The Bottom Line
Introduction
ASUS reached out to me a couple of weeks ago asking if I'd like to check out their custom DUAL Radeon RX 6600 graphics card, and so here we are: mid-range RDNA 2 on a "budget" in 2021 in a huge graphics card shortage.
Let's start with the skinny on the Radeon RX 6600: AMD is using the Navi 31 XL GPU, this is a cutdown version of the Navi 31 XT GPU that powers the Radeon RX 6600 XT. There's 8GB of GDDR6 memory with Infinity Cache, while the card finds itself on a PCIe 4.0 x8 slot.
ASUS does well here with the mid-range DUAL Radeon RX 6600, offering a sleek look and dual-fan cooler that keeps the Navi 31 XL GPU nice and cool alongside the 8GB of GDDR6 memory. Just like I said in my review of the ASUS DUAL Radeon RX 6600 XT, the DUAL brand from ASUS focuses on the mainstream gamer.
ASUS has its TUF Gaming, ROG, and ROG STRIX families of graphics cards if you wanted something higher-end but for now we're going to dive right into the ASUS DUAL Radeon RX 6600.
You'll find the ASUS DUAL Radeon RX 6600 for around $665 on Amazon... a little ridiculous, I'd say.
Everything You Need to Know About The RX 6600
The RDNA 2 architecture gets spread a little thinner here to make the Radeon RX 6600, with the same 11.1 billion transistors that was used on the Radeon RX 6600 XT. There's cut down 28 Compute Units here on the RX 6600, compared to 32 Compute Units on the RX 6600 XT while there's 1792 Stream Processors, down from 2048 Stream Processors.
AMD is still using 32MB of Infinity Cache on the Radeon RX 6600, with the same 8GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit memory bus and PCIe 4.0 x8 connector. The board power is just 132W, down 28W from the Radeon RX 6600 XT and its 160W TBP. Not too damn bad at all there, AMD.
1080p gaming is where AMD is aiming with the Radeon RX 6600, and when compared against the GeForce RTX 2060, the new RDNA 2-powered Radeon RX 6600 holds its own. We have 79FPS average in Assassin's Creed Valhalla, 142FPS average in Battlefield V, 95FPS average in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, 136FPS average in F1 2021, and 114FPS average in Hitman 3 -- not bad at all.
Even in something like Cyberpunk 2077 we have 70FPS average at 1080p on the Radeon RX 6600, and 145FPS average in Resident Evil Village. Very, very nice results there.
AMD + ASUS marketing
Far Cry 6 and DEATHLOOP just launched, with 91FPS average at 1080p in Far Cry 6 on the Radeon RX 6600 and 85FPS average in DEATHLOOP. Once again, that's not damn bad at all -- but do keep in mind, many of these results are with Smart Access Memory enabled.
One of the biggest things for me is the performance-per-watt side of the Radeon RX 6600, especially if you consider how bad the performance-per-watt was with the Radeon RX Vega 64.
Wrapping up the Radeon RX 6600: 100FPS+ average in AAA g names, 1.3x the performance-per-watt versus the GeForce RTX 3060, and 2x faster in some games with FSR enabled and on Performance Mode on the Radeon RX 6600.
Detailed Look
The ASUS DUAL Radeon RX 6600 comes in a no-frills retail package, with a shot of the card on the front and some details of its design, features, and cooling technology that ASUS has used on the DUAL Radeon RX 6600 graphics card on the back of the box.
Looking at the card from the front we have a nice and simple design with ASUS using a dual-fan cooler, while the shroud is made from matte black plastic and looks great inside of a PC. There are some black/silver design aesthetics through the card, which helps it not look as cheap.
I don't know why, but the ASUS DUAL Radeon RX 6600 is not a dual-slot card... it could be, there's no reason for it not to be, but it's definitely thicker than a dual-slot card. It would've been nice for ASUS to have crammed the card down into a tight dual-slot design, but oh well.
You'll need a single 8-pin PCIe power connector for the ASUS DUAL Radeon RX 6600, while for display connectivity we've got 1 x HDMI 2.1 and 3 x DisplayPort 1.4 connectors -- they're all capable of 4K 120Hz+ and 8K 60Hz displays and TVs.
Test System Specs
Latest upgrade:
Sabrent sent over their huge Rocket Q 8TB NVMe PCIe M.2 2280 SSD, which will be my new Games install SSD inside of my main test bed.
I've got a new upgrade inside of my GPU test bed before my change to a next-gen test bed, where I will be preparing for NVIDIA's next-gen Ampere graphics cards and AMD's next-gen RDNA 2 graphics cards.
Sabrent helped out with some new storage for my GPU test beds, sending over a slew of crazy-fast Rocket NVMe PCIe M.2 2280 SSDs. I've got this installed into my GPU test bed as the new Games Storage drive, since games are so damn big now. Thanks to Sabrent, I've got 2TB of super-fast M.2 PCIe 3.0 x4 SSD storage now.
Anthony's GPU Test System Specifications
I've recently upgraded my GPU test bed -- at least for now, until AMD's new Ryzen 9 5950X processor is unleashed then the final update for 2020 will happen and we'll be all good for RDNA 2 and future Ampere GPU releases. You can read my article here: TweakTown GPU Test Bed Upgrade for 2021, But Then Zen 3 Was Announced.
