AMD Radeon HD 6950 vs NVIDIA Quadro 5000 Comparison

The Verdict

The benchmark data positions the NVIDIA Quadro 5000 ahead of the AMD Radeon HD 6950 in the single recorded OpenCL test. The Quadro 5000 scored 7289 points, which is 17.4% higher than the Radeon HD 6950's 6210 points. In terms of overall GPU percentile ranking, the Quadro 5000 sits at the 40th percentile versus the Radeon HD 6950's 36th percentile. For buyers prioritizing raw compute throughput in OpenCL workloads, the Quadro 5000 is the clear choice based on these measurements. However, the Radeon HD 6950 remains relevant for those who value higher memory bandwidth and a faster pixel/texture processing pipeline, as detailed in the specification comparison. The data shows a split decision: the Quadro 5000 wins the only head-to-head benchmark, but the Radeon HD 6950 counters with superior fill rates and memory bandwidth. Neither card is a universal winner; the selection depends on whether the workload is compute-bound or bandwidth/fill-rate-bound.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from fundamentally different architectural lineages. The NVIDIA Quadro 5000 is built on the Fermi architecture, specifically the GF100 chip, fabricated on a 40 nm process at TSMC. The AMD Radeon HD 6950 uses the TeraScale 3 architecture with the Cayman chip, also on a 40 nm TSMC process. The transistor counts differ notably: the Quadro 5000 packs 3,100 million transistors on a 529 mm² die, while the Radeon HD 6950 has 2,640 million transistors on a smaller 389 mm² die. Consequently, the transistor density is higher on the AMD part: 6.8M per mm² versus 5.9M per mm² for NVIDIA. The AMD chip achieves better density despite fewer total transistors, suggesting a more compact layout.

In terms of processing resources, the Radeon HD 6950 fields 1,408 shading units, 88 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. The Quadro 5000 counters with 352 shading units, 44 TMUs, and 40 ROPs. The AMD card has four times the shader count and double the TMUs, but the NVIDIA card has 25% more ROPs. The memory subsystems also diverge: the Quadro 5000 uses 2.5 GB of GDDR5 on a 320-bit bus, yielding 120.0 GB/s bandwidth. The Radeon HD 6950 has 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, but with a faster effective memory clock of 5 Gbps versus 3 Gbps, it achieves 160.0 GB/s bandwidth. The AMD card's memory clock is the key differentiator here, delivering 33% more bandwidth despite a narrower bus.

The feature sets also differ. The Quadro 5000 supports DirectX 12 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.6. The Radeon HD 6950 supports DirectX 11.2 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.4. Neither card lists Vulkan support in the database. The display outputs are distinct: the Quadro 5000 offers 1x DVI and 2x DisplayPort, while the Radeon HD 6950 provides 2x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 2x mini-DisplayPort 1.2. Power requirements also differ, with the Quadro 5000 rated at 152 W TDP with a single 6-pin connector and a 450 W suggested PSU, versus the Radeon HD 6950's 200 W TDP with dual 6-pin connectors and a 550 W suggested PSU.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database records a single head-to-head benchmark: Geekbench OpenCL. In this test, the NVIDIA Quadro 5000 scored 7289 points, while the AMD Radeon HD 6950 scored 6210 points. The delta is 17.4% in favor of the Quadro 5000. This is a substantial margin in a compute-oriented workload, which aligns with the Quadro's professional positioning. The Quadro 5000's nearest rivals in the database include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 with a score of 7222 (0.9% behind) and the AMD Radeon Vega 8 Mobile at 7203 (1.2% behind). The Radeon HD 6950's nearest rivals include the AMD FirePro W600 at 6223 (0.2% ahead) and the NVIDIA Quadro K620 at 6282 (1.1% ahead). This context shows the Quadro 5000 comfortably outperforming its immediate competitors, while the Radeon HD 6950 sits in a tight cluster where small margins separate it from its peers.

The data indicates one win for the Quadro 5000 and zero wins for the Radeon HD 6950 in the head-to-head comparison. The 17.4% lead in OpenCL is the only recorded benchmark result, so the narrative is singular: the Quadro 5000 dominates the compute test. However, the Radeon HD 6950's architectural advantages in fill rates and bandwidth are not captured in this benchmark, meaning the OpenCL test may not reflect the full picture for rasterization-heavy workloads. The recorded data only supports the OpenCL result, so any extrapolation to gaming or professional graphics is speculative.

Specification Differences

The key specification differences between the two cards are as follows:

