AMD Radeon Instinct MI250
AMD graphics card specifications and benchmark scores
MCM DesignAt a Glance
AMDAMD Radeon Instinct MI250 Specifications
Radeon Instinct MI250 GPU Core
Shader units and compute resources
The AMD Radeon Instinct MI250 GPU core specifications define its raw processing power for graphics and compute workloads. Shading units (also called CUDA cores, stream processors, or execution units depending on manufacturer) handle the parallel calculations required for rendering. TMUs (Texture Mapping Units) process texture data, while ROPs (Render Output Units) handle final pixel output. Higher shader counts generally translate to better GPU benchmark performance, especially in demanding games and 3D applications.
Instinct MI250 Clock Speeds
GPU and memory frequencies
Clock speeds directly impact the Radeon Instinct MI250's performance in GPU benchmarks and real-world gaming. The base clock represents the minimum guaranteed frequency, while the boost clock indicates peak performance under optimal thermal conditions. Memory clock speed affects texture loading and frame buffer operations. The Radeon Instinct MI250 by AMD dynamically adjusts frequencies based on workload, temperature, and power limits to maximize performance while maintaining stability.
AMD's Radeon Instinct MI250 Memory
VRAM capacity and bandwidth
VRAM (Video RAM) is dedicated memory for storing textures, frame buffers, and shader data. The Radeon Instinct MI250's memory capacity determines how well it handles high-resolution textures and multiple displays. Memory bandwidth, measured in GB/s, affects how quickly data moves between the GPU and VRAM. Higher bandwidth improves performance in memory-intensive scenarios like 4K gaming. The memory bus width and type (GDDR6, GDDR6X, HBM) significantly influence overall GPU benchmark scores.
Radeon Instinct MI250 by AMD Cache
On-chip cache hierarchy
On-chip cache provides ultra-fast data access for the Instinct MI250, reducing the need to fetch data from slower VRAM. L1 and L2 caches store frequently accessed data close to the compute units. AMD's Infinity Cache (L3) dramatically increases effective bandwidth, improving GPU benchmark performance without requiring wider memory buses. Larger cache sizes help maintain high frame rates in memory-bound scenarios and reduce power consumption by minimizing VRAM accesses.
Instinct MI250 Theoretical Performance
Compute and fill rates
Theoretical performance metrics provide a baseline for comparing the AMD Radeon Instinct MI250 against other graphics cards. FP32 (single-precision) performance, measured in TFLOPS, indicates compute capability for gaming and general GPU workloads. FP64 (double-precision) matters for scientific computing. Pixel and texture fill rates determine how quickly the GPU can render complex scenes. While real-world GPU benchmark results depend on many factors, these specifications help predict relative performance levels.
CDNA 2.0 Architecture & Process
Manufacturing and design details
The AMD Radeon Instinct MI250 is built on AMD's CDNA 2.0 architecture, which defines how the GPU processes graphics and compute workloads. The manufacturing process node affects power efficiency, thermal characteristics, and maximum clock speeds. Smaller process nodes pack more transistors into the same die area, enabling higher performance per watt. Understanding the architecture helps predict how the Instinct MI250 will perform in GPU benchmarks compared to previous generations.
AMD's Radeon Instinct MI250 Power & Thermal
TDP and power requirements
Power specifications for the AMD Radeon Instinct MI250 determine PSU requirements and thermal management needs. TDP (Thermal Design Power) indicates the heat output under typical loads, guiding cooler selection. Power connector requirements ensure adequate power delivery for stable operation during demanding GPU benchmarks. The suggested PSU wattage accounts for the entire system, not just the graphics card. Efficient power delivery enables the Radeon Instinct MI250 to maintain boost clocks without throttling.
Radeon Instinct MI250 by AMD Physical & Connectivity
Dimensions and outputs
Physical dimensions of the AMD Radeon Instinct MI250 are critical for case compatibility. Card length, height, and slot width determine whether it fits in your chassis. The PCIe interface version affects bandwidth for communication with the CPU. Display outputs define monitor connectivity options, with modern cards supporting multiple high-resolution displays simultaneously. Verify these specifications against your case and motherboard before purchasing to ensure a proper fit.
