AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 vs NVIDIA RTX A4500 Comparison

The NVIDIA RTX A4500 and AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 are both end-of-life workstation-class GPUs, but they represent vastly different eras and design philosophies. The data shows a clear performance hierarchy, with the RTX A4500 holding a substantial lead in the shared benchmarks. This analysis breaks down the head-to-head results, architectural divergences, and specific use cases based solely on the provided facts.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The two GPUs share only two common benchmark results in the data set: Geekbench OpenCL and Geekbench Vulkan. In both, the NVIDIA RTX A4500 emerges as the definitive winner. Starting with Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX A4500 scores 141,837 points against the Radeon Pro Vega 64's 71,094 points. This represents a delta of 99.5%, meaning the RTX A4500 is nearly twice as fast in this compute-oriented test. The margin is enormous, suggesting a fundamental generational leap in raw compute throughput.

The Vulkan results tell a similar story, though the gap narrows somewhat. The RTX A4500 scores 129,980, while the Radeon Pro Vega 64 reaches 74,174. The delta here is 75.2%, still a commanding victory for the NVIDIA part. Interestingly, the Radeon Pro Vega 64 performs better relative to its OpenCL score in Vulkan, but it is still far from competitive with the RTX A4500's absolute numbers. Overall, the head-to-head results show 2 wins for the RTX A4500 and 0 for the Radeon Pro Vega 64.

Looking at the broader benchmark landscape, the average benchmark score for the RTX A4500 is 91,671, placing it in the 93rd percentile of all GPUs. The Radeon Pro Vega 64's average is 72,379, which lands in the 91st percentile. While both are high-performing parts, the raw difference in average score is substantial. The RTX A4500's nearest rival, the NVIDIA RTX A4500 Mobile, averages 91,134 (a mere 0.6% lower), while the Radeon Pro Vega 64's closest competitor, the NVIDIA TITAN X Pascal, averages 72,098 (just 0.4% lower). This highlights that the RTX A4500 competes in a higher absolute performance tier.

The Verdict

From a pure performance standpoint, the NVIDIA RTX A4500 is the clear choice. It wins both shared