AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT vs NVIDIA Quadro P6000 Comparison

The AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT and NVIDIA Quadro P6000 represent two distinct approaches to high-performance graphics, separated by a generation of architecture and design philosophy. The data shows a clear overall winner in the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT, which secures victories in both shared benchmark tests, posting an average benchmark score of 78,940 compared to the Quadro P6000's 69,986. This places the AMD part in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs, while the NVIDIA card sits in the 90th percentile, indicating that both are capable performers but the AMD solution holds a measurable edge in the synthetic workloads examined.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The two GPUs were assessed in a limited set of common benchmarks, and the results are unambiguous. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT scores 85,040, while the NVIDIA Quadro P6000 manages 66,382. This translates to a substantial 28.1% advantage for the AMD part, a significant margin that highlights the efficiency gains of its newer architecture. The AMD card's raw compute throughput, measured at 13.21 TFLOPS FP32, outpaces the Quadro P6000's 12.63 TFLOPS, and this difference manifests clearly in the compute-oriented OpenCL workload.

The gap widens further in the Geekbench Vulkan test, where the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT achieves a score of 99,483 against the Quadro P6000's 73,590. This 35.2% delta is the largest performance differential between the two cards in any metric. The AMD GPU's support for modern API features, including DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, gives it a distinct advantage in rendering tasks that leverage these newer interfaces. The Quadro P6000, limited to DirectX 12 (12_1), lacks the full feature set required to compete effectively in this particular benchmark.

There are no benchmark results where the NVIDIA Quadro P6000 emerges victorious, resulting in a head-to-head record of 2 wins for the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT and 0 wins for the NVIDIA card. The closest the Quadro P6000 comes to parity is in its average benchmark score relative to its own rivals, where it sits just 0.2% above the AMD Radeon Pro WX 8200 and 1.4% above the NVIDIA CMP 90HX. However, against the RX 6850M XT specifically, the performance gap is consistent and significant across both tested APIs.

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark data provides a clear picture of the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT's dominance in compute and graphics workloads. Its 28.1% lead in OpenCL and 35.2% lead in Vulkan make it the superior choice for applications that rely on general-purpose GPU computing or modern graphics APIs. The card's higher pixel rate (165.2 GPixel/s vs 157.9 GPixel/s) and texture rate (413.0 GTexel/s vs 394.8 GTexel/s) further reinforce its advantage in fill-rate-bound scenarios. The AMD GPU also offers significantly higher FP16 performance at 26.43 TFLOPS (2:1), a feature absent on the NVIDIA card, which only manages 197.4 GFLOPS (1:64).

The NVIDIA Quadro P6000, despite losing all direct comparisons, retains specific strengths that are not captured in the shared benchmark suite. Its primary advantage lies in memory capacity, offering 24 GB of GDDR5X across a 384-bit bus, compared to the AMD card's 12 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus. While both achieve nearly identical memory bandwidth (432.8 GB/s for NVIDIA vs 432.0 GB/s for AMD), the Quadro P6000's larger frame buffer is designed for professional visualization workloads that require massive datasets. The card also features more shading units (3840 vs 2560) and texture mapping units (240 vs 160), providing additional raw resources for specific compute tasks, even if the AMD architecture executes those tasks more efficiently overall.

For a mobile gaming or workstation scenario, the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT is the clear winner based on benchmark scores. For a professional environment prioritizing large memory allocations over raw compute speed, the Quadro P6000's 24 GB capacity could be the deciding factor, despite its lower overall performance.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT has an average benchmark score of 78,940, which is 12.8% higher than the NVIDIA Quadro P6000's average of 69,986.

Q: How much faster is the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT in Vulkan benchmarks?

A: The AMD card scores 99,483 in Geekbench Vulkan, which is 35.2% higher than the Quadro P6000's score of 73,590.

Q: Does the NVIDIA Quadro P6000 have more memory than the AMD card?

A: Yes, the Quadro P6000 features 24 GB of GDDR5X memory, which is double the 12 GB of GDDR6 found on the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT.

