I'm upgrading my dad's GTX 1060 6GB to support a new Meta Quest 3 headset. I'm deciding between an RX 6700 XT and an RX 7600 XT. The 7600 XT has 16GB of VRAM, but its GPU performance is closer to or below the RTX 3070, while the 6700 XT has 12GB and is generally the faster card. For VR gaming and regular 1080p or 1440p gaming, would the extra 4GB on the RX 7600 XT make a meaningful difference, or is the RX 6700 XT the better choice?
4 Answers
Extra VRAM is useful when a game actually needs it for textures, but having more capacity doesn’t make the card render faster. At 1080p, 12GB is enough for nearly everything, and even at 1440p it covers the vast majority of games. I’d prioritize the RX 6700 XT’s stronger GPU over the 7600 XT’s additional memory.
VR can use more VRAM because the game has to render separate images for both eyes, but that doesn’t automatically make 16GB necessary. In demanding VR titles, the GPU’s rendering performance matters just as much. The 6700 XT should generally deliver better performance than the 7600 XT, while still having enough VRAM for current games.
The 16GB can help with very high-resolution textures and some newer games, but VRAM capacity is only part of the equation. The RX 7600 XT’s weaker GPU and narrower memory bus can become the limiting factors before 16GB is fully useful. For this upgrade, the RX 6700 XT is a solid choice and its 12GB should be enough for almost all 1080p and most 1440p gaming.
The 7600 XT’s 16GB isn’t pointless, but it’s more of a safety margin than a major advantage for this use case. You can often raise texture settings without much performance loss when a card has more VRAM, but the 7600 XT may still struggle with demanding settings because of its compute performance. The 6700 XT is the better overall pick if the prices are similar.
In one test with an older HTC Vive and a GTX Titan X Pascal, Arizona Sunshine 2 used about 9.2GB with high settings. That suggests 12GB is still workable, although demanding future games could eventually benefit from more.