AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT vs NVIDIA RTX 2000 Ada Generation Comparison

The AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT and NVIDIA RTX 2000 Ada Generation are two GPUs aimed at different corners of the market, and the benchmark data reflects that split. The AMD card, a Radeon RX 6000 series part built on RDNA 2.0, was released on 2022-05-09 with a launch MSRP of 399 USD. The NVIDIA card, from the Workstation Ada (x000A) generation, launched later on 2024-02-11 with a launch MSRP of 649 USD. While their average benchmark scores are close, the data shows they win in different categories, making the choice dependent on workload.

The Verdict

The data paints a clear picture of two specialists. The AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT is the pick for raw rasterization and legacy DirectX performance. It wins 4 of the 10 head-to-head benchmark comparisons, including decisive victories in PassMark DirectX 10 (109 vs 82, a 32.9% lead) and PassMark DirectX 11 (169 vs 138, a 22.5% lead). Its average benchmark score of 19765 places it in the 65th percentile of all GPUs, slightly ahead of the NVIDIA card's 18954 average and 63rd percentile ranking.

The NVIDIA RTX 2000 Ada Generation is the choice for compute-heavy and modern API workloads. It wins 6 of the 10 head-to-head tests, with a massive victory in Geekbench OpenCL (78074 vs 10111, an 87% delta). It also leads in Geekbench Vulkan (83360 vs 81306) and PassMark GPU Compute (7834 vs 7532). For professionals or users running OpenCL workloads, the NVIDIA card is the only logical option from this data. The RTX 2000 Ada also offers double the memory capacity (16 GB vs 8 GB), making it more suitable for larger datasets, but the AMD card is the faster traditional gaming GPU.

Architecture Differences

The two cards are built on fundamentally different architectures and process nodes. The AMD RX 6650 XT uses the Navi 23 chip on TSMC's 7 nm process, featuring 11,060 million transistors on a 237 mm² die. The NVIDIA RTX 2000 Ada uses the AD107 chip on TSMC's 5 nm process, packing 18,900 million transistors into a smaller 159 mm² die. This gives the NVIDIA part a significantly higher transistor density (118.9M / mm² vs 46.7M / mm²).

The AMD card is based on RDNA 2.0 architecture, while NVIDIA uses Ada Lovelace. The RX 6650 XT has 2048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, with 32 dedicated ray tracing cores. The RTX 2000 Ada has more shading units (2816) but fewer TMUs (88) and ROPs (48). It also has only 22 ray tracing cores but adds 88 tensor cores, which the AMD card lacks entirely. Clock speeds differ substantially: the AMD card boosts to 2635 MHz with a 2055 MHz base, while the NVIDIA card boosts to 2130 MHz with a 1620 MHz base. The AMD card's higher clocks help drive its texture rate to 337.3 GTexel/s and pixel rate to 168.6 GPixel/s, compared to 187.4 GTexel/s and 102.2 GPixel/s for the NVIDIA card.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has more memory, and how does that affect the comparison?

A: The NVIDIA RTX 2000 Ada Generation has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory, double the 8 GB on the AMD RX 6650 XT. Both use a 128-bit bus, but the AMD card has higher bandwidth at 280.3 GB/s versus 256.0 GB/s for NVIDIA.

Q: What is the power consumption difference?

A: The NVIDIA RTX 2000 Ada Generation has a TDP of 70 W and requires no power connectors, with a suggested PSU of 250 W. The AMD RX 6650 XT has a TDP of 176 W, requires a single 8-pin connector, and needs a 450 W PSU.

Q: Which card performs better in DirectX 12 Ultimate?

A: Both cards support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2). In the PassMark DirectX 12 test, the NVIDIA card wins with a score of 71 versus 62 for AMD, a 12.7% advantage. However, in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, the AMD card wins 1859 to 1767, a 5.2% lead.

Q: How do the cards compare in compute performance?

