AMD Radeon 860M vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The benchmark data presents an unambiguous picture: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile dominates the AMD Radeon 860M in every recorded test. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 4090 Mobile scores 180,831 against the Radeon 860M’s 22,759, a delta of -87.4% in favor of the NVIDIA part. That is not a marginal gap; it is a categorical difference in compute throughput.

The Vulkan results tell a similar story, though the margin narrows slightly. The RTX 4090 Mobile posts 170,774 in Geekbench Vulkan, while the Radeon 860M manages 30,043. The delta here is -82.4%, meaning the NVIDIA GPU delivers roughly 5.7 times the raw score. Both tests confirm that the RTX 4090 Mobile operates in a different performance class entirely, with the Radeon 860M trailing by a substantial margin in both API workloads.

Looking at the average benchmark score across all recorded tests, the RTX 4090 Mobile averages 43,667, while the Radeon 860M averages 26,401. That is a 65.4% advantage for the NVIDIA part in aggregate. The Radeon 860M’s percentile ranking among all GPUs sits at 72, which places it above the median but far from the top tier. The RTX 4090 Mobile, by contrast, sits at the 84th percentile, reflecting its position closer to the upper echelon of mobile graphics.

The nearest rivals for each part further contextualize the gap. The Radeon 860M’s closest competitor is the NVIDIA GeForce MX550, which averages 26,421, a delta of -0.1% against the AMD part. That puts the 860M in the same performance neighborhood as entry-level discrete GPUs. The RTX 4090 Mobile’s nearest rival is the NVIDIA RTX A6000, averaging 44,075, with the 4090 Mobile trailing by -0.9%. The 4090 Mobile also sits within 0.8% of the Quadro M6000 and 0.9% of the RTX 5050 Mobile. These are workstation-class and high-end parts, not integrated graphics.

The Radeon 860M’s best showing comes in Vulkan, where its 30,043 score exceeds its OpenCL result by 32%. That suggests the RDNA 3.5 architecture responds well to Vulkan’s lower-level API access. Still, even that stronger result falls short of the RTX 4090 Mobile’s weakest recorded score in the head-to-head comparison, which is 170,774 in Vulkan. The NVIDIA part’s OpenCL score of 180,831 is nearly six times the AMD part’s OpenCL output.

The Verdict

The data indicates that these two GPUs serve entirely different segments of the mobile market. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile wins both head-to-head benchmarks, claiming 2 out of 2 recorded victories. Its aggregate average score of 43,667 places it in the 84th percentile of all GPUs, and its nearest rivals include workstation-class accelerators like the RTX A6000 and Quadro M6000. The 4090 Mobile is designed for high-end gaming laptops and mobile workstations where maximum compute throughput is the priority.

The AMD Radeon 860M, with its 0 wins in head-to-head testing, is an integrated graphics processor. Its 72nd percentile ranking and nearest rivals consisting of the GeForce MX550 and RTX 5060 indicate it competes with entry-level discrete GPUs, not flagship mobile parts. The 860M’s average score of 26,401 is respectable for an IGP, but it does not approach the performance level required for demanding AAA gaming or GPU-accelerated professional workloads.

From the recorded data, the RTX 4090 Mobile is the clear choice for users who need maximum frame rates, high-resolution rendering, or GPU compute performance in a laptop. The Radeon 860M suits systems where integrated graphics provide adequate performance for everyday tasks, light gaming, and battery-efficient operation. The 120 W TDP of the RTX 4090 Mobile versus the 15 W TDP of the Radeon 860M underscores the power envelope difference; the NVIDIA part consumes eight times the power to deliver its performance advantage.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs diverge fundamentally in architecture, process technology, and feature set. The AMD Radeon 860M uses the RDNA 3.5 architecture on TSMC’s 4 nm process node, built around the Krackan Point chip. It belongs to the Navi III IGP generation for Strix Point Mobile. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile uses Ada Lovelace architecture on a 5 nm TSMC node, based on the AD103 chip, and is part of the GeForce 40 Mobile series.

Transistor counts reveal the scale difference. The RTX 4090 Mobile packs 45,900 million transistors on a 379 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 121.1 million per square millimeter. The Radeon 860M’s transistor count and die size are not recorded in the database, but its integrated nature and 15 W power envelope indicate a far smaller implementation.

Compute resources differ by an order of magnitude. The Radeon 860M has 512 shading units, 32 texture mapping units, and 16 raster operation pipelines. The RTX 4090 Mobile has 9,728 shading units, 304 TMUs, and 112 ROPs. That translates to 19 times more shading units and 9.5 times more TMUs. Pixel fill rates follow suit: 48.00 GPixel/s for the AMD part versus 189.8 GPixel/s for the NVIDIA part. Texture fill rates are 96.00 GTexel/s versus 515.3 GTexel/s.

