has made sure their GPUs are well optimized for this massively popular championship. In the early on days of Fortnite Nvidia GPUs dominated, but it's adept to run across that AMD has worked to optimize this title. The terminate upshot is identical performance between these GPUs at both tested resolutions.

Using the ultra quality settings in Gears v sees the 5600 XT easily beat the RTX 2060 providing 18% more frames at 1080p and 15% more at 1440p.

Frame rates in Shadow of the Tomb Raider were very similar and this is nevertheless another title where the RTX 2060 and 5600 XT deliver virtually identical performance.

Performance is also very similar in Apex Legends, the 5600 XT does a piddling better at 1080p while the RTX 2060 does a fiddling amend at 1440p, but overall the gaming experience volition be much the same using either GPU.

Concluding up we have PUBG, a title that has always favored GeForce GPUs. The RTX 2060 was nine% faster at 1080p and just 6% faster at 1440p in this comparison.

Operation Breakdown

Just as we saw when testing the Radeon RX 5600 XT in our day-ane coverage, the GPU appears evenly matched with Nvidia'due south RTX 2060. At launch we just tested a dozen games but now we've included a much wider range of titles, with 32 games tested in total. Let's see how they compare beyond a diversity of recently released and popular titles.

In the end, the 5600 XT wins by a marginal 3% difference. Helping the Radeon edge ahead were large 20% or better wins in Borderlands 3, Metro Exodus and Clay Rally 2. The just games to really trip upwardly the 5600 XT were The Outer Worlds, Vermintide two and Strange Brigade.

The already small 3% margin favoring AMD at 1080p shrinks to one% at 1440p. On average that's identical operation, if nosotros couldn't say that already at 1080p. Our launch review of the RX 5600 XT showed something similar, so information technology seems we did well with a dozen game sample that was very representative of what we see here with 32 titles.

What to Buy

Bottom line, the 5600 XT and RTX 2060 are very evenly matched in terms of performance. Equally it's unremarkably the case when we encounter this kind of issue, the best option for you will probably come down to the games y'all play.

The ii GPUs are so evenly matched that it prompts u.s. to consider the driver bending, particularly with a large base of users reporting issues with crashing and blackness screens over the past few months. At least in the brusque term, information technology should be a business organisation and information technology makes recommending the 5600 XT quite hard. The RTX 2060 is a proven product at this point, it offers a similar level of performance, and mostly costs anywhere from $10 to $30 actress which is a tiny price to pay for stability.

Yous also don't have to be particularly careful regarding which RTX 2060 yous buy. The cheaper base of operations models are comparable to the premium versions and that's certainly non the case with the 5600 XT.

We practice believe the 5600 XT is a decent product and with a piffling more time to atomic number 26 out commuter bug and shipping cards with the proper VBIOS, it volition be a serious contender down the line. Only for now we must go with the RTX 2060, we simply believe you'll be better looked after with the GeForce graphics card option.

Shopping Shortcuts:
  • GeForce RTX 2060 on Amazon
  • GeForce RTX 2060 Super on Amazon
  • AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT on Amazon
  • AMD Radeon RX 5700 on Amazon
  • AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT on Amazon
  • GeForce GTX 1660 Super on Amazon
  • GeForce RTX 2070 Super on Amazon
  • GeForce RTX 2080 Ti on Amazon
  • AMD Ryzen 9 3900X on Amazon
  • AMD Ryzen five 3600 on Amazon