AMD has made a big claim this generation to be the performance-per-watt champion for PC gamers. And indeed, it has continued to make the same claim during the RDNA 3 era. But this last bastion of RDNA 2, with the RX 6950 XT as its final flagship, contradicts the prestige of its efficiency boast. But it certainly delivers where PC gamers need it.

We got our hands on a gigabyte version of the AMD RX 6950 XT (opens in new tab), the top-of-the-line Radeon stack offering the best performance of the Navi 21 silicon and the most expensive single GPU card the Red Team has ever sought.

Unlike the relatively recent Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 Ti (open in new tab), the RX 6950 XT's actual core configuration is identical to the original Radeon RX 6900 XT (open in new tab). Rather than being a new full-fat spin on AMD's top chip, this is a bin-sorted version clocked significantly higher than its predecessor.

While the reference-clocked RX 6900 XT averaged 2,212 MHz during long-term testing, this gigabyte version of the RX 6950 XT averaged 2,553 MHz. Not long ago, 2.5 GHz would have been a reasonable clock speed for a processor, but it was not seen in graphics cards until this RDNA 2 generation dropped.

Indeed, the Radeon RX 6600 XT (open in new tab) exceeded 2.7 GHz, but this is a much less complex GPU than the Navi 21 GPU and more than twice the size. Keeping something like this RX 6950 XT running at this consistent speed is a far more impressive feat. [These cards feature a mature version of the Navi 21 silicon, which can consume over 400W of board power and remain stable in the game. Thus, the RX 6950 XT was rated at 335W, while the RX 6900 XT was rated at 300W.

In real terms, this actually translates to the same power level as the RTX 3090, and also more or less the same performance level in many games.

This is a $1,099 GPU, which is actually quite impressive considering it is actually available for that price compared to GeForce cards that sell for $1,600 at best. This is only another $100 more than the standard RX 6900 XT, and the increased power/frequency allows it to offer higher performance. [If you're going to pay $1,000+ for a GPU, you might as well not install it on a 1080p TN panel. But for those chasing triple-digit frame rates, there are advantages below.

1440p gaming performance

4K gaming performance

GPU performance

And it is this frame rate performance that matters most to PC gamers. However, it is not surprising that the RX 6950 XT does not mention the relative power consumption required to significantly outperform the RX 6900 XT. On average, the RX 6900 XT knocked the 300W mark while adhering to the recommended 335W TBP, while this RX 6950 XT was just shy of 360W, peaking at 408W.

As we said, the per-watt performance of AMD's RDNA 2 cards is something the Red Team has held up as something to admire, and rightly so. In our tests, they were not much more efficient than Nvidia's cards, but they were very efficient. Thirsty as they may be, GeForce cards also fly. [But with the RX 6950 XT and RX 6750 XT (opens in new tab) cards, that's out the window. But if you can maintain high frame rates, most PC gamers won't worry about little things like rising energy prices.

But congratulations to AMD for catching up to Nvidia's once top gaming card, the RTX 3090, the RX 6950 XT, which Red Team fans could only fantasize about in the fever dreams of Reddit's exaggerated echo chambers just a generation ago gaming performance.

And let's not forget the fact that Nvidia has released the RTX 3090 Ti, which is even faster, consumes more power, and is priced aggressively at $2,000. And I am not being sarcastic here either. Forget about it. Although, to be honest, I might forget about this RX 6950 XT as well. If you're going to pay more than $1,000 for a GPU at this point, you better be prepared for a serious buying spree as soon as either AMD or Nvidia announce their next-generation plans.

Of course, in the PC world, where the constant pace of innovation and progress is a concern, there is never a good time to upgrade. Our general advice is that if you need new hardware now, buy it. But within six months of the birth of a significant new generation, that has to change.

And now we are there. By the end of the year, new cards from both Nvidia and AMD are expected to be available, and all the rumors suggest that we will see another major leap in performance across generations; on the AMD side alone, the RX 7700 XT, expected to be the first to be released, is said to have RX 6900 XT-level gaming performance is said to have a "performance level" of "RX 6900 XT.

It will undoubtedly be a $500 to $600 graphics card, and spending twice as much on a high-end product today would be a fool's errand.

However, the Gigabyte RX 6950 XT is a well-made card. It runs surprisingly cool, surprisingly fast, and quiet. But would I buy it? Buying anything more than an RTX 3060 Ti or RX 6700 XT below MSRP now will only lead to disappointment.

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