Radeon RX 7900 XTX vs RX 6950 XT

Place in performance ranking	14	7
Place by popularity	not in top-100	54
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	22.37	27.68
Architecture	Navi / RDNA2 (2020−2022)	RDNA 3
GPU code name	Navi	Navi 31 XTX
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Release date	10 May 2022 (2 years ago)	3 November 2022 (1 year ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$1,099	$999
Current price	$961 (0.9x MSRP)	$859 (0.9x MSRP)

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

RX 7900 XTX has 24% better value for money than RX 6950 XT.

Detailed specifications

General performance parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. These parameters indirectly speak of performance, but for precise assessment you have to consider their benchmark and gaming test results. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores	5120	6144
Core clock speed	1925 MHz	no data
Boost clock speed	2324 MHz	2270 MHz
Number of transistors	26,800 million	57,700 million
Manufacturing process technology	7 nm	5 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	335 Watt	355 Watt
Texture fill rate	743.7	959.6

Form factor & compatibility

Information on compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop graphics cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility).

Interface	PCIe 4.0 x16	PCIe 4.0 x16
Length	267 mm	287 mm
Width	3-slot	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	2x 8-pin	2x 8-pin

VRAM capacity and type

Parameters of VRAM installed: its type, size, bus, clock and resulting bandwidth. Integrated GPUs have no dedicated video RAM and use a shared part of system RAM.

Memory type	GDDR6	GDDR6
Maximum RAM amount	16 GB	24 GB
Memory bus width	256 Bit	384 Bit
Memory clock speed	18000 MHz	20000 MHz
Memory bandwidth	576.0 GB/s	960.0 GB/s
Shared memory	-	-

Connectivity and outputs

Types and number of video connectors present on the reviewed GPUs. As a rule, data in this section is precise only for desktop reference ones (so-called Founders Edition for NVIDIA chips). OEM manufacturers may change the number and type of output ports, while for notebook cards availability of certain video outputs ports depends on the laptop model rather than on the card itself.

Display Connectors	1x HDMI 2.1, 2x DisplayPort 1.4a	1x HDMI 2.1a, 2x DisplayPort 2.1, 1x USB Type-C
HDMI	+	+

API compatibility

List of supported graphics and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectX	12 Ultimate (12_2)	12 Ultimate (12_2)
Shader Model	6.5	6.7
OpenGL	4.6	4.6
OpenCL	2.1	2.1
Vulkan	1.3	1.3

Synthetic benchmark performance

Non-gaming benchmark performance comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.

Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark performance score. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

RX 6950 XT 73.24

RX 7900 XTX 80.02
+9.3%

RX 7900 XTX outperforms RX 6950 XT by 9% based on our aggregated benchmark results.

Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark, part of Passmark PerformanceTest suite. It gives the graphics card a thorough evaluation under various types of load, providing four separate benchmarks for Direct3D versions 9, 10, 11 and 12 (the last being done in 4K resolution if possible), and few more tests engaging DirectCompute capabilities.

Benchmark coverage: 25%

RX 6950 XT 28342

RX 7900 XTX 30966
+9.3%

RX 7900 XTX outperforms RX 6950 XT by 9% in Passmark.

3DMark Vantage Performance

3DMark Vantage is an outdated DirectX 10 benchmark using 1280x1024 screen resolution. It taxes the graphics card with two scenes, one depicting a girl escaping some militarized base located within a sea cave, the other displaying a space fleet attack on a defenseless planet. It was discontinued in April 2017, and Time Spy benchmark is now recommended to be used instead.

Benchmark coverage: 17%

RX 6950 XT 119918

RX 7900 XTX 148746
+24%

RX 7900 XTX outperforms RX 6950 XT by 24% in 3DMark Vantage Performance.

3DMark 11 Performance GPU

3DMark 11 is an obsolete DirectX 11 benchmark by Futuremark. It used four tests based on two scenes, one being few submarines exploring the submerged wreck of a sunken ship, the other is an abandoned temple deep in the jungle. All the tests are heavy with volumetric lighting and tessellation, and despite being done in 1280x720 resolution, are relatively taxing. Discontinued in January 2020, 3DMark 11 is now superseded by Time Spy.

Benchmark coverage: 17%

RX 6950 XT 72228

RX 7900 XTX 83322
+15.4%

RX 7900 XTX outperforms RX 6950 XT by 15% in 3DMark 11 Performance GPU.

