AMD Radeon HD 7950 vs NVIDIA RTX A5000 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The benchmark database presents an unusual comparison: the AMD Radeon HD 7950, a 2012-era GCN 1.0 part, against the NVIDIA RTX A5000, a workstation Ampere GPU from 2021. The aggregate scores tell a surprising story. The HD 7950 posts an average benchmark score of 33,951, while the RTX A5000 averages 33,622. That places the HD 7950 a hair ahead, with the RTX A5000 trailing by 0.7%. In the nearestRivals data, the RTX A5000's deltaPct relative to the HD 7950 is -1%, meaning the NVIDIA card scores about 1% lower on this aggregate metric. It is a razor-thin margin, and both cards sit at the 78th percentile among all GPUs in the database.

The HD 7950's sole benchmark entry is a Geekbench Metal score of 33,951. The RTX A5000, by contrast, has a much broader benchmark footprint. Its highest single score is 157,905 in Geekbench OpenCL, followed by 137,828 in Geekbench Vulkan. In Passmark G3D, the RTX A5000 hits 22,541, and in Passmark GPU Compute it scores 12,455. The RTX A5000 also shows strong 2D performance with a Passmark G2D score of 1,032. The HD 7950 has no equivalent entries in these tests, so direct head-to-head comparisons are limited to the aggregate average.

When interpreting the averages, the data indicates the HD 7950's 33,951 score is nearly identical to several modern GPUs. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 480, scores 33,997, a deltaPct of -0.1% from the HD 7950. The AMD Radeon RX 7700S scores 33,849, which is 0.3% lower than the HD 7950. The NVIDIA RTX A2000 12 GB scores 34,154, putting the HD 7950 0.6% behind it. The RTX A5000's nearest rival list includes the GeForce GTX 1060 5 GB at 33,694, which is 0.2% ahead of the RTX A5000. The RTX A5000 also trails the RX 7700S by 0.7% and the RX 480 by 1.1%. The data shows both cards clustering within a 1.5% band of each other and their immediate rivals.

Where Each One Wins

The HD 7950 wins on the aggregate average benchmark score, edging out the RTX A5000 by roughly 1%. This is notable given the generational gap. The HD 7950's 33,951 average comes from a single Metal test, whereas the RTX A5000's 33,622 average is derived from ten separate benchmark runs across multiple APIs and workloads. The RTX A5000's average is dragged down by very low Passmark DirectX scores: 87 in DirectX 12, 153 in DirectX 10, and 187 in DirectX 11. Its Passmark DirectX 9 score of 251 is also modest. These legacy API tests appear to penalize the architecture heavily.

Where the RTX A5000 clearly wins is in raw compute and modern API workloads. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 157,905 is more than 4.6 times the HD 7950's entire benchmark suite. Its Vulkan score of 137,828 is similarly dominant. The RTX A5000's Passmark G3D score of 22,541 and GPU Compute score of 12,455 show strong performance in DirectX-based 3D rendering and general-purpose compute. The HD 7950 has no data for these workloads, so the RTX A5000 wins by default in any test that measures OpenCL, Vulkan, or Passmark compute.

The HD 7950 wins the aggregate comparison because its single Metal score is high enough to surpass the RTX A5000's multi-test average. That does not indicate superiority across workloads; it reflects the narrow benchmark coverage of the older card. The RTX A5000 wins in every multi-API scenario where data exists. The HD 7950 wins only in the single aggregated average.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are separated by nearly a decade of architectural evolution. The HD 7950 uses the Tahiti chip built on TSMC's 28 nm process, with 4,313 million transistors on a 352 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 12.3 million per mm². The RTX A5000 uses the GA102 chip on Samsung's 8 nm process, packing 28,300 million transistors into a 628 mm² die, for a density of 45.1 million per mm². That is over 6.5 times the transistor count and roughly 3.7 times the density.

Memory configurations differ sharply. The HD 7950 has 3 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus, delivering 240.0 GB/s of bandwidth at 1250 MHz (5 Gbps effective). The RTX A5000 has 24 GB of GDDR6 on a 384-bit bus, with 768.0 GB/s of bandwidth at 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective). The RTX A5000 offers 8 times the capacity and 3.2 times the bandwidth.

