AMD Radeon HD 6950 vs AMD Radeon HD 8730M Comparison

The AMD Radeon HD 6950 and the AMD Radeon HD 8730M are two very different takes on graphics hardware, separated by nearly two and a half years of architecture evolution. The HD 6950 is a desktop powerhouse built for raw throughput, while the HD 8730M is a mobile chip designed for efficiency in a constrained thermal envelope. Benchmark results show the desktop card holds a lead in raw compute, but the story is more nuanced than a single score, as the mobile part brings modern API support and a much smaller physical footprint to the table.

Where Each One Wins

The HD 6950 wins on pure compute performance, as evidenced by its Geekbench OpenCL score of 6210, which is 4.3% higher than the HD 8730M's 5955. This advantage comes from a significantly larger silicon footprint: the HD 6950 packs 2,640 million transistors on a 389 mm² die, compared to just 950 million transistors on the 77 mm² die of the HD 8730M. In terms of raw shader throughput, the HD 6950's 1,408 shading units operating at a memory clock of 1250 MHz deliver 2.253 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, while the HD 8730M's 384 shading units with a 650 MHz base and 700 MHz boost clock manage only 537.6 GFLOPS. This makes the HD 6950 roughly four times faster in theoretical floating-point performance, a gap that shows up clearly in any compute-heavy workload.

The HD 8730M wins on architectural modernity and efficiency. It is built on a 28 nm process node versus the HD 6950's 40 nm node, which allows for a much higher transistor density of 12.3M / mm² compared to 6.8M / mm². This newer process, combined with the GCN 1.0 architecture, brings support for DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The HD 6950, using the older TeraScale 3 architecture, is limited to DirectX 11.2 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.4, with no Vulkan support at all. For applications that leverage modern graphics APIs, the HD 8730M is the only one of the two that can even run them.

The Verdict

If your priority is maximum compute throughput in a desktop system with a 200 W TDP budget, the HD 6950 is the clear choice. Its 4.3% lead in the Geekbench OpenCL benchmark, while modest, is backed by a massive advantage in raw specifications: 2.253 TFLOPS versus 537.6 GFLOPS, 160.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth versus 28.80 GB/s, and a 256-bit memory bus versus a 128-bit one. This card was designed to chew through pixel and texture work, with 88 texture mapping units and 32 ROPs, and it shows.

If you need a low-profile, mobile-friendly solution with modern software support, the HD 8730M is the only viable option. It has no TDP listed, no power connectors, and no slot width, indicating it is designed for integration into laptops where power draw is a critical concern. Its GCN architecture provides access to DirectX 12 and Vulkan, which the HD 6950 cannot offer. However, the performance gap is real: the HD 8730M's 5955 score places it in the 34th percentile of all GPUs, while the HD 6950 sits at the 36th percentile. Neither is a modern gaming champion, but the HD 6950 is the stronger compute part by a measurable margin.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct benchmark comparison available is the Geekbench OpenCL test, where the HD 6950 scores 6210 against the HD 8730M's 5955. This represents a 4.3% delta in favor of the desktop card. While this percentage seems small, it is importantly the HD 6950's nearest rivals in this benchmark include the AMD FirePro W600 at 6223 (a -0.2% delta) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER AD102 at 6270 (a -0.9% delta). This places the HD 6950 in respectable company for its compute class.

The HD 8730M, meanwhile, is closely matched with the NVIDIA Quadro K620M at 5957 (a 0.0% delta) and the AMD Radeon HD 8750M at 5970 (a -0.3% delta). It also slightly edges out the Intel UHD Graphics 730, which scores 5929, representing a 0.4% delta in favor of the HD 8730M. This suggests that in the mobile space, the HD 8730M is a mid-tier performer, roughly on par with other entry-level mobile GPUs of its era.

Looking at the underlying specifications, the HD 6950's victory is more pronounced in specific workloads. Its pixel rate of 25.60 GPixel/s is over four and a half times the HD 8730M's 5.600 GPixel/s. Similarly, its texture rate of 70.40 GTexel/s dwarfs the HD 8730M's 16.80 GTexel/s. These are the metrics that matter for gaming and 3D rendering, and the HD 6950 dominates in both.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher Geekbench OpenCL score?

