AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950A Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data contains exactly one shared benchmark between the AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950A: Geekbench OpenCL. The result is decisively one-sided. The RX 6500 XT scores 48,289 points, while the GTX 950A scores 10,273 points. That represents a 370.1% advantage for the AMD card. In practical terms, the RX 6500 XT delivers roughly 4.7 times the OpenCL compute performance of the older NVIDIA part.

This single data point is the only direct head-to-head comparison available in the database. However, broader context from each card's average benchmark score and nearest rivals reinforces the gap. The RX 6500 XT's average benchmark score is 11,842, which places it in the 51st percentile of all GPUs. The GTX 950A's average score is 10,273, placing it in the 48th percentile. While the percentiles are close, the average scores differ by 1,569 points, or about 15.3%.

Looking at the RX 6500 XT's nearest rivals, it sits within 1.9% of cards like the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT (11,627 score, 1.9% delta) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 (11,680 score, 1.4% delta). It also trails the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 (11,960 score, -1% delta) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960A (11,998 score, -1.3% delta) by narrow margins. These are all modern or recent midrange to high-end parts, showing the RX 6500 XT competes in that class despite its small 4 GB memory footprint.

The GTX 950A's nearest rivals tell a different story. Its closest competitor is the AMD Radeon RX 6500M (10,362 score, -0.9% delta), followed by the NVIDIA Tesla C2075 (10,400 score, -1.2% delta). The AMD Radeon RX 550X (10,481 score, -2% delta) is slightly faster, while the AMD Radeon R9 M375 (10,070 score, 2% delta) is slightly slower. These are all low-power or older mobile or entry-level parts. The GTX 950A is essentially at the bottom of a very different performance tier.

In the recorded benchmark suite, the RX 6500 XT holds a 100% win rate in head-to-head tests (1 win, 0 losses). The GTX 950A has no wins. The delta of 370.1% in Geekbench OpenCL is not a marginal difference; it is a generational leap. The RX 6500 XT's 5.765 TFLOPS of FP32 compute versus the GTX 950A's 1,438.7 GFLOPS (about 1.44 TFLOPS) explains the scale of the gap. Even the memory bandwidth difference is stark: 143.9 GB/s for the RX 6500 XT versus 32.03 GB/s for the GTX 950A.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous. The AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT is the superior product for any workload that relies on raw compute, graphics rendering, or modern API support. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 48,289 is 370.1% higher than the GTX 950A's 10,273. The RX 6500 XT also has a higher average benchmark score (11,842 versus 10,273) and a higher percentile ranking (51st versus 48th).

Who should pick the RX 6500 XT? Anyone running DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) workloads, Vulkan 1.4 applications, or any modern game that leverages hardware ray tracing. The RX 6500 XT has 16 dedicated ray tracing cores, while the GTX 950A has none. The RX 6500 XT also supports 4 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 64-bit bus with 143.9 GB/s bandwidth, which is sufficient for 1080p gaming at medium settings in current titles. Its 6 nm process node and 5,400 million transistors give it a massive transistor density advantage (50.5 million per mm² versus 12.6 million per mm²), which translates directly into efficiency and throughput.

Who should pick the GTX 950A? Based strictly on the recorded data, almost no one building a new system. The GTX 950A is an MXM module, designed for portable devices where upgradeability is limited. Its 75 W TDP and lack of power connectors make it suitable for low-power laptops or compact systems, but its performance is severely constrained. The 2 GB DDR3 memory on a 128-bit bus (32.03 GB/s) is a bottleneck for even modest workloads. The GTX 950A does support DirectX 12 (11_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, so it can run modern APIs, but only at the most basic feature level.

The verdict is clear: for desktop users, the RX 6500 XT is the only rational choice. For portable device users who are locked into an MXM-B (3.0) slot, the GTX 950A remains the only option among these two, but its performance ceiling is low.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher Geekbench OpenCL score?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT scores 48,289, which is 370.1% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950A's 10,273.

Q: Does the GTX 950A support hardware ray tracing?

A: No. The GTX 950A has no ray tracing cores. The RX 6500 XT has 16 ray tracing cores.

Q: What is the memory configuration of each card?

A: The RX 6500 XT has 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 64-bit bus with 143.9 GB/s bandwidth. The GTX 950A has 2 GB of DDR3 on a 128-bit bus with 32.03 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which card has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The RX 6500 XT has an average benchmark score of 11,842, while the GTX 950A has 10,273. The RX 6500 XT also ranks in the 51st percentile of all GPUs, versus the 48th percentile for the GTX 950A.

Q: Are these cards still in production?

A: No. Both the AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950A are marked as end-of-life in the database.

Q: What is the form factor difference?

