AMD today released the Radeon RX 6950 XT, RX 6750 XT, and RX 6650 XT graphics cards. They are updated Radeon RX 6900 XT, RX 6700 XT and RX 6600 XT, but with slightly faster GPUs, faster memory and higher TDP. In the current realities, we have to rely on the experience of our Western colleagues, who have already become familiar with these cards. In this article, we’ll discuss the flagship Radeon RX 6950 XT based on resource reviews from Tom’s Hardware , Guru3D , and TechPowerUp .

Image Source: Tom’s Hardware

The Radeon RX 6950 XT model is built on the same 7nm Navi 21 GPU as the regular Radeon RX 6900 XT, only it is labeled KXTX instead of XTX. It consists of 80 compute units with 5120 stream processors, 320 texture units, 128 rasterization units and 80 ray tracing acceleration units. The GPU reference clock is 2100 MHz (85 MHz higher than the RX 6900 XT), and in Boost mode it rises to 2310 MHz (60 MHz higher than its predecessor). The novelty is equipped with 16 GB of GDDR6 RAM with a 256-bit bus. The data transfer rate is 18 Gbps per contact. Due to this, its bandwidth is not 512 GB / s, like a regular Radeon RX 6900 XT, but 576 GB / s. There is also a 128 MB Infinity Cache buffer. The graphics card’s rated power draw (TGP) at reference frequencies is 335W, which is 35W higher than the Radeon RX 6900 XT.

Image Source: Guru3D

The novelty came out both in the reference version of AMD, and in the form of proprietary solutions from the company’s partners. Tom’s Hardware journalists studied the Sapphire Radeon RX 6950 XT Nitro + Pure model (on the first photo), Guru3D got the MSI Radeon RX 6950 XT Gaming X Trio model (second photo). The TechPowerUp portal was able to get a video card in several versions at once. For coverage, let’s take the data from the Gigabyte Radeon RX 6950 XT Gaming OC (in the third photo). All of them are equipped with massive and efficient cooling systems and have optional factory overclocking of the GPU. The latter, although it adds several frames per second in games, depending on one or another version of the video card, does not affect the overall picture. The Radeon RX 6950 XT, even with reference specifications, turned out to be very fast in games. But only without ray tracing, in which it is inferior even to the model two classes lower – GeForce RTX 3080 10GB. However, more on this below.

Image Source: TechPowerUp

According to colleagues from TechPowerUp, who tested the Radeon RX 6950 XT in 25 games, the new product was on average 9% faster than its predecessor. Tom’s Hardware, which tested the accelerator on 8 games, had a 10% difference in favor of the new card. Guru3D report similar results across 9 games.

If we talk directly about competitors, then on average the Radeon RX 6950 XT is 1-2% faster than the GeForce RTX 3090 model, but about 7% slower than the GeForce RTX 3090 Ti. In this case, of course, we are talking about the performance of the accelerator in games in 4K resolution and at maximum graphics settings.

The card was also tested at 1440p. In this case, Tom’s Hardware notes that the Radeon accelerator was on average 3% faster than the GeForce RTX 3090 Ti and 9% faster than the regular Radeon RX 6900 XT.

TechPowerUp and Guru3D data are similar. The Radeon RX 6950 XT only outperformed the competition in some games.

In gaming tests with a resolution of 1080p, the new “red” also overtook everyone. Its average frame rate was 184.8, while the Radeon RX 6900 XT model had 173.2, and the GeForce RTX 3090 Ti had 177.9 (according to TechPowerUp).

Tom’s Hardware claims that the Radeon RX 6950 XT at this resolution is on average 5% faster than the GeForce RTX 3090 Ti and 6% faster than the Radeon RX 6900 XT.

But with ray tracing, the novelty, in fact, like all representatives of the Radeon RX 6000 series, things are not in the best way. In some games, of course, you can enjoy the rays even with a fairly high frame rate (above 100). But in general the situation is not the most impressive, especially in 4K resolution. On average, the beam performance of the Radeon RX 6950 XT is 50-56% lower than that of the GeForce RTX 3090 Ti. The closest competitor here for the Radeon RX 6950 XT is the GeForce RTX 3080 10GB. However, the latter also overtakes the Radeon model.

As for power consumption, temperature and noise level. The coldest, but at the same time the second quietest in the tests, was the Gigabyte Radeon RX 6950 XT Gaming OC. Portal TechPowerUp notes that he did not see temperatures above 70 degrees Celsius. At the same time, the maximum noise level of the video card was 36 dBA. The maximum level of power consumption in games is 398 watts. And the peak (duration 20 ms) was 533 watts.

MSI Radeon RX 6950 XT Gaming X Trio. Power consumption in games

The version of the MSI Radeon RX 6950 XT Gaming X Trio that got tested by the Guru3D resource warmed up to 75 degrees Celsius. At the same time, its noise level was 35 dBA. The maximum recorded power consumption in games was 430 watts. Peak – 460 watts.

MSI Radeon RX 6950 XT Gaming X Trio. Short term peak demand

Model Sapphire Radeon RX 6950 XT Nitro + Pure at Tom’s Hardware warmed up to 72.5 degrees. Its maximum noise level was 39.8 dBA, and its power consumption was 401 watts. The source did not indicate the peak level of consumption.