AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT vs NVIDIA CMP 50HX Comparison

The AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT and the NVIDIA CMP 50HX represent two radically different interpretations of high-end graphics hardware. The RX 6950 XT is a fully-featured consumer flagship from the Radeon RX 6000 series, while the CMP 50HX is a mining-focused Turing product with no display outputs. Benchmark data shows a decisive performance gap, with the AMD card winning both shared tests by a massive margin, though the CMP 50HX still holds its own in the broader GPU landscape.

The Verdict

The data dictates a clear choice for nearly every scenario: the AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT is the superior product for any use case requiring display output, gaming, or general compute. It wins both head-to-head benchmarks decisively, with a 267% lead in Geekbench OpenCL and a 248.2% lead in Geekbench Vulkan. Its average benchmark score of 58,392 places it in the 88th percentile of all GPUs, while the CMP 50HX sits at 51,790 in the 86th percentile. The only reason to select the CMP 50HX is if the workload is exclusively mining-oriented, where its lack of display outputs and lower power draw are non-issues. For anyone building a system that must render images or connect to a monitor, the RX 6950 XT is the only rational option.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide between these two cards is stark. The RX 6950 XT uses the Navi 21 chip built on RDNA 2.0 architecture, fabricated on a 7 nm process at TSMC. It packs 26,800 million transistors on a 520 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 51.5M per mm². In contrast, the CMP 50HX uses the TU102 chip with Turing architecture, built on an older 12 nm process. It contains 18,600 million transistors spread across a much larger 754 mm² die, resulting in a lower density of 24.7M per mm². This process advantage gives AMD a significant efficiency and density edge from the start.

The RX 6950 XT features 5,120 shading units, 320 TMUs, and 128 ROPs, alongside 80 ray tracing cores. The CMP 50HX has 3,584 shading units, 192 TMUs, and 80 ROPs, with 56 ray tracing cores. However, the CMP 50HX does include 448 tensor cores, a feature absent from the AMD card. Memory configurations also differ sharply: the AMD card offers 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus with 576.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the CMP 50HX has 10 GB of GDDR6 on a 320-bit bus with 560.0 GB/s bandwidth. The AMD card's memory clock runs at 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective), versus 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) for the NVIDIA.

Clock speeds further separate the two. The RX 6950 XT has a base clock of 1860 MHz, a game clock of 2100 MHz, and a boost clock of 2310 MHz. The CMP 50HX operates at a base of 1350 MHz and a boost of 1545 MHz. This clock advantage translates directly into compute throughput: the AMD card delivers 23.65 TFLOPS FP32 and 47.31 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1), while the CMP 50HX manages 11.07 TFLOPS FP32 and 22.15 TFLOPS FP16. Pixel rate is 295.7 GPixel/s for AMD versus 123.6 GPixel/s for NVIDIA, and texture rate is 739.2 GTexel/s versus 296.6 GTexel/s.

Physical and interface differences are equally pronounced. The RX 6950 XT is a triple-slot card with a 335 W TDP, requiring a 700 W PSU, and connects via PCIe 4.0 x16. It offers 1x HDMI 2.1 and 2x DisplayPort 1.4a outputs. The CMP 50HX is a dual-slot card with a 250 W TDP, a 600 W PSU requirement, and a limited PCIe 1.0 x4 interface. Critically, it has no display outputs at all. Both cards share the same 267 mm length, but the AMD card is taller at 120 mm versus 116 mm and thicker at 50 mm versus 35 mm for the NVIDIA.

Where Each One Wins

The RX 6950 XT wins decisively in every benchmark category where both cards have data. In Geekbench OpenCL, it scores 205,998 against the CMP 50HX's 56,135. In Geekbench Vulkan, it scores 165,212 versus 47,445. These are not marginal victories; they represent more than triple the performance in OpenCL and more than triple in Vulkan. The AMD card's additional benchmarks further reinforce its dominance, with a Passmark G3D score of 28,070, a Passmark GPU Compute score of 14,199, and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 4,235.

