As your resident tech guru and graphics card analyst, it‘s my solemn duty to give you the full breakdown before you drop $1,000+ on a new GPU for your dream gaming rig.
The RX 6950 XT seems pretty powerful on paper – but it does have some definite downsides buyers should know. Allow me to walk you through the top complaints about AMD‘s shiny new flagship, using plenty of benchmark data to highlight where it disappoints.
My goal isn‘t to trash the 6950 XT, but provide context around why other graphic card options might suit you better depending on your budget, resolution, and performance needs. Consider me your GPU spirit guide! By the end, you‘ll have a clearer picture of the 6950 XT‘s drawbacks and can make a wiser, more informed purchase decision.
Overview – The RX 6950 XT‘s Dubious Value Proposition
The RX 6950 XT serves as AMD‘s 2022 top-tier graphics card, occupying the $999+ pricing tier with the expectation of delivering best-in-class 4K gaming performance. However, when analyzing independent testing and benchmark data, the 6950 XT comes up lacking in several areas:
- Only a slight performance improvement over the previous gen RX 6900 XT despite costing $300 more
- Sky-high 335W power draw requiring an expensive 850W+ PSU
- Lackluster ray tracing performance compared to Nvidia‘s RTX cards
- Higher price tag than the RX 6900 XT while not proportionally faster
- Next-gen RDNA 3 GPUs now available offering better performance per dollar
Considering its premium pricing, heightened power requirements, and only incremental gains over past-gen AMD cards, the 6950 XT emerges as a questionable value – especially with far faster RDNA 3 alternatives now released.
It still serves up high-end performance, but caters to a narrow niche given its mediocre generational improvements. Across 5 key areas, the 6950 XT drops the ball and loses out to other graphics cards on the market. Let‘s explore each complaint in detail!
Complaint #1 – Minimal Gains Over the RX 6900 XT Despite $300 Price Premium
The RX 6950 XT‘s biggest sin is that it fails to meaningfully outpace its predecessor despite costing a hefty $300 more. Based on independent testing, it‘s only 1-5% faster in modern games.
Let‘s check some trusted benchmark data:
| GPU | Time Spy Extreme | Shadow of the Tomb Raider (4K) | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| RX 6900 XT | 7,245 points | 90 fps | $799 |
| RX 6950 XT | 7,471 points (+3%) | 93 fps (+3%) | $1,099 |
As you can see, the 6950 XT only managed a 3% performance bump for a 36% price increase! That doesn‘t represent good dollar-for-dollar value, my friend.
The two GPUs also share critical specs – same VRAM, memory bandwidth, architecture, and # of stream processors. With AMD treating the 6950 XT as an overclocked 6900 XT in all but name, they really should have priced it much closer to maintain competitiveness. This leads into our second major complaint…
Complaint #2 – Extreme 335W Power Consumption Requires Expensive PSU
Not only is the 6950 XT overpriced for its meager performance gains over the 6900 XT, but it mandates a high wattage (and pricey) power supply. Its Total Board Power rating hits 335 watts – 35W higher than the already power hungry 300W 6900 XT.
To put that into perspective, AMD themselves recommend pairing the 6950 XT with a top-tier 850W+ gold rated PSU like this $159 EVGA Supernova. So tack on another $150+ to your build cost if choosing the 6950 XT over the 6900 XT. Given their striking similarities otherwise, it really hammers home why the 6950 XT struggles as a value play.
If keeping power costs down are a priority (say, living with high electricity bills), the 6950 XT does you zero favors. Lower wattage options like Nvidia‘s 320W RTX 3090 or AMD‘s own 300W 6900 XT / 7900 XTX make better choices there. No one wants a GPU that blows their circuit breaker while gaming!
Complaint #3 – Ray Tracing Can‘t Compare to Nvidia‘s RTX Cards
Here‘s one area where AMD continues falling far behind team green – real-time ray tracing performance. While fine for traditional rasterization, the 6950 XT suffers major frame rate drops when enabling ray traced lighting and shadows.
Let‘s see how it stacks up to the RTX 3080 in Cyberpunk 2077 with maxed quality ray tracing:
- RTX 3080 – 99 fps
- RX 6950 XT – 47 fps
Ouch. Less than half the frame rate from Nvidia‘s 2+ year old $699 card. And that‘s largely thanks to DLSS frame reconstruction magic that AMD still lacks an answer for. If silky smooth ray tracing is a priority, neither the 6950 XT or even new 7900 XTX hold a candle yet to Nvidia‘s dedicated RT / tensor cores.
DLSS support also gives older RTX cards longer staying power. So if eye candy matters, accept no substitutes! No excuses for AMD still trailing so far back by 2023.
Complaint #4 – Priced Substantially Higher than Prior-Gen 6900 XT
Pouring lemon juice on the wound, the measly 5% or so performance bump of the 6950 XT over the 6900 XT comes at a 36% price premium – $300 more! Just look at launch prices:
- RX 6900 XT – $999 MSRP
- RX 6950 XT – $1,099 MSRP (+$300 over 6900 XT)
When we‘re talking 30%+ higher cost for only marginal performance gains, the value proposition crumbles quick. Ideally, AMD would have priced the 6950 XT at under $900 to align with its single-digit percentages faster claim.
Instead, they got greedy pricing it into a dubious upper bracket where Nvidia‘s objectively faster hardware resides. This strategic overpricing muddies the waters on what otherwise could have been a decent 4K gaming card for the money.
Complaint #5 – Next-Gen RDNA 3 GPUs Outpace at Similar Pricing
The final nail in the 6950 XT‘s coffin – AMD‘s very own RDNA 3 graphics cards that just launched. The new 7900 XTX utterly demolishes the 6950 XT with 53% higher average frame rates across 4K game benchmarks.
And for only $100 more MSRP! Check out this value proposition:
- 6950 XT – $1099 MSRP / 100% FPS
- 7900 XTX – $899 MSRP / 153% FPS
It‘s no contest my friend. The 7900 XTX runs laps performance wise around the 6950 XT for similar cash. And that‘s not even factoring in its hardware-accelerated ray tracing and AI-powered FSR 3.0 framerate boosting!
Unless found heavily discounted, the 6950 XT is flat out obsolete in the face of AMD‘s next-gen RDNA 3 architecture. It loses any unique positioning as an AMD flagship card. The 5% generational bump over past RDNA 2 simply tanks in value when $100 more gets you triple that performance jump today with RDNA 3!
Bottom Line
If it wasn‘t clear yet, I can‘t recommend paying a dollar over $800 for an RX 6950 XT in today‘s market given the proliferation of superior options across price brackets. Its lack of meaningful generational gains, sky-high power draw, and next-gen obsolescence make it a questionable purchase only ~10 months since launch.
Rest assured my GPU advice comes from the heart with your best interests in mind! Let me know if you have any other graphics card questions. For now, please accept this decisive hat tip toward better-value GPUs out there for discerning buyers like yourself. Onwards and upwards!!
Let me know if you have any other graphics card questions!