Compute resources are vastly different. The HD 7950 has 1,792 shading units, 112 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The RTX A5000 has 8,192 shading units, 256 TMUs, and 96 ROPs. The NVIDIA card also includes 64 RT cores and 256 tensor cores, features absent from the HD 7950. Pixel rate on the RTX A5000 is 162.7 GPixel/s versus 25.60 GPixel/s on the HD 7950. Texture rate is 433.9 GTexel/s versus 89.60 GTexel/s. FP32 throughput is 27.77 TFLOPS versus 2.867 TFLOPS, a nearly 10-fold difference. The RTX A5000 also has FP16 at 27.77 TFLOPS (1:1), while the HD 7950 lists no FP16 capability.

The RTX A5000 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the HD 7950 is limited to DirectX 12 (11_1). Both support OpenGL 4.6, but the RTX A5000 supports Vulkan 1.4 versus the HD 7950's Vulkan 1.2.170. The HD 7950 uses PCIe 3.0 x16, while the RTX A5000 uses PCIe 4.0 x16. Display outputs differ: the HD 7950 has 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 2x mini-DisplayPort 1.2, while the RTX A5000 has 4x DisplayPort 1.4a. Power requirements are 200 W TDP with 2x 6-pin connectors for the HD 7950, versus 230 W TDP with 1x 8-pin for the RTX A5000. Both suggest a 550 W PSU. The HD 7950 is 278 mm long, 111 mm tall, and 38 mm wide; the RTX A5000 is 267 mm long and 112 mm tall.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher aggregate benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon HD 7950 has an average benchmark score of 33,951, while the NVIDIA RTX A5000 averages 33,622. The HD 7950 leads by roughly 1%.

Q: How does the RTX A5000 perform in OpenCL and Vulkan?

A: The RTX A5000 scores 157,905 in Geekbench OpenCL and 137,828 in Geekbench Vulkan. The HD 7950 has no recorded scores for these APIs.

Q: What is the memory capacity difference?

A: The HD 7950 has 3 GB of GDDR5 memory, while the RTX A5000 has 24 GB of GDDR6 memory. The RTX A5000 also offers 768.0 GB/s bandwidth versus 240.0 GB/s.

Q: Does the RTX A5000 support hardware ray tracing?

A: Yes, the RTX A5000 has 64 RT cores. The HD 7950 has no RT cores listed.

Q: What are the FP32 performance figures?

A: The HD 7950 delivers 2.867 TFLOPS of FP32 compute. The RTX A5000 delivers 27.77 TFLOPS, which is approximately 9.7 times higher.

Q: How do the cards compare in Passmark G3D?

A: The RTX A5000 scores 22,541 in Passmark G3D. The HD 7950 has no Passmark G3D score in the database.

The Verdict

The data presents a clear split between the two cards. The HD 7950 wins the aggregate average benchmark score, but that is a function of its narrow benchmark coverage. A single Geekbench Metal score of 33,951 carries the entire average. The RTX A5000's average of 33,622 is pulled down by very low Passmark DirectX scores, but its modern API and compute scores are dramatically higher. The RTX A5000 scores 157,905 in OpenCL, 137,828 in Vulkan, and 22,541 in Passmark G3D. These are workloads the HD 7950 cannot compete in, given that no data exists for them.

From an architectural standpoint, the RTX A5000 is in a different class: 6.5 times the transistors, 8 times the memory capacity, 3.2 times the memory bandwidth, and nearly 10 times the FP32 throughput. It also adds RT cores and tensor cores, which the HD 7950 lacks entirely. The RTX A5000 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate and Vulkan 1.4, while the HD 7950 caps at DirectX 12 (11_1) and Vulkan 1.2.170.

The HD 7950's win in the aggregate is best understood as a quirk of benchmark coverage. Any user selecting for modern workloads, compute performance, or high-resolution rendering should rely on the RTX A5000, which dominates in every measured category except the single aggregate number. The HD 7950 remains competitive only in the narrow Metal benchmark, where it posts a score nearly identical to modern mid-range cards like the RX 480 and RX 7700S. For any other purpose, the RTX A5000 is the clear choice based on the available data.