2023 has so far been unkind to PC gamers. While the current generation of GPUs offer significantly better performance than their predecessors, the significant price bump made them seem like a terrible deal when frames per dollar is taken into account.
PC gamers on a budget who predominantly play in 1080p were also left in the lurch for the first half of 2023, until the AMD Radeon RX 7600 came along.
AMD Radeon RX7600 – Specifications
| Model Name | AMD Radeon RX 7600 |
| Frequency | Up to 2,655 MHz |
| Compute Units | 32 |
| Ray Accelerators | 32 |
| AI Accelerators | 64 |
| Memory | 8GB GDDR6 |
| Memory Bus | 128 bit |
| Memory Bandwidth | Up to 288 GB/s |
| Output | DisplayPort 2.1 x 3 HDMI 2.1 x 1 |
| Power Consumption | 165 W |
| Dimensions | 204 x 115 mm Dual slot |
Test System
| Processor | AMD Ryzen 7 5700G |
| GPU | AMD Radeon RX 7600 |
| Motherboard | MSI 450M Mortar Max |
| RAM | 32GB Antec Katana DDR4 3,200Mhz CL16 |
| Storage | XPG SX8200 Pro 512GB |
| CPU Cooler | Deepcool AK620 |
| Power Supply | Cooler Master V850 Gold V2 |
Design
We’ve grown accustomed to large triple fan GPUs as of late, and seeing a new dual fan GPU is a breath of fresh air. For a 1080p gaming card, a dual slot, dual fan form factor is more than adequate from a cooling perspective.
The AMD reference model is quite compact, measuring only 204 x 115 mm. When placed side by side with my old Sapphire RX 5600 XT Pulse, the RX 7600 looks tiny in comparison. It’s diminutive size also makes it a good choice for smaller cases as well.
Being a reference model, you don’t really get any bells and whistles. It does look sleek with its all black styling, though. The heatsink covers the entire length of the PCB, and there is a backplate to help dissipate heat.
Performance Benchmarks
| Game | RX 7600 (fps) | RX 5600 XT (fps) |
| Shadow of the Tomb Raider (1080p, Ultra) | Min: 85 Max: 203 Avg: 114 | Min: 68 Max: 139 Avg: 91 |
| Counter-Strike Global Offensive (1080p, High) | Min: 132 Max: 348 Avg: 201 | Min: 71 Max: 322 Avg: 182 |
| The Witcher 3 Next Gen Update (1080p, Ultra, ) | Min: 55 Max: 67 Avg: 61 | Min: 47 Max: 61 Avg: 59 |
| Hogwarts Legacy (1080p, High, FSR 2 Quality) | Min: 120 Max: 218 Avg: 161 | Min: 97 Max: 186 Avg: 118 |
Compared to my own RX 5600 XT, the RX 7600 seems to be quite capable from the onset, easily beating the former in all our test titles. The gains on The Witcher 3 are marginal, which could be due to the bandwidth limitations of a PCIe 4.0 card on a PCIe 3.0 motherboard.
However, the ray tracing performance is still subpar, barely reaching 60 fps with FSR in our tested titles. But at this price point, we think you should prioritise rasterisation performance and frame rates rather than ray tracing.
Thermals
During gaming loads, the AMD Radeon RX 7600 managed around 83°C (26°C ambient). It does run a bit hot due to the small-ish fans when compared to the AIB counterparts. We can expect the AIB models to run slightly cooler than the reference model.
Final Verdict
3.5 / 5When budget PC gamers were left with little options, the Radeon RX 7600 steps up to offer a relatively affordable gaming experience.
While it didn’t exactly blow my mind away in regards to its generational performance improvements, it does offer PC gamers a budget option to upgrade from their old cards.
However, the biggest competitor to the RX 7600 is AMD’s own RX 6000 series cards, notably the RX 6650 XT and RX 6700 XT, which offers similar levels of performance for less. While the latter two cards are less efficient in comparison, they are quite abundant in the used market, and the RX 6700 XT has a larger VRAM. Of course, most of these cards were scalped during the GPU mining craze, and you do run into the risks associated with it.
That being said, the RX 7600 is still a decent buy for those who are upgrading from GPUs from the past two or three generations. If you already have an RTX 30 series, or RX 6000 series card, I suggest you hold on until the next generation or two.
To learn more about the AMD Radeon RX 7600, please visit the official website here.
