AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT vs NVIDIA RTX A3000 Mobile Comparison

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in compute workloads according to the recorded data?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT. In Geekbench OpenCL, it scores 205,998 versus 79,091 for the NVIDIA RTX A3000 Mobile, a 61.6% advantage for the AMD card.

Q: How does the NVIDIA RTX A3000 Mobile compare in Vulkan performance?

A: The NVIDIA part trails significantly. The AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT scores 165,212 in Geekbench Vulkan, while the RTX A3000 Mobile manages 61,189, a 63% deficit for the NVIDIA GPU.

Q: What is the thermal design power difference between the two cards?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A3000 Mobile has a TDP of 70 W, while the AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT is rated at 335 W. The AMD card consumes substantially more power.

Q: Which GPU offers more memory bandwidth?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT offers 576.0 GB/s across a 256-bit bus with 16 GB of GDDR6 memory. The NVIDIA RTX A3000 Mobile provides 264.0 GB/s over a 192-bit bus with 6 GB of GDDR6 memory.

Q: What is the launch MSRP of the AMD card?

A: The launch MSRP of the AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT is 1,099 USD. No launch MSRP is recorded for the NVIDIA RTX A3000 Mobile.

Q: Which GPU has the higher transistor count?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT packs 26,800 million transistors on a 520 mm² die, whereas the NVIDIA RTX A3000 Mobile has 17,400 million transistors on a 392 mm² die.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from fundamentally different design philosophies. The NVIDIA RTX A3000 Mobile uses the GA104 chip built on Samsung's 8 nm process, with 17,400 million transistors across a 392 mm² die. This yields a transistor density of 44.4 million transistors per square millimeter. The AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT, by contrast, uses the Navi 21 chip on TSMC's 7 nm process, packing 26,800 million transistors into a 520 mm² die, achieving a density of 51.5 million per square millimeter.

The NVIDIA part is built on the Ampere architecture, a generation labeled "Ampere-MW (Ax000)" in the database. It employs 4,096 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs. It also includes 32 ray tracing cores and 128 tensor cores, which are absent from the AMD specification. The AMD card uses the RDNA 2.0 architecture from the "Navi II (RX 6000)" generation. It has 5,120 shading units, 320 TMUs, and 128 ROPs, along with 80 ray tracing cores. Notably, the AMD card does not list any tensor cores.

Clock behavior also diverges sharply. The NVIDIA GPU runs at a 600 MHz base clock and a 1,230 MHz boost clock. The AMD card starts at 1,860 MHz base and boosts to 2,310 MHz, with a game clock of 2,100 MHz. Memory clocks follow the same pattern: the NVIDIA memory runs at 1,375 MHz (11 Gbps effective), while the AMD memory runs at 2,250 MHz (18 Gbps effective).

Memory configuration is another major split. The RTX A3000 Mobile has 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 264.0 GB/s. The RX 6950 XT has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 576.0 GB/s. That is more than double the bandwidth.

Compute throughput differs accordingly. The NVIDIA card delivers 10.08 TFLOPS FP32 and 10.08 TFLOPS FP16 (1:1 ratio). The AMD card delivers 23.65 TFLOPS FP32 and 47.31 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1 ratio). Pixel and texture rates also favor the AMD part: 295.7 GPixel/s versus 78.72 GPixel/s, and 739.2 GTexel/s versus 157.4 GTexel/s.

Power and physical characteristics are nearly opposite. The NVIDIA part is a 70 W mobile GPU with no power connectors and portable-device-dependent display outputs. The AMD part is a 335 W desktop card, triple-slot wide, with two 8-pin power connectors, a suggested 700 W PSU, and dimensions of 267 mm length, 120 mm height, and 50 mm width. The bus interface is PCIe 4.0 x16 on both.

Both support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The NVIDIA part is end-of-life, released in April 2021, with predecessors and successors in the Quadro Turing-M and Ada-MW lines. The AMD part is also end-of-life, released in May 2022, with Navi as predecessor and Navi III as successor.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear performance hierarchy. In both recorded head-to-head benchmarks, the AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT wins decisively. Geekbench OpenCL shows a 61.6% lead for AMD, and Geekbench Vulkan shows a 63% lead. The NVIDIA RTX A3000 Mobile wins zero head-to-head tests in the database.

However, the context matters. The RTX A3000 Mobile is a 70 W mobile part designed for portable workstations. The RX 6950 XT is a 335 W desktop flagship with a triple-slot cooler, two 8-pin connectors, and a suggested 700 W power supply. The performance gap is expected given the power envelope difference.

Who should pick which? If the workload demands maximum compute throughput and the system can accommodate a large desktop card, the AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT is the obvious choice. Its 16 GB memory, 576.0 GB/s bandwidth, and 23.65 TFLOPS FP32 performance are far ahead in every recorded metric. The RTX A3000 Mobile, on the other hand, is suited for portable or power-constrained environments where a 70 W TDP and no external power connectors are mandatory. The NVIDIA card also offers tensor cores, which the AMD card lacks, though no benchmark data in the database isolates that advantage.

