AMD Radeon 610M vs AMD Radeon HD 6950 Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon HD 6950 and the AMD Radeon 610M occupy completely different performance tiers, and the recorded data makes that separation clear. The HD 6950 wins the only head-to-head benchmark recorded in the database, the Geekbench OpenCL test, by a substantial 36.9% margin. That single win defines its position as the stronger compute device in raw throughput terms.

The Radeon 610M, however, counters with a different kind of advantage. It has a recorded Geekbench Vulkan score of 6353, while the HD 6950 has no Vulkan benchmark entry in the database. For any workload that leverages Vulkan, the 610M is the only one of the two that can even participate. The HD 6950 lists no Vulkan API support at all, while the 610M supports Vulkan 1.4. This is not a contest of speed; it is a contest of capability, and the 610M wins by being present.

The use-case split is straightforward. The HD 6950 is the choice for OpenCL compute and legacy DirectX 11 workloads. Its 1408 shading units, 88 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs give it a hardware resource base that the 610M cannot match. The 610M, by contrast, is an integrated graphics processor (IGP) built for portability and modern API coverage. It supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, making it the more future-proof option for software that relies on recent graphics APIs.

The percentile data reinforces this split. The HD 6950 sits at the 36th percentile among all GPUs in the database, while the 610M sits at the 32nd percentile. These are close positions, but they come from different benchmark profiles. The HD 6950's average benchmark score is 6210, derived from a single OpenCL result. The 610M's average is 5444, derived from both OpenCL and Vulkan results. The 610M's Vulkan score of 6353 actually exceeds the HD 6950's OpenCL score, but the HD 6950 has no Vulkan result to compare.

For users running older DirectX titles or OpenCL compute, the HD 6950 wins outright. For users running Vulkan-based games or applications, the 610M is the only viable option. The data does not show a single universal winner; it shows two different tools for two different jobs.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from completely different architectural lineages. The HD 6950 uses the Cayman chip based on TeraScale 3, part of the Northern Islands (HD 6900) generation. It is built on a 40 nm process at TSMC with 2,640 million transistors on a 389 mm² die. The transistor density is 6.8 million transistors per square millimeter. This is a large, power-hungry discrete graphics card designed for desktop performance.

The Radeon 610M uses the Mendocino chip based on RDNA 2.0, part of the Navi II IGP (Mendocino Mobile) generation. It is built on a 6 nm process at TSMC with a die size of 100 mm². Transistor count and density are not recorded in the database. This is a small integrated processor designed for mobile systems, with no standalone dimensions, no power connectors, and a slot width classified as IGP.

The memory subsystems are fundamentally different. The HD 6950 has 2 GB of dedicated GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 160.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its memory clock is 1250 MHz, which translates to 5 Gbps effective. The 610M uses system shared memory, with no dedicated VRAM. Its bus width is system shared, its bandwidth is system dependent, and its memory clock is listed as system shared. This means the 610M's memory performance is entirely contingent on the host system's RAM, while the HD 6950 has fixed, dedicated bandwidth.

Feature support also diverges sharply. The HD 6950 supports DirectX 11.2 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.4, but has no Vulkan support listed. The 610M supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The 610M also includes 2 ray tracing cores, while the HD 6950 has none. The 610M lists FP16 performance at 972.8 GFLOPS (2:1), while the HD 6950 has no FP16 entry.

The bus interfaces differ as well. The HD 6950 uses PCIe 2.0 x16, while the 610M uses PCIe 4.0 x8. The HD 6950 is a dual-slot card with 2x 6-pin power connectors and a suggested PSU of 550 W. The 610M has no power connectors and no suggested PSU, reflecting its integrated nature. The HD 6950 has a 200 W TDP; the 610M has a 15 W TDP. The display outputs also differ: the HD 6950 offers 2x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 2x mini-DisplayPort 1.2, while the 610M's outputs are portable device dependent.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only head-to-head benchmark recorded in the database is Geekbench OpenCL. The HD 6950 scores 6210, while the 610M scores 4535. The HD 6950 wins with a delta of 36.9%. This is a decisive margin, indicating that the HD 6950 delivers roughly 37% more OpenCL compute performance than the 610M.

Context from the nearest rivals clarifies what these scores mean. The HD 6950's closest rival is the AMD FirePro W600, which scores 6223, a delta of -0.2% relative to the HD 6950. That puts the two effectively at parity. The HD 6950 also trails the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER AD102 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti SUPER, both scoring 6270, by 0.9%. The NVIDIA Quadro K620 scores 6282, a 1.1% lead over the HD 6950. These are all near-neighbor scores, meaning the HD 6950's OpenCL performance sits in a tight cluster around the 6200-6280 range.

The 610M's OpenCL score of 4535 is far from that cluster. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Quadro M4000 at 5467, a 0.4% lead over the 610M's average score of 5444. The AMD Radeon R7 M365X scores 5416, a 0.5% deficit relative to the 610M. The AMD Radeon R7 M440 scores 5483, a 0.7% lead. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 765M scores 5501, a 1.0% lead. These rivals all sit in the 5400-5500 range, which is well below the HD 6950's 6210 OpenCL result.

