AMD Radeon HD 6950 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M Comparison

The GeForce GTX 580M and Radeon HD 6950 represent two distinct approaches to high-performance graphics from the same era, yet benchmark results reveal a closer contest than their architectural differences suggest. In the single available OpenCL benchmark, the NVIDIA part scores 6389, while the AMD card trails at 6210, a difference of 2.9%. This slim margin places both squarely in the same performance tier, with the GTX 580M at the 37th percentile of all GPUs and the HD 6950 at the 36th. The data indicates that despite vastly different internal designs, these two cards deliver nearly interchangeable compute performance in this specific test.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct comparison available is the Geekbench OpenCL test, where the GeForce GTX 580M edges out the Radeon HD 6950 by a 2.9% margin. The NVIDIA card’s score of 6389 versus AMD’s 6210 represents a modest but measurable lead. This is not a landslide victory; rather, it places the GTX 580M in a statistical tie with its closest rival, the GeForce GTX 460 SE, which scores exactly 6389 with a 0% delta. Meanwhile, the HD 6950’s nearest competitor, the AMD FirePro W600, scores 6223, meaning the AMD card is just 0.2% behind that workstation part.

Contextualizing these scores against modern hardware reveals how dated both parts are. The GTX 580M is only 0.3% behind the NVIDIA RTX PRO 5000 72 GB Blackwell, which scores 6407, while the HD 6950 is 0.9% behind the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER AD102 and RTX 5070 Ti SUPER, both at 6270. This suggests that in pure OpenCL compute, these decade-old cards still hold their own against far newer architectures, though the comparison is limited to a single workload. The GTX 580M also outperforms the AMD Radeon Pro WX 4100 (6330) by 0.9% and the AMD Radeon R7 M350 (6327) by 1%, reinforcing its position as a solid mid-pack performer.

What is striking is the delta between the two GPUs. A 2.9% difference in OpenCL is within the noise of many real-world applications, yet it consistently favors NVIDIA in this dataset. The HD 6950’s raw compute specifications — 2.253 TFLOPS FP32 versus the GTX 580M’s 952.3 GFLOPS — suggest AMD should dominate, but the benchmark tells a different story. This implies that the GeForce architecture extracts more useful work per FLOP, or that the OpenCL workload does not scale with the HD 6950’s massive shader count. The data shows a clear winner, but the margin is narrow enough to question whether the result would hold across a broader test suite.

The Verdict

From the data, the GeForce GTX 580M is the superior choice for OpenCL compute tasks, holding a 2.9% advantage over the Radeon HD 6950. This is a slim lead, but it is consistent with the GTX 580M’s higher percentile ranking (37th versus 36th). The NVIDIA card also demonstrates better relative positioning against its nearest rivals: it matches the GTX 460 SE exactly, while the HD 6950 sits 1.1% behind the Quadro K620 (6282). For users prioritizing raw compute performance in this specific benchmark, the GTX 580M is the clear pick.

However, the verdict is not one-sided. The HD 6950 offers substantially higher theoretical throughput — 2.253 TFLOPS versus 952.3 GFLOPS — and a much larger memory bandwidth of 160.0 GB/s compared to 96.00 GB/s. These specifications suggest the AMD card should excel in memory-intensive or highly parallel workloads that the single OpenCL test may not capture. The GTX 580M’s win is real but fragile; a different benchmark suite could easily flip the result. Data-driven buyers should note that the HD 6950’s 200 W TDP and dual-slot design indicate a desktop-oriented part, while the GTX 580M’s 100 W TDP and MXM form factor target mobile workstations. The choice depends on whether the user values the measured OpenCL lead or the AMD card’s raw specification advantages.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher OpenCL benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M scores 6389, which is 2.9% higher than the AMD Radeon HD 6950’s 6210.

Q: How does the GTX 580M compare to its nearest rival?

A: The GTX 580M scores exactly 6389, matching the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 SE with a 0% delta, and is 0.3% behind the RTX PRO 5000 72 GB Blackwell.

Q: What is the HD 6950’s position among its nearest rivals?

A: The HD 6950 scores 6210, placing it 0.2% behind the AMD FirePro W600 and 0.9% behind both the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER AD102 and RTX 5070 Ti SUPER.

Q: Do the two cards have different memory bandwidths?

A: Yes, the HD 6950 has a bandwidth of 160.0 GB/s, while the GTX 580M has 96.00 GB/s, a significant 66.7% advantage for the AMD card.

Q: What are the FP32 performance figures for each card?

A: The HD 6950 delivers 2.253 TFLOPS, while the GTX 580M delivers 952.3 GFLOPS, meaning the AMD card has roughly 2.4 times the theoretical single-precision throughput.

Q: Which card has a higher pixel fill rate?

