AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT vs NVIDIA PG506-232 Comparison

The Verdict

The NVIDIA PG506-232 and AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT are not direct competitors in the traditional sense. The PG506-232 is a server-oriented compute card based on the Ampere GA100 chip, while the RX 6850M XT is a mobile RDNA 2.0 part for laptops. The data shows one clear benchmark comparison: in Geekbench OpenCL, the PG506-232 scores 225124 against 85040 for the RX 6850M XT, a 164.7% advantage. If your workload is compute-heavy OpenCL, the PG506-232 is the obvious pick. If you need a mobile GPU with modern API support and ray tracing, the RX 6850M XT is the only option here, despite its lower raw compute score. Builders should choose based on form factor and API needs, not on raw benchmark numbers alone.

Architecture Differences

The architectural split is stark. The PG506-232 uses the GA100 chip on TSMC 7 nm, with 54,200 million transistors on an 826 mm² die. It is built around Ampere architecture and targets server compute. The RX 6850M XT uses Navi 22, also on TSMC 7 nm, but packs only 17,200 million transistors on a 335 mm² die. Transistor density favors the NVIDIA part: 65.6M per mm² versus 51.3M per mm².

Memory design differs fundamentally. The PG506-232 has 24 GB of HBM2 on a 3072-bit bus, delivering 933.1 GB/s bandwidth. The RX 6850M XT has 12 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, with 432.0 GB/s bandwidth. That is a massive bandwidth gap, and it directly explains why the NVIDIA card dominates in memory-heavy OpenCL workloads.

Shading resources also diverge. The PG506-232 has 3584 shading units, 224 TMUs, and 96 ROPs. The RX 6850M XT has 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. However, the AMD part has 40 ray tracing cores, while the NVIDIA card lists none. Tensor cores are exclusive to NVIDIA: 224 of them. Clock speeds are much higher on AMD: base 2321 MHz, boost 2581 MHz, versus 930 MHz base and 1440 MHz boost on NVIDIA. That clock advantage helps AMD in pixel and texture rates: 165.2 GPixel/s and 413.0 GTexel/s versus 138.2 GPixel/s and 322.6 GTexel/s.

API support is another separator. The RX 6850M XT supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The PG506-232 lists no DirectX, OpenGL, or Vulkan support in the database. That makes the AMD card far more suitable for gaming and consumer applications, while the NVIDIA card is a pure compute accelerator with no display outputs.

Where Each One Wins

The PG506-232 wins decisively in raw compute throughput. Its FP32 rating is 10.32 TFLOPS, and FP16 is also 10.32 TFLOPS at a 1:1 ratio. The RX 6850M XT has a higher FP32 figure at 13.21 TFLOPS, but its FP16 is 26.43 TFLOPS at a 2:1 ratio, which means it can push more half-precision work per cycle. However, the Geekbench OpenCL result tells the real story: 225124 for NVIDIA versus 85040 for AMD. That is a 164.7% lead for the PG506-232.

The RX 6850M XT wins in portability and feature set. It is an IGP (integrated graphics processor) with no power connectors, designed for laptops. It has ray tracing cores, modern API support, and a much smaller die. The NVIDIA card is dual-slot, 267 mm long, 112 mm tall, requires an 8-pin EPS connector, and a suggested PSU of 450 W. The AMD part has no such requirements. For a mobile workstation or gaming laptop, the RX 6850M XT is the only viable choice here.

In terms of benchmark breadth, the RX 6850M XT has multiple entries: 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 at 2257, Geekbench Metal at 128981, Geekbench OpenCL at 85040, and Geekbench Vulkan at 99483. The PG506-232 only has Geekbench OpenCL. So the AMD card can be evaluated across different APIs, while the NVIDIA card is a one-trick pony in this database.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has higher memory bandwidth?

A: The NVIDIA PG506-232 has 933.1 GB/s bandwidth from 24 GB HBM2 on a 3072-bit bus. The AMD RX 6850M XT has 432.0 GB/s from 12 GB GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus.

Q: Does the RX 6850M XT support ray tracing?

A: Yes, it has 40 ray tracing cores. The PG506-232 lists no ray tracing cores.

Q: Which card is better for OpenCL compute?

A: The PG506-232 scores 225124 in Geekbench OpenCL, which is 164.7% higher than the RX 6850M XT's 85040.

Q: Are both cards still in production?

A: No. Both are end-of-life. The PG506-232 was released on 2021-04-11, and the RX 6850M XT on 2022-01-03.

