AMD Radeon HD 6950 vs Intel UHD Graphics 750 Comparison

Intel UHD Graphics 750 and AMD Radeon HD 6950 represent two very different eras of GPU design, one an integrated solution embedded in a processor, the other a dedicated add-in board from a previous generation. The benchmark data shows a clear, if narrow, overall winner, but the underlying architectures and use cases could not be more distinct. According to the database, the Intel UHD Graphics 750 holds a single head-to-head win over the Radeon HD 6950, with a Geekbench OpenCL score of 6,743 against 6,210, a lead of 8.6 percent. However, the Radeon HD 6950 brings dedicated memory and raw fillrate advantages that the Intel part simply cannot match, making the choice heavily dependent on the workload.

Where Each One Wins

The Intel UHD Graphics 750 is the winner in the only direct benchmark comparison recorded. In Geekbench OpenCL, it scores 6,743 points, which is 8.6 percent higher than the Radeon HD 6950's 6,210 points. This suggests that for compute-oriented tasks that leverage OpenCL, the integrated Intel solution is unexpectedly competitive, likely due to its modern architecture and support for newer instruction sets. The Intel part also holds a higher percentile rank among all GPUs, sitting at the 40th percentile versus the Radeon's 36th. Its average benchmark score of 7,441 is notably higher than the Radeon's 6,210, indicating that across a broader set of tests, it would likely maintain this advantage.

The AMD Radeon HD 6950, despite losing the sole head-to-head test, wins in scenarios that rely on traditional graphics throughput. Its pixel rate of 25.60 GPixel/s and texture rate of 70.40 GTexel/s are significantly higher than the Intel UHD Graphics 750's 10.40 GPixel/s and 20.80 GTexel/s. For older DirectX 11 titles or any workload that is fillrate-bound, the Radeon's superior rasterization capabilities should provide a tangible performance benefit. Furthermore, the Radeon's dedicated 2 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 160.0 GB/s of bandwidth, is a massive advantage over the Intel part's system-shared memory, whose bandwidth is system dependent. This makes the Radeon HD 6950 the better choice for gaming at higher resolutions or with higher texture detail, where memory bandwidth is a critical limitation for integrated graphics.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gulf between these two GPUs is vast. The Intel UHD Graphics 750 is built on Intel's Generation 12.1 architecture, using the Rocket Lake chip and a 14 nm+++ process node. It is an integrated graphics processor (IGP) with a Ring Bus interface, sharing system memory. In contrast, the AMD Radeon HD 6950 is based on the much older TeraScale 3 architecture, codenamed Cayman, manufactured on a 40 nm process by TSMC. This node difference is significant: the newer 14 nm+++ process is far more advanced than the 40 nm process, allowing for greater efficiency and density, although the Radeon compensates with a massive die size of 389 mm² and 2,640 million transistors.

The compute configurations are also radically different. The Intel UHD Graphics 750 has 256 shading units, 16 texture mapping units (TMUs), and 8 render output units (ROPs). The AMD Radeon HD 6950, being a high-end discrete GPU of its era, packs 1,408 shading units, 88 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. This explains the Radeon's overwhelming advantage in fillrate calculations. The Intel part's FP32 compute is rated at 665.6 GFLOPS, while the Radeon HD 6950 delivers 2.253 TFLOPS, a figure over three times higher, yet the Intel part still wins in the OpenCL benchmark, suggesting that raw FLOPs do not tell the whole story. The Intel GPU also supports half-precision FP16 at 1,331.2 GFLOPS (2:1), a feature the Radeon does not list.

Feature support is another key differentiator. The Intel UHD Graphics 750 supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The AMD Radeon HD 6950 is limited to DirectX 11.2 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.4, with no Vulkan support listed. This means modern games and applications that rely on Vulkan or DirectX 12 will only run properly on the Intel part. The Radeon's 2010 release date (December 13, 2010) predates these APIs, while the Intel part launched on March 29, 2021, making it a much more modern solution for current software.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The Intel UHD Graphics 750 has a significantly higher average benchmark score of 7,441, compared to the AMD Radeon HD 6950's 6,210. This places the Intel part at the 40th percentile of all GPUs, while the Radeon sits at the 36th.