A: The RX 6500 XT is a dual-slot card with a PCIe 4.0 x4 interface and one 6-pin power connector. The GTX 950A is an MXM Module with an MXM-B (3.0) interface and no power connectors.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every specification. The RX 6500 XT uses a 6 nm process node, while the GTX 950A uses a 28 nm node. Transistor counts are 5,400 million versus 1,870 million, and die sizes are 107 mm² versus 148 mm². The RX 6500 XT has a much higher transistor density at 50.5 million per mm² versus 12.6 million per mm².

Clock speeds differ significantly. The RX 6500 XT has a base clock of 2310 MHz, a boost clock of 2815 MHz, and a game clock of 2610 MHz. The GTX 950A has a base clock of 993 MHz and a boost clock of 1124 MHz, with no game clock. Memory clocks are 2248 MHz (18 Gbps effective) for the RX 6500 XT versus 1001 MHz (2 Gbps effective) for the GTX 950A.

Memory specifications differ in capacity, type, bus width, and bandwidth: 4 GB GDDR6 on a 64-bit bus (143.9 GB/s) versus 2 GB DDR3 on a 128-bit bus (32.03 GB/s). The RX 6500 XT has 1,024 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, compared to 640 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 16 ROPs for the GTX 950A.

Pixel and texture rates are vastly different. The RX 6500 XT achieves 90.08 GPixel/s and 180.2 GTexel/s, while the GTX 950A manages 17.98 GPixel/s and 44.96 GTexel/s. FP32 performance is 5.765 TFLOPS versus 1,438.7 GFLOPS. The RX 6500 XT also supports FP16 at 11.53 TFLOPS (2:1), which the GTX 950A does not.

Power and physical specifications differ as well. The RX 6500 XT has a TDP of 107 W, a suggested PSU of 300 W, and a dual-slot width. The GTX 950A has a TDP of 75 W, no suggested PSU, and an MXM Module form factor. The RX 6500 XT uses PCIe 4.0 x4, the GTX 950A uses MXM-B (3.0). Display outputs are 1x HDMI 2.1 and 1x DisplayPort 1.4a for the RX 6500 XT, while the GTX 950A is portable device dependent.

Architecture Differences

The RX 6500 XT is built on AMD's RDNA 2.0 architecture, specifically the Navi 24 chip. The GTX 950A uses NVIDIA's Maxwell architecture with the GM107 chip. These are fundamentally different design philosophies separated by multiple generations.

The RX 6500 XT is part of the Radeon RX 6000 series, which is the Navi II generation. Its predecessor is Navi, and its successor is Navi III. The GTX 950A belongs to the GeForce 900A series, with the GeForce 800A as its predecessor and no successor listed.

Process technology is a major differentiator. The RX 6500 XT is fabricated on a 6 nm TSMC process, while the GTX 950A uses a 28 nm TSMC process. This accounts for the massive difference in transistor density (50.5M per mm² versus 12.6M per mm²) despite the RX 6500 XT having a smaller die (107 mm² versus 148 mm²) and more transistors (5,400 million versus 1,870 million).

The RX 6500 XT includes 16 ray tracing cores, a feature entirely absent from the GTX 950A. The RX 6500 XT also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the GTX 950A only supports DirectX 12 (11_0). Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4, but the feature level within those APIs will differ significantly due to the underlying architecture.

Release dates are far apart. The RX 6500 XT was released on 2022-01-18, while the GTX 950A was released on 2015-03-12. The RX 6500 XT's launch MSRP is 199 USD. The GTX 950A has no recorded launch MSRP.

Where Each One Wins

AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT wins in:

• Compute performance: 370.1% higher Geekbench OpenCL score (48,289 versus 10,273)
• Memory bandwidth: 143.9 GB/s versus 32.03 GB/s (4.5 times higher)
• Shader throughput: 1,024 shading units versus 640, plus 64 TMUs versus 40, and 32 ROPs versus 16
• Modern API support: DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) versus DirectX 12 (11_0)
• Hardware ray tracing: 16 dedicated RT cores versus none
• FP32 and FP16 compute: 5.765 TFLOPS and 11.53 TFLOPS versus 1,438.7 GFLOPS and no FP16 support
• Pixel and texture rates: 90.08 GPixel/s and 180.2 GTexel/s versus 17.98 GPixel/s and 44.96 GTexel/s
• Average benchmark score: 11,842 versus 10,273
• Percentile ranking: 51st versus 48th

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950A wins in:

• Power consumption: 75 W TDP versus 107 W
• Form factor: MXM Module for portable devices versus dual-slot desktop card
• Memory bus width: 128-bit versus 64-bit (though this does not compensate for the much lower bandwidth)
• No power connector requirement versus a 6-pin connector

The GTX 950A's only advantages are in power efficiency and portability, which are niche benefits for specific embedded or laptop use cases. In every performance metric recorded in the database, the RX 6500 XT is decisively ahead. For desktop gaming, content creation, or any GPU-accelerated workload, the RX 6500 XT is the clear winner. The GTX 950A is only relevant in systems that require an MXM-B module with no auxiliary power, where its low 75 W draw is a necessity rather than a choice.