AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960A Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data shows a single shared benchmark between these two GPUs, and the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT takes the win. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RX 7900 XT scores 12,756 points against the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960A’s 11,998 points. That is a 6.3% advantage for the AMD part. While this is the only direct head-to-head comparison available, the margin is consistent with the broader performance gap between these generations.

The RX 7900 XT’s average benchmark score across all recorded tests is 13,745, while the GTX 960A averages 11,998. The AMD card’s percentile ranking among all GPUs is 55, compared to 51 for the NVIDIA part. In terms of nearest rivals, the RX 7900 XT sits within 0.5% of the AMD Radeon 660M and the NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile, and it is 0.9% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 570X. The GTX 960A, by contrast, sits 0.3% above the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080, 1.3% above the AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT, 2.7% above the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660, and 3.2% above the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT. These rival deltas are small, indicating that the GTX 960A’s single recorded score places it in a tightly packed cluster, whereas the RX 7900 XT’s broader benchmark suite shows far more variance across tests.

Looking at the RX 7900 XT’s individual benchmark results, its strongest showing is in Passmark G3D with 29,009 points, followed by Passmark GPU Compute at 16,828 and Geekbench Vulkan at 71,068. The GTX 960A has no comparable scores in those tests, so the only apples-to-apples measurement is the OpenCL result. That single data point, a 6.3% lead for the RX 7900 XT, understates the real-world gap given the architectural and specification differences detailed below.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from fundamentally different eras. The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT is built on the Navi 31 chip using RDNA 3.0 architecture, with the codename Plum Bonito, and belongs to the Navi III (RX 7000) generation. It is fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960A uses the GM107 chip with Maxwell architecture, belongs to the GeForce 900A generation, and is built on a 28 nm process, also at TSMC. The process node difference alone explains much of the performance and efficiency gap.

Transistor counts and die sizes reinforce the generational jump. The RX 7900 XT packs 57,700 million transistors on a 529 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 109.1 million per mm². The GTX 960A has 1,870 million transistors on a 148 mm² die, with a density of 12.6 million per mm². That is roughly a 31-fold difference in transistor count and an 8.7-fold difference in density. The RX 7900 XT’s die is larger physically, but the density increase shows how much more complex the newer chip is.

Memory configurations are also vastly different. The RX 7900 XT has 20 GB of GDDR6 on a 320-bit bus, delivering 800.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GTX 960A has 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus, with 80.19 GB/s of bandwidth. That is a 10-fold capacity increase and a roughly 10-fold bandwidth increase for the AMD card.

The compute resources are similarly lopsided. The RX 7900 XT has 5,376 shading units, 336 texture mapping units, 192 render output units, and 84 ray tracing cores. The GTX 960A has 640 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 16 ROPs, with no ray tracing cores at all. The AMD card’s pixel rate is 459.6 GPixel/s versus 18.82 GPixel/s for the NVIDIA part, and its texture rate is 804.4 GTexel/s versus 47.04 GTexel/s. Floating point performance shows a 51.48 TFLOPS FP32 figure for the RX 7900 XT against 1.505 TFLOPS for the GTX 960A. The AMD card also supports FP16 at 103.0 TFLOPS (2:1), which the NVIDIA part lacks entirely.

Power and physical design differ as well. The RX 7900 XT has a 300 W TDP, requires two 8-pin power connectors, and a suggested 700 W power supply. It is a dual-slot card measuring 276 mm in length, 110 mm in height, and 51 mm in width. The GTX 960A has a 75 W TDP, no power connectors, and uses an MXM module form factor with an MXM-B (3.0) bus interface. Its display outputs are listed as portable device dependent, whereas the RX 7900 XT offers one HDMI 2.1a, two DisplayPort 2.1, and one USB Type-C output.

API support also separates them. The RX 7900 XT supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The GTX 960A supports DirectX 12 (11_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The DirectX feature level difference matters for modern titles.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT has an average benchmark score of 13,745, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960A averages 11,998. The RX 7900 XT leads by 1,747 points, which is a 14.6% advantage.

Q: How do the two GPUs compare in the only shared benchmark?

A: In Geekbench OpenCL, the RX 7900 XT scores 12,756 and the GTX 960A scores 11,998. The AMD card wins by 6.3%.

Q: What are the memory capacity and bandwidth differences?