Q: What is the transistor density difference between the two GPUs?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT has a transistor density of 51.3 million transistors per mm², while the NVIDIA Quadro P6000 has a density of 25.1 million per mm².

Q: Which GPU supports the newer version of DirectX?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), whereas the NVIDIA Quadro P6000 is limited to DirectX 12 (12_1).

Q: Are there any benchmark tests where the NVIDIA Quadro P6000 wins?

A: No, in the head-to-head benchmark results, the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT wins both the Geekbench OpenCL and Geekbench Vulkan tests, with no wins recorded for the Quadro P6000.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ substantially across nearly every core specification category. The AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT operates with a base clock of 2321 MHz and a boost clock of 2581 MHz, significantly higher than the Quadro P6000's base of 1506 MHz and boost of 1645 MHz. The AMD card also has a game clock of 2463 MHz, a feature absent on the NVIDIA part. Memory configurations diverge sharply: the AMD card uses 12 GB of GDDR6 with a 192-bit bus, while the NVIDIA card uses 24 GB of GDDR5X with a 384-bit bus. Bandwidth remains nearly identical, with the AMD card at 432.0 GB/s and the NVIDIA card at 432.8 GB/s.

The compute resources show the NVIDIA card with more raw units, featuring 3840 shading units, 240 TMUs, and 96 ROPs, compared to the AMD card's 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. However, the AMD card includes 40 ray tracing cores, a feature entirely absent from the Pascal-based Quadro P6000. Pixel and texture rates favor the AMD card, with 165.2 GPixel/s and 413.0 GTexel/s respectively, versus the NVIDIA card's 157.9 GPixel/s and 394.8 GTexel/s.

The physical and power specifications also differ markedly. The AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT has a TDP of 165 W and is an IGP slot width with no power connectors, reflecting its mobile design. The NVIDIA Quadro P6000 has a TDP of 250 W, is dual-slot, requires a single 8-pin power connector, and suggests a 600 W PSU. The bus interface differs as well, with the AMD card using PCIe 4.0 x16 and the NVIDIA card using PCIe 3.0 x16. Display outputs vary, with the AMD card being "Portable Device Dependent" while the NVIDIA card offers 1x DVI and 4x DisplayPort 1.4a. Dimensions for the NVIDIA card are 267 mm in length and 111 mm in height, while the AMD card's dimensions are not specified.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide between these two GPUs is generational. The AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture using the Navi 22 chip, manufactured on a 7 nm process at TSMC. This newer process allows for a transistor count of 17,200 million on a die size of 335 mm², resulting in a density of 51.3 million transistors per mm². In contrast, the NVIDIA Quadro P6000 uses the Pascal architecture with the GP102 chip, fabricated on a 16 nm process at TSMC. This older process yields 11,800 million transistors on a larger 471 mm² die, with a density of just 25.1 million transistors per mm².

The AMD card's RDNA 2.0 architecture introduces hardware ray tracing support, a feature completely absent from the Pascal-based Quadro P6000. This is a critical differentiator for modern gaming and rendering workloads. The AMD card also supports FP16 compute at a 2:1 ratio, delivering 26.43 TFLOPS, while the NVIDIA card's FP16 performance is severely limited at 197.4 GFLOPS with a 1:64 ratio, indicating it is not designed for such workloads.

Memory technology also reflects the generational gap. The AMD card uses GDDR6 running at 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective), while the NVIDIA card uses GDDR5X at 1127 MHz (9 Gbps effective). Despite the older memory type, the Quadro P6000's wider 384-bit bus compensates to achieve nearly identical bandwidth. The AMD card is part of the Radeon RX 6000 series and the Navi Mobile generation, while the NVIDIA card belongs to the Quadro Pascal generation. The AMD card's predecessor is Polaris Mobile, whereas the Quadro P6000's predecessor is Quadro Maxwell and its successor is Quadro Volta. Release dates also differ significantly, with the AMD card launching on 2022-01-03 and the NVIDIA card on 2016-09-30, a gap of over five years that explains the technological advancements in the AMD part.