AMD API Support
Graphics and compute APIs
API support determines which games and applications can fully utilize the AMD Radeon Instinct MI250. DirectX 12 Ultimate enables advanced features like ray tracing and variable rate shading. Vulkan provides cross-platform graphics capabilities with low-level hardware access. OpenGL remains important for professional applications and older games. CUDA (NVIDIA) and OpenCL enable GPU compute for video editing, 3D rendering, and scientific applications. Higher API versions unlock newer graphical features in GPU benchmarks and games.
Radeon Instinct MI250 Product Information
Release and pricing details
The AMD Radeon Instinct MI250 is manufactured by AMD as part of their graphics card lineup. Release date and launch pricing provide context for comparing GPU benchmark results with competing products from the same era. Understanding the product lifecycle helps evaluate whether the Radeon Instinct MI250 by AMD represents good value at current market prices. Predecessor and successor information aids in tracking generational improvements and planning future upgrades.
Radeon Instinct MI250 Benchmark Scores
No benchmark data available for this GPU.
About AMD Radeon Instinct MI250
The AMD Radeon Instinct MI250 is a dual-slot accelerator from the Radeon Instinct (MIx) generation, built on the Aldebaran chip with CDNA 2.0 architecture. TSMC fabricates the die on a 6 nm process, packing 58,200 million transistors into a 724 mm² die at a density of 80.4M / mm². The card carries a 500 W TDP, a 900 W suggested PSU, and two 8-pin power connectors. The database records no display outputs and no benchmark scores, which shapes everything that follows.
Power and Cooling
The MI250’s power envelope is straightforward from the FACT PACK: a 500 W TDP, a 900 W suggested PSU, and 2x 8-pin power connectors. That 900 W figure is the system-level recommendation, not a measured consumption number. The card itself is dual-slot, with a length of 267 mm (10.5 inches) and a height of 111 mm (4.4 inches). These physical dimensions dictate how much space it needs inside a chassis and how much airflow the cooler must move across a 724 mm² die. The transistor count of 58,200 million and density of 80.4M / mm² indicate a high packing density, which in turn makes the 500 W TDP a key thermal boundary. Because there are no display outputs, all cooling effort can be directed at the compute die rather than at back-panel I/O or video circuitry. System builders would need to reconcile the 900 W PSU recommendation with the dual-slot footprint and the 2x 8-pin connector requirement, but the FACT PACK offers no further thermal data such as cooler height or airflow metrics.
Who Should Consider It
The MI250 is not a card for which resolution-based gaming advice can be derived from measured data. The benchmarks array is empty, the average benchmark score is 0, and the percentile versus all GPUs is 50. That 50th percentile places the card at the median of the database’s GPU distribution, yet no captured performance run backs the rank. Consequently, no settings recommendations—low, medium, high, ultra, or resolution targets—are possible from scores. The hardware profile points elsewhere. The card has 128 GB of HBM2e memory across an 8,192-bit bus with 3.28 TB/s of bandwidth, a combination that suggests large in-memory workloads rather than frame-rate-oriented tasks. The absence of display outputs reinforces that this is not a monitor-connected product. Potential adopters would be users whose workloads can exploit 128 GB of memory and the listed compute throughputs, but the database provides no benchmark evidence for any specific application.