A: The RX 7900 XT has 20 GB of GDDR6 on a 320-bit bus with 800.0 GB/s bandwidth. The GTX 960A has 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus with 80.19 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which GPU has ray tracing support?

A: Only the RX 7900 XT has ray tracing cores, with 84 dedicated units. The GTX 960A has no ray tracing cores listed.

Q: What are the process node and transistor counts?

A: The RX 7900 XT is on a 5 nm process with 57,700 million transistors. The GTX 960A is on a 28 nm process with 1,870 million transistors.

Q: How do the power requirements compare?

A: The RX 7900 XT has a 300 W TDP and needs a 700 W suggested power supply. The GTX 960A has a 75 W TDP and requires no additional power connectors.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960A |

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

| Architecture | RDNA 3.0 | Maxwell |

| Process Node | 5 nm | 28 nm |

| Transistors | 57,700 million | 1,870 million |

| Die Size | 529 mm² | 148 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 109.1M / mm² | 12.6M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1387 MHz | 1097 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 2394 MHz | 1176 MHz |

| Memory Speed | 2500 MHz (20 Gbps effective) | 1253 MHz (5 Gbps effective) |

| Memory Size | 20 GB | 2 GB |

| Memory Type | GDDR6 | GDDR5 |

| Memory Bus Width | 320 bit | 128 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 800.0 GB/s | 80.19 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 5376 | 640 |

| TMUs | 336 | 40 |

| ROPs | 192 | 16 |

| RT Cores | 84 | None |

| Pixel Rate | 459.6 GPixel/s | 18.82 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 804.4 GTexel/s | 47.04 GTexel/s |

| FP32 Performance | 51.48 TFLOPS | 1.505 TFLOPS |

| FP16 Performance | 103.0 TFLOPS (2:1) | None |

| TDP | 300 W | 75 W |

| Slot Width | Dual-slot | MXM Module |

| Power Connectors | 2x 8-pin | None |

| Suggested PSU | 700 W | None |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 4.0 x16 | MXM-B (3.0) |

| Display Outputs | 1x HDMI 2.1a, 2x DisplayPort 2.1, 1x USB Type-C | Portable Device Dependent |

| DirectX Support | 12 Ultimate (12_2) | 12 (11_0) |

The Verdict

The data points to a decisive win for the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT. Its average benchmark score of 13,745 is 14.6% higher than the GTX 960A’s 11,998, and it wins the only direct comparison by 6.3%. Beyond benchmarks, the specification gap is enormous: 20 GB versus 2 GB of memory, 800 GB/s versus 80 GB/s of bandwidth, 5,376 versus 640 shading units, and 51.48 TFLOPS versus 1.505 TFLOPS of FP32 compute. The RX 7900 XT also brings ray tracing, a feature the GTX 960A lacks entirely.

The GTX 960A’s only redeeming quality in this comparison is its power draw, 75 W versus 300 W, and its compact MXM form factor, which suits portable devices. But for any performance-oriented workload, the RX 7900 XT is the clear choice. The NVIDIA part is from an older generation, with a 28 nm process, no ray tracing, and a DirectX 12 feature level of 11_0. The RX 7900 XT is end-of-life as well, but its hardware capabilities are in a different class.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT wins in every performance metric that matters for modern workloads. It dominates in memory capacity and bandwidth, which benefits high-resolution textures and large datasets. Its 84 ray tracing cores enable hardware-accelerated ray tracing, a feature the GTX 960A cannot offer. The FP16 support at 103.0 TFLOPS (2:1) gives it an edge in compute tasks that leverage half-precision arithmetic. The DirectX 12 Ultimate feature level (12_2) makes it compatible with the latest graphics APIs and their advanced features.

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960A wins in power efficiency and form factor. Its 75 W TDP is a quarter of the RX 7900 XT’s 300 W. It requires no power connectors, making it suitable for systems without auxiliary power. Its MXM module design allows installation in portable or compact devices where a full-size dual-slot card cannot fit. For legacy software or low-resolution gaming, its 1.505 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 18.82 GPixel/s pixel rate may suffice, but those figures are orders of magnitude below the RX 7900 XT.

The verdict is clear: the RX 7900 XT is for users who need maximum performance, high memory capacity, and modern features like ray tracing. The GTX 960A is for users who need a low-power, compact solution for portable systems. There is no overlap in their intended use cases, and the benchmark data confirms that the RX 7900 XT is the superior performer in every shared measurement.