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3800X (buy from Amazon)
- Motherboard: ASUS ROG X570 Crosshair VIII HERO (buy from Amazon)
- Cooler: CoolerMaster MasterLiquid ML360R RGB (buy from Amazon)
- RAM: G.SKILL Trident Z NEO RGB 32GB (4x8GB) (F4-3600C18Q-32GTZN) (buy from Amazon)
- SSD: Sabrent 2TB Rocket NVMe PCIe 4.0 M.2 2280 (buy from Amazon)
- PSU: be quiet! Dark Power Pro 11 1200W (buy from Amazon)
- Case: InWin X-Frame 2.0
- OS: Microsoft Windows 10 Professional x64 (buy from Amazon)
Benchmarks - Synthetic
3DMark Fire Strike
3DMark has been a staple benchmark for years now, all the way back to when The Matrix was released and Futuremark had bullet time inspired benchmarks. 3DMark is the perfect tool to see if your system - most important, your CPU and GPU - is performing as it should. You can search results for your GPU, to see if it falls in line with other systems based on similar hardware.
3DMark TimeSpy
Heaven - 1080p
Heaven is an intensive GPU benchmark that really pushes your silicon to its limits. It's another favorite of ours as it has some great scaling for multi-GPU testing, and it's great for getting your GPU to 100% for power and noise testing.
Benchmarks - 1080p
Assassin's Creed: Valhalla is the latest game to be inserted into our benchmark suite, with Ubisoft Montreal using its AnvilNext engine to power the game. It scales really well across the cards, and has some surprising performance benefits with AMD's new Big Navi GPUs.
You can buy Assassins Creed: Valhalla at Amazon.
Middle-earth: Shadow of War is a sequel to the popular Shadow of Mordor, which was powered by the Lithtech engine. When cranked up to maximum detail, it will chew through your GPU and its VRAM like it's nothing.
You can buy Middle-earth: Shadow of War at Amazon.
Metro Exodus is one of the hardest tests that our graphics cards have to go through, with 4A Games' latest creation being one of the best looking games on the market. It is a serious test that pushes GPUs to their limits, and also features RTX technologies like DLSS.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider is one of the latest games to join our graphics card benchmark lineup, with the game built using the Foundation engine as a base, the same engine in Rise of the Tomb Raider. Eidos Montreal R&D department made lots of changes to the engine during the development of Shadow of the Tomb Raider to make it one of the best-looking games out right now.
1080p Benchmark Performance Thoughts
AMD aims its Radeon RX 6600 graphics card at 1080p and 1440p gamers, and the custom ASUS DUAL Radeon RX 6600 handles it with ease. You're going to enjoy everything on the market at 60FPS+ with graphical bells and whistles turned up, while esports games like Warzone Pacific, League of Legends, Rocket League, CS:GO, etc will crank along at 120FPS easily.
Benchmarks - 1440p
Assassin's Creed: Valhalla is the latest game to be inserted into our benchmark suite, with Ubisoft Montreal using its AnvilNext engine to power the game. It scales really well across the cards, and has some surprising performance benefits with AMD's new Big Navi GPUs.
You can buy Assassins Creed: Valhalla at Amazon.
Middle-earth: Shadow of War is a sequel to the popular Shadow of Mordor, which was powered by the Lithtech engine. When cranked up to maximum detail, it will chew through your GPU and its VRAM like it's nothing.
You can buy Middle-earth: Shadow of War at Amazon.
Metro Exodus is one of the hardest tests that our graphics cards have to go through, with 4A Games' latest creation being one of the best looking games on the market. It is a serious test that pushes GPUs to their limits, and also features RTX technologies like DLSS.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider is one of the latest games to join our graphics card benchmark lineup, with the game built using the Foundation engine as a base, the same engine in Rise of the Tomb Raider. Eidos Montreal R&D department made lots of changes to the engine during the development of Shadow of the Tomb Raider to make it one of the best-looking games out right now.
1440p Benchmark Performance Thoughts
I wouldn't recommend AMD's new Radeon RX 6600 XT for 1440p gaming, but if the game is right -- like for example, Assassin's Creed: Valhalla -- then you're pulling 60FPS average at 1440p. Not too damn bad at all, AMD. Next-gen console crushing performance, even at 1440p.
Benchmarks - 4K
Assassin's Creed: Valhalla is the latest game to be inserted into our benchmark suite, with Ubisoft Montreal using its AnvilNext engine to power the game. It scales really well across the cards, and has some surprising performance benefits with AMD's new Big Navi GPUs.
You can buy Assassins Creed: Valhalla at Amazon.
Middle-earth: Shadow of War is a sequel to the popular Shadow of Mordor, which was powered by the Lithtech engine. When cranked up to maximum detail, it will chew through your GPU and its VRAM like it's nothing.
You can buy Middle-earth: Shadow of War at Amazon.
Metro Exodus is one of the hardest tests that our graphics cards have to go through, with 4A Games' latest creation being one of the best looking games on the market. It is a serious test that pushes GPUs to their limits, and also features RTX technologies like DLSS.
