AMD Radeon RX 7600 review: Perfect for 1080p gaming?

The AMD Radeon RX 7600 has been launched as Team Red's affordable 1080p gaming option for this generation. The graphics card competes directly against the RTX 4060 and replaces the older Radeon RX 6600. With a competitive price of $269, it is one of the most affordable current-generation gaming GPUs you can buy today.

The graphics card is bundled with the latest graphics technology improvements, making it a sought-after option among gamers. In this review, we will put the GPU through its paces and compare it with other competitors in the market to answer whether its worth the price tag.

The AMD Radeon RX 7600 is affordable gaming performance at its best

Pre-delivery

The AMD Radeon RX 7600 is designed for budget 1080p gaming performance (Image via AMD)

The AMD Radeon RX 7600 is based on the cut-down Navi 33 graphics processor. The graphics card doesn’t fully utilize the GPU either, given it is a lower-end version of the RX 7600 XT. You get 2,048 shading units, 128 Texture Mapping Units (TMUs), 64 Render Output Units (ROPs), and 32 second-generation Ray Tracing (RT) cores with it.

The GPU ships with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, similar to the last-gen RX 6600. The memory is based on a 128-bit memory bus and is capable of a total bandwidth of 288 GB/s.

The 7600 is a power-efficient card. It is limited to a TDP of 165W. Here is a detailed look at the specs of the graphics card:

	AMD Radeon RX 7600
Graphics processors	Navi 33
Shading units	2048
Texture Mapping Units	128
Compute units	32
RT cores	32
Base clock	1720 MHz
Game clock	2250 MHz
Boost clock	2655 MHz
VRAM	8 GB
Memory type	18 Gbps 128-bit GDDR6
TDP	165W
Suggested PSU	400W
Power connectors	1x 8-pin

Also check out our Radeon RX 7900 XTX review.

Unboxing experience

The Radeon RX 7600 continues AMD’s signature unboxing style. It comes in an all-black box that opens up to reveal the graphics card inside. Inside the package, you also get “Welcome to Team Red” typed out.

Besides the card, you get some paperwork, and that’s it. AMD hasn’t reinvented the wheel in terms of the packaging, and that works perfectly, given the card is a budget offering. The unboxing experience is simple and yet rewarding. I liked it.

A closer look at the Radeon RX 7600

Design

The Radeon RX 7600 is quite similar to other 7000 series graphics cards in terms of its design language. They follow the iconic all-black open-air design like other cards we have reviewed before.

You don’t get any RGB lights with the GPU, which is fine, given the price of the card. Overall, the card looks sharp and isn’t an attention grabber.

However, on fine inspection, you’ll find intricate design cues that make the card look superb. The design is minimalist, and I like it.

Heatsink and fan placement

The heatsink and fan placement of the RX 7600 are similar to other 7000 series cards. The graphics card is an open-air design with two fans. The card also packs a stylish backplate.

The reference edition GPU weighs g. Moreover, you get a rear I/O with one HDMI 2.1 and two DisplayPort 1.4a ports. The I/O cover, however, is fully covered up. The card also doesn’t have any air vents on this cover or the front, which looks like a potential airflow issue.

However, the Navi 33 powering the 7600 isn’t a demanding chip, and given the weight of the card, it should be able to handle it without major issues.

Test bench

The Radeon RX 7600 was tested in an all-AMD system with the Ryzen 7 7700. We paired it with Kingston Fury Beast DDR5-6000 memory and a 550W DeepCool PK550D power supply. We used the ASRock A620M Pro RS motherboard, which is a high-end offering designed on the budget A620 chipset.

Cooling for the processor was handled by the Wraith Prism cooler. Storage was handled by a 1 TB Gigabyte Gen 4 drive.

Productivity performance

The Radeon RX 7600 isn't meant to be used in workstations, but it packs enough rendering prowess to handle some basic workloads. We tested the card in gaming-focused and productivity benchmarks to get an idea of where it stands in comparison to other GPUs in the market.

In the 3DMark Fire Strike benchmark, the RX 7600 scored fewer points than the last-gen RX 6600, which is quite surprising, given the gen-on-gen gains we saw on other Radeon 7000 cards. Its worth noting this benchmark is a test of DirectX 11 gaming performance.

