
MSI Radeon RX 6950 XT Gaming X Trio 16G desktop GPU review: Last-gen high-end GPU in battle against RDNA3 and Ada Lovelace
AMD Ryzen 9 7950X | AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT
The AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT is a high-end desktop GPU based on the RDNA2 architecture and uses the Navi 21 chip which is manufactured in 7nm at TSMC. The GPU has 80 compute units (CUs) / 5,120 shader units, as well as 16 GB of GDDR6 VRAM with a 256-bit interface (16 Gbps, 512 GB/s). The GPU supports hardware accelerated raytracing thanks to the RDNA2 architecture. Compared to the RX 6900 XT, the 6950 XT offers higher GPU clock speeds.
Features
RDNA2 serves as the basis for the Navi 21 graphics chip, which is the successor to the Navi 10 graphics chip from the previous RX 5700 series. A number of new features like SAM (Smart Access Memory) and the Infinity Cache make the RX 6800 series very interesting. PCI Express 4.0 and RIS (Radeon Image Sharpening) are still available. The new Media Engine lets you decode video at up to 8K resolution, and the new Display Engine supports screens up to 8K at 60Hz including HDR or 4K HDR at 144Hz.
Performance
The performance of the AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT is between a Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 and a RTX 3090 Ti. Therefore, the RX 6950XT is one of the fastest desktop cards in 2021 and well suited for 4K gaming.
Power consumption
The power consumption of the AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT is specified by the manufacturer at 335 Watts (TGP) and is thus somewhat less power-hungry than the GeForce RTX 3090 (350 Watts).
Codename | Navi |
Architecture | Navi / RDNA2 |
Pipelines | 5120 - unified |
TMUs | 320 |
ROPs | 128 |
Core Speed | 1925 - 2324 (Boost) MHz |
Memory Speed | 18000 effective = 2250 MHz |
Memory Bus Width | 256 Bit |
Memory Type | GDDR6 |
Max. Amount of Memory | 16 MB |
Shared Memory | no |
Memory Bandwidth | 576 GB/s |
API | DirectX 12_2, Shader 6.5, OpenGL 4.6, OpenCL 2.1, Vulkan 1.3 |
Power Consumption | 335 Watt |
Transistor Count | 26.8 Billion |
Die Size | 520 mm² |
technology | 7 nm |
PCIe | 4.0 |
Displays | HDMI 2.1, DisplayPort 1.4a |
Features | DisplayPort 1.4 w/DFSC, HDMI 2.1 VRR, PCIe 4.0, Radeon Media Engine (H.264 4K150 decode, 4K90 encode / H.265 4K90 decode, 8K24, 4K60 encode / VP9 4K90. 8K24 decode) |
Date of Announcement | 10.05.2022 |
The following benchmarks stem from our benchmarks of review laptops. The performance depends on the used graphics memory, clock rate, processor, system settings, drivers, and operating systems. So the results don't have to be representative for all laptops with this GPU. For detailed information on the benchmark results, click on the fps number.