3DMark Fire Strike Graphics

Fire Strike is a DirectX 11 benchmark for gaming PCs. It features two separate tests displaying a fight between a humanoid and a fiery creature made of lava. Using 1920x1080 resolution, Fire Strike shows off some realistic graphics and is quite taxing on hardware.

Benchmark coverage: 14%

RX 6950 XT 59882

RX 7900 XTX 64680
+8%

RX 7900 XTX outperforms RX 6950 XT by 8% in 3DMark Fire Strike Graphics.

3DMark Cloud Gate GPU

Cloud Gate is an outdated DirectX 11 feature level 10 benchmark that was used for home PCs and basic notebooks. It displays a few scenes of some weird space teleportation device launching spaceships into unknown, using fixed resolution of 1280x720. Just like Ice Storm benchmark, it has been discontinued in January 2020 and replaced by 3DMark Night Raid.

Benchmark coverage: 14%

RX 6950 XT 229172
+8.4%

RX 7900 XTX 211480

RX 6950 XT outperforms RX 7900 XTX by 8% in 3DMark Cloud Gate GPU.

3DMark Ice Storm GPU

Ice Storm Graphics is an obsolete benchmark, part of 3DMark suite. Ice Storm was used to measure entry level laptops and Windows-based tablets performance. It utilizes DirectX 11 feature level 9 to display a battle between two space fleets near a frozen planet in 1280x720 resolution. Discontinued in January 2020, it is now superseded by 3DMark Night Raid.

Benchmark coverage: 8%

RX 6950 XT 497297

RX 7900 XTX 758139
+52.5%

RX 7900 XTX outperforms RX 6950 XT by 52% in 3DMark Ice Storm GPU.

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 maya-04

Benchmark coverage: 3%

RX 6950 XT 143

RX 7900 XTX 367
+157%

RX 7900 XTX outperforms RX 6950 XT by 157% in SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 maya-04.

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 sw-03

Benchmark coverage: 3%

RX 6950 XT 188

RX 7900 XTX 360
+92%

RX 7900 XTX outperforms RX 6950 XT by 92% in SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 sw-03.

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 snx-02

Benchmark coverage: 3%

RX 6950 XT 53

RX 7900 XTX 400
+656%

RX 7900 XTX outperforms RX 6950 XT by 656% in SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 snx-02.

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 catia-04

Benchmark coverage: 3%

RX 6950 XT 284

RX 7900 XTX 536
+89.1%

RX 7900 XTX outperforms RX 6950 XT by 89% in SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 catia-04.

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 creo-01

Benchmark coverage: 3%

RX 6950 XT 139

RX 7900 XTX 187
+34.5%

RX 7900 XTX outperforms RX 6950 XT by 35% in SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 creo-01.

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 mediacal-01

Benchmark coverage: 3%

RX 6950 XT 77

RX 7900 XTX 347
+352%

RX 7900 XTX outperforms RX 6950 XT by 352% in SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 mediacal-01.

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 showcase-01

Benchmark coverage: 3%

RX 6950 XT 286

RX 7900 XTX 322
+12.6%

RX 7900 XTX outperforms RX 6950 XT by 13% in SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 showcase-01.

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 3dsmax-05

Benchmark coverage: 2%

RX 6950 XT 451

RX 7900 XTX 553
+22.6%

RX 7900 XTX outperforms RX 6950 XT by 23% in SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 3dsmax-05.

Gaming performance

Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.

Average FPS across all PC games

Here are the average frames per second in a large set of popular games across different resolutions:

Full HD	220 −14.5%	252 +14.5%
1440p	139 −27.3%	177 +27.3%
4K	88 −30.7%	115 +30.7%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

161

−50.3%

242
+50.3%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	110−120 −49.5%	166 +49.5%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	120−130 −119%	283 +119%
Battlefield 5	160−170 −4.9%	170−180 +4.9%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	170−180 −1.1%	170−180 +1.1%
Cyberpunk 2077	143 −61.5%	231 +61.5%
Far Cry 5	181 −17.1%	212 +17.1%
Far Cry New Dawn	152 −11.2%	169 +11.2%
Forza Horizon 4	200−210 −64.1%	338 +64.1%
Hitman 3	210−220 −2.8%	210−220 +2.8%
Horizon Zero Dawn	160−170 −41.6%	228 +41.6%
Red Dead Redemption 2	120−130 −11.4%	130−140 +11.4%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	276 −16.7%	322 +16.7%
Watch Dogs: Legion	130 +0%	130−140 +0%

