AMD Radeon HD 6950 vs AMD Radeon R7 M440 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database records only one directly comparable benchmark between these two GPUs, and the result is decisive. In Geekbench OpenCL, the AMD Radeon HD 6950 scores 6210, while the AMD Radeon R7 M440 scores 5214. That is a 19.1% advantage for the older desktop card, a substantial margin that places the two firmly in different performance tiers despite both being AMD products.

The HD 6950's score of 6210 puts it in the 36th percentile of all GPUs in the database. Its nearest rivals include the AMD FirePro W600 at 6223 (0.2% ahead), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER AD102 at 6270 (0.9% ahead), and the NVIDIA Quadro K620 at 6282 (1.1% ahead). This clustering shows the HD 6950 sits in a narrow performance band where even modern high-end cards, when run through the same OpenCL workload, land within a single percentage point. The data suggests this particular benchmark does not heavily favor newer architectures, or that the HD 6950's raw compute resources are sufficient to compete with much newer silicon.

The R7 M440's OpenCL score of 5214 places it in the 32nd percentile, just four points lower than the HD 6950's percentile ranking. Its nearest rivals tell a similar story: the NVIDIA Quadro M4000 averages 5467 (0.3% above), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 765M averages 5501 (0.3% below in delta terms), and the AMD Radeon 610M averages 5444 (0.7% above). The R7 M440 also records a Geekbench Vulkan score of 5751, a result that has no direct counterpart in the HD 6950's benchmark record, since that card does not support Vulkan.

The delta of 19.1% is meaningful in real-world terms. A user moving from the R7 M440 to the HD 6950 would see roughly one-fifth more OpenCL throughput, which typically translates to noticeably smoother compute workloads and higher frame rates in GPU-bound scenarios. However, the HD 6950 achieves this with a 200 W TDP, dual-slot cooler, and two 6-pin power connectors, while the R7 M440 is an integrated graphics processor with no standalone power requirement. The performance gap comes at a steep power cost.

Architecture Differences

The HD 6950 uses the Cayman chip built on TeraScale 3 architecture, fabricated on a 40 nm process at TSMC. It packs 2,640 million transistors into a 389 mm² die, for a transistor density of 6.8 million per square millimeter. The R7 M440 uses the Meso chip on GCN 3.0 architecture, built on a 28 nm process, also at TSMC. It contains 1,550 million transistors on a 125 mm² die, yielding a density of 12.4 million per square millimeter. The newer process node allows the R7 M440 to fit nearly half the transistor count on a third of the die area.

The compute resources diverge sharply. The HD 6950 has 1,408 shading units, 88 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. The R7 M440 has 320 shading units, 20 TMUs, and 8 ROPs. That means the HD 6950 has 4.4 times as many shading units, 4.4 times as many TMUs, and 4 times as many ROPs. Pixel rate for the HD 6950 is 25.60 GPixel/s versus 7.128 GPixel/s for the R7 M440, a 3.6-fold difference. Texture rate is 70.40 GTexel/s versus 17.82 GTexel/s, a 3.9-fold difference. FP32 compute is 2.253 TFLOPS versus 570.2 GFLOPS, a 3.95-fold difference. The R7 M440 does match FP16 to FP32 at a 1:1 ratio, but the HD 6950 has no recorded FP16 capability.

Memory architecture is a study in contrast. The HD 6950 uses 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 160.0 GB/s of bandwidth at 1250 MHz (5 Gbps effective). The R7 M440 uses 4 GB of DDR3 on a 64-bit bus, delivering 14.40 GB/s at 900 MHz (1800 Mbps effective). The HD 6950 has over 11 times the memory bandwidth, despite having half the capacity. The R7 M440's larger frame buffer is typical of a mobile part designed for basic tasks, while the HD 6950's bandwidth is necessary to feed its much larger compute array.

API support differs by generation. The HD 6950 supports DirectX 11.2 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.4, with no Vulkan support. The R7 M440 supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. This is a significant functional gap: the newer card can run modern Vulkan titles and take advantage of DirectX 12 features, while the older card is limited to legacy APIs. The R7 M440's Vulkan benchmark score of 5751 demonstrates that it can produce competitive results through modern APIs, even though its raw OpenCL score is lower.

The Verdict

The recorded data points to a clear performance hierarchy: the HD 6950 wins the only head-to-head benchmark by 19.1% in OpenCL. However, the two cards serve fundamentally different markets. The HD 6950 is a 2010-era desktop card with a 200 W TDP, dual-slot cooler, and a 286 mm length. The R7 M440 is a 2016-era integrated processor with no TDP recorded, no power connectors, and dimensions described only as "Portable Device Dependent."

For users who need maximum raw compute throughput in OpenCL workloads, the HD 6950 is the data-backed choice. Its 6210 score outperforms the R7 M440's 5214 by a wide margin, and it also edges out modern cards like the RTX 5070 Ti SUPER by 0.9% in the same benchmark. But this comes with physical requirements: a 550 W suggested power supply, two 6-pin connectors, and a large chassis that can accommodate a 286 mm card.