• Memory Size: Quadro 5000 has 2.5 GB, Radeon HD 6950 has 2 GB.
• Memory Bus Width: Quadro 5000 uses 320 bit, Radeon HD 6950 uses 256 bit.
• Memory Bandwidth: Quadro 5000 delivers 120.0 GB/s, Radeon HD 6950 delivers 160.0 GB/s.
• Memory Clock: Quadro 5000 runs at 3 Gbps effective, Radeon HD 6950 runs at 5 Gbps effective.
• Shading Units: Quadro 5000 has 352, Radeon HD 6950 has 1,408.
• Texture Mapping Units: Quadro 5000 has 44, Radeon HD 6950 has 88.
• ROPs: Quadro 5000 has 40, Radeon HD 6950 has 32.
• Pixel Rate: Quadro 5000 achieves 11.29 GPixel/s, Radeon HD 6950 achieves 25.60 GPixel/s.
• Texture Rate: Quadro 5000 achieves 22.57 GTexel/s, Radeon HD 6950 achieves 70.40 GTexel/s.
• FP32 Performance: Quadro 5000 delivers 722.3 GFLOPS, Radeon HD 6950 delivers 2.253 TFLOPS.
• TDP: Quadro 5000 is rated at 152 W, Radeon HD 6950 at 200 W.
• Power Connectors: Quadro 5000 requires 1x 6-pin, Radeon HD 6950 requires 2x 6-pin.
• Suggested PSU: Quadro 5000 suggests 450 W, Radeon HD 6950 suggests 550 W.
• Dimensions: Quadro 5000 is 248 mm long and 111 mm tall, Radeon HD 6950 is 286 mm long and 126 mm tall with a width of 42 mm.
• Display Outputs: Quadro 5000 offers 1x DVI and 2x DisplayPort, Radeon HD 6950 offers 2x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 2x mini-DisplayPort 1.2.
• DirectX Support: Quadro 5000 supports 12 (11_0), Radeon HD 6950 supports 11.2 (11_0).
• OpenGL Support: Quadro 5000 supports 4.6, Radeon HD 6950 supports 4.4.
• Release Date: Quadro 5000 launched on 2011-02-22, Radeon HD 6950 launched on 2010-12-13.
• Launch MSRP: Quadro 5000 was 2,499 USD, Radeon HD 6950 was 299 USD.

The Radeon HD 6950 clearly wins on raw compute throughput (2.253 TFLOPS vs 722.3 GFLOPS), pixel rate (25.60 vs 11.29 GPixel/s), texture rate (70.40 vs 22.57 GTexel/s), and memory bandwidth (160.0 vs 120.0 GB/s). The Quadro 5000 counters with more ROPs (40 vs 32), more memory (2.5 GB vs 2 GB), a wider memory bus (320 bit vs 256 bit), lower TDP (152 W vs 200 W), and newer API support (DirectX 12 vs 11.2, OpenGL 4.6 vs 4.4).

FAQ

Q: Which card has the higher OpenCL benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA Quadro 5000 scores 7289 points, which is 17.4% higher than the AMD Radeon HD 6950's 6210 points.

Q: Which card has more memory bandwidth?

A: The AMD Radeon HD 6950 has 160.0 GB/s bandwidth, compared to the Quadro 5000's 120.0 GB/s, thanks to its faster 5 Gbps effective memory clock.

Q: Which card has more shading units?

A: The AMD Radeon HD 6950 has 1,408 shading units, whereas the NVIDIA Quadro 5000 has 352.

Q: Which card is more power-efficient based on the data?

A: The NVIDIA Quadro 5000 has a lower TDP at 152 W and a 450 W suggested PSU, while the Radeon HD 6950 is rated at 200 W with a 550 W suggested PSU.

Q: What is the launch MSRP difference?

A: The NVIDIA Quadro 5000 had a launch MSRP of 2,499 USD, while the AMD Radeon HD 6950 had a launch MSRP of 299 USD.

Q: Which card supports a newer DirectX version?

A: The NVIDIA Quadro 5000 supports DirectX 12 (11_0), while the AMD Radeon HD 6950 supports DirectX 11.2 (11_0).

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA Quadro 5000 wins the recorded OpenCL benchmark, and its advantage extends to several specification categories. It has a larger memory pool at 2.5 GB versus 2 GB, which benefits workloads with large datasets that exceed the 2 GB capacity. The wider 320-bit memory bus and higher ROP count (40 vs 32) suggest better performance in memory-heavy and pixel-bound operations at high resolutions. The Quadro 5000 also supports DirectX 12 and OpenGL 4.6, making it more future-proof for software that leverages newer API features. Its lower TDP of 152 W and single 6-pin connector mean it fits into systems with a 450 W PSU, a lighter power burden than the Radeon's 550 W requirement. For professional compute tasks where OpenCL performance is paramount, the Quadro 5000's 17.4% lead is the decisive factor.

The AMD Radeon HD 6950 wins on raw throughput metrics that the benchmark does not directly test. Its FP32 performance of 2.253 TFLOPS is more than triple the Quadro 5000's 722.3 GFLOPS. The pixel rate of 25.60 GPixel/s and texture rate of 70.40 GTexel/s dwarf the Quadro's 11.29 GPixel/s and 22.57 GTexel/s, respectively. These numbers indicate that the Radeon HD 6950 is far better suited for fill-rate-limited scenarios, such as traditional rasterized graphics rendering, where texture and pixel throughput dominate. The higher memory bandwidth of 160.0 GB/s also gives it an edge in bandwidth-sensitive applications, even though the bus width is narrower. The Radeon HD 6950 also offers a more versatile display output configuration with HDMI 1.4a and dual mini-DisplayPort 1.2 connections, supporting multi-monitor setups directly.

The use-case split is clear: pick the Quadro 5000 for compute-centric professional workloads, OpenCL acceleration, and applications that require the newer DirectX 12 API. Pick the Radeon HD 6950 for rasterization-heavy tasks, high-resolution texturing, and scenarios where memory bandwidth and fill rates are the limiting factor. The recorded data does not include gaming benchmarks, so neither card has an evidence-based claim to gaming superiority; the specification differences, however, suggest the Radeon HD 6950 would have an advantage in traditional graphics pipelines. Ultimately, the Quadro 5000's single benchmark victory is significant, but the Radeon HD 6950's architectural strengths in other domains keep it competitive for different use cases.