Radeon RX 6950 XT vs VII

Place in performance ranking	74	14
Place by popularity	not in top-100	not in top-100
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	66.06	22.76
Architecture	Vega (2017−2021)	Navi / RDNA2 (2020−2022)
GPU code name	Vega 20	Navi
Market segment	Desktop	Desktop
Release date	7 February 2019 (5 years ago)	10 May 2022 (2 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	$699	$1,099
Current price	$160 (0.2x MSRP)	$961 (0.9x MSRP)

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

Radeon VII has 190% 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	3840	5120
Core clock speed	1400 MHz	1925 MHz
Boost clock speed	1750 MHz	2324 MHz
Number of transistors	13,230 million	26,800 million
Manufacturing process technology	7 nm	7 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	295 Watt	335 Watt
Texture fill rate	420.0	743.7

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 3.0 x16	PCIe 4.0 x16
Length	305 mm	267 mm
Width	2-slot	3-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	HBM2	GDDR6
Maximum RAM amount	16 GB	16 GB
Memory bus width	4096 Bit	256 Bit
Memory clock speed	1000 MHz	18000 MHz
Memory bandwidth	1024 GB/s	576.0 GB/s
Shared memory	no data	-

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, 3x DisplayPort	1x HDMI 2.1, 2x DisplayPort 1.4a
HDMI	+	+

API compatibility

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

DirectX	12 (12_1)	12 Ultimate (12_2)
Shader Model	6.4	6.5
OpenGL	4.6	4.6
OpenCL	2.0	2.1
Vulkan	1.2.131	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.

Radeon VII 43.22

RX 6950 XT 73.28
+69.6%

RX 6950 XT outperforms VII by 70% based on our aggregate 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%

Radeon VII 16690

RX 6950 XT 28299
+69.6%

RX 6950 XT outperforms VII by 70% in Passmark.

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%

Radeon VII 37881

RX 6950 XT 72228
+90.7%

RX 6950 XT outperforms VII by 91% in 3DMark 11 Performance GPU.

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%

Radeon VII 62128

RX 6950 XT 119918
+93%

RX 6950 XT outperforms VII by 93% in 3DMark Vantage Performance.

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%

Radeon VII 27449

RX 6950 XT 59882
+118%

RX 6950 XT outperforms VII by 118% 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%

Radeon VII 146094

RX 6950 XT 229172
+56.9%

RX 6950 XT outperforms VII by 57% 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%

Radeon VII 430170

RX 6950 XT 497297
+15.6%

RX 6950 XT outperforms VII by 16% in 3DMark Ice Storm GPU.

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 maya-04

Benchmark coverage: 3%

Radeon VII 110

RX 6950 XT 143
+29.8%

RX 6950 XT outperforms VII by 30% in SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 maya-04.

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 sw-03

Benchmark coverage: 3%

Radeon VII 87

RX 6950 XT 188
+115%

RX 6950 XT outperforms VII by 115% in SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 sw-03.

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 snx-02

Benchmark coverage: 3%

Radeon VII 19

RX 6950 XT 53
+181%

RX 6950 XT outperforms VII by 181% in SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 snx-02.

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 catia-04

Benchmark coverage: 3%

Radeon VII 170

RX 6950 XT 284
+66.7%

RX 6950 XT outperforms VII by 67% in SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 catia-04.

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 creo-01

Benchmark coverage: 3%

Radeon VII 62

RX 6950 XT 139
+125%

RX 6950 XT outperforms VII by 125% in SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 creo-01.

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 mediacal-01

Benchmark coverage: 3%

Radeon VII 52

RX 6950 XT 77
+49.1%

RX 6950 XT outperforms VII by 49% in SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 mediacal-01.

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 energy-01

Benchmark coverage: 3%

Radeon VII 17

RX 6950 XT 29
+69.8%

RX 6950 XT outperforms VII by 70% in SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 energy-01.

SPECviewperf 12 - specvp12 3dsmax-05

Benchmark coverage: 2%

Radeon VII 175

RX 6950 XT 451
+158%

RX 6950 XT outperforms VII by 158% 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	123 −74%	214 +74%
1440p	76 −77.6%	135 +77.6%
4K	58 −48.3%	86 +48.3%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Cyberpunk 2077

75−80

no data

Full HD
Medium Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	76	no data
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	99	no data
Battlefield 5	160	no data
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	85−90	no data
Cyberpunk 2077	75−80	no data
Far Cry 5	116	no data
Far Cry New Dawn	113	no data
Forza Horizon 4	163	no data
Hitman 3	81	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	155	no data
Metro Exodus	110−120	no data
Red Dead Redemption 2	126	no data
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	118	no data
Watch Dogs: Legion	113	no data

Full HD
High Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	70	no data
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	82	no data
Battlefield 5	150	no data
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	85−90	no data
Cyberpunk 2077	75−80	no data
Far Cry 5	90	no data
Far Cry New Dawn	102	no data
Forza Horizon 4	227	no data
Hitman 3	79	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	170−180	no data
Metro Exodus	46	no data
Red Dead Redemption 2	121	no data
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	97	no data
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	139	no data
Watch Dogs: Legion	211	no data

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	63	no data
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	72	no data
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	85−90	no data
Cyberpunk 2077	75−80	no data
Far Cry 5	71	no data
Forza Horizon 4	130	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	95	no data
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	84	no data
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	75	no data
Watch Dogs: Legion	63	no data

Full HD
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

119

no data

1440p
High Preset

Battlefield 5	80−85	no data
Far Cry New Dawn	100−110	no data

1440p
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	45−50	no data
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	57	no data
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	89	no data
Cyberpunk 2077	35−40	no data
Far Cry 5	80−85	no data
Forza Horizon 4	90−95	no data
Hitman 3	66	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	80	no data
Metro Exodus	83	no data
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	61	no data
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	65−70	no data
Watch Dogs: Legion	48	no data

1440p
Epic Preset

Red Dead Redemption 2

no data

4K
High Preset

Battlefield 5	58	no data
Far Cry New Dawn	46	no data
Hitman 3	46	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	55−60	no data
Shadow of the Tomb Raider	44	no data
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	54	no data

4K
Ultra Preset

Assassin's Creed Odyssey	44	no data
Assassin's Creed Valhalla	35	no data
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare	27−30	no data
Cyberpunk 2077	16−18	no data
Far Cry 5	31	no data
Forza Horizon 4	77	no data
Horizon Zero Dawn	57	no data
Metro Exodus	61	no data
Watch Dogs: Legion	29	no data