AMD Radeon 820M vs NVIDIA RTX 3000 Mobile Ada Generation Comparison

The Verdict

The recorded data positions the NVIDIA RTX 3000 Mobile Ada Generation as the decisively stronger GPU. The AMD Radeon 820M, an integrated graphics solution, delivers dramatically lower raw compute throughput, memory bandwidth, and rendering rates. The RTX 3000 Mobile Ada Generation is the clear choice for any workload requiring substantial graphics processing power, including 3D rendering, high-resolution gaming, or compute-intensive tasks. The Radeon 820M, with its 15 W power envelope, is suited for low-power, portable systems where basic display output and light GPU acceleration are the priorities. The data shows a gap of nearly an order of magnitude in several key metrics, making the RTX 3000 Mobile Ada Generation the only viable option for demanding applications.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs represent fundamentally different design philosophies and manufacturing nodes. The AMD Radeon 820M is built on TSMC's 4 nm process and utilizes the RDNA 3.5 architecture, belonging to the Navi III IGP (Strix Point Mobile) generation. It is an integrated graphics processor (IGP), sharing system memory and sipping power at a 15 W TDP. Its chip is designated Krackan Point 2. In contrast, the NVIDIA RTX 3000 Mobile Ada Generation is a discrete-class mobile GPU based on the Ada Lovelace architecture, manufactured on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It uses the AD106 chip and draws a significantly higher 115 W.

The RTX 3000 Mobile Ada Generation features a vastly larger execution engine. It houses 4608 shading units, 144 texture mapping units (TMUs), and 48 raster output units (ROPs). The AMD Radeon 820M, by comparison, has 128 shading units, 8 TMUs, and 4 ROPs. This scale difference extends to specialized hardware: the NVIDIA GPU includes 36 RT cores and 144 tensor cores, while the AMD part lists only 2 RT cores and no tensor cores. The NVIDIA GPU also has 22,900 million transistors on a 188 mm² die, with a transistor density of 121.8M per mm². The Radeon 820M's transistor count and die size are listed as unknown.

Memory architecture is another major divider. The RTX 3000 Mobile Ada Generation uses 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The Radeon 820M relies on system-shared memory, with its bandwidth marked as "System Dependent." This fundamental difference in memory access means the NVIDIA GPU has dedicated, high-speed VRAM for its operations, while the AMD IGP contends with system memory latency and bandwidth limitations.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher boost clock speed?

A: The AMD Radeon 820M has a boost clock of 2800 MHz, which is higher than the NVIDIA RTX 3000 Mobile Ada Generation's boost clock of 1695 MHz. However, the NVIDIA GPU's raw performance is far superior due to its much larger number of cores.

Q: What is the difference in power consumption between the two?

A: The AMD Radeon 820M has a 15 W TDP, while the NVIDIA RTX 3000 Mobile Ada Generation has a 115 W TDP. This makes the AMD IGP suitable for low-power, fanless or lightly cooled designs, whereas the NVIDIA GPU requires robust cooling and a larger power delivery system.

Q: Do both GPUs support the same modern graphics APIs?

A: Yes, both the AMD Radeon 820M and NVIDIA RTX 3000 Mobile Ada Generation support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. They are also both listed with "12 Ultimate (12_2)" API support.

Q: How does the memory size compare?

A: The NVIDIA RTX 3000 Mobile Ada Generation comes with 8 GB of dedicated GDDR6 memory. The AMD Radeon 820M uses "System Shared" memory, meaning it allocates from the host system's RAM, with no dedicated VRAM.

Q: What are the pixel and texture fill rates for each?

A: The NVIDIA RTX 3000 Mobile Ada Generation achieves a pixel rate of 81.36 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 244.1 GTexel/s. The AMD Radeon 820M delivers 11.20 GPixel/s and 22.40 GTexel/s. This indicates the NVIDIA GPU can process images and textures far more quickly.

Q: Which GPU has a wider bus interface to the system?

