AMD Radeon HD 8950M vs AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT Comparison

FAQ

Q: How much faster is the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT than the AMD Radeon HD 8950M in Vulkan compute?

A: The RX 7800 XT scores 54,228 in Geekbench Vulkan, while the HD 8950M scores 12,979. That is a 76.1% advantage for the RX 7800 XT, the largest performance gap recorded between these two cards.

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The HD 8950M has a higher average benchmark score of 13,376, compared to the RX 7800 XT's 11,627. However, the RX 7800 XT has a much larger benchmark suite, including Passmark tests, while the HD 8950M only has two Geekbench entries.

Q: What is the memory capacity difference between the two cards?

A: The RX 7800 XT features 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, while the HD 8950M has 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus. Memory bandwidth is 624.1 GB/s for the RX 7800 XT versus 88.00 GB/s for the HD 8950M.

Q: Which GPU has higher pixel and texture rates?

A: The RX 7800 XT delivers 233.3 GPixel/s and 583.2 GTexel/s. The HD 8950M delivers 17.20 GPixel/s and 51.60 GTexel/s. The RX 7800 XT is roughly 13.6 times faster in pixel throughput and 11.3 times faster in texture throughput.

Q: How do the two cards compare in transistor density?

A: The RX 7800 XT, built on a 5 nm process, has a transistor density of 81.2M per mm². The HD 8950M, built on a 28 nm process, has a density of 13.0M per mm². That is a 6.2 times higher density for the newer card.

Q: What is the release date difference between these GPUs?

A: The HD 8950M was released on May 13, 2013, and is end-of-life. The RX 7800 XT was released on September 5, 2023, and is still active in production. That is a gap of roughly ten years.

Architecture Differences

The HD 8950M is built on GCN 2.0 architecture with the Saturn chip, fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC. It packs 2,080 million transistors into a 160 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 13.0M per mm². The RX 7800 XT uses RDNA 3.0 architecture with the Navi 32 chip, fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It contains 28,100 million transistors on a 346 mm² die, giving a density of 81.2M per mm². The newer card has over 13 times the transistor count on a die that is only about twice the area.

The HD 8950M has 768 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 16 ROPs. The RX 7800 XT has 3,840 shading units, 240 TMUs, and 96 ROPs. That represents a 5 times increase in shading units, a 5 times increase in TMUs, and a 6 times increase in ROPs. The RX 7800 XT also includes 60 ray tracing cores, a feature entirely absent from the HD 8950M.

The memory subsystem differs substantially. The HD 8950M uses 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus, with memory clocked at 1375 MHz (5.5 Gbps effective) and bandwidth of 88.00 GB/s. The RX 7800 XT uses 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, with memory at 2438 MHz (19.5 Gbps effective) and bandwidth of 624.1 GB/s. That is a 7.1 times increase in bandwidth.

FP32 compute performance shows the generational leap clearly: the HD 8950M delivers 1.651 TFLOPS, while the RX 7800 XT delivers 37.32 TFLOPS. The RX 7800 XT also provides FP16 at 37.32 TFLOPS with a 1:1 ratio, a feature not specified for the HD 8950M. The RX 7800 XT supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the HD 8950M tops out at DirectX 12 (12_0). Vulkan API versions also differ: 1.4 for the RX 7800 XT versus 1.2.170 for the HD 8950M.

The form factors are entirely different. The HD 8950M is an MXM module, portable device dependent for display outputs, with a 100 W TDP. The RX 7800 XT is a dual-slot card measuring 267 mm by 111 mm by 50 mm, with 2x 8-pin power connectors, a suggested 600 W PSU, and display outputs including 1x HDMI 2.1a and 3x DisplayPort 2.1. The bus interface also advances from PCIe 3.0 x16 to PCIe 4.0 x16.

The Verdict

The data points to one conclusion: the RX 7800 XT is in a different performance class entirely. In Geekbench OpenCL, it scores 18,290 against the HD 8950M's 13,772, a 24.7% lead. In Geekbench Vulkan, it scores 54,228 against 12,979, a 76.1% lead. These are not incremental gains; they are generational leaps.

The HD 8950M's higher average benchmark score of 13,376 versus 11,627 is a statistical artifact of limited testing. The HD 8950M has only two benchmark results, both Geekbench tests, while the RX 7800 XT has ten results including multiple Passmark tests. The RX 7800 XT's Passmark G3D score of 24,176 and GPU compute score of 13,473 demonstrate far broader capability.

For any modern workload, the RX 7800 XT is the clear choice. Its 16 GB memory capacity, 60 ray tracing cores, and DirectX 12 Ultimate support make it suitable for current gaming and compute tasks. The HD 8950M, with 2 GB memory and no ray tracing support, is limited to legacy applications and older DirectX 12 workloads.

