AMD Radeon HD 8950M vs AMD Radeon RX 7600 Comparison

FAQ

Q: How much faster is the AMD Radeon RX 7600 than the AMD Radeon HD 8950M in OpenCL compute?

A: The RX 7600 scores 88,051 in Geekbench OpenCL, while the HD 8950M scores 13,772. That is a 539.3% advantage for the RX 7600, the largest single-test gap in the head-to-head data.

Q: Does the HD 8950M have any benchmark where it beats the RX 7600?

A: No. Across the two recorded head-to-head tests, the RX 7600 wins both, with the smallest margin being 165.1% in Geekbench Vulkan (34,401 vs 12,979).

Q: What are the architectural generations of these two GPUs?

A: The RX 7600 uses the RDNA 3.0 architecture on the Navi 33 chip, part of the Navi III (RX 7000) generation. The HD 8950M uses GCN 2.0 on the Saturn chip, part of the Solar System (HD 8900M) generation.

Q: How do their memory subsystems compare?

A: The RX 7600 has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus with 288.0 GB/s bandwidth. The HD 8950M has 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus with 88.00 GB/s bandwidth. Both use a 128-bit interface, but the RX 7600 has four times the capacity and roughly 3.3 times the bandwidth.

Q: What is the transistor density difference between the two chips?

A: The RX 7600's Navi 33 packs 13,300 million transistors into 204 mm², yielding 65.2M transistors per mm². The HD 8950M's Saturn chip has 2,080 million transistors across 160 mm², for 13.0M per mm².

Q: What is the production status and release timing for each card?

A: The RX 7600 is listed as Active and was released on 2023-05-24. The HD 8950M is End-of-life and was released on 2013-05-13, a ten-year gap between the two launch dates.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear hierarchy: the AMD Radeon RX 7600 is the decisive performer in every metric recorded. Its average benchmark score of 15,171 places it at the 57th percentile of all GPUs, while the HD 8950M averages 13,376 at the 54th percentile. The 1,795-point gap in average score is substantial, but the head-to-head results reveal a far larger chasm in raw compute and graphics API performance.

For anyone choosing between these two, the RX 7600 is the only sensible pick for modern workloads. It wins both available head-to-head tests by margins of 165.1% and 539.3%. The HD 8950M, meanwhile, sits near the RX 7600 in percentile ranking only because its rivals are similarly dated parts. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 5500M (0.2% ahead), the AMD FirePro M6100 (0.2% ahead), the AMD Radeon Pro 555 (0.2% behind), and the AMD Radeon Pro 555X (0.4% ahead). The RX 7600's nearest rivals, by contrast, include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM (0.2% behind) and the AMD Radeon 680M (0.7% behind), a much more modern peer group.

The verdict is straightforward: the RX 7600 is a current-generation, active product with DX12 Ultimate support, 32 ray tracing cores, and a 6 nm process. The HD 8950M is an end-of-life mobile part from 2013 with GCN 2.0, no ray tracing hardware, and a 28 nm process. If the workload is anything beyond legacy titles or basic compute, the RX 7600 is the only rational option.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded head-to-head data contains two tests, and the RX 7600 dominates both.

In Geekbench OpenCL, the RX 7600 scores 88,051 against the HD 8950M's 13,772. This is a 539.3% delta, meaning the RX 7600 delivers more than six times the OpenCL compute performance. The HD 8950M's 768 shading units and 1.651 TFLOPS FP32 throughput are simply overwhelmed by the RX 7600's 2,048 shading units and 21.75 TFLOPS FP32. The RX 7600 also has a 339.8 GTexel/s texture rate versus 51.60 GTexel/s, and a 169.9 GPixel/s pixel rate versus 17.20 GPixel/s.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the RX 7600 scores 34,401 against 12,979, a 165.1% advantage. This narrower margin still represents roughly 2.7 times the performance. The Vulkan gap is smaller than OpenCL, suggesting the HD 8950M's GCN 2.0 architecture retains some efficiency in this API, but it is nowhere near competitive. The RX 7600 supports Vulkan 1.4, while the HD 8950M is limited to Vulkan 1.2.170.

Beyond the head-to-head tests, the broader benchmark records reinforce this picture. The RX 7600 has ten recorded benchmarks including 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 at 2,310, PassMark G3D at 16,634, and PassMark GPU Compute at 8,790. The HD 8950M has only two recorded benchmarks beyond the head-to-head pair, both of which are the same Geekbench tests. No DirectX, PassMark, or 3DMark scores exist for the HD 8950M in the database, so the comparison is limited to those two API tests.

The RX 7600's PassMark DirectX 9 score of 226 versus its DirectX 11 score of 172 and DirectX 12 score of 58 shows a typical pattern where older APIs run at higher frame rates. The HD 8950M has no such data, so its DirectX behavior cannot be quantified here. What is clear is that the RX 7600's 21.75 TFLOPS FP32 and 288.0 GB/s bandwidth give it an insurmountable lead in any compute or graphics workload captured by these benchmarks.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every measurable specification.

