AMD Instinct MI100 vs NVIDIA RTX A4500 Mobile Comparison

# AMD Instinct MI100 vs NVIDIA RTX A4500 Mobile

The AMD Instinct MI100 and NVIDIA RTX A4500 Mobile occupy fundamentally different positions in the database, with the MI100 delivering a decisive lead in raw compute throughput while the RTX A4500 Mobile brings feature support and portability. Benchmark data shows the MI100 wins the only direct head-to-head comparison, but the two cards are built for entirely different workloads and deployment scenarios. The MI100 sits in the 96th percentile of all GPUs, while the RTX A4500 Mobile ranks in the 93rd percentile, indicating both are high-performers, yet the MI100's margin in OpenCL is substantial.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Instinct MI100 is the clear winner in compute-heavy, data-center-oriented workloads. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 139,035 places it 32% ahead of the RTX A4500 Mobile's 105,307 in the same test. This advantage stems from its massive 7,680 shading units, 480 texture mapping units, and 32 GB of HBM2 memory with 1.23 TB/s bandwidth. The MI100 is designed for accelerator-style tasks where raw floating-point throughput and memory bandwidth dominate. Its 23.07 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 46.14 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1) performance dwarf the mobile card's numbers, making it the superior choice for scientific simulation, AI training, and large-scale data processing where the GPU is the dedicated compute engine.

The NVIDIA RTX A4500 Mobile wins in every other practical category. It is the only card with display outputs, being "Portable Device Dependent," which means it can drive screens in a laptop chassis. It supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, while the MI100 lists N/A for all three APIs. The RTX A4500 Mobile also brings dedicated hardware features the MI100 lacks entirely: 46 ray tracing cores and 184 tensor cores. These enable real-time ray tracing and AI-accelerated workloads such as DLSS or OptiX denoising. Its 144.0 GPixel/s pixel rate is also 50% higher than the MI100's 96.13 GPixel/s, indicating better rasterization throughput per clock. For mobile workstations, the RTX A4500 Mobile's 140 W TDP and lack of external power connectors make it deployable in laptops, whereas the MI100 requires a 300 W power budget, dual-slot cooling, and two 8-pin connectors.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Instinct MI100 has a much higher average benchmark score of 139,035, compared to the NVIDIA RTX A4500 Mobile's 91,134. This difference is driven by the MI100's 32% lead in Geekbench OpenCL, while the RTX A4500 Mobile's average is pulled down by its lower Vulkan score of 76,960.

Q: Can the NVIDIA RTX A4500 Mobile output to displays?

A: Yes. Its display outputs are described as "Portable Device Dependent," meaning it can drive laptop panels or external monitors depending on the system. The AMD Instinct MI100 has no display outputs at all, making it strictly a compute accelerator.

Q: Which card supports ray tracing and tensor operations?

A: Only the NVIDIA RTX A4500 Mobile. It has 46 ray tracing cores and 184 tensor cores, while the AMD Instinct MI100 lists null values for both. This makes the RTX A4500 Mobile suitable for real-time ray tracing and AI inference tasks that leverage tensor core acceleration.

Q: How do the two cards compare in memory bandwidth?

A: The AMD Instinct MI100 has more than double the bandwidth at 1.23 TB/s, using a 4096-bit HBM2 interface across 32 GB. The NVIDIA RTX A4500 Mobile offers 512.0 GB/s over a 256-bit GDDR6 bus with 16 GB capacity.

Q: What are the power requirements for each card?

A: The AMD Instinct MI100 has a 300 W TDP, requires two 8-pin power connectors, and a 700 W suggested PSU. The NVIDIA RTX A4500 Mobile has a 140 W TDP and no external power connectors, as it draws power through the mobile platform.

Q: Which card is newer?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A4500 Mobile was released on 2022-03-21, while the AMD Instinct MI100 was released on 2020-11-15, making the RTX A4500 Mobile roughly a year and a half newer.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only recorded head-to-head benchmark is Geekbench OpenCL, and the AMD Instinct MI100 wins decisively with a score of 139,035 versus 105,307, a 32% delta. This is a substantial margin that reflects the fundamental design differences. The MI100's 7,680 shading units and 1.23 TB/s memory bandwidth give it an overwhelming advantage in compute-bound workloads. For context, the MI100's nearest rival is the NVIDIA Tesla V100 PCIe 16 GB, which scores 138,063, just 0.7% behind. The Tesla V100 SXM2 32 GB scores 137,731 (0.9% behind), and the AMD Radeon PRO V620 scores 136,472 (1.9% behind). The MI100 sits comfortably above all of them.

