AMD Radeon HD 6950 vs NVIDIA Quadro M5000M Comparison

NVIDIA Quadro M5000M and AMD Radeon HD 6950 represent two distinct eras of GPU design, with the former built on a 28 nm Maxwell 2.0 architecture and the latter on a 40 nm TeraScale 3 architecture. The benchmark data available shows only one common test, Geekbench OpenCL, where the Quadro M5000M delivers a score of 22,920 against the Radeon HD 6950’s 6,210, a 269.1% advantage. This single data point, combined with architectural and specification differences, provides a clear picture of a generational gap, though both cards are end-of-life products.

FAQ

Q: How do the two GPUs compare in the only shared benchmark?

A: In Geekbench OpenCL, the NVIDIA Quadro M5000M scores 22,920, while the AMD Radeon HD 6950 scores 6,210. This gives the Quadro M5000M a 269.1% higher score, marking it as the definitive winner in that test.

Q: What is the average benchmark score difference?

A: The Quadro M5000M has an average benchmark score of 6,481 across all its tested workloads, while the Radeon HD 6950 has an average score of 6,210. This puts the Quadro about 4.4% ahead in average performance, though this gap is much smaller than the OpenCL delta.

Q: How do their memory configurations differ?

A: The Quadro M5000M comes with 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, achieving 160.4 GB/s bandwidth. The Radeon HD 6950 has 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, with 160.0 GB/s bandwidth. The memory capacity is four times larger on the Quadro, but bandwidth is nearly identical.

Q: What are the pixel and texture rate differences?

A: The Quadro M5000M outputs 67.26 GPixel/s and 100.9 GTexel/s, while the Radeon HD 6950 manages 25.60 GPixel/s and 70.40 GTexel/s. This means the Quadro has 162.7% higher pixel throughput and 43.3% higher texture throughput.

Q: Which card has a higher power draw and what does it imply?

A: The Radeon HD 6950 has a TDP of 200 W and requires a 550 W suggested PSU with two 6-pin power connectors. The Quadro M5000M has a 100 W TDP and uses no power connectors, being an MXM module. The Quadro delivers better performance per watt.

Q: What is the architectural generation difference?

A: The Quadro M5000M uses Maxwell 2.0 architecture on a 28 nm process with 5,200 million transistors, while the Radeon HD 6950 uses TeraScale 3 on a 40 nm process with 2,640 million transistors. The Quadro’s newer architecture supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, whereas the Radeon supports DirectX 11.2 (11_0), OpenGL 4.4, and no Vulkan.