A: The AMD Radeon HD 6950 scores 6210, which is 4.3% higher than the AMD Radeon HD 8730M's 5955.

Q: Does the HD 8730M support Vulkan?

A: Yes, the HD 8730M supports Vulkan 1.2.170, along with DirectX 12 (11_1) and OpenGL 4.6. The HD 6950 does not support Vulkan.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth difference between the two?

A: The HD 6950 has a memory bandwidth of 160.0 GB/s, while the HD 8730M has only 28.80 GB/s. This is a significant gap of over 5.5 times in favor of the HD 6950.

Q: Which GPU has a smaller manufacturing process?

A: The HD 8730M is built on a 28 nm process, while the HD 6950 uses a 40 nm process. The 28 nm node is newer and more efficient.

Q: What is the FP32 compute performance of each card?

A: The HD 6950 delivers 2.253 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, whereas the HD 8730M delivers 537.6 GFLOPS. The HD 6950 is roughly four times faster in this metric.

Q: How do these cards compare to their nearest rivals?

A: The HD 6950 is nearly identical in score to the AMD FirePro W600, with a delta of only -0.2%. The HD 8730M matches the NVIDIA Quadro K620M exactly, with a 0.0% delta.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs represent completely different architectural generations from AMD. The HD 6950 is built on the TeraScale 3 architecture, part of the Northern Islands generation, which was designed for high desktop performance using a large, power-hungry design. It features a 40 nm process and a sprawling 389 mm² die with 2,640 million transistors. This architecture prioritizes raw shader throughput, with 1,408 shading units and 88 TMUs working to push pixels and textures as fast as possible.

In contrast, the HD 8730M uses the GCN 1.0 architecture from the Solar System generation, which was a fundamental redesign of AMD's GPU approach. GCN (Graphics Core Next) was designed with compute workloads in mind, using a scalar-friendly design that could efficiently handle general-purpose tasks. Despite having far fewer resources — only 384 shading units and 24 TMUs — the GCN architecture brings modern API support including DirectX 12, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The HD 6950's TeraScale 3 architecture is limited to DirectX 11.2 and OpenGL 4.4, making it incompatible with newer software that relies on these modern APIs.

The process technology also tells a story of progress. The HD 8730M's 28 nm process allows for 12.3 million transistors per square millimeter, nearly double the HD 6950's density of 6.8M / mm². This efficiency gains is why the HD 8730M can function without a TDP listing or power connectors, while the HD 6950 requires a 200 W TDP, a 550 W suggested power supply, and dual 6-pin power connectors. The HD 8730M also uses a PCIe 3.0 x8 interface, while the HD 6950 uses the older PCIe 2.0 x16 standard.

Specification Differences

The most striking differences are in memory and compute resources. The HD 6950 uses 2 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, achieving 160.0 GB/s bandwidth. The HD 8730M also has 2 GB of memory, but it is DDR3 on a 128-bit bus, yielding only 28.80 GB/s bandwidth — a 5.5x deficit. The HD 6950's memory clock is 1250 MHz (5 Gbps effective), while the HD 8730M runs at 900 MHz (1800 Mbps effective).

Compute resources are heavily skewed toward the desktop card. The HD 6950 has 1,408 shading units, 88 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, compared to the HD 8730M's 384 shading units, 24 TMUs, and 8 ROPs. This translates to a pixel rate of 25.60 GPixel/s versus 5.600 GPixel/s, and a texture rate of 70.40 GTexel/s versus 16.80 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance difference is equally stark: 2.253 TFLOPS versus 537.6 GFLOPS.

Physical and power characteristics also differ dramatically. The HD 6950 is a dual-slot card measuring 286 mm in length, requiring 2x 6-pin power connectors and a 550 W power supply. It has display outputs including 2x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 2x mini-DisplayPort 1.2. The HD 8730M has no listed dimensions, power connectors, or display outputs, reflecting its mobile design. It has no TDP listed, while the HD 6950 is rated at 200 W. The HD 6950 was released on 2010-12-13 with a launch MSRP of 299 USD, while the HD 8730M came later on 2013-03-31 with no MSRP listed. Both are end-of-life products, with the HD 6950 succeeding the Evergreen generation and the HD 8730M following the London architecture.