The HD 8950M's only advantage is power consumption at 100 W versus 263 W, and its MXM form factor for portable devices. For desktop use, the RX 7800 XT's dual-slot design and 600 W suggested PSU are reasonable trade-offs for the massive performance increase.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon HD 8950M | AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT |

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

| Architecture | GCN 2.0 | RDNA 3.0 |

| Chip | Saturn | Navi 32 |

| Process Node | 28 nm | 5 nm |

| Transistors | 2,080 million | 28,100 million |

| Die Size | 160 mm² | 346 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 13.0M / mm² | 81.2M / mm² |

| Base Clock | Not specified | 1295 MHz |

| Boost Clock | Not specified | 2430 MHz |

| Game Clock | Not specified | 2124 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 1375 MHz (5.5 Gbps effective) | 2438 MHz (19.5 Gbps effective) |

| Memory Size | 2 GB | 16 GB |

| Memory Type | GDDR5 | GDDR6 |

| Memory Bus | 128 bit | 256 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 88.00 GB/s | 624.1 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 768 | 3840 |

| TMUs | 48 | 240 |

| ROPs | 16 | 96 |

| Ray Tracing Cores | Not specified | 60 |

| Pixel Rate | 17.20 GPixel/s | 233.3 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 51.60 GTexel/s | 583.2 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 1.651 TFLOPS | 37.32 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | Not specified | 37.32 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 100 W | 263 W |

| Slot Width | MXM Module | Dual-slot |

| Power Connectors | Not specified | 2x 8-pin |

| Suggested PSU | Not specified | 600 W |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | PCIe 4.0 x16 |

| Display Outputs | Portable Device Dependent | 1x HDMI 2.1a, 3x DisplayPort 2.1 |

| DirectX | 12 (12_0) | 12 Ultimate (12_2) |

| Vulkan | 1.2.170 | 1.4 |

| Production Status | End-of-life | Active |

| Release Date | 2013-05-13 | 2023-09-05 |

| Predecessor | London | Navi II |

| Successor | Gem System | Navi IV |

| Launch MSRP | Not specified | 499 USD |

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only two directly comparable benchmark results are from Geekbench, and the RX 7800 XT wins both.

In Geekbench OpenCL, the RX 7800 XT scores 18,290, which is 24.7% higher than the HD 8950M's 13,772. That lead is substantial but not overwhelming, reflecting the compute-oriented nature of both architectures. The HD 8950M's nearest rivals in this metric are the AMD Radeon Pro 555X at 13,321 (0.4% lower) and the AMD Radeon Pro 555 at 13,407 (0.2% higher), showing that the HD 8950M sits in a tightly packed cluster of mid-range mobile GPUs.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the gap widens dramatically. The RX 7800 XT scores 54,228, which is 76.1% higher than the HD 8950M's 12,979. This massive delta suggests that the RDNA 3.0 architecture's Vulkan implementation is far more efficient, likely benefiting from newer driver optimizations and hardware features such as the 60 ray tracing cores and updated API support up to Vulkan 1.4.

Looking at the broader benchmark suite, the RX 7800 XT's Passmark results provide context. Its Passmark G3D score of 24,176 and GPU compute score of 13,473 indicate strong general-purpose and 3D rendering performance. The Passmark DirectX 9 score of 304, DirectX 10 score of 121, DirectX 11 score of 249, and DirectX 12 score of 93 show varied performance across API generations, with the DirectX 9 result being notably strong relative to the others.

The HD 8950M has no Passmark results in the database, so direct comparisons across those tests are impossible. Its average benchmark score of 13,376 places it at the 54th percentile of all GPUs, while the RX 7800 XT sits at the 51st percentile with an average of 11,627. These percentile figures are influenced by the different benchmark sets each card has been subjected to.

The RX 7800 XT's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 at 11,680 (0.5% lower), the AMD Radeon Pro 5500M at 11,528 (0.9% higher), the NVIDIA Tesla K20c at 11,479 (1.3% higher), and the AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT at 11,842 (1.8% lower). The HD 8950M's nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon RX 5500M at 13,356 (0.2% lower), the AMD FirePro M6100 at 13,354 (0.2% lower), the AMD Radeon Pro 555 at 13,407 (0.2% higher), and the AMD Radeon Pro 555X at 13,321 (0.4% higher).

Where Each One Wins

The RX 7800 XT wins every head-to-head benchmark recorded. Its dominance is most pronounced in Vulkan compute, where the 76.1% lead over the HD 8950M dwarfs the 24.7% lead in OpenCL. This suggests that workloads leveraging modern graphics APIs will see the largest benefit from the newer card.

For gaming, the RX 7800 XT's 16 GB GDDR6 memory and 624.1 GB/s bandwidth provide ample headroom for high-resolution textures and modern game engines. The 60 ray tracing cores enable hardware-accelerated ray tracing, a feature the HD 8950M cannot offer. DirectX 12 Ultimate support means the RX 7800 XT can handle the latest DirectX 12_2 features, while the HD 8950M is limited to DirectX 12_0.

For compute tasks, the RX 7800 XT's 37.32 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 37.32 TFLOPS FP16 performance (1:1 ratio) position it well for scientific computing, machine learning inference, and content creation. The HD 8950M's 1.651 TFLOPS FP32 is sufficient for older workloads but cannot handle modern compute demands.

The HD 8950M's advantages are narrower. Its 100 W TDP makes it suitable for portable devices where power consumption is critical. Its MXM module form factor allows for easy replacement in laptops that support the standard. Its smaller die size of 160 mm² means lower manufacturing complexity, but this is irrelevant to end users.

For those working with legacy software that only supports older APIs, the HD 8950M's DirectX 12_0 and Vulkan 1.2.170 support may be sufficient. However, the RX 7800 XT also supports OpenGL 4.6, matching the HD 8950M's OpenGL 4.0 capability.

The production status difference matters for long-term reliability. The HD 8950M is end-of-life, meaning AMD no longer actively produces it and driver updates may cease entirely. The RX 7800 XT is active, ensuring ongoing software support and optimization for years to come.

In summary, the RX 7800 XT is the superior card for virtually every use case except those constrained by power constraints or requiring MXM form factor requirements. The HD 8950M remains relevant only for legacy portable systems with limited performance needs.