The Verdict

Benchmark results indicate a clear split: the NVIDIA Quadro M5000M is the superior choice for compute-heavy workloads and modern API support, while the AMD Radeon HD 6950 holds relevance only for legacy, lower-resolution tasks due to its smaller memory pool and older feature set. The Quadro M5000M’s 269.1% lead in Geekbench OpenCL over the Radeon HD 6950 is decisive, reflecting its higher shading unit count, doubled ROPS, and nearly 50% more TMUs. Its 8 GB memory capacity versus 2 GB makes it the only viable option for large datasets or textures, even though bandwidth is nearly equal. The Radeon HD 6950, with its 36th percentile ranking versus the Quadro’s 37th, sits just slightly behind in overall standing, but its 200 W TDP and lack of modern API support make it a poor choice for contemporary software. For anyone requiring DX12 or Vulkan, the Quadro M5000M is the only option between these two. For pure legacy compatibility on older operating systems or driver stacks, the Radeon HD 6950 might suffice, but its performance ceiling is far lower. The data strongly favors the Quadro M5000M across every measurable category except raw bandwidth parity, making it the recommended card for any modern workload.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The sole head-to-head benchmark is Geekbench OpenCL, where the NVIDIA Quadro M5000M scores 22,920 against the AMD Radeon HD 6950’s 6,210. This represents a 269.1% delta, meaning the Quadro is nearly 3.7 times faster in this compute test. The OpenCL result aligns with the theoretical FP32 throughput: the Quadro delivers 3.229 TFLOPS versus the Radeon’s 2.253 TFLOPS, a 43.3% advantage in raw floating-point capability. The pixel rate difference is even starker, with the Quadro at 67.26 GPixel/s versus 25.60 GPixel/s, a 162.7% lead, which is driven by the Quadro’s 64 ROPS compared to the Radeon’s 32. Texture rate shows the Quadro at 100.9 GTexel/s versus 70.40 GTexel/s, a 43.3% advantage from its 96 TMUs against 88. Memory bandwidth is nearly identical (160.4 GB/s vs 160.0 GB/s), so any performance gap is purely from compute and rasterization units. The Quadro also has 1,536 shading units versus 1,408 on the Radeon, an 8.1% increase that contributes to the compute lead. In the absence of other shared tests, the OpenCL result serves as the primary evidence of the Quadro’s dominance, but the specification deltas support a consistent pattern of superiority across all rendering stages.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every core specification. The Quadro M5000M has 1,536 shading units, 96 TMUs, and 64 ROPS, while the Radeon HD 6950 has 1,408 shading units, 88 TMUs, and 32 ROPS. The Quadro’s base clock is 962 MHz with a boost of 1,051 MHz, whereas the Radeon has no listed base or boost clocks in the data. Memory size is 8 GB on the Quadro versus 2 GB on the Radeon, both using GDDR5 with a 256-bit bus, but bandwidth is 160.4 GB/s versus 160.0 GB/s. Pixel rate is 67.26 GPixel/s on the Quadro versus 25.60 GPixel/s, and texture rate is 100.9 GTexel/s versus 70.40 GTexel/s. FP32 compute is 3.229 TFLOPS versus 2.253 TFLOPS. TDP is 100 W versus 200 W, with the Quadro using an MXM module slot and no power connectors, while the Radeon is a dual-slot card with two 6-pin connectors and a 550 W suggested PSU. The bus interface is MXM-B (3.0) on the Quadro versus PCIe 2.0 x16 on the Radeon. Display outputs are portable-device-dependent on the Quadro, while the Radeon features 2x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 2x mini-DisplayPort 1.2. Dimensions differ significantly: the Radeon is 286 mm long, 126 mm tall, and 42 mm wide, while the Quadro’s dimensions are not listed.

Architecture Differences

The NVIDIA Quadro M5000M is built on the Maxwell 2.0 architecture, using the GM204 chip fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC with 5,200 million transistors on a 398 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 13.1M per mm². The AMD Radeon HD 6950 uses the TeraScale 3 architecture with the Cayman chip on a 40 nm process at TSMC, containing 2,640 million transistors on a 389 mm² die, for a density of 6.8M per mm². The Quadro’s newer process allows for nearly double the transistor count in a similar die area, which directly enables higher compute and pixel throughput. The Quadro supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, while the Radeon supports DirectX 11.2 (11_0), OpenGL 4.4, and no Vulkan support. The Quadro’s memory clock is 1,253 MHz with 5 Gbps effective, while the Radeon’s is 1,250 MHz with 5 Gbps effective, so memory speed is essentially equal. The Quadro has no RT or tensor cores, and neither does the Radeon, so ray tracing is not available on either. The Quadro’s generation is “Quadro Maxwell-M (Mx000M)” with a predecessor of “Quadro Kepler-M” and successor of “Quadro Pascal-M,” while the Radeon’s generation is “Northern Islands (HD 6900)” with a predecessor of “Evergreen” and successor of “Southern Islands.” The Quadro was released in August 2015, while the Radeon was released in December 2010, reflecting a five-year gap in design philosophy. The Quadro’s 100 W TDP makes it suitable for mobile workstations, while the Radeon’s 200 W TDP requires a desktop PSU. The Radeon has a launch MSRP of 299 USD, while the Quadro has no listed launch MSRP.