AMD Radeon AI PRO R9700 vs NVIDIA RTX A4000 Comparison

The Verdict

The recorded data splits these two workstation cards into very different roles. The AMD Radeon AI PRO R9700 wins 9 of the 10 comparative benchmarks, and its victories are frequently decisive. The only test where the NVIDIA RTX A4000 comes out ahead is Geekbench Vulkan, and that lead is enormous: 127645 versus 63550, a 100.9% advantage. For any workload that relies heavily on the Vulkan API, the RTX A4000 is the clear choice from the database's perspective. For everything else measured, the Radeon AI PRO R9700 is the stronger performer, often by margins that are not close.

The AMD card is the one to select for raw compute throughput, modern DirectX 12 titles, and general 3D rendering. Its Passmark G3D score of 26979 is 27.9% above the RTX A4000's 19459. Its Passmark GPU Compute score of 15300 is 36.2% above the 9760 posted by the A4000. The Radeon also leads in every legacy DirectX test: DirectX 9 by 33.9%, DirectX 10 by 18.7%, DirectX 11 by 41.9%, and DirectX 12 by 13.3%. Those results indicate that the R9700 is not merely a compute-focused part; it also handles older API paths with more headroom.

The RTX A4000 remains relevant specifically for Vulkan-centric pipelines. The 100.9% delta in Geekbench Vulkan is the single largest margin in the entire comparison, and it is the only benchmark where the NVIDIA card demonstrates superiority. Users who have standardized on Vulkan for their applications should take that result seriously. Outside of that specific use case, the data consistently favors the AMD Radeon AI PRO R9700. The A4000 is an end-of-life product from the Ampere generation, while the R9700 is an active product from the RDNA 4.0 generation, and the benchmark results reflect that generational gap.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from fundamentally different silicon generations. The NVIDIA RTX A4000 uses the GA104 chip built on Samsung's 8 nm process, with 17,400 million transistors on a 392 mm² die. The AMD Radeon AI PRO R9700 uses the Navi 48 chip built on TSMC's 4 nm process, with 53,900 million transistors on a 357 mm² die. The transistor density difference is stark: the AMD part packs 151.0M transistors per mm², while the NVIDIA part achieves 44.4M per mm². The R9700 is built on a process two generations ahead, and the density figures reflect that.

The memory subsystems also differ. The RTX A4000 has 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256 bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The Radeon AI PRO R9700 has double the capacity at 32 GB of GDDR6, also on a 256 bit bus, but with 644.6 GB/s of bandwidth. The R9700's memory clock runs at 2518 MHz with 20.1 Gbps effective, while the A4000's memory runs at 1750 MHz with 14 Gbps effective. The AMD card has a 43.9% bandwidth advantage, which contributes to its compute and rendering leads.

The compute configurations are organized differently. The RTX A4000 has 6144 shading units, 192 TMUs, 96 ROPs, 48 RT cores, and 192 tensor cores. The Radeon AI PRO R9700 has 4096 shading units, 256 TMUs, 128 ROPs, and 64 RT cores, with no tensor core count listed in the database. Despite having fewer shading units, the AMD card achieves far higher throughput because of its clock speeds: base 1660 MHz, game 2350 MHz, and boost 2920 MHz. The NVIDIA card runs at a base of 735 MHz and boost of 1560 MHz. The result is that the R9700 delivers 47.84 TFLOPS FP32 and FP16 (1:1), while the A4000 delivers 19.17 TFLOPS in both. That is a 2.5x raw FP32 difference, and it shows up in the compute benchmarks.

The interface and power requirements also diverge. The RTX A4000 uses PCIe 4.0 x16, while the Radeon AI PRO R9700 uses PCIe 5.0 x16. The NVIDIA card is a single-slot design with a 1x 6-pin connector and a 140 W TDP, suggesting a 300 W PSU. The AMD card is a dual-slot design with a 1x 16-pin connector and a 300 W TDP, suggesting a 700 W PSU. The R9700 is physically larger: 267 mm long, 111 mm high, and 40 mm wide, versus 241 mm by 112 mm for the A4000. Display outputs differ as well: the A4000 has 4x DisplayPort 1.4a, while the R9700 has 1x HDMI 2.1b and 3x DisplayPort 2.1a. Both support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

Where Each One Wins

The Radeon AI PRO R9700 wins in compute-heavy and DirectX-oriented workloads. Its Passmark GPU Compute score of 15300 is 36.2% higher than the A4000's 9760, making it the better choice for general-purpose GPU compute tasks such as rendering, simulation, or data processing that use OpenCL or compute shaders. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 118202 is 10.5% above the A4000's 105739, confirming the compute advantage across different benchmark suites. The R9700 also wins the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test by a massive margin: 7006 versus 2604, a 62.8% difference. That is the largest single win for the AMD card in the head-to-head set, and it indicates a substantial advantage in modern DirectX 12 gaming or real-time rendering workloads.

