Gameplay Performance
Since the performance range of the Radeon RX 6700 XT is targeted at 1440p this is the resolution we will focus on. We will include Ray Tracing in each game that supports it, along with DLSS on NVIDIA GPUs as supported.
Metro Exodus Enhanced
In Metro Exodus Enhanced you will always get Ray Tracing, you cannot turn it off, it is part of the game. We are running this game at 1440p with the Shading Quality on “Extreme” and Ray Tracing on “Ultra.” These are the highest quality settings. In addition, we include DLSS results on the “Quality” mode below.
The SAPPHIRE NITRO+ Radeon RX 6700 XT OC performs just shy of 30FPS at the highest settings in this game at 1440p. Remember, Ray Tracing is running at “Ultra” mode. Overclocking the video card doesn’t provide much of a boost. In both scenarios, the game isn’t playable at 1440p. In order to make it playable, you will have to lower the graphics setting itself down to “High.” This is also true on the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, it’s only about 13% faster than the Overclocked SAPPHIRE RX 6700 XT OC video card. The GeForce RTX 3070 might get away with “Ultra” settings, but even it will need to be lowered from the highest settings to be playable.
When we turn on Quality DLSS performance for the GeForce RTX video cards goes way up. However, the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti still needs to lower the graphics setting to “Ultra” to be playable. The GeForce RTX 3070 on the other hand, is playable at the highest settings with Quality DLSS.
Cyberpunk 2077
In Cyberpunk 2077 at 1440p, we are running the game at “Ultra” settings. Ray Tracing and DLSS are not running. We see the SAPPHIRE NITRO+ Radeon RX 6700 XT GAMING OC provides 6% more performance than the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti FE. At 54FPS average the SAPPHIRE NITRO+ Radeon RX 6700 XT OC is playable, though it isn’t the best it can be until we overclock it. Overclocking improves performance by 8%. This puts it directly equal to GeForce RTX 3070 FE performance at 1440p.
In the above graph we have “Medium” Ray Tracing enabled, and DLSS is not enabled. The SAPPHIRE NITRO+ Radeon RX 6700 XT OC suffers at Ray Tracing in this game at 1440p and the game is not playable at 24FPS. Overclocking improves performance by 8% but that only means a 2FPS average at these low framerates, and the game is still not playable. The same is also true for the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti and GeForce RTX 3070, the game isn’t playable, but performance for the RTX 3060 Ti is 40% higher than the SAPPHIRE NITRO+ RX 6700 XT OC. The RTX 3070 FE is 62% faster.
To make the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti and GeForce RTX 3070 playable with “Medium” Ray Tracing at 144op we have to enable Quality DLSS.
Dirt 5
In Dirt 5 at 1440p with the highest settings (sans Ray Tracing) all the video cards perform very well, and all are playable. The SAPPHIRE NITRO+ Radeon RX 6700 XT GAMING OC video card is equal to GeForce RTX 3060 Ti performance until we overclock it. Overclocking the video card improves performance by 5% and it overtakes the RTX 3060 Ti. The GeForce RTX 3070 FE is ultimately faster, by 10% compared to the overclocked SAPPHIRE NITRO+ RX 6700 XT.
This game supports Ray Traced car shadows, turning it on doesn’t cause a huge performance drop. All the video cards are playable with it enabled. The SAPPHIRE NITRO+ Radeon RX 6700 XT GAMING OC video card is slightly faster than the RTX 3060 Ti. When we overclock it performance improves 7% and comes closer to the RTX 3070 FE. Ultimately, the RTX 3070 FE is still the fastest video card with Ray Tracing enabled.