low | med. | high | ultra | QHD | 4K | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
F1 24 | 534 | 517 | 407 | 96.4 | 62 | 30.2 |
Senua's Saga Hellblade 2 | 120.5 | 100 | 77.8 | 56.5 | 30.9 | |
Ghost of Tsushima | 195.5 | 178.1 | 168.4 | 139.1 | 108.8 | 65.3 |
Horizon Forbidden West | 194.4 | 179.3 | 133 | 127.1 | 100.2 | 61.6 |
Alone in the Dark | 333 | 297 | 299 | 183.6 | 108.9 | 50.6 |
Dragon's Dogma 2 | 102.8 | 101.8 | 98.3 | 65.8 | ||
Last Epoch | 297 | 294 | 292 | 278 | 175.4 | 175.1 |
Skull & Bones | 180 | 168 | 137 | 104 | 85 | 46 |
Helldivers 2 | 211 | 174.1 | 157.5 | 155 | 112.3 | 59.9 |
Enshrouded | 140.4 | 125.6 | 108.2 | 92.2 | 64 | 42.3 |
Palworld | 236 | 219 | 172.8 | 165.3 | 121.1 | 67.3 |
Prince of Persia The Lost Crown | 357 | 359 | 359 | 359 | 358 | |
Ready or Not | 335 | 325 | 322 | 254 | 159.3 | 70.5 |
The Finals | 357 | 332 | 306 | 236 | 148.5 | 70.8 |
Avatar Frontiers of Pandora | 152 | 138 | 117 | 91 | 62 | 31 |
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 2023 | 285 | 258 | 213 | 200 | 145 | 87 |
EA Sports WRC | 272 | 178.9 | 162.9 | 158.9 | 128.2 | 76.7 |
Alan Wake 2 | 120.2 | 116.2 | 107.5 | 71.8 | 36.7 | |
Lords of the Fallen | 172.2 | 143.6 | 100.8 | 71.6 | 50 | 25.4 |
Total War Pharaoh | 564.3 | 339.7 | 229 | 184.7 | 166 | 87 |
Assassin's Creed Mirage | 230 | 211 | 196 | 156 | 124 | 75 |
EA Sports FC 24 | 412 | 299 | 360 | 254 | 220 | 143.9 |
Counter-Strike 2 | 351 | 339 | 337 | 299 | 236 | 116.1 |
Cyberpunk 2077 2.2 Phantom Liberty | 204 | 197.7 | 168.4 | 152.7 | 96.5 | 39.5 |
Baldur's Gate 3 | 255 | 226 | 188.9 | 184 | 132.9 | 72.4 |
Lies of P | 335 | 296 | 258 | 236 | 170.6 | 93.2 |
Starfield | 137.4 | 123.6 | 104.9 | 96.2 | 78.4 | 49.2 |
Armored Core 6 | 119.7 | 119.7 | 119.9 | 119.6 | 115 | 78.6 |
Immortals of Aveum | 169.8 | 151.9 | 128.7 | 100.9 | 62.8 | |
Atlas Fallen | 191.9 | 189.5 | 181.3 | 178.6 | 162.8 | 85.3 |
Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart | 167.4 | 146.3 | 123.3 | 109.3 | 93.2 | 64.2 |
F1 23 | 510 | 516 | 406 | 97.1 | 62 | 29.7 |
Diablo 4 | 392 | 374 | 355 | 311 | 226 | 125.8 |
Star Wars Jedi Survivor | 156 | 147.5 | 139.4 | 132.3 | 86.2 | 41.8 |
Dead Island 2 | 375 | 368 | 319 | 236 | 176.8 | 96.5 |
The Last of Us | 156 | 143 | 132.3 | 111.2 | 76.8 | 39.6 |
Resident Evil 4 Remake | 349 | 246 | 222 | 142.3 | 114.5 | 70.6 |
Company of Heroes 3 | 343.1 | 305.1 | 236.9 | 235.6 | 183.4 | 109.2 |
Sons of the Forest | 128.5 | 123.5 | 119.8 | 117.6 | 116 | 77.6 |
Atomic Heart | 347 | 257 | 158.9 | 130.7 | 104.2 | 65.3 |
Returnal | 217 | 210 | 187 | 158 | 122 | 72 |
Hogwarts Legacy | 207 | 185.8 | 161 | 122.3 | 100 | 54.8 |
Dead Space Remake | 208 | 193.6 | 167.6 | 167 | 116.9 | 57.7 |