A: The NVIDIA RTX 2000 Ada Generation is overwhelmingly faster in compute. It scores 78074 in Geekbench OpenCL versus 10111 for AMD, and 7834 in PassMark GPU Compute versus 7532 for AMD. The NVIDIA card also has 88 tensor cores, while AMD has none.

Q: What are the physical and interface differences?

A: Both are dual-slot cards with a PCIe 4.0 x8 interface. The NVIDIA card is 168 mm long and 69 mm high, while AMD lists no dimensions. NVIDIA uses 4x mini-DisplayPort 1.4a outputs, while AMD uses 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a.

Q: Which card is better for Vulkan workloads?

A: The NVIDIA RTX 2000 Ada Generation wins in Geekbench Vulkan with a score of 83360 versus 81306 for AMD, a modest 2.5% advantage.

Specification Differences

The specifications where the two cards differ are substantial. The AMD RX 6650 XT has a higher base clock (2055 MHz vs 1620 MHz), boost clock (2635 MHz vs 2130 MHz), and a game clock of 2410 MHz that NVIDIA does not list. The AMD card has more TMUs (128 vs 88), more ROPs (64 vs 48), and more ray tracing cores (32 vs 22). However, NVIDIA has more shading units (2816 vs 2048) and 88 tensor cores versus none on AMD.

Memory configurations differ: AMD has 8 GB GDDR6 with 280.3 GB/s bandwidth, while NVIDIA has 16 GB GDDR6 with 256.0 GB/s bandwidth. The NVIDIA card has a higher FP32 compute rating (12.00 TFLOPS vs 10.79 TFLOPS) and matches it with FP16 at 12.00 TFLOPS (1:1), while AMD's FP16 is 21.59 TFLOPS (2:1). The NVIDIA card is much more power-efficient with a 70 W TDP versus 176 W, and it draws power from the slot rather than a connector. The AMD card is end-of-life, while the NVIDIA card is active production. The NVIDIA card is also smaller at 168 mm x 69 mm, and it has four mini-DisplayPort outputs versus AMD's mixed HDMI/DisplayPort set.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The largest single victory in the comparison belongs to the NVIDIA RTX 2000 Ada Generation in Geekbench OpenCL. Its score of 78074 crushes the AMD card's 10111, an 87% delta. This is not a marginal win; it is a dominant performance gap that defines the NVIDIA card's compute focus. The PassMark DirectX 10 test shows the opposite extreme, with AMD winning 109 to 82, a 32.9% advantage that demonstrates the RX 6650 XT's strength in legacy APIs.

In DirectX 11, AMD continues its lead with a 169 to 138 win (22.5% delta). The NVIDIA card fights back in DirectX 12, taking the PassMark test 71 to 62 (12.7% delta), though AMD wins the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test 1859 to 1767 (5.2% delta). The DirectX 9 test is essentially a tie, with NVIDIA winning 216 to 215 (0.5% delta).

The 3DMark Steel Nomad result is interesting because it shows AMD ahead in a modern DX12 workload despite NVIDIA's newer architecture. However, the Geekbench Vulkan test favors NVIDIA, 83360 to 81306 (2.5% delta). In the synthetic PassMark G3D test, AMD edges out NVIDIA 17166 to 16927 (1.4% delta), while NVIDIA wins the G2D test 1072 to 918 (14.4% delta) and the GPU Compute test 7834 to 7532 (3.9% delta).

The overall average benchmark scores are close — 19765 for AMD versus 18954 for NVIDIA — and both cards sit near the 63rd-65th percentile of all GPUs. The AMD card's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Tesla K40m (19885, -0.6% delta) and AMD FirePro W7000 (19905, -0.7% delta), while the NVIDIA card's rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6600 (19036, -0.4% delta) and GeForce RTX 4050 Mobile (19049, -0.5% delta). These nearby competitors confirm that the two cards occupy a similar performance tier overall, but their strengths are polarized between rasterization and compute.