Process and Die: The RX 7600 uses TSMC's 6 nm process with 13,300 million transistors on a 204 mm² die. The HD 8950M uses TSMC's 28 nm process with 2,080 million transistors on a 160 mm² die. Transistor density is 65.2M per mm² for the RX 7600 versus 13.0M per mm² for the HD 8950M.

Clock Speeds: The RX 7600 has a base clock of 1720 MHz, a boost clock of 2655 MHz, and a game clock of 2250 MHz. Its memory runs at 2250 MHz with 18 Gbps effective. The HD 8950M has no base, boost, or game clock listed; its memory runs at 1375 MHz with 5.5 Gbps effective.

Memory: The RX 7600 has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus with 288.0 GB/s bandwidth. The HD 8950M has 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus with 88.00 GB/s bandwidth.

Compute Units: The RX 7600 has 2,048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. The HD 8950M has 768 shading units, 48 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. The RX 7600 also has 32 ray tracing cores; the HD 8950M has none.

Throughput: The RX 7600 delivers 169.9 GPixel/s pixel rate, 339.8 GTexel/s texture rate, and 21.75 TFLOPS FP32 with 21.75 TFLOPS FP16 (1:1). The HD 8950M delivers 17.20 GPixel/s, 51.60 GTexel/s, and 1.651 TFLOPS FP32 with no FP16 figure listed.

Power and Physical: The RX 7600 has a 165 W TDP, is dual-slot, uses a single 8-pin power connector, and requires a 450 W suggested PSU. It measures 204 mm in length and 115 mm in height. The HD 8950M has a 100 W TDP, uses an MXM module form factor, has no power connector or PSU listing, and no dimensions recorded.

Bus and Outputs: The RX 7600 uses PCIe 4.0 x8 with 1x HDMI 2.1a and 3x DisplayPort 2.1 outputs. The HD 8950M uses PCIe 3.0 x16 with display outputs described as "Portable Device Dependent."

API Support: The RX 7600 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The HD 8950M supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170.

Production Status: The RX 7600 is Active; the HD 8950M is End-of-life.

Architecture Differences

The RX 7600 is built on RDNA 3.0, AMD's current-generation graphics architecture, using the Navi 33 chip with the codename Hotpink Bonefish. It belongs to the Navi III (RX 7000) generation and succeeds the Navi II architecture. The HD 8950M is built on GCN 2.0, a much older design, using the Saturn chip and belonging to the Solar System (HD 8900M) generation. Its predecessor is London and its successor is Gem System.

The architectural gap is visible in the compute feature set. RDNA 3.0 introduces 32 dedicated ray tracing cores on the RX 7600, enabling hardware-accelerated ray tracing. GCN 2.0 has no ray tracing hardware at all. The RX 7600 also supports FP16 at a 1:1 ratio with FP32, both at 21.75 TFLOPS, which is a hallmark of RDNA 3.0's shader redesign. The HD 8950M has no recorded FP16 throughput.

The memory architecture reflects the generational shift as well. The RX 7600 uses GDDR6 at 18 Gbps effective with 288.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the HD 8950M uses GDDR5 at 5.5 Gbps effective with 88.00 GB/s bandwidth. Both use 128-bit buses, but the newer memory standard and higher clock deliver 3.3 times the bandwidth.

The process node difference is the most fundamental architectural gap. TSMC's 6 nm node allows 13,300 million transistors in 204 mm², a density of 65.2M per mm². The 28 nm node allows only 2,080 million transistors in 160 mm², a density of 13.0M per mm². This fivefold density advantage underpins the RX 7600's higher shading unit count (2,048 vs 768), higher TMU count (128 vs 48), and higher ROP count (64 vs 16).

The API support also reflects the architectural divide. The RX 7600 is DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) compliant, meaning it supports mesh shaders, variable rate shading, and other modern DX12 features. The HD 8950M only reaches DirectX 12 (12_0), missing those Ultimate features. Vulkan support is also newer on the RX 7600 (1.4 vs 1.2.170). The RX 7600's launch MSRP was 269 USD; no launch MSRP exists for the HD 8950M.

The power envelope tells a similar story. The RX 7600 consumes 165 W TDP despite its 6 nm process, because it packs far more compute resources. The HD 8950M consumes 100 W TDP with far fewer resources. The RX 7600 requires a 450 W suggested PSU and a single 8-pin connector, while the HD 8950M's MXM module format draws power through the laptop's own power delivery system. In short, the RX 7600 is a desktop-class, current-generation part with ray tracing and modern API support; the HD 8950M is a legacy mobile part from the GCN era with none of those features.