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	110−120 −36%	151 +36%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	120−130 −86.8%	241 +86.8%
Battlefield 5	160−170 −4.9%	170−180 +4.9%
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	170−180 −1.1%	170−180 +1.1%
Cyberpunk 2077	128 −62.5%	208 +62.5%
Far Cry 5	173 −18.5%	205 +18.5%
Far Cry New Dawn	147 −10.2%	162 +10.2%
Forza Horizon 4	200−210 −60.2%	330 +60.2%
Hitman 3	210−220 −2.8%	210−220 +2.8%
Horizon Zero Dawn	160−170 −31.1%	211 +31.1%
Metro Exodus	189 −26.5%	239 +26.5%
Red Dead Redemption 2	120−130 −11.4%	130−140 +11.4%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	257 −19.1%	306 +19.1%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	376 −44.9%	545 +44.9%
Watch Dogs: Legion	115 −13%	130−140 +13%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	110−120 −20.7%	134 +20.7%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	120−130 −62.8%	210 +62.8%
Battlefield 5	160−170 −4.9%	170−180 +4.9%
Cyberpunk 2077	122 −63.1%	199 +63.1%
Far Cry 5	164 −15.2%	189 +15.2%
Far Cry New Dawn	132 −10.6%	146 +10.6%
Forza Horizon 4	200−210 −43.2%	295 +43.2%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	216 −38%	298 +38%
Watch Dogs: Legion	107 −21.5%	130−140 +21.5%

1440p
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	130−140 −9.7%	140−150 +9.7%
Hitman 3	160−170 −12.1%	180−190 +12.1%
Horizon Zero Dawn	120−130 −60.8%	201 +60.8%
Metro Exodus	120 −34.2%	161 +34.2%
Red Dead Redemption 2	70−75 −15.3%	80−85 +15.3%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	187 −27.8%	239 +27.8%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	80−85 −61%	132 +61%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	90−95 −83.9%	171 +83.9%
Battlefield 5	130−140 −10.9%	150−160 +10.9%
Cyberpunk 2077	93 −51.6%	141 +51.6%
Far Cry 5	163 −14.7%	187 +14.7%
Far Cry New Dawn	132 −10.6%	146 +10.6%
Forza Horizon 4	170−180 −65.7%	290 +65.7%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	130−140 −72.5%	238 +72.5%
Watch Dogs: Legion	103 +14.4%	90−95 −14.4%

4K
High Preset

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	80−85 −12%	90−95 +12%
Hitman 3	95−100 −16.7%	110−120 +16.7%
Horizon Zero Dawn	80−85 +29.2%	65 −29.2%
Metro Exodus	77 −40.3%	108 +40.3%
Red Dead Redemption 2	45−50 −16.7%	55−60 +16.7%
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	99 −35.4%	134 +35.4%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	144 −26.4%	182 +26.4%

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	55−60 −86.4%	110 +86.4%
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	55−60 −81.4%	107 +81.4%
Battlefield 5	95−100 −14.4%	110−120 +14.4%
Cyberpunk 2077	46 −54.3%	71 +54.3%
Far Cry 5	124 −28.2%	159 +28.2%
Far Cry New Dawn	118 −18.6%	140 +18.6%
Forza Horizon 4	120−130 −76%	227 +76%
Watch Dogs: Legion	65 +20.4%	50−55 −20.4%

This is how RX 6950 XT and RX 7900 XTX compete in popular games:

RX 7900 XTX is 15% faster in 1080p
RX 7900 XTX is 27% faster in 1440p
RX 7900 XTX is 31% faster in 4K

Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:

in Horizon Zero Dawn, with 4K resolution and the High Preset, the RX 6950 XT is 29% faster than the RX 7900 XTX.
in Assassin's Creed Valhalla, with 1080p resolution and the Medium Preset, the RX 7900 XTX is 119% faster than the RX 6950 XT.

All in all, in popular games:

RX 6950 XT is ahead in 3 tests (4%)
RX 7900 XTX is ahead in 64 tests (94%)
there's a draw in 1 test (1%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	73.24	80.02
Recency	10 May 2022	3 November 2022
Cost	$1099	$999
Maximum RAM amount	16 GB	24 GB
Chip lithography	7 nm	5 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	335 Watt	355 Watt