How does AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX compare to AMD's RX 6950 XT? RDNA 3, specs, and more explained

The Radeon RX 7900 XTX is a flagship entry in the new Navi 3-based RX 7000 series from AMD. This new graphics card is replacing the last-gen flagship, the Radeon RX 6950 XT, which is still a very capable card.

According to AMD, the 7900 XTX, along with a slightly weaker sibling, the Radeon RX 7900 XT, will launch on December 13. This will mark the first wave of releases in the RX 7000 lineup.

However, before spending $1,000 on the Radeon RX 7900 XTX, it is important to analyze how much of a jump the new GPU will be over the current flagship. After AMD's recent price cuts, the RX 6950 XT can now be found for $950 or even less during the Black Friday sale. Thus, holding an upgrade to a GPU that will launch next month might sound intimidating to many gamers.

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How much of an upgrade is Radeon RX 7900 XTX over RX 6950 XT?

Both the RX 6950 XT and the RX 7900 XTX are extremely capable video cards on paper. The former is the flagship entry in the Navi 2-based RX 6000 series. It is based on the Navi 21 processor and comes with 5,120 stream processors, 320 Texture Mapping Units (TMUs), 128 Render Output Units (ROPs), and 16 GB GDDR6 memory based on a 256-bit wide bus.

The 7900 XTX, being a next-gen product, packs beefed-up specs when compared to this card. The card is based on the flagship Navi 31 graphics processor, which packs 6,144 stream processors, 384 TMUs, 192 ROPs, and 24 GB GDDR6 memory based on a much wider 384-bit bus.

AMD has stated that the RX 7900 XTX can offer somewhere between 150% to 170% more performance than the RX 6950 XT depending on the video game it is tested in. This makes it much more capable than the last-gen flagship.

However, the best part of this card is that it has been priced at only $50 more than the 6950 XT. The last-gen Radeon flagship was launched at $1,200. However, AMD recently lowered the price of its cards, thanks to the fall in demand and to stay more competitive when pitched against Nvidia products.

The new flagship will actually be quite reasonable when all the things it offers are taken into account. While Nvidia has priced the RTX 4090 at $1,599 — even the RTX 4080 will cost gamers $1,200 — AMD has priced its flagship RX 7900 XTX at $999. This gives gamers a solid reason to switch to Team Red.

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Final verdict

The RX 7900 XTX is a massive generational leap over the 6950 XT. However, gamers should take the numbers published by AMD with a grain of salt. Most of the performance-gain metrics might require an environment that gamers may not be able to replicate completely. Thus, the actual observed performance increase in real life can be different.

It is recommended to wait for a few more weeks before you make up your mind on which GPU is worth getting until the reviews of the RX 7900 XTX and the RX 7900 XT drop. It is possible to draw much better conclusions when more information on performance, thermals, and overall stability is revealed.