Q: Which card has a smaller physical footprint?

A: The RX 6850M XT is an IGP with no dimensions listed, designed for mobile integration. The PG506-232 is dual-slot, 267 mm long and 112 mm tall, requiring an 8-pin EPS connector.

Q: Which card supports modern graphics APIs?

A: The RX 6850M XT supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The PG506-232 has no API support listed in the database.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct benchmark comparison is Geekbench OpenCL. The PG506-232 posts 225124, while the RX 6850M XT posts 85040. That is a delta of 164.7% in favor of NVIDIA. To put that in context, the PG506-232 sits at the 99th percentile among all GPUs, while the RX 6850M XT is at the 92nd percentile. The NVIDIA card's nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon PRO W7900D at 219827 (2.4% behind), the NVIDIA A100 PCIe 80 GB at 207124 (8.7% behind), and the NVIDIA RTX 6000D at 195964 (14.9% behind). The only rival ahead of it is the NVIDIA L20 at 251147, which is 10.4% faster.

The RX 6850M XT's nearest rivals paint a different picture. Its average benchmark score is 78940, and it sits within 1.6% of cards like the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB (79396), Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB (79605), and GeForce RTX 5090 (79842). The GeForce RTX 5090 D is 1.6% behind at 77712. So the AMD mobile part is competitive with older and newer desktop cards in this metric, but it is nowhere near the PG506-232's OpenCL score.

Beyond OpenCL, the RX 6850M XT has other recorded scores: 2257 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, 128981 in Geekbench Metal, and 99483 in Geekbench Vulkan. These are not comparable to the PG506-232 because that card has no corresponding entries. However, the Vulkan score of 99483 is higher than its OpenCL score of 85040, which suggests the AMD part performs better under Vulkan than OpenCL. The Metal score of 128981 is its highest recorded result, but again, no NVIDIA counterpart exists.

The head-to-head table shows only one entry, with the PG506-232 winning all one benchmark. The RX 6850M XT wins zero. That is a lopsided result, but it only covers OpenCL. For gaming, ray tracing, or API-specific workloads, the RX 6850M XT has no direct comparison here, so the data cannot declare a winner in those areas.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ on nearly every measurable specification. Process node is identical: 7 nm TSMC. Transistor count is not: 54,200 million for NVIDIA versus 17,200 million for AMD. Die size is 826 mm² versus 335 mm². Transistor density is 65.6M per mm² versus 51.3M per mm².

Clock speeds favor AMD. Base clock is 930 MHz versus 2321 MHz. Boost clock is 1440 MHz versus 2581 MHz. The AMD card also has a game clock of 2463 MHz, while NVIDIA has none listed. Memory clock is 1215 MHz (2.4 Gbps effective) versus 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective).

Memory configuration is a major split. The PG506-232 has 24 GB HBM2, 3072-bit bus, 933.1 GB/s bandwidth. The RX 6850M XT has 12 GB GDDR6, 192-bit bus, 432.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Compute resources differ. Shading units: 3584 versus 2560. TMUs: 224 versus 160. ROPs: 96 versus 64. Ray tracing cores: none versus 40. Tensor cores: 224 versus none.

Pixel and texture rates go to AMD. Pixel rate is 138.2 GPixel/s versus 165.2 GPixel/s. Texture rate is 322.6 GTexel/s versus 413.0 GTexel/s. FP32 is 10.32 TFLOPS versus 13.21 TFLOPS. FP16 is 10.32 TFLOPS (1:1) versus 26.43 TFLOPS (2:1).

Power and form factor differ. TDP is 165 W for both, but the PG506-232 is dual-slot with an 8-pin EPS connector and a suggested PSU of 450 W. The RX 6850M XT is an IGP with no power connectors and no suggested PSU. The NVIDIA card has no display outputs; the AMD card's outputs are portable device dependent. Bus interface is PCIe 4.0 x16 for both.

API support is exclusive to AMD: DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, Vulkan 1.4. NVIDIA lists none. Dimensions only exist for NVIDIA: 267 mm length, 112 mm height. The AMD card has no recorded dimensions.

Release dates differ by about nine months: 2021-04-11 for NVIDIA, 2022-01-03 for AMD. Predecessors are Tesla Turing for NVIDIA and Polaris Mobile for AMD. The successor for NVIDIA is Server Ada; AMD has no successor listed. Both are end-of-life.