AMD Radeon HD 7950 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti is the clear performance leader in nearly every compute and graphics workload recorded in the database. Its average benchmark score of 41,187 places it in the 83rd percentile of all GPUs, while the AMD Radeon HD 7950 averages 33,951, good for the 78th percentile. The RTX 3080 Ti holds a 21.3% advantage in average score, a gap that reflects its far newer architecture and much larger resource pool.

The RTX 3080 Ti dominates in DirectX 12 and compute-oriented tests. Its Passmark G3D score of 26,896 and Passmark GPU Compute score of 15,282 demonstrate strength across both rasterized gaming and general-purpose compute. The card also delivers substantial OpenCL and Vulkan performance, scoring 170,037 and 192,697 in Geekbench tests respectively. These results position it as a versatile card for modern workloads, including ray-traced content and AI-adjacent tasks, though the database does not include specific ray tracing benchmark scores.

The AMD Radeon HD 7950, by contrast, is a legacy part from the Southern Islands generation. Its only recorded benchmark in the database is a Geekbench Metal score of 33,951, which serves as its average. This means the HD 7950 has no recorded DirectX 9, 10, 11, or 12 scores in the database, nor any OpenCL or Vulkan results. Its performance profile is therefore best understood as a single-point measurement, not a broad multi-API picture. The card does not compete with the RTX 3080 Ti in any recorded workload; instead, its nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon RX 480, the AMD Radeon RX 7700S, the AMD Radeon RX 560 XT, and the NVIDIA RTX A2000 12 GB, all of which score within 0.6% of the HD 7950.

For users choosing between the two, the decision is straightforward. The RTX 3080 Ti wins every recorded benchmark category where both cards have data. The HD 7950 wins nothing in the head-to-head comparison, as the database records zero wins for either card in direct competition. The RTX 3080 Ti is the appropriate choice for anyone running modern DirectX 12 titles, Vulkan applications, or OpenCL compute workloads. The HD 7950 remains relevant only as a historical or compatibility piece, with its Metal score indicating limited macOS-oriented utility.

Architecture Differences

The two cards are separated by nearly a decade of silicon evolution. The RTX 3080 Ti uses the GA102 chip built on Ampere architecture, manufactured by Samsung on an 8 nm process. It packs 28,300 million transistors into a 628 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 45.1 million per square millimeter. The HD 7950 uses the Tahiti chip with GCN 1.0 architecture, fabricated by TSMC on a 28 nm process. It contains 4,313 million transistors on a 352 mm² die, with a density of 12.3 million per square millimeter. The RTX 3080 Ti therefore offers more than 6.5 times the transistor count and nearly 3.7 times the density.

Memory subsystems differ substantially. The RTX 3080 Ti carries 12 GB of GDDR6X on a 384-bit bus, delivering 912.4 GB/s of bandwidth. The HD 7950 has 3 GB of GDDR5 on the same 384-bit bus width, but only reaches 240.0 GB/s. That is a 3.8x bandwidth advantage for the newer card. The RTX 3080 Ti also runs its memory at 1188 MHz with 19 Gbps effective speed, versus 1250 MHz and 5 Gbps effective for the HD 7950.

Compute resources are overwhelmingly in favor of the RTX 3080 Ti. It has 10,240 shading units, 320 texture mapping units, and 112 ROPs. The HD 7950 has 1,792 shading units, 112 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The RTX 3080 Ti also includes 80 RT cores and 320 tensor cores, features entirely absent from the HD 7950. Pixel rate is 186.5 GPixel/s for the RTX 3080 Ti versus 25.60 GPixel/s for the HD 7950. Texture rate is 532.8 GTexel/s versus 89.60 GTexel/s. FP32 throughput is 34.10 TFLOPS versus 2.867 TFLOPS, a roughly 11.9x difference. The RTX 3080 Ti also supports FP16 at 34.10 TFLOPS with a 1:1 ratio; the HD 7950 has no recorded FP16 capability.

API support reflects the generational gap. The RTX 3080 Ti supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The HD 7950 supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. Both are dual-slot cards, but the RTX 3080 Ti is slightly longer at 285 mm versus 278 mm, and slightly thicker at 40 mm versus 38 mm. The RTX 3080 Ti uses a single 12-pin power connector and suggests a 750 W PSU, while the HD 7950 uses two 6-pin connectors and suggests a 550 W PSU. The RTX 3080 Ti is rated at 350 W TDP, the HD 7950 at 200 W, so the newer card consumes more power but delivers far more performance per watt in absolute terms.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database records no direct head-to-head benchmark pairs between the RTX 3080 Ti and the HD 7950. Instead, the comparison relies on their individual benchmark results across different APIs. The RTX 3080 Ti has ten recorded scores spanning DirectX 9 through DirectX 12, OpenCL, Vulkan, G2D, G3D, and compute. The HD 7950 has only one recorded score, a Geekbench Metal result of 33,951.

In the absence of overlapping tests, the average benchmark score serves as the primary comparison metric. The RTX 3080 Ti averages 41,187, which is 21.3% higher than the HD 7950's 33,951. The RTX 3080 Ti's nearest rivals in the database are the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 at 40,870 (0.8% lower), the NVIDIA Tesla M40 24 GB at 41,707 (1.2% higher), the NVIDIA Tesla M40 at 41,897 (1.7% higher), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 at 40,377 (2.0% lower). These close deltas suggest the RTX 3080 Ti sits in a competitive band among modern and professional cards.