The AMD card also dominates the Passmark DirectX suite. In DirectX 11, the R9700 scores 272 against 158, a 41.9% lead. In DirectX 9, it scores 363 against 240, a 33.9% lead. In DirectX 10, it scores 155 against 126, an 18.7% lead. Even in DirectX 12, where the A4000's modern architecture might be expected to help, the R9700 still wins 83 to 72, a 13.3% lead. The 2D test also goes to AMD: 1236 versus 1024, a 17.2% lead. The only category where the NVIDIA card wins is Vulkan, where its Geekbench score of 127645 is 100.9% higher than the R9700's 63550.

For users building a workstation around a specific API, the choice is clear. Vulkan-heavy pipelines should favor the RTX A4000 despite its age. Everything else, from OpenCL compute to DirectX 11 legacy applications to modern DX12 workloads, favors the Radeon AI PRO R9700.

FAQ

Q: Which card wins more benchmarks in the head-to-head comparison?

A: The AMD Radeon AI PRO R9700 wins 9 of the 10 recorded benchmarks. The NVIDIA RTX A4000 wins only the Geekbench Vulkan test.

Q: How large is the Vulkan advantage for the RTX A4000?

A: The RTX A4000 scores 127645 in Geekbench Vulkan versus 63550 for the Radeon AI PRO R9700, a 100.9% difference.

Q: What is the memory capacity difference between the two cards?

A: The RTX A4000 has 16 GB of GDDR6, while the Radeon AI PRO R9700 has 32 GB of GDDR6. Both use a 256 bit bus, but the R9700 has 644.6 GB/s bandwidth versus 448.0 GB/s for the A4000.

Q: How do the two cards compare in raw FP32 compute?

A: The Radeon AI PRO R9700 delivers 47.84 TFLOPS FP32, while the RTX A4000 delivers 19.17 TFLOPS FP32.

Q: Which card has the higher boost clock?

A: The Radeon AI PRO R9700 boosts to 2920 MHz, while the RTX A4000 boosts to 1560 MHz.

Q: What is the production status of each card?

A: The RTX A4000 is end-of-life, while the Radeon AI PRO R9700 is listed as active.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test delivers the most lopsided result in the comparison. The Radeon AI PRO R9700 scores 7006, while the RTX A4000 scores 2604, giving AMD a 62.8% win. This is a modern DirectX 12 benchmark, and the margin suggests that the R9700's higher clock speeds and bandwidth translate directly into real-time rendering performance. The A4000, despite having 6144 shading units, cannot overcome its 735 MHz base clock and older architecture in this test.

The Geekbench Vulkan test is the reverse story. The RTX A4000 posts 127645, more than double the R9700's 63550. The 100.9% delta is the largest in either direction across all ten benchmarks. This result is particularly notable because the R9700 wins the OpenCL test by 10.5%, yet loses the Vulkan test so dramatically. The database shows that API-level optimization can outweigh raw hardware specifications, at least in this specific comparison.

In compute workloads, the Radeon AI PRO R9700 asserts clear dominance. The Passmark GPU Compute score is 15300 versus 9760, a 36.2% lead. The Geekbench OpenCL score is 118202 versus 105739, a 10.5% lead. The FP32 figures from the database support these results: 47.84 TFLOPS for the R9700 versus 19.17 TFLOPS for the A4000. The AMD card's 4 nm process and 2920 MHz boost clock allow it to achieve more than double the theoretical compute throughput, and the benchmark scores reflect a substantial but not perfectly proportional advantage.

The DirectX legacy tests all favor AMD, but the margins vary. In DirectX 11, the R9700 wins 272 to 158, a 41.9% lead. In DirectX 9, it wins 363 to 240, a 33.9% lead. In DirectX 10, it wins 155 to 126, an 18.7% lead. The DirectX 12 test is the closest of the group: 83 to 72, a 13.3% win for AMD. The smaller DirectX 12 margin, combined with the massive Vulkan loss, suggests that the A4000's architecture retains some strength in newer low-level APIs even as it falls behind in legacy paths.

The 2D test also goes to the R9700: 1236 versus 1024, a 17.2% lead. The overall Passmark G3D score is 26979 for AMD versus 19459 for NVIDIA, a 27.9% lead. The average benchmark score in the database tells a slightly different story: the A4000 has an average benchmark score of 26683 and a percentile of 72, while the R9700 has an average of 23315 and a percentile of 69. That discrepancy exists because the A4000's Vulkan score is so high that it lifts the average, even though the R9700 wins the majority of individual tests. The nearest rivals in the database also show the two cards sitting in different performance neighborhoods: the A4000's closest competitor is the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT 50th Anniversary at 26553 (0.5% delta), while the R9700's closest is the AMD Radeon R9 M290X at 23276 (0.2% delta).

The R9700's launch MSRP is 1,299 USD. The A4000's launch MSRP is not recorded in the database. Overall, the recorded data makes the Radeon AI PRO R9700 the stronger card in 9 of 10 benchmarks, with the RTX A4000 retaining a single but very large Vulkan advantage.