AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 vs NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB Comparison

The Verdict

The benchmark data positions the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 as the stronger compute performer in this comparison. Its average benchmark score of 60,140 places it in the 88th percentile of all GPUs, while the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB averages 43,262, sitting in the 83rd percentile. The AMD card wins both recorded head-to-head tests, delivering a 34.1% advantage in OpenCL and a 24.2% advantage in Vulkan.

The Radeon Pro Vega 48 is the choice for workloads that stress general compute and modern API performance. The Quadro M6000 24 GB, with its 24 GB memory capacity, is the choice for tasks that require more video memory than the 8 GB on the AMD card, but the performance gap in the recorded benchmarks is substantial. The data shows a clear overall winner in the AMD card, with the NVIDIA card retaining a niche advantage in memory capacity.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48, with an average benchmark score of 60,140, compared to 43,262 for the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB.

Q: How large is the performance difference in the OpenCL test?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 scores 53,757, which is 34.1% higher than the Quadro M6000 24 GB's score of 40,098.

Q: Does the NVIDIA card win any of the head-to-head benchmark tests?

A: No. The recorded data shows the AMD card winning both the OpenCL and Vulkan tests, with 2 wins for AMD and 0 for NVIDIA.

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

A: The NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB has 24 GB of GDDR5 memory, while the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 has 8 GB of HBM2 memory.

Q: Which GPU uses a newer fabrication process?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 uses a 14 nm process from GlobalFoundries, while the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB uses a 28 nm process from TSMC.

Q: How do their percentiles compare across all GPUs?

A: The AMD card ranks in the 88th percentile, while the NVIDIA card ranks in the 83rd percentile.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from different architectural generations. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 uses the Vega 10 chip built on GCN 5.0 architecture, fabricated on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. The NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB uses the GM200 chip on Maxwell 2.0 architecture, fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC.

The AMD chip integrates 12,500 million transistors on a 495 mm² die, resulting in a transistor density of 25.3 million transistors per square millimeter. The NVIDIA chip contains 8,000 million transistors on a larger 601 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 13.3 million per square millimeter. The AMD chip is denser despite being physically smaller.

Both cards expose 3072 shading units and 192 texture mapping units. The AMD card has 64 render output units, while the NVIDIA card has 96. The AMD card uses HBM2 memory across a 2048-bit bus, whereas the NVIDIA card uses GDDR5 across a 384-bit bus.

The AMD card supports fp16 compute at 14.75 TFLOPS (2:1 ratio), while the NVIDIA card has no recorded fp16 capability. For API support, the AMD card lists Vulkan 1.3, while the NVIDIA card lists Vulkan 1.4. Both support DirectX 12 (12_1) and OpenGL 4.6.

The NVIDIA card is a dual-slot design with a 250 W TDP, one 8-pin power connector, and a suggested 600 W PSU. The AMD card is an integrated graphics package (IGP) with no power connectors and no recorded TDP. The NVIDIA card measures 267 mm in length and 111 mm in height.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every major specification category. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 has no recorded base or boost clock, while the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB runs at 988 MHz base and 1114 MHz boost. Memory clocks also differ: the AMD card uses 786 MHz with 1572 Mbps effective, while the NVIDIA card uses 1653 MHz with 6.6 Gbps effective.

Memory capacity favors the NVIDIA card at 24 GB versus 8 GB. Memory type differs: HBM2 on the AMD side, GDDR5 on the NVIDIA side. Bus width favors the AMD card at 2048 bits versus 384 bits. Bandwidth favors the AMD card at 402.4 GB/s versus 317.4 GB/s.

Pixel rate favors the NVIDIA card at 106.9 GPixel/s versus 76.80 GPixel/s. Texture rate slightly favors the AMD card at 230.4 GTexel/s versus 213.9 GTexel/s. FP32 compute favors the AMD card at 7.373 TFLOPS versus 6.844 TFLOPS. The AMD card also has fp16 compute at 14.75 TFLOPS, while the NVIDIA card has none recorded.

The AMD card is an IGP with no power connectors and portable-device-dependent display outputs. The NVIDIA card is dual-slot, uses a single 8-pin connector, has a 250 W TDP, and offers 1x DVI plus 4x DisplayPort 1.2 outputs. The AMD card released on 2019-03-18, while the NVIDIA card released on 2016-03-04. The NVIDIA card has a recorded launch MSRP of 4,999 USD.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded head-to-head data contains two tests, both won by the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the AMD card scores 53,757 against 40,098 for the Quadro M6000 24 GB, a 34.1% advantage. In the Geekbench Vulkan test, the AMD card scores 57,653 against 46,425, a 24.2% advantage.

The OpenCL gap of 34.1% is the larger of the two margins. This indicates the AMD card has a substantial lead in general-purpose compute workloads that utilize OpenCL. The Vulkan gap is narrower but still decisive at 24.2%. The AMD card's average benchmark score of 60,140 exceeds the NVIDIA card's average of 43,262 by roughly 39%.

The NVIDIA card's nearest rivals in the database include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile (average score 43,268, 0% delta) and the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 (43,301, -0.1% delta). The AMD card's nearest rivals include the Intel Arc Pro A60 (60,326, -0.3% delta) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 (60,347, -0.3% delta). The AMD card's score sits within 0.3% of the RTX 4090's average, a notable result for a workstation part.

The NVIDIA card's percentile rank of 83 places it below the AMD card's 88th percentile. The 5-percentile gap aligns with the average score difference. The AMD card also has a higher score in every recorded benchmark test, with no test favoring the NVIDIA card.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 wins in compute performance across both recorded APIs. Its OpenCL score of 53,757 and Vulkan score of 57,653 both exceed the NVIDIA card's scores by wide margins. The card also wins in memory bandwidth (402.4 GB/s versus 317.4 GB/s), FP32 throughput (7.373 TFLOPS versus 6.844 TFLOPS), and texture rate (230.4 GTexel/s versus 213.9 GTexel/s). Its fp16 capability at 14.75 TFLOPS gives it an additional compute advantage that the NVIDIA card cannot match.

The NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB wins in memory capacity with 24 GB versus 8 GB. It also wins in pixel rate (106.9 GPixel/s versus 76.80 GPixel/s) and render output units (96 versus 64). The NVIDIA card has a higher base clock (988 MHz) and boost clock (1114 MHz), which contributes to its pixel throughput advantage. Its 24 GB capacity allows it to handle datasets that would exceed the AMD card's 8 GB frame buffer.

For scenarios that require large in-memory datasets, such as high-resolution texturing or multi-display visualization, the NVIDIA card's 24 GB is the deciding factor. For scenarios that require raw compute throughput, modern API support, or higher memory bandwidth, the AMD card is the stronger option. The recorded benchmarks show no test where the NVIDIA card outperforms the AMD card, which means its practical advantage rests solely on memory capacity and pixel fill rate.

The AMD card's 88th percentile rank versus the NVIDIA card's 83rd percentile confirms that the AMD card sits higher in the overall performance distribution. The nearest-rival data for the AMD card includes the GeForce RTX 4090 within 0.3%, which contextualizes its performance level. The NVIDIA card's nearest rivals include the RTX 5050 Mobile and the RTX 4070 SUPER, both within 0.1%, which places it in a lower performance tier.