The RTX A4500 Mobile's Geekbench OpenCL score of 105,307 places it closer to its own rival group. Its nearest competitor, the NVIDIA RTX A4500 (desktop), scores 91,671, meaning the mobile version is actually 0.6% ahead of its desktop counterpart in this test. The AMD Radeon Instinct MI60 scores 92,466, which is 1.4% higher than the RTX A4500 Mobile, while the NVIDIA Quadro GP100 scores 87,445 (4.2% behind) and the AMD Radeon PRO W7600 scores 87,108 (4.6% behind). The RTX A4500 Mobile's Vulkan score of 76,960 is notably lower than its OpenCL score, suggesting its compute performance is more consistent under OpenCL, but the MI100 does not have a Vulkan score recorded.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across almost every major specification. The AMD Instinct MI100 has 32 GB of HBM2 memory, while the NVIDIA RTX A4500 Mobile has 16 GB of GDDR6. The memory bus widths are 4096-bit versus 256-bit, respectively, leading to bandwidths of 1.23 TB/s versus 512.0 GB/s. The MI100 has 7,680 shading units, 480 TMUs, and 64 ROPs; the RTX A4500 Mobile has 5,888 shading units, 184 TMUs, and 96 ROPs. The MI100 has higher texture fill rate at 721.0 GTexel/s versus 276.0 GTexel/s, but the RTX A4500 Mobile has a higher pixel rate at 144.0 GPixel/s versus 96.13 GPixel/s. FP32 performance is 23.07 TFLOPS for the MI100 versus 17.66 TFLOPS for the RTX A4500 Mobile. FP16 performance diverges sharply: the MI100 hits 46.14 TFLOPS with a 2:1 ratio, while the RTX A4500 Mobile is capped at 17.66 TFLOPS with a 1:1 ratio.

Power consumption differs by 160 W: the MI100 draws 300 W TDP, while the RTX A4500 Mobile draws 140 W. The MI100 is dual-slot with two 8-pin connectors and a 700 W suggested PSU; the RTX A4500 Mobile has no external power connectors. The MI100 has no display outputs; the RTX A4500 Mobile's outputs are portable-device dependent. The RTX A4500 Mobile includes 46 RT cores and 184 tensor cores; the MI100 has none. The production status for both is end-of-life, but the RTX A4500 Mobile has a successor (Ada-MW), while the MI100's successor field is null.

Architecture Differences

The AMD Instinct MI100 is built on the CDNA 1.0 architecture using the Arcturus chip, manufactured on a 7 nm process at TSMC. It packs 25,600 million transistors on a 750 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 34.1M per mm². This is a large, power-hungry accelerator die optimized for server compute. The NVIDIA RTX A4500 Mobile uses the Ampere architecture with the GA104 chip, fabricated on Samsung's 8 nm process. It contains 17,400 million transistors on a 392 mm² die, resulting in a higher transistor density of 44.4M per mm². The smaller die and lower transistor count reflect its mobile-focused design, balancing performance within a 140 W thermal envelope.

The MI100's memory architecture is a key differentiator: HBM2 with a 4096-bit bus provides enormous bandwidth but requires the large die and dual-slot form factor. The RTX A4500 Mobile uses GDDR6 with a 256-bit bus, which is more power-efficient and easier to integrate into a laptop. The MI100's FP16 throughput is double its FP32 rate, indicating a design optimized for mixed-precision AI workloads. The RTX A4500 Mobile offers 1:1 FP16/FP32, which is typical for Ampere consumer and workstation parts, but it compensates with tensor cores for AI acceleration. The MI100 has no API support listed for DirectX, OpenGL, or Vulkan, confirming it is not intended for graphics. The RTX A4500 Mobile supports all three, including DirectX 12 Ultimate. The MI100's release date of 2020-11-15 positions it as an early CDNA product, while the RTX A4500 Mobile's 2022-03-21 release is later in the Ampere lifecycle.

The Verdict

The data directs a clear split: choose the AMD Instinct MI100 for pure compute throughput in a server or dedicated accelerator environment. Its 32% OpenCL lead, 1.23 TB/s memory bandwidth, and 46.14 TFLOPS FP16 performance make it the dominant option for workloads that scale with raw parallel processing, such as scientific computing, HPC simulations, and large-batch AI training. Its 96th percentile ranking and proximity to the Tesla V100 series confirm it competes at the high end of accelerator performance. However, it is not a graphics card, has no display outputs, and requires a 300 W power budget with dual-slot cooling.

Choose the NVIDIA RTX A4500 Mobile for any workload that needs graphics, ray tracing, or AI features in a mobile form factor. Its 140 W TDP, lack of external power connectors, and portable-device-dependent display outputs make it the only viable option for laptop workstations. The 46 RT cores and 184 tensor cores enable hardware-accelerated ray tracing and AI inference, features the MI100 cannot offer. Its 144.0 GPixel/s pixel rate also gives it superior rasterization throughput, and its support for DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4 covers the full graphics API stack. The RTX A4500 Mobile's 93rd percentile ranking is respectable, and its OpenCL score actually edges out its desktop RTX A4500 counterpart by 0.6%, showing the mobile part is not significantly compromised in compute performance.

In short, the MI100 wins the compute war by a wide margin, but the RTX A4500 Mobile wins the versatility war. The database records only one head-to-head benchmark, and the MI100 wins it. For everything else, the RTX A4500 Mobile is the more complete GPU, provided the workload fits within its 16 GB memory capacity and lower bandwidth. The MI100 is a specialist tool; the RTX A4500 Mobile is a generalist.