The HD 7950's nearest rivals all cluster within 0.6% of its score. The AMD Radeon RX 480 scores 33,997 (0.1% higher), the AMD Radeon RX 7700S scores 33,849 (0.3% lower), the AMD Radeon RX 560 XT scores 34,133 (0.5% higher), and the NVIDIA RTX A2000 12 GB scores 34,154 (0.6% higher). This tight grouping indicates the HD 7950, despite its age, still aligns with entry-level and mid-range cards from later generations on the single recorded metric.

Within the RTX 3080 Ti's own benchmark suite, the most striking results are its Geekbench Vulkan score of 192,697 and OpenCL score of 170,037. These are roughly 5.7x and 5.0x the HD 7950's entire average score, respectively. The RTX 3080 Ti's Passmark G3D score of 26,896 is close to the HD 7950's total average, which illustrates how far the newer card has come in raw graphics throughput. Its Passmark GPU Compute score of 15,282 is less than half its G3D score, indicating compute-heavy workloads do not scale as well as graphics tasks on this card.

FAQ

Q: Which card has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The RTX 3080 Ti has an average benchmark score of 41,187, while the HD 7950 averages 33,951. That is a 21.3% advantage for the RTX 3080 Ti.

Q: Does the HD 7950 support DirectX 12 Ultimate?

A: No. The HD 7950 supports DirectX 12 (11_1) and Vulkan 1.2.170. The RTX 3080 Ti supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4.

Q: What memory configurations do the two cards use?

A: The RTX 3080 Ti uses 12 GB of GDDR6X on a 384-bit bus with 912.4 GB/s bandwidth. The HD 7950 uses 3 GB of GDDR5 on the same 384-bit bus, but only 240.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: How do the nearest rivals compare to each card?

A: The RTX 3080 Ti's closest rival is the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 at 0.8% lower average score, with the NVIDIA Tesla M40 24 GB 1.2% higher. The HD 7950's closest rival is the AMD Radeon RX 480 at 0.1% higher, with the AMD Radeon RX 7700S 0.3% lower.

Q: Does the HD 7950 have ray tracing or tensor cores?

A: No. The HD 7950 has no RT cores or tensor cores. The RTX 3080 Ti includes 80 RT cores and 320 tensor cores.

Q: What is the transistor count difference?

A: The RTX 3080 Ti contains 28,300 million transistors on an 8 nm Samsung process. The HD 7950 contains 4,313 million transistors on a 28 nm TSMC process.

Specification Differences

| Specification | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti | AMD Radeon HD 7950 |

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

| Architecture | Ampere | GCN 1.0 |

| Process node | 8 nm (Samsung) | 28 nm (TSMC) |

| Transistors | 28,300 million | 4,313 million |

| Die size | 628 mm² | 352 mm² |

| Transistor density | 45.1M / mm² | 12.3M / mm² |

| Memory size | 12 GB GDDR6X | 3 GB GDDR5 |

| Memory clock | 1188 MHz (19 Gbps effective) | 1250 MHz (5 Gbps effective) |

| Memory bandwidth | 912.4 GB/s | 240.0 GB/s |

| Shading units | 10,240 | 1,792 |

| Texture mapping units | 320 | 112 |

| ROPs | 112 | 32 |

| RT cores | 80 | None |

| Tensor cores | 320 | None |

| Pixel rate | 186.5 GPixel/s | 25.60 GPixel/s |

| Texture rate | 532.8 GTexel/s | 89.60 GTexel/s |

| FP32 performance | 34.10 TFLOPS | 2.867 TFLOPS |

| FP16 performance | 34.10 TFLOPS (1:1) | Not specified |

| TDP | 350 W | 200 W |

| Power connectors | 1x 12-pin | 2x 6-pin |

| Suggested PSU | 750 W | 550 W |

| Bus interface | PCIe 4.0 x16 | PCIe 3.0 x16 |

| Display outputs | 1x HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a | 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, 2x mini-DisplayPort 1.2 |

| DirectX support | 12 Ultimate (12_2) | 12 (11_1) |

| Vulkan support | 1.4 | 1.2.170 |

| OpenGL support | 4.6 | 4.6 |

| Length | 285 mm (11.2 inches) | 278 mm (10.9 inches) |

| Height | 112 mm (4.4 inches) | 111 mm (4.4 inches) |

| Width | 40 mm (1.6 inches) | 38 mm (1.5 inches) |

| Release date | 2021-05-30 | 2012-01-30 |

| Launch MSRP | 1,199 USD | 449 USD |

The RTX 3080 Ti leads in every compute and memory metric, while the HD 7950 only matches or exceeds it in none of the recorded specifications. The HD 7950 has a lower TDP and smaller physical footprint, but the RTX 3080 Ti offers more than 11x the FP32 throughput, nearly 4x the memory bandwidth, and support for newer API versions. The database records the RTX 3080 Ti as end-of-life and the HD 7950 as end-of-life as well, so both cards are no longer in active production.