The 610M's Vulkan score of 6353, however, is a different story. It actually exceeds the HD 6950's OpenCL score, though these are different APIs and not directly comparable. The 610M's average benchmark score of 5444 reflects the combination of its OpenCL and Vulkan results. The HD 6950's average is 6210, based solely on its OpenCL result.

The data shows that in OpenCL compute, the HD 6950 is the clear winner by a wide margin. In Vulkan, the 610M is the only contender. The head-to-head table records one win for the HD 6950 and zero for the 610M, but that table only includes the OpenCL test. The Vulkan result exists only in the 610M's individual benchmark list, not in the head-to-head comparison.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ in nearly every recorded specification field. The process node is 40 nm for the HD 6950 versus 6 nm for the 610M. The HD 6950 has 2,640 million transistors on a 389 mm² die; the 610M has no recorded transistor count and a 100 mm² die. The HD 6950's transistor density is 6.8M per mm²; the 610M has none recorded.

Clock speeds differ entirely. The HD 6950 has no base or boost clock recorded, only a memory clock of 1250 MHz (5 Gbps effective). The 610M has a base clock of 1500 MHz and a boost clock of 1900 MHz, with system shared memory.

Memory is a major differentiator. The HD 6950 has 2 GB GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus with 160.0 GB/s bandwidth. The 610M has system shared memory, system shared type, system shared bus width, and system dependent bandwidth.

Compute resources differ massively. The HD 6950 has 1408 shading units, 88 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The 610M has 128 shading units, 8 TMUs, and 4 ROPs. The HD 6950 has no ray tracing cores; the 610M has 2. Neither has tensor cores.

Rates reflect the resource gap. The HD 6950's pixel rate is 25.60 GPixel/s and texture rate is 70.40 GTexel/s. The 610M's pixel rate is 7.600 GPixel/s and texture rate is 15.20 GTexel/s. FP32 performance is 2.253 TFLOPS for the HD 6950 versus 486.4 GFLOPS for the 610M. The 610M has FP16 at 972.8 GFLOPS (2:1); the HD 6950 has none.

Power and physical specs differ completely. The HD 6950 has a 200 W TDP, dual-slot width, 2x 6-pin power connectors, and a suggested PSU of 550 W. The 610M has a 15 W TDP, IGP slot width, no power connectors, and no suggested PSU. The HD 6950 is 286 mm long, 126 mm high, and 42 mm wide. The 610M has no recorded dimensions.

API support differs. The HD 6950 supports DirectX 11.2 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.4, with no Vulkan. The 610M supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The bus interface is PCIe 2.0 x16 for the HD 6950 versus PCIe 4.0 x8 for the 610M. Display outputs are 2x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, 2x mini-DisplayPort 1.2 for the HD 6950 versus portable device dependent for the 610M.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has higher OpenCL performance?

A: The AMD Radeon HD 6950 scores 6210 in Geekbench OpenCL, while the AMD Radeon 610M scores 4535. The HD 6950 wins by 36.9%.

Q: Does the AMD Radeon 610M support Vulkan?

A: Yes, the 610M supports Vulkan 1.4 and has a Geekbench Vulkan score of 6353. The HD 6950 has no Vulkan support listed in the database.

Q: What is the memory configuration of each GPU?

A: The HD 6950 has 2 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus with 160.0 GB/s bandwidth. The 610M uses system shared memory with system dependent bandwidth.

Q: How do their shading unit counts compare?

A: The HD 6950 has 1408 shading units, 88 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The 610M has 128 shading units, 8 TMUs, and 4 ROPs.

Q: Which GPU supports DirectX 12 Ultimate?

A: Only the AMD Radeon 610M supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2). The HD 6950 is limited to DirectX 11.2 (11_0).

Q: What are their power requirements?

A: The HD 6950 has a 200 W TDP and requires 2x 6-pin power connectors with a suggested PSU of 550 W. The 610M has a 15 W TDP and no power connectors.

The Verdict

The data supports a clear split decision. The AMD Radeon HD 6950 is the superior choice for OpenCL compute and legacy DirectX 11 workloads. Its 36.9% lead over the 610M in the head-to-head OpenCL benchmark is decisive, and its resource pool of 1408 shading units, 88 TMUs, and 32 ROPs dwarfs the 610M's 128 shading units, 8 TMUs, and 4 ROPs. Its dedicated 2 GB GDDR5 memory with 160.0 GB/s bandwidth provides fixed performance, unlike the 610M's system dependent shared memory. The HD 6950 also sits at the 36th percentile among all GPUs, slightly above the 610M's 32nd percentile.

The AMD Radeon 610M, however, is the only choice for modern API coverage. It supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, while the HD 6950 stops at DirectX 11.2 and OpenGL 4.4 with no Vulkan. The 610M's Vulkan score of 6353 exceeds the HD 6950's OpenCL score, and it includes 2 ray tracing cores that the HD 6950 lacks. Its 6 nm process and 15 W TDP make it an integrated, low-power solution, while the HD 6950 is a 200 W dual-slot discrete card.

Users with older DirectX-based games or OpenCL compute tasks should pick the HD 6950. Users needing Vulkan support, ray tracing, or a power-efficient integrated solution should pick the 610M. The database records one head-to-head win for the HD 6950, but the 610M wins the capability battle where it matters: modern API compatibility. Neither GPU dominates across all categories; the right choice depends entirely on the workload.