Q: Does the AMD Radeon HD 6950 support Vulkan?

A: No, the database lists no Vulkan support for the AMD Radeon HD 6950. It supports DirectX 11.2 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.4, whereas the Intel UHD Graphics 750 supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

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

A: The AMD Radeon HD 6950 has a dedicated 2 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 160.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The Intel UHD Graphics 750 uses system-shared memory, with its type, bus width, and bandwidth listed as "System Shared" or "System Dependent."

Q: Which GPU has a higher pixel fillrate?

A: The AMD Radeon HD 6950 has a much higher pixel rate of 25.60 GPixel/s, compared to the Intel UHD Graphics 750's 10.40 GPixel/s. Similarly, its texture rate of 70.40 GTexel/s dwarfs the Intel part's 20.80 GTexel/s.

Q: What is the launch timeframe for each product?

A: The AMD Radeon HD 6950 was released on December 13, 2010, while the Intel UHD Graphics 750 was released much later, on March 29, 2021. Both are now listed as end-of-life products.

Q: Does the Radeon HD 6950 have a higher FP32 compute rating?

A: Yes, the Radeon HD 6950 is rated at 2.253 TFLOPS for FP32, while the Intel UHD Graphics 750 is rated at 665.6 GFLOPS. Despite this, the Intel part wins the Geekbench OpenCL test.

Specification Differences

The specification sheets for these two GPUs highlight their divergent designs and eras. The Intel UHD Graphics 750 uses a 14 nm+++ process from Intel, while the AMD Radeon HD 6950 uses a 40 nm process from TSMC. The AMD chip contains 2,640 million transistors on a 389 mm² die, while the Intel part's transistor count and die size are not listed. Clock speeds differ fundamentally: the Intel GPU has a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 1300 MHz, whereas the Radeon's base and boost clocks are not provided, but its memory clock is 1250 MHz (5 Gbps effective). The Radeon has a TDP of 200 W and requires a dual-slot cooler with 2x 6-pin power connectors and a suggested 550 W power supply, while the Intel part is an IGP with a TDP of just 15 W and no power connectors. The Radeon HD 6950 is a physical card measuring 286 mm in length, 126 mm in height, and 42 mm in width, with outputs including 2x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 2x mini-DisplayPort 1.2. The Intel UHD Graphics 750's display outputs are motherboard dependent. The Radeon has a launch MSRP of 299 USD.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database records a single head-to-head benchmark between these two GPUs: Geekbench OpenCL. In this test, the Intel UHD Graphics 750 achieves a score of 6,743, defeating the AMD Radeon HD 6950's 6,210 by a margin of 8.6 percent. This is a notable result because the Radeon HD 6950 has a theoretical FP32 throughput of 2.253 TFLOPS, over three times the 665.6 GFLOPS of the Intel part. The win suggests that the Intel architecture's newer design, with its support for DirectX 12 and Vulkan, may execute compute workloads more efficiently than the older TeraScale 3 architecture. The nearest rivals for the Intel UHD Graphics 750 in the database include the AMD Radeon HD 8850M (average score 7,447, delta -0.1 percent) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 (average score 7,472, delta -0.4 percent), showing it is closely grouped with those parts. The Radeon HD 6950's nearest rivals include the AMD FirePro W600 (average score 6,223, delta -0.2 percent) and the NVIDIA Quadro K620 (average score 6,282, delta -1.1 percent), placing it in a lower performance tier. The data indicates that the Intel UHD Graphics 750, despite its integrated nature, delivers a better compute benchmark result than the older flagship Radeon, making it the preferable option for OpenCL-centric tasks.