The CMP 50HX has no benchmark wins in the shared tests. Its only advantages are structural: a lower TDP of 250 W versus 335 W, a dual-slot form factor versus triple-slot, and a lower recommended PSU of 600 W versus 700 W. These factors could matter in mining rigs where power density and space are at a premium. The presence of tensor cores, absent in the AMD card, suggests potential for specific compute workloads, though no benchmark data supports a performance advantage. The CMP 50HX also sits closer to its nearest rivals in average score, with a deltaPct of only 1.6% behind the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT, while the RX 6950 XT's nearest rival is the NVIDIA P102-100 at just 0.2% difference.

FAQ

Q: Which card has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT has an average benchmark score of 58,392, compared to the NVIDIA CMP 50HX's 51,790. This places the AMD card in the 88th percentile of all GPUs, while the CMP 50HX sits in the 86th percentile.

Q: What is the biggest performance gap between the two cards?

A: The largest gap is in Geekbench OpenCL, where the RX 6950 XT scores 205,998 against the CMP 50HX's 56,135, a delta of 267%. The Vulkan test shows a similar 248.2% advantage for the AMD card.

Q: Does the CMP 50HX support display output?

A: No. The NVIDIA CMP 50HX has no display outputs, making it unsuitable for any system requiring a monitor connection. The RX 6950 XT offers 1x HDMI 2.1 and 2x DisplayPort 1.4a outputs.

Q: How do their power requirements compare?

A: The RX 6950 XT has a TDP of 335 W and requires a 700 W PSU, while the CMP 50HX has a TDP of 250 W and requires a 600 W PSU. The NVIDIA card is also dual-slot versus the AMD card's triple-slot design.

Q: Which card has more memory and bandwidth?

A: The RX 6950 XT has 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus with 576.0 GB/s bandwidth. The CMP 50HX has 10 GB of GDDR6 on a 320-bit bus with 560.0 GB/s bandwidth, meaning the AMD card offers both more capacity and higher bandwidth.

Q: Are they in the same performance tier according to nearest rivals?

A: Not exactly. The RX 6950 XT's nearest rival is the NVIDIA P102-100 with a deltaPct of -0.2%, while the CMP 50HX's nearest rival is the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT with a deltaPct of 1.6%. The AMD card ranks higher in percentile against all GPUs.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The head-to-head data reveals an absolute rout. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RX 6950 XT scores 205,998, which is 267% higher than the CMP 50HX's 56,135. This means the AMD card delivers more than 3.6 times the raw compute throughput in this cross-platform API. The result is consistent with the massive architectural advantages: the AMD card has 5,120 shading units versus 3,584, a 2310 MHz boost clock versus 1545 MHz, and over twice the FP32 throughput at 23.65 TFLOPS versus 11.07 TFLOPS.

The Geekbench Vulkan test shows a similar story. The RX 6950 XT scores 165,212 against the CMP 50HX's 47,445, a delta of 248.2%. This performance gap is slightly smaller than the OpenCL margin but still represents more than 3.4 times the performance. Vulkan is a low-level API that often favors architectures with higher raw compute and memory bandwidth, and the AMD card's 576.0 GB/s bandwidth versus 560.0 GB/s, combined with its superior compute rates, explains the outcome.

These results are not isolated. The RX 6950 XT's broader benchmark suite shows consistent strength: a Passmark G3D score of 28,070, a Passmark GPU Compute score of 14,199, and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 4,235. While the CMP 50HX lacks comparable data points, its average score of 51,790 versus 58,392 for the AMD card confirms that the gap extends beyond the two shared tests. The percentile rankings reinforce this: the RX 6950 XT at the 88th percentile versus the CMP 50HX at the 86th percentile, despite the latter being compared against a broader field that includes many weaker cards.

The nearest rival data adds context. The RX 6950 XT's closest competitor, the NVIDIA P102-100, trails by just 0.2%, indicating the AMD card sits at the top of its performance tier. The CMP 50HX, meanwhile, leads the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT by 1.6% in average score, showing it is competitive with a previous-generation flagship despite its mining focus. Yet against the RX 6950 XT, the CMP 50HX has no answer. Every shared metric points to the same conclusion: the RX 6950 XT is in a different performance class entirely.