GPU Comparison

The NVIDIA CMP 50HX and AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT occupy starkly different positions in the GPU landscape, despite both being end-of-life products that sit at the 86th percentile among all GPUs. The data available for direct comparison is limited to two compute-oriented benchmarks, but those results are decisive. The AMD card wins both head-to-head tests by a wide margin, while the NVIDIA card holds a slim lead in aggregate average score due to a disparity in benchmark coverage. This analysis walks through the available numbers, architectural differences, and the practical implications for each card’s intended use case.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The head-to-head data shows a clear and consistent victor: the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT outperforms the NVIDIA CMP 50HX in both recorded tests by substantial margins. In Geekbench OpenCL, the AMD card scores 187,673 against the NVIDIA card’s 56,135. That represents a deltaPct of -70.1% from the AMD card’s perspective, meaning the NVIDIA card trails by roughly 70% in this workload. The margin is almost identical in Geekbench Vulkan, where the AMD card scores 148,525 versus 47,445 for the NVIDIA card, a deltaPct of -68.1%. These are not marginal wins; they are overwhelming advantages in raw compute throughput under both OpenCL and Vulkan APIs.

However, the aggregate picture tells a slightly different story. The NVIDIA CMP 50HX has an average benchmark score of 51,790 across its two recorded tests, while the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT averages 50,951 across a much larger suite of eleven benchmarks. This puts the NVIDIA card 1.6% ahead in the average, a reversal that stems entirely from the limited test coverage for the NVIDIA part. The AMD card’s average is dragged down by low scores in legacy DirectX tests (e.g., 167 in Passmark DirectX 10, 113 in Passmark DirectX 12), which are not recorded for the NVIDIA card. In the tests where both are measured, the AMD card is decisively faster. The deltaPct values in the nearestRivals list confirm this: when comparing the two directly, the AMD card shows a -1.6% deltaPct relative to the NVIDIA card’s average, but the head-to-head deltas of -70.1% and -68.1% show where real performance lies.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gulf between these two GPUs is vast, starting with the manufacturing process. The NVIDIA CMP 50HX uses a 12 nm process from TSMC, while the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT uses a 7 nm process from the same foundry. This node advantage allows AMD to pack 26,800 million transistors into a 520 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 51.5M per mm². NVIDIA’s TU102 chip, by contrast, contains 18,600 million transistors on a much larger 754 mm² die, resulting in a density of just 24.7M per mm². The AMD chip is not only denser but also physically smaller, despite having substantially more transistors.

The underlying architectures reflect different design philosophies. NVIDIA’s CMP 50HX is based on Turing, a generation originally designed for gaming and professional workloads, but this particular card is stripped of display outputs entirely, making it a pure compute or mining product. It includes 56 RT cores and 448 tensor cores, features absent from the AMD card’s spec sheet (the RX 6900 XT lists RT cores at 80 but no tensor cores). AMD’s RDNA 2.0 architecture, used in the RX 6900 XT, is a more modern design with a focus on efficiency and gaming performance. The AMD card has 5,120 shading units, 320 texture mapping units, and 128 render output units, versus 3,584 shading units, 192 TMUs, and 80 ROPs on the NVIDIA card. These raw execution resources explain the AMD card’s compute advantage in synthetic benchmarks.

Clock speeds further differentiate the two. The NVIDIA CMP 50HX has a base clock of 1350 MHz and a boost clock of 1545 MHz, while the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT runs at a base of 1825 MHz and boosts to 2250 MHz, with a game clock of 2015 MHz. The AMD card also runs its memory faster: 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective) versus 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) for the NVIDIA card. Despite the AMD card’s narrower 256-bit memory bus, its higher memory speed yields 512.0 GB/s of bandwidth, close to the NVIDIA card’s 560.0 GB/s from a 320-bit bus. The AMD card’s higher clocks and wider execution resources translate directly into its FP32 throughput of 23.04 TFLOPS, more than double the NVIDIA card’s 11.07 TFLOPS.

Where Each One Wins

Given the benchmark data, the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT wins in every measured compute scenario. It is 70.1% faster in Geekbench OpenCL and 68.1% faster in Geekbench Vulkan. These are the only head-to-head tests available, but they are consistent with the AMD card’s superior specifications: more shading units, higher clocks, and double the FP32 throughput. For any workload that relies on raw compute shaders or general-purpose GPU computation, the AMD card is the clear choice based on the data.