Memory Subsystem
The MI250’s memory subsystem is defined by three headline numbers: 128 GB capacity, HBM2e type, and 8,192-bit bus width. Memory bandwidth is listed at 3.28 TB/s, while the memory clock is 1600 MHz with an effective data rate of 3.2 Gbps. For high-resolution or data-heavy tasks, the 128 GB capacity means very large textures, models, or data sets can reside on the card without spilling to slower system memory. The 8,192-bit bus is extraordinarily wide, and when paired with 3.28 TB/s bandwidth, it gives the 13,312 shading units a high-throughput path to data. The FP16 figure of 362.1 TFLOPS with an 8:1 ratio further suggests a compute-oriented design that prioritizes throughput over conventional rasterization. The pixel rate of 0 MPixel/s is consistent with a product that does not drive display outputs. In effect, the memory subsystem is the card’s defining characteristic: it is built to move and hold massive amounts of data rather than to accelerate a single frame buffer.
How It Compares
The FACT PACK lists no nearest rivals for the MI250. The nearestRivals array is empty, so there are no rival names, no deltaPct values, and no score comparisons to analyze. The predecessor is identified as the FirePro Data Center series, but no specification or benchmark data accompanies that entry. As a result, the MI250 cannot be positioned against other GPUs through the database’s own comparison fields. The only global reference point is the percentile versus all GPUs, which is 50. That median rank is numerically explicit, but because the average benchmark score is 0 and the benchmark array is empty, there is no measured basis for the rank. In this database, the MI250 exists as a specification sheet without competitive scores, which limits any comparison to the numbers in its own entry.
Benchmark Performance
The benchmark results array for the MI250 is empty. The average benchmark score is 0, and the percentile versus all GPUs is 50. No nearest rivals are present, so there are no exact percentage deltas to report. A score of 0 in this context is best interpreted as the absence of logged benchmark runs rather than a literal performance result; the 50th percentile rank would otherwise be meaningless. The only performance-related numbers available are the compute throughput listings: FP32 at 45.26 TFLOPS, FP16 at 362.1 TFLOPS with an 8:1 ratio, and a texture rate of 1,414.4 GTexel/s. The pixel rate is 0 MPixel/s, which aligns with the card having no display outputs. The FP16 figure being far larger than FP32, at an 8:1 ratio, signals an architecture tuned for accelerated compute paths. Without benchmark entries, however, the database offers no way to translate these TFLOPS values into application-level performance or comparisons against other GPUs.
FAQ
Q: What is the TDP of the MI250?
A: The TDP is 500 W.
Q: What PSU and power connectors are recommended?
A: The suggested PSU is 900 W, and the power connectors are 2x 8-pin.
Q: How much memory does it have, and what type?
A: It has 128 GB of HBM2e memory with an 8,192-bit bus and 3.28 TB/s bandwidth.
Q: Does the MI250 have display outputs?
A: No. The displayOutputs field is listed as "No outputs."
Q: What APIs are supported?
A: The FACT PACK lists null values for DirectX, OpenGL, and Vulkan, so no consumer graphics API support is recorded.
Q: When was it released, and is it still in production?
A: The release date is 2021-11-07, and the production status is end-of-life.
Q: What is the bus interface?
A: The bus interface is PCIe 4.0 x16.
Ray Tracing and Feature Set
The MI250’s feature set, as recorded in the FACT PACK, is minimal. Ray tracing core count is null, and tensor core count is null. The API support fields for DirectX, OpenGL, and Vulkan are also all null, leaving no documented graphics API compatibility. The card is based on the CDNA 2.0 architecture, which in this database belongs to the Radeon Instinct (MIx) generation, a lineage distinct from typical display-focused products. The bus interface is PCIe 4.0 x16. The production status is end-of-life, with a release date of 2021-11-07. The absence of display outputs and the 0 MPixel/s pixel rate reinforce that this is a compute accelerator rather than a rasterization engine. The only interface features explicitly recorded are the dual-slot width, the 267 mm length (10.5 inches), the 111 mm height (4.4 inches), and the 2x 8-pin power connector arrangement. From a feature standpoint, the MI250 is a compute card with no ray tracing, tensor core, or API entries in its database record.
The NVIDIA Equivalent of Radeon Instinct MI250
Looking for a similar graphics card from NVIDIA? The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 12 GB offers comparable performance and features in the NVIDIA lineup.
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