For users who need modern API support, the R7 M440 is the only option between these two. It supports DirectX 12, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170, all of which are absent on the HD 6950. Its Vulkan score of 5751 shows that it can hold its own in modern workloads, even if its OpenCL result trails the older card by 19.1%. The R7 M440 also offers 4 GB of memory, double the HD 6950's 2 GB, which may be relevant for memory-heavy tasks despite the much lower bandwidth.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon HD 6950 | AMD Radeon R7 M440 |

|---|---|---|

| Architecture | TeraScale 3 | GCN 3.0 |

| Process node | 40 nm | 28 nm |

| Transistors | 2,640 million | 1,550 million |

| Die size | 389 mm² | 125 mm² |

| Transistor density | 6.8M / mm² | 12.4M / mm² |

| Memory clock | 1250 MHz (5 Gbps effective) | 900 MHz (1800 Mbps effective) |

| Memory size | 2 GB | 4 GB |

| Memory type | GDDR5 | DDR3 |

| Memory bus | 256 bit | 64 bit |

| Memory bandwidth | 160.0 GB/s | 14.40 GB/s |

| Shading units | 1408 | 320 |

| TMUs | 88 | 20 |

| ROPs | 32 | 8 |

| Pixel rate | 25.60 GPixel/s | 7.128 GPixel/s |

| Texture rate | 70.40 GTexel/s | 17.82 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 2.253 TFLOPS | 570.2 GFLOPS |

| FP16 | None recorded | 570.2 GFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 200 W | Not recorded |

| Slot width | Dual-slot | IGP |

| Power connectors | 2x 6-pin | None |

| Suggested PSU | 550 W | None |

| Bus interface | PCIe 2.0 x16 | PCIe 3.0 x8 |

| DirectX | 11.2 (11_0) | 12 (12_0) |

| OpenGL | 4.4 | 4.6 |

| Vulkan | None | 1.2.170 |

| Release date | 2010-12-13 | 2016-05-14 |

| Launch MSRP | 299 USD | None recorded |

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher OpenCL benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon HD 6950 scores 6210 in Geekbench OpenCL, while the AMD Radeon R7 M440 scores 5214. The HD 6950 is 19.1% faster in this test.

Q: Does the R7 M440 support Vulkan?

A: Yes, the R7 M440 supports Vulkan 1.2.170 and has a recorded Geekbench Vulkan score of 5751. The HD 6950 has no Vulkan support listed in the database.

Q: How do the memory bandwidths compare?

A: The HD 6950 delivers 160.0 GB/s through a 256-bit GDDR5 interface, while the R7 M440 delivers 14.40 GB/s through a 64-bit DDR3 interface. The HD 6950 has more than 11 times the bandwidth.

Q: Which card has more shading units?

A: The HD 6950 has 1,408 shading units, compared to 320 on the R7 M440. That is a 4.4-fold difference.

Q: What is the transistor density difference?

A: The R7 M440 has a density of 12.4 million transistors per square millimeter on a 28 nm process, while the HD 6950 has 6.8 million per square millimeter on a 40 nm process.

Q: Which GPU supports DirectX 12?

A: Only the R7 M440 supports DirectX 12 (12_0). The HD 6950 is limited to DirectX 11.2 (11_0).

Where Each One Wins

The HD 6950 wins in raw compute and rasterization throughput. Its FP32 output of 2.253 TFLOPS is nearly four times the R7 M440's 570.2 GFLOPS. Its pixel rate of 25.60 GPixel/s and texture rate of 70.40 GTexel/s dwarf the R7 M440's 7.128 GPixel/s and 17.82 GTexel/s. The 160.0 GB/s memory bandwidth is essential for feeding this compute power, and the 256-bit bus provides a wide path for large textures and frame buffers. The HD 6950 also wins the OpenCL head-to-head by 19.1%, and its percentile ranking of 36 is four points higher than the R7 M440's 32.

The R7 M440 wins in modern API support, memory capacity, and physical flexibility. It offers DirectX 12, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170, enabling software that simply cannot run on the HD 6950's DirectX 11.2 and OpenGL 4.4 feature set. Its 4 GB memory capacity is double the HD 6950's 2 GB, which may help in workloads that require large working sets, though the 14.40 GB/s bandwidth is a severe bottleneck. The R7 M440's integrated form factor, PCIe 3.0 x8 interface, and lack of external power requirements make it suitable for portable systems where the HD 6950's 286 mm length, dual-slot cooler, and 200 W TDP are impossible to accommodate. The R7 M440's Vulkan score of 5751 also shows that through modern APIs, it can produce competitive results that its OpenCL score does not fully capture.

The data ultimately tells a story of trade-offs across generations. One card maximizes throughput with older, power-hungry technology. The other maximizes compatibility and efficiency with newer, lighter silicon. The benchmark results favor the HD 6950 in raw performance, but the R7 M440's API coverage and integrated nature make it the only practical choice for systems that need modern software support and minimal physical footprint.