Shadow of the Tomb Raider is one of the latest games to join our graphics card benchmark lineup, with the game built using the Foundation engine as a base, the same engine in Rise of the Tomb Raider. Eidos Montreal R&D department made lots of changes to the engine during the development of Shadow of the Tomb Raider to make it one of the best-looking games out right now.
4K Benchmark Performance Thoughts
I wouldn't be buying the Radeon RX 6600 for 4K gaming, but that doesn't mean it sucks at 4K gaming either.
Power Consumption & Temps
Under hours of benchmark, crypto mining, and gaming stress the Navi 31 XL GPU was sitting at a rather chilly 55C average, with the GPU hotspot temperature at around 65C on the ASUS DUAL Radeon RX 6600. The two fans on the card were only spinning at around 1500RPM, or 40%.
The entire card uses less than 100W under load, which is another great thing to see -- AMD is back with efficiency, providing last-gen flagship performance now, for under 100W. RDNA 2 FTW.
What's Hot, What's Not
What's Hot
- ASUS DUAL aesthetics: The ASUS DUAL Radeon RX 6600 is my favorite of the custom RX 6600 graphics cards so far, and it's not even a ROG product. The dual-fan cooler looks great, and the backplate doesn't look cheap either. Some great work by ASUS here.
- Fantastic thermal performance: The GPU runs chilly at just 55C under load.
- RDNA 2 scales so well, down into the RX 6600: AMD has solid footing on every level with the RDNA 2 architecture, from the lofty enthusiast flagship heights with the Radeon RX 6900 XT down to the new Radeon RX 6600. The RDNA 2 architecture shines and scales the entire way.
- 8GB GDDR6 memory: We could've had a lower-end card with 4GB or 6GB of GDDR6, but the larger 8GB of GDDR6 ensures that you can play new AAA games at 1080p with high-resolution textures. Alternatively, you could play older games with FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) enabled on Quality, and have 8GB of GDDR6 memory at the ready.
- Fantastic performance-per-watt: If you compare the marketing hype for the Vega GPU architecture now 5 years ago, the new RDNA 2 architecture is totally revolutionary compared to Vega. We have fantastic performance across the board against the Vega 64, with the new RX 6600 kicking some 1080p gaming ass.
- Single PCIe power connector: AMD has a 132W TBP on the Radeon RX 6600, with the custom ASUS DUAL Radeon RX 6600 requiring just a single 8-pin PCIe power connector
What's Not
- GPU availability: This isn't AMD's fault and nor is it the fault of ASUS, but man does the pricing situation suck right now... and that's nothing new for 2021.
Final Thoughts
The custom ASUS DUAL Radeon RX 6600 packs a mighty fine punch for 1080p and 1440p gamers, and even more so if any of the games you play have FSR (FidelityFX Super Resolution) support -- if you don't know what FSR is, it's AMD's equivalent of NVIDIA's DLSS technology.
There's 6GB of GDDR6 memory which is good for up to 1440p gaming and even 4K isn't as bad as you'd think on a card at this price, but I'm not recommending anyone buy any RX 6600 for 4K gaming. I'm digging the design of the ASUS DUAL Radeon RX 6600 over the SAPPHIRE PULSE Radeon RX 6600, and hell even over the XFX Radeon RX 6600 Speedster Slick 210.
Overall the design of the ASUS DUAL Radeon RX 6600 is rather impressive for its non-ROG aesthetics, but I still dig the top of the XFX RX 6600 Speedster Slick 210 the most of all of the custom Radeon RX 6600 graphics cards I've reviewed so far (ASUS, SAPPHIRE, and XFX).
As I've said in other reviews; it's just such a pity that we're living through the state of insane GPU prices. The Radeon RX 6600 shouldn't be priced where it is, making it nigh-impossible for me to even mention pricing in reviews lately. I'm not going to not review the card, but if you find the ASUS DUAL Radeon RX 6600 in your market and the price is right for YOU... then you have my seal of approval.
ASUS impresses with the mid-range RDNA 2-based DUAL Radeon RX 6600, and if you want to do some crypto mining on the side... might I say this card provides some fantastic hash power for price/performance balance. Nice work, ASUS.
Performance |
95% |
Quality |
95% |
Features |
100% |
Value |
N/A |
Overall |
97% |
The ASUS DUAL Radeon RX 6600 is a fantastic mid-range RDNA 2 graphics card, all in a tight package that cools the GPU down to a chilly 55C under load... oh, and it's whisper quiet.
What's in Anthony's PC?
- CPU: Intel Core i5-12600K
- MOTHERBOARD: GIGABYTE Z690 AERO-G
- RAM: Corsair 32GB DDR4-3200
- GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 24GB
- SSD: Sabrent 4TB Rocket 4 Plus
- OS: Windows 11 Pro
- CASE: Lian Li O11 Dynamic XL
- PSU: ASUS ROG Strix 850W
- KEYBOARD: Logitech G915 Wireless
- MOUSE: Logitech G502X Wireless
- MONITOR: LG C3 48-inch OLED TV 4K 120Hz
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