Ray tracing and tensor hardware also differ. The Radeon 860M has 8 ray tracing cores and no tensor cores recorded. The RTX 4090 Mobile has 76 RT cores and 304 tensor cores. This gives the NVIDIA part a substantial advantage in both ray-traced rendering and AI-accelerated workloads. Floating point performance shows the same pattern: the Radeon 860M delivers 3.072 TFLOPS in FP32, while the RTX 4090 Mobile delivers 32.98 TFLOPS, a 10.7x difference.

Memory subsystems are entirely different classes. The Radeon 860M uses system-shared memory with bandwidth that depends on the host system. The RTX 4090 Mobile has 16 GB of dedicated GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 576.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Clock speeds also differ: the AMD part boosts to 3000 MHz from a 600 MHz base, while the NVIDIA part boosts to 1695 MHz from a 1335 MHz base. The Radeon 860M’s higher boost clock reflects its smaller, more efficient design, but it cannot compensate for the massive resource disparity.

The RTX 4090 Mobile connects via PCIe 4.0 x16, while the Radeon 860M uses PCIe 4.0 x8. Both support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The Radeon 860M is an IGP with no power connectors and a 15 W TDP. The RTX 4090 Mobile, despite also being listed as an IGP with no power connectors, has a 120 W TDP. Release dates differ by over two years: the Radeon 860M launched on February 28, 2025, while the RTX 4090 Mobile launched on January 2, 2023.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU scores higher in Geekbench OpenCL?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile scores 180,831, while the AMD Radeon 860M scores 22,759. The delta is -87.4% in favor of the NVIDIA part.

Q: How do the two GPUs compare in Geekbench Vulkan?

A: The RTX 4090 Mobile scores 170,774, and the Radeon 860M scores 30,043. The delta is -82.4%, giving the NVIDIA GPU a roughly 5.7x advantage.

Q: What is the average benchmark score for each GPU?

A: The Radeon 860M averages 26,401 across recorded benchmarks, while the RTX 4090 Mobile averages 43,667. The NVIDIA part holds a 65.4% higher aggregate score.

Q: How do their percentile rankings compare?

A: The Radeon 860M ranks in the 72nd percentile of all GPUs. The RTX 4090 Mobile ranks in the 84th percentile.

Q: What are the nearest rivals for each GPU?

A: The Radeon 860M’s nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce MX550 with an average score of 26,421, a -0.1% delta. The RTX 4090 Mobile’s nearest rival is the NVIDIA RTX A6000 with 44,075, a -0.9% delta.

Q: What are the memory configurations?

A: The Radeon 860M uses system-shared memory with system-dependent bandwidth. The RTX 4090 Mobile has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus with 576.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile wins every recorded benchmark category. In Geekbench OpenCL, it outperforms the Radeon 860M by 158,072 points. In Geekbench Vulkan, the margin is 140,731 points. The 4090 Mobile’s 84th percentile ranking, 9,728 shading units, 76 RT cores, and 304 tensor cores position it for high-end gaming, ray tracing, AI inference, and professional 3D rendering. Its 32.98 TFLOPS FP32 throughput and 576.0 GB/s memory bandwidth handle large datasets and complex scenes that would overwhelm the integrated part. The 120 W TDP indicates it is intended for systems with substantial cooling and power delivery.

The AMD Radeon 860M wins in efficiency and integration. Its 15 W TDP is one-eighth of the RTX 4090 Mobile’s, making it suitable for thin-and-light laptops where battery life and thermal management take priority. Its 3.072 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 512 shading units handle everyday graphics, video playback, light photo editing, and esports titles at modest settings. The 860M’s 72nd percentile ranking shows it outperforms many older discrete GPUs, and its nearest rival, the GeForce MX550, confirms it sits at the upper end of entry-level performance. The shared memory architecture eliminates the need for dedicated VRAM, reducing system cost and complexity. The 3000 MHz boost clock is notably high, reflecting the efficiency of the 4 nm RDNA 3.5 design.

For users prioritizing raw performance, the RTX 4090 Mobile is the only choice from this data. For users prioritizing power efficiency and integrated simplicity, the Radeon 860M delivers adequate performance within a minimal power envelope. The two parts do not compete in the same market segment; the data shows a clear hierarchy where the RTX 4090 Mobile leads by an order of magnitude in compute resources and benchmark scores.