The Witcher 3 v4 | 450 | 356 | 176.2 | 148 | 122.2 | 81.3 |
High On Life | 385 | 326 | 255 | 205 | 132.7 | 57.3 |
The Callisto Protocol | 257 | 215 | 138 | 137 | 105 | 66 |
Need for Speed Unbound | 173.7 | 180.9 | 149.5 | 124.5 | 108.7 | 73.9 |
Spider-Man Miles Morales | 159.8 | 156.7 | 146.2 | 143 | 121.2 | 74 |
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 2022 | 307 | 273 | 204 | 196 | 145 | 89 |
Uncharted Legacy of Thieves Collection | 135.8 | 134.4 | 123.7 | 118.6 | 100.9 | 69.9 |
A Plague Tale Requiem | 203 | 165.1 | 121.8 | 91.5 | 72.8 | 41.7 |
FIFA 23 | 347 | 295 | 271 | 268 | 239 | 150.2 |
The Quarry | 310 | 234 | 191 | 147 | 102 | 54 |
F1 22 | 404 | 386 | 368 | 114 | 74 | 36 |
Vampire Bloodhunt | 317 | 307 | 277 | 292 | 260 | 139.5 |
Ghostwire Tokyo | 265 | 256 | 254 | 252 | 205 | 111 |
Tiny Tina's Wonderlands | 370 | 301 | 219 | 177 | 129 | 71 |
Cyberpunk 2077 1.6 | 161 | 143 | 128 | 122 | 93 | 46 |
GRID Legends | 366 | 326 | 282 | 249 | 224 | 154 |
Rainbow Six Extraction | 479 | 382 | 367 | 280 | 192 | 92 |
God of War | 247 | 225 | 193 | 136 | 112 | 73 |
Farming Simulator 22 | 290 | 237 | 201 | 195.6 | 189.5 | 181.8 |
Forza Horizon 5 | 325 | 237 | 229 | 159 | 139 | 102 |
Riders Republic | 148 | 146 | 141 | 138 | 131 | 84 |
Guardians of the Galaxy | 208 | 210 | 214 | 211 | 191 | 113 |
Far Cry 6 | 186 | 163 | 149 | 141 | 132 | 91 |
New World | 146.9 | 109.7 | 98.1 | 98.1 | 98.6 | 76.4 |
F1 2021 | 589 | 551 | 469 | 225 | 177 | 101 |
Dirt 5 | 296 | 248 | 220 | 189 | 156 | 105 |
Watch Dogs Legion | 130 | 130 | 115 | 107 | 103 | 65 |
Mafia Definitive Edition | 213 | 190.1 | 175.5 | 156.2 | 80.4 | |
Crysis Remastered | 289 | 288 | 186.5 | 160.4 | 130 | 72.4 |
F1 2020 | 527 | 450 | 424 | 318 | 255 | 154 |
Borderlands 3 | 209 | 189 | 169 | 149 | 121 | 65 |
Control | 240 | 239 | 209 | 136 | 66 | |
Anno 1800 | 127.6 | 119.9 | 87.5 | 48.1 | 41.2 | 35 |
Far Cry New Dawn | 172 | 152 | 147 | 132 | 132 | 118 |
Metro Exodus | 289 | 236 | 184 | 146 | 120 | 77 |
Shadow of the Tomb Raider | 309 | 276 | 267 | 248 | 187 | 99 |
Strange Brigade | 663 | 500 | 442 | 396 | 294 | 172 |
Far Cry 5 | 206 | 181 | 173 | 164 | 163 | 124 |
X-Plane 11.11 | 151 | 123 | 99 | 79 | ||
Final Fantasy XV Benchmark | 234 | 220 | 188 | 153 | 86 | |
Rise of the Tomb Raider | 401 | 316 | 300 | 254 | 129.5 | |
Dota 2 Reborn | 234 | 184 | 199 | 167 | 141 | |
The Witcher 3 | 632 | 491 | 376 | 216 | 144 | |
GTA V | 188 | 188 | 185 | 159 | 153 | 174 |
low | med. | high | ultra | QHD | 4K | < 30 fps < 60 fps < 120 fps ≥ 120 fps | 2 84 | 5 80 | 13 74 | 1 16 63 | 3 33 47 | 2 20 50 15 |
For more games that might be playable and a list of all games and graphics cards visit our Gaming List
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