The percentile rankings are close: the NVIDIA card sits at the 91st percentile of all GPUs, while the AMD card sits at the 88th percentile. This is notable because the AMD card has much higher raw scores in the head-to-head tests. The average benchmark scores tell a different story: the NVIDIA card averages 70,140 across its tests, while the AMD card averages 58,392. This suggests the AMD card's score distribution includes tests where it performs relatively worse, such as PassMark DirectX 9 (303), DirectX 10 (164), DirectX 11 (300), and DirectX 12 (114). The NVIDIA card's nearest rivals include the Quadro P6000 (0.2% ahead), Radeon Pro WX 8200 (0.4% ahead), Radeon RX 6600 LE (1% behind), and CMP 90HX (1.7% behind). The AMD card's nearest rivals include the P102-100 (0.2% ahead), Arc A570M (0.3% behind), Radeon PRO V710 (0.5% ahead), and RX 5600 OEM (0.5% behind).

Specification Differences

The following fields differ between the two parts:

• Chip: GA104 (NVIDIA) versus Navi 21 (AMD)
• Architecture: Ampere versus RDNA 2.0
• Process node: 8 nm (Samsung) versus 7 nm (TSMC)
• Transistors: 17,400 million versus 26,800 million
• Die size: 392 mm² versus 520 mm²
• Transistor density: 44.4M / mm² versus 51.5M / mm²
• Base clock: 600 MHz versus 1,860 MHz
• Boost clock: 1,230 MHz versus 2,310 MHz
• Game clock: not listed versus 2,100 MHz
• Memory clock: 1,375 MHz (11 Gbps effective) versus 2,250 MHz (18 Gbps effective)
• Memory size: 6 GB versus 16 GB
• Memory bus width: 192 bit versus 256 bit
• Memory bandwidth: 264.0 GB/s versus 576.0 GB/s
• Shading units: 4,096 versus 5,120
• TMUs: 128 versus 320
• ROPs: 64 versus 128
• Ray tracing cores: 32 versus 80
• Tensor cores: 128 versus not listed
• Pixel rate: 78.72 GPixel/s versus 295.7 GPixel/s
• Texture rate: 157.4 GTexel/s versus 739.2 GTexel/s
• FP32: 10.08 TFLOPS versus 23.65 TFLOPS
• FP16: 10.08 TFLOPS (1:1) versus 47.31 TFLOPS (2:1)
• TDP: 70 W versus 335 W
• Slot width: not listed versus triple-slot
• Power connectors: None versus 2x 8-pin
• Suggested PSU: not listed versus 700 W
• Display outputs: Portable Device Dependent versus 1x HDMI 2.1, 2x DisplayPort 1.4a
• Dimensions: not listed versus 267 mm x 120 mm x 50 mm
• Release date: 2021-04-11 versus 2022-05-09
• Predecessor: Quadro Turing-M versus Navi
• Successor: Ada-MW versus Navi III
• Launch MSRP: not listed versus 1,099 USD

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database records two direct head-to-head comparisons between these GPUs. Both are compute-oriented tests, and both result in decisive AMD wins.

In Geekbench OpenCL, the AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT scores 205,998 against the NVIDIA RTX A3000 Mobile's 79,091. This is a delta of -61.6% from the NVIDIA card's perspective, meaning the AMD part is roughly 2.6 times faster in this test. The gap is enormous and consistent with the raw compute specifications: the AMD card has 23.65 TFLOPS FP32 versus 10.08 TFLOPS for the NVIDIA card.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the AMD card scores 165,212 versus 61,189 for the NVIDIA card, a delta of -63%. Again, the AMD card is roughly 2.7 times faster. The Vulkan result is notable because both cards support Vulkan 1.4, so the comparison is on equal API footing.

There are no head-to-head entries for gaming tests, ray tracing, or professional application benchmarks in the database. The NVIDIA card has no recorded wins in any head-to-head test, and the AMD card wins both.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT wins in every recorded benchmark comparison. Its strengths are clear in compute-heavy workloads that leverage OpenCL and Vulkan. The 16 GB memory buffer and 576.0 GB/s bandwidth make it well-suited for large datasets, high-resolution textures, and compute tasks that require substantial memory capacity. The 23.65 TFLOPS FP32 throughput and 47.31 TFLOPS FP16 throughput (at 2:1 ratio) indicate strong performance in both standard and half-precision compute.

The NVIDIA RTX A3000 Mobile wins in no direct head-to-head test, but it has structural advantages that are not captured in the benchmark data. Its 70 W TDP means it can operate in systems where the AMD card's 335 W TDP and 700 W suggested PSU are not feasible. It has no power connectors, so it can be integrated into portable devices. The tensor cores (128 of them) provide dedicated hardware for AI and deep learning workloads, which may be relevant for certain professional applications, though the database does not include a benchmark that isolates this capability.

The percentile data shows a split in overall standing. The NVIDIA card ranks at the 91st percentile of all GPUs, above the AMD card's 88th percentile. This reflects the different benchmark suites used for each card. The NVIDIA card's average benchmark score is 70,140, while the AMD card's is 58,392. The AMD card's scores across PassMark tests vary widely, from 114 in DirectX 12 to 28,070 in G3D and 14,199 in GPU compute, which pulls its average down despite the strong Geekbench results.

In practical terms, the AMD card is the pick for raw compute performance, memory bandwidth, and any workload where power consumption is not a constraint. The NVIDIA card is the pick for power-limited, portable, or thermally constrained environments, and for workloads that can exploit tensor cores. The data does not support any scenario where the NVIDIA card outperforms the AMD card in the recorded OpenCL or Vulkan tests.