Time Spy benchmark results set the 7600 ahead of the last-gen alternative. This is a test of DirectX 12 gaming performance, which is used by all modern titles. However, the difference between the two GPUs isn't large enough to create a massive difference.

Ray tracing hasn't been AMD's strong suit. The RX 7600 came off as the second-slowest card in our current database, behind the RX 7700 XT that we reviewed a while back and slightly ahead of the 2060.

Port Royal is another test of ray tracing performance --- one that we have a large database for.

The RX 7600 scored fewer points than the RTX 3060 Ti and the RTX 3060 Ti, which again hints at why this GPU should be avoided if you are looking to turn the setting on.

Speed Way is a test of DirectX 12 Ultimate performance. The card's score is in line with other benchmark results we have derived so far.

Unigine Superposition tests the gaming performance of GPUs. The results in this test are quite similar to those obtained in 3DMark tests.

The RX 7600 scored fewer points than the RTX 3060 Ti, which shows that it isn't a massive upgrade from the last generation.

Gaming benchmarks

The Radeon RX 7600 is designed for 1080p gaming. However, it is also quite powerful at 1440p. We tested the card extensively at both resolutions to get a clear idea of what to expect in the latest and some older titles.

At 1080p, the card is quite capable in any title you throw at it. We tested the GPU at the highest settings without ray tracing and any kind of upscaling.

Despite this, it maintained playable framerates with zero hiccups in all the games listed above. If you are building a 1080p system, the 7600 will be perfect.

1440p performance of the RX 7600 amazed me. I wasn't expecting the GPU to pull off playable framerates in most titles without performance issues. These results are obtained without relying on any upscaling and you can squeeze out some more frames if you are willing to sacrifice the visual quality.

The RX 7600 doesn't particularly shine in ray tracing workloads. The card struggled in most games with the setting turned on, particularly more in titles with demanding implementation of the tech like Jedi Survivor and Cyberpunk 2077.

Path tracing in Cyberpunk 2077 still exists as a proof of concept, and no graphics card other than the flagship RTX 4090 and RX 7900 XTX can hit a playable framerate in this mode.

Without any form of uspcaling, the 7600 barely manages 5 FPS in the title. However, FSR takes that number to 20.

Most games still support FSR 2. We tested the tech in some of the latest titles, and the results are a mixed bag. Some games boast massive performance gains, while others report a more modest increase in framerates.

The output image quality takes a significant hit while setting FSR to the Performance preset as well, especially in some games like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. AMD's upscaling tech still has miles to go before catching up with Nvidia DLSS in terms of both image quality and performance gains.

Power consumption and thermals

Ambient temperature for all thermal tests: 32°C.

The Radeon RX 7600 reference card bundles a superb thermal design. We didn't note the card going past 70°C even under the Furmark benchmark, which is quite impressive. The graphics card maintained a temperature of 67-68°C, which beats expectations when it comes to gaming GPUs.

The RX 7600 is a 165W graphics card. When stressed with the Furmark benchmark, the graphics card steadily maintained a power draw of 163W, which is just under the set maximum power draw limit. The obtained characteristics is in the following graph.

While gaming, the GPU maintained better temperatures. The highest we recorded while playing Cyberpunk 2077 at the highest settings (1440p) was 46.5°C, which is pretty respectable given the load.

Power draw while gaming peaked at the same 163W as we noted in the Furmark 2 benchmark. The characteristic isn't as smooth, given games exert varying system loads depending on the scene.

Overall, the power draw and the temperatures of the card are under control and can make for a budget system that doesn't require high-end cases with good airflow or high-end power supplies.

Is the AMD Radeon RX 7600 worth buying?

The AMD Radeon RX 7600 isn't the perfect graphics card out there. However, it has one strong thing going for it: the pricing. There's no current gen offering for less than $300. Hence, this card instantly becomes a favorite among gamers looking for superb performance for cheap.

The GPU does miss out on some key points like ray tracing performance and upscaled image output quality. For some gamers, it might make more sense to spend a premium on an Nvidia GPU. However, if you are budget-strained, the AMD card is a competitive offering to go for.