A: The HD 6950 achieves 25.60 GPixel/s, compared to the GTX 580M’s 9.920 GPixel/s, a difference of over 2.5 times in favor of AMD.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs diverge sharply on almost every physical and electrical specification. The GTX 580M uses the GF114 chip with 1,950 million transistors on a 332 mm² die, while the HD 6950 uses the Cayman chip with 2,640 million transistors on a 389 mm² die. This gives the AMD part a higher transistor density of 6.8M per mm² versus 5.9M per mm² for NVIDIA. Memory clocks differ significantly: the GTX 580M runs at 750 MHz (3 Gbps effective), while the HD 6950 runs at 1250 MHz (5 Gbps effective). Both have 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, but the AMD card’s higher clock yields 160.0 GB/s bandwidth versus 96.00 GB/s.

The compute pipelines are radically different. The GTX 580M has 384 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, while the HD 6950 has 1408 shading units, 88 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. This results in the HD 6950’s pixel rate of 25.60 GPixel/s and texture rate of 70.40 GTexel/s, dwarfing the GTX 580M’s 9.920 GPixel/s and 39.68 GTexel/s. Power consumption tells the story of their intended use: the GTX 580M draws 100 W with no power connectors on an MXM-B (3.0) interface, while the HD 6950 draws 200 W with 2x 6-pin connectors and a 550 W suggested PSU. The HD 6950 is a dual-slot card measuring 286 mm by 126 mm by 42 mm, whereas the GTX 580M is a portable-device-dependent MXM module. The AMD card offers 2x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 2x mini-DisplayPort 1.2 outputs, while the NVIDIA card’s outputs are listed as portable device dependent. API support also differs: the GTX 580M supports DirectX 12 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.6, while the HD 6950 supports DirectX 11.2 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.4.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide is fundamental. The GTX 580M is built on Fermi 2.0, a refined version of NVIDIA’s Fermi architecture designed for the GeForce 500M generation. The HD 6950 uses TeraScale 3, the third iteration of AMD’s VLIW-based design, which powers the Northern Islands (HD 6900) generation. Both are fabricated on TSMC’s 40 nm process, but they implement very different execution models. Fermi 2.0 relies on 384 CUDA cores organized into streaming multiprocessors, while TeraScale 3 deploys 1408 stream processors arranged in a VLIW4 configuration. This explains the massive difference in shading unit counts: AMD’s design packs more than 3.6 times the shaders, yet the GTX 580M still wins the OpenCL test.

The transistor counts reflect these design philosophies. The HD 6950’s 2,640 million transistors on a 389 mm² die represent a more complex, wider design, while the GTX 580M’s 1,950 million on a smaller 332 mm² die is more efficient per square millimeter. The memory subsystems differ in clock speed but not width, with the AMD card running its GDDR5 at 5 Gbps effective versus 3 Gbps for NVIDIA. Neither GPU has dedicated ray tracing or tensor cores, as these features did not exist in this era. The GTX 580M’s support for DirectX 12 (11_0) is a notable advantage over the HD 6950’s DirectX 11.2 (11_0), suggesting better forward compatibility with modern APIs, even if the hardware is unlikely to fully utilize them.

Where Each One Wins

The GTX 580M wins where it counts in the available data: the OpenCL benchmark. Its 6389 score tops the HD 6950’s 6210, and it holds a higher percentile rank among all GPUs (37th versus 36th). This makes it the better choice for compute workloads that resemble the Geekbench OpenCL test, particularly given its lower 100 W TDP and MXM form factor, which suit mobile or compact systems. The GTX 580M also wins on API support, offering DirectX 12 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.6, which are more modern than the HD 6950’s DirectX 11.2 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.4. For users needing the latest driver-level features or compatibility with newer software, the NVIDIA card has the edge.

The HD 6950 wins decisively on raw specification sheet numbers. Its 2.253 TFLOPS FP32 performance is more than double the GTX 580M’s 952.3 GFLOPS, and its 160.0 GB/s memory bandwidth is 66.7% higher. The AMD card also posts a pixel rate of 25.60 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 70.40 GTexel/s, both roughly 2.5 to 1.8 times higher than the NVIDIA part. These figures suggest the HD 6950 would excel in fill-rate-bound scenarios, such as high-resolution texture filtering or pixel-heavy effects, even if the OpenCL test does not reflect this. Its 200 W TDP and dual-slot cooler imply a desktop workstation environment where power is less constrained. The HD 6950 also offers a wider array of display outputs, including dual DVI, HDMI 1.4a, and dual mini-DisplayPort 1.2, making it more flexible for multi-monitor setups. Ultimately, the GTX 580M is the measured compute winner, while the HD 6950 is the specification champion for bandwidth and fill-rate-heavy workloads.