A: The NVIDIA RTX 3000 Mobile Ada Generation uses a PCIe 4.0 x16 interface, while the AMD Radeon 820M uses a PCIe 4.0 x8 interface. The NVIDIA GPU has double the lane count for system communication.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon 820M | NVIDIA RTX 3000 Mobile Ada Generation |

| :--- | :--- | :--- |

| Architecture | RDNA 3.5 | Ada Lovelace |

| Process Node | 4 nm | 5 nm |

| Transistors | unknown | 22,900 million |

| Die Size | unknown | 188 mm² |

| Base Clock | 400 MHz | 1395 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 2800 MHz | 1695 MHz |

| Memory Size | System Shared | 8 GB |

| Memory Type | System Shared | GDDR6 |

| Memory Bus Width | System Shared | 128 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | System Dependent | 256.0 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 128 | 4608 |

| TMUs | 8 | 144 |

| ROPs | 4 | 48 |

| RT Cores | 2 | 36 |

| Tensor Cores | null | 144 |

| Pixel Rate | 11.20 GPixel/s | 81.36 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 22.40 GTexel/s | 244.1 GTexel/s |

| FP32 Performance | 716.8 GFLOPS | 15.62 TFLOPS |

| FP16 Performance | 716.8 GFLOPS (1:1) | 15.62 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 15 W | 115 W |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 4.0 x8 | PCIe 4.0 x16 |

| Release Date | 2025-02-28 | 2023-03-20 |

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The benchmark data from the database shows no recorded head-to-head results between these two specific GPUs, and no wins are listed for either side. However, a direct comparison of the recorded performance specifications reveals the extent of the NVIDIA GPU's dominance in nearly every measurable category.

The most significant discrepancy lies in floating-point compute. The NVIDIA RTX 3000 Mobile Ada Generation delivers 15.62 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, while the AMD Radeon 820M provides 716.8 GFLOPS. This means the NVIDIA GPU offers roughly 21.8 times the raw single-precision compute throughput. For FP16, the ratio is identical, with both GPUs operating at a 1:1 rate relative to FP32. This massive difference indicates that any workload leveraging general-purpose compute, such as physics simulations, video encoding, or scientific calculations, would be overwhelmingly faster on the NVIDIA GPU.

Memory bandwidth is another area where the NVIDIA GPU is in a different class. The RTX 3000 Mobile Ada Generation has a dedicated 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth from its 8 GB GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus. The Radeon 820M's bandwidth is listed as "System Dependent," but given its integrated nature and the lack of dedicated VRAM, it will be constrained by the system's memory configuration and will not approach the NVIDIA GPU's dedicated throughput. This directly impacts texture streaming, frame buffer access, and overall scene complexity.

The render output metrics also favor the NVIDIA GPU. Its pixel rate of 81.36 GPixel/s is over seven times higher than the Radeon 820M's 11.20 GPixel/s. Similarly, the texture rate of 244.1 GTexel/s for the NVIDIA GPU dwarfs the AMD part's 22.40 GTexel/s by a factor of nearly 11. These figures indicate that the RTX 3000 Mobile Ada Generation can handle far more complex scenes with higher resolution textures and more detailed geometry without becoming fill-rate limited.

The NVIDIA GPU also has a substantial lead in specialized processing resources. Its 36 RT cores for ray tracing and 144 tensor cores for AI-accelerated workloads are absent in any meaningful capacity on the AMD Radeon 820M, which lists only 2 RT cores and no tensor cores. This makes the NVIDIA GPU the only option for hardware-accelerated ray tracing and features like DLSS that rely on tensor core processing.

Clock speeds present the only metric where the AMD Radeon 820M appears to have an advantage on paper. Its boost clock of 2800 MHz is significantly higher than the NVIDIA GPU's 1695 MHz. The base clock is also higher for NVIDIA at 1395 MHz versus 400 MHz for AMD. This higher frequency on the AMD part does not compensate for its drastically lower core count and memory bandwidth, as evidenced by its much lower compute and fill rate numbers.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA RTX 3000 Mobile Ada Generation wins in every category that matters for performance-oriented tasks. For gaming at high resolutions and detail settings, its 4608 shading units, 48 ROPs, and 256.0 GB/s of dedicated bandwidth provide the necessary throughput to push modern titles. Its 36 RT cores enable hardware-accelerated ray tracing, a feature the Radeon 820M cannot meaningfully provide. For professional 3D modeling, video editing, and rendering, the NVIDIA GPU's 15.62 TFLOPS of compute power and 144 tensor cores make it the clear choice. The tensor cores also enable AI-based features that can improve performance and image quality in supported applications.

The AMD Radeon 820M has a singular advantage in power efficiency. With a 15 W TDP, it consumes a fraction of the power required by the NVIDIA GPU's 115 W TDP. This makes it the appropriate choice for ultra-portable laptops and devices where battery life and thermal management are paramount. Its 4 nm manufacturing process and high boost clock of 2800 MHz indicate a design optimized for power efficiency rather than absolute performance. For basic tasks like office productivity, web browsing, and media playback, the Radeon 820M provides sufficient graphics acceleration without the power and thermal overhead of a discrete GPU. The data clearly shows that the RTX 3000 Mobile Ada Generation is a high-performance part, while the Radeon 820M is a low-power integrated solution.