The NVIDIA CMP 50HX does not win any of the two head-to-head benchmarks. Its only statistical advantage is the higher average benchmark score (51,790 vs. 50,951), which is an artifact of the sparse test set. The NVIDIA card’s 86th percentile ranking ties it with the AMD card, but that ranking is based on different test suites. In the absence of any head-to-head wins, the NVIDIA card’s case rests on its architectural features: the presence of tensor cores (448) and RT cores (56) suggests potential in AI and ray-traced workloads, though no benchmark data in the FACT PACK supports a performance claim there. The NVIDIA card also has a lower TDP (250 W vs. 300 W) and a dual-slot cooler versus the AMD card’s triple-slot design, which could make it easier to fit in constrained chassis or multi-GPU setups.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every measurable specification. The AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, while the NVIDIA CMP 50HX has 10 GB on a 320-bit bus. Bandwidth favors NVIDIA at 560.0 GB/s versus 512.0 GB/s, but memory capacity heavily favors AMD. The AMD card’s transistor count is 26,800 million versus 18,600 million, and its die is smaller (520 mm² vs. 754 mm²). The AMD card has more shading units (5,120 vs. 3,584), more TMUs (320 vs. 192), more ROPs (128 vs. 80), and more RT cores (80 vs. 56). The NVIDIA card has tensor cores (448) that the AMD card lacks entirely.

Clock speeds are uniformly higher on the AMD card: base 1825 MHz vs. 1350 MHz, boost 2250 MHz vs. 1545 MHz, and memory 2000 MHz vs. 1750 MHz. Pixel rate and texture rate follow suit, with AMD at 288.0 GPixel/s and 720.0 GTexel/s versus NVIDIA’s 123.6 GPixel/s and 296.6 GTexel/s. FP32 and FP16 compute are both double on the AMD card (23.04 vs. 11.07 TFLOPS FP32; 46.08 vs. 22.15 TFLOPS FP16). Power draw is higher on AMD (300 W vs. 250 W), and the suggested PSU is larger (700 W vs. 600 W). The AMD card is also taller (120 mm vs. 116 mm) and wider (50 mm vs. 35 mm), though both are 267 mm long. The bus interface differs dramatically: PCIe 4.0 x16 on AMD versus PCIe 1.0 x4 on NVIDIA, a legacy limitation for the mining card. Display outputs are present on the AMD card (1x HDMI 2.1, 2x DisplayPort 1.4a, 1x USB Type-C) while the NVIDIA card has none. The AMD card’s launch MSRP was 999 USD; the NVIDIA card has no recorded launch MSRP.

FAQ

Q: Which card has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA CMP 50HX has an average benchmark score of 51,790, which is 1.6% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT’s 50,951. However, this is based on only two tests for the NVIDIA card versus eleven for the AMD card.

Q: How much faster is the AMD card in Geekbench OpenCL?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT scores 187,673 in Geekbench OpenCL, which is 70.1% higher than the NVIDIA CMP 50HX’s 56,135.

Q: Does the NVIDIA card have any tensor cores?

A: Yes, the NVIDIA CMP 50HX features 448 tensor cores, a capability that is not listed for the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT.

Q: What is the memory capacity difference?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory, while the NVIDIA CMP 50HX has 10 GB of GDDR6 memory. The NVIDIA card has a wider 320-bit bus and higher bandwidth (560.0 GB/s vs. 512.0 GB/s).

Q: Which card has higher peak FP32 throughput?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT delivers 23.04 TFLOPS FP32, more than double the NVIDIA CMP 50HX’s 11.07 TFLOPS.

Q: Do both cards support the same DirectX version?

A: Yes, both support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), along with OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4.

The Verdict

The data points decisively toward the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT for any compute-heavy workload. In the two benchmarks where both cards are measured, AMD wins by 70.1% in OpenCL and 68.1% in Vulkan. The AMD card also has double the FP32 throughput (23.04 TFLOPS vs. 11.07 TFLOPS), 60% more shading units (5,120 vs. 3,584), and 60% more memory capacity (16 GB vs. 10 GB). For users running OpenCL or Vulkan compute tasks, particularly those that scale with raw shader throughput, the RX 6900 XT is the only sensible choice from these numbers.

The NVIDIA CMP 50HX’s case is narrower but not empty. Its higher average benchmark score (51,790 vs. 50,951) and 86th percentile ranking suggest it is competitive in its own right, though the disparity in test coverage makes that average less meaningful. Its 448 tensor cores are a unique feature, hinting at AI or machine-learning workloads where tensor operations matter, but no benchmark in the FACT PACK validates that advantage. Its lower TDP (250 W vs. 300 W) and dual-slot design make it easier to install, and its 560.0 GB/s memory bandwidth exceeds the AMD card’s 512.0 GB/s. The PCIe 1.0 x4 interface, however, is a severe bottleneck for data transfer. For pure compute, the AMD card wins outright. For a niche user who needs tensor cores and can tolerate limited test coverage, the NVIDIA card has a theoretical edge that the recorded benchmarks do not support. The verdict is unambiguous: the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT is the superior performer based on the data, with the NVIDIA CMP 50HX offering only architectural curiosities and a lower power draw.