AMD’s last-gen RX 6950 XT is the fastest graphic card available from the brand right now but it’s not the only high-end GPU vying for your attention. AMD’s Radeon RX 7900 XTX is building momentous expectations upon its reveal, making the bout with the RX 7900 XTX vs the RX 6950 XT quite interesting in the lead-up to RDNA 3.
If you’ve been feeling your computer lacks power and have been searching for an AMD GPU, we’ve put together a side-by-side comparison of the RX 7900 XTX vs RX 6950 XT to help you make a decision that fits your needs. The best of the last gen vs the best of the cutting-edge technology from Team Red should bring about more than enough information for readers to discern which card fits well into their needs.
We expect a lot of improvements on the GPU – but how much? and is it worth upgrading? We’ll solve those questions in this comparison piece below.
RX 7900 XTX vs RX 6950 XT specs comparison
The Radeon RX 7900 XTX is the cornerstone of AMD’s latest Navi 3-based RX 7000 series. This new graphics card replaces the industry-leading Radeon RX 6950 XT, which is still a skillful design.
According to the specs AMD has released so far, we see a 7900 XTX buffed up and ready for combat. It’s a strong GPU with overclocking and high-end 4K capabilities in mind. This is especially noted in the boost in transistor counts: the RX 6950 XT had a total of 26.8 billion while the newest 7900 XTX boosts that up to 58 billion, which is twice the number of transistors. This is why we should be able to see strong performances from this GPU, as the unit’s architecture will allow it to make many more ALUs than the previous iteration.
| RX 7900 XTX | RX 6950 XT | RX 7900 XT | |
| Architecture | RDNA 3 | RDNA 2 | RDNA 3 |
| Stream Processors | 6144 | 5120 | 5376 |
| Number of transistors | 58 Billion | 26.8 Billion | 58 B |
| VRAM | 24GB GDDR6X | 16GB GDDR6X | 20GB GDDR6X |
| Infinity Cache | 96 MB | 128 MB | 80 MB |
| Compute Units | 96 | 80 | 84 |
| Base clock speed | 1900 MHz | 1890 MHz | 1500 MHz |
| Boost Clock speed | 2500 MHz | 2310 MHz | 2400 MHz |
| Graphics Card Power (TDP) | 355 W | 335 W | 300 W |
| Memory bandwidth | 960 GB/s | 576 GB/s | 800 GB/s |
We keep seeing AMD make an effort to maintain a balanced performance-per-watt progression. While the 6950 XT draws 335W, the 7900 XTX only bumps that by 20 extra watts, a minimum amount if we consider how much stronger the performance of this card is.
Even though the new RDNA 3 architecture will make a lot of improvements in GPU power, we still consider the RX 6950 XT a strong competitor. In fact, we’ve shown the specs of the second RDNA 3 flagship GPU, the 7900 XT, and they are pretty close. Besides the difference in transistors, both cards show similar characteristics. This speaks greatly about the 6950, highlighting how a well-put GPU is able to keep on competing with even newer technologies.
Spec-wise, we consider the RDNA 3 flagship 7900 XTX to be a stronger adversary, and any other unit will hardly be able to match the performance and capacity of this GPU. If you’re planning to future-proof your PC as much as possible, this is the safes option. This raises the question, though, how much pricier will it be? We’ll talk next about the price difference to see if it is worth the effort.
RX 7900 XTX vs RX 6950 XT price
At the moment you can find the RX 6950 XT in a range of $900 to $1,100, the most common price being $950. Which, when compared to Nvidia’s GPU prices, seems fair. However, when we compare it with the successor, the 7900 XTX, the price starts to look bad. The new RDNA 3 flagship GPU is set to have a starting MSRP of $999, only $50 more than the average price of its predecessor.
If we take this comparison even further, we can see that the extra 150%-170% performance increase this GPU is expected to deliver (according to AMD’s words) will cost only $50 more. We’ve made a comparison between AMD’s and Nvidia’s top-tier units, and we can fairly affirm that AMD still has and will continue to have the most conscious prices on the market.
RX 7900 XTX vs RX 6950 XT performance
The new RDNA 3 architecture allows the GPUs to decode a lot more information rapidly. The bump in the transistors count is an incredible enhancement, so we should not be surprised to see amazing performance boosts. Nonetheless, we can’t diminish the RX 6950 XT. This is a GPU made for high frame rate 4K gaming and has shown incredible results so far.
AMD revealed a direct comparison between its GPUs to show the world how performance will improve with the application of its RDNA 3 technology. Now, we must assume this comparison was made in a fair environment, and, until we have the RX 7900 XTX in our hands, we won’t be able to say for sure.
| 4K highest settings | RX 6950 XT | RX 7900 XTX |
| Watch Dogs: Legion (FPS) | 68 | 100 |
| Cyberpunk 2077 (FPS) | 43 | 72 |
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (FPS) | 92 | 139 |
| Resident Evil Village | 124 | 190 |
AMD’s comparison shows a strong boost in the performance of the 7900 XTX over the previous generation. A total average of 54% improvement in FPS is something that has all of us looking forward to seeing ourselves. If you already have your 4K monitor, CPU, and rig ready, you should be the first one to buy this magnificent AMD card.
RX 7900 XTX vs RX 6950 XT Conclusion
Every year AMD reveals great prices, and every year we get amazed by them. We must give them that advantage. If you’re looking for the best performance-to-price ratio, Team Red is the way to go. Furthermore, the new RX 7000 series is promising big changes. The focused efforts of the company to deliver great performance and efficiency should not pass unseen. We all are looking forward to December 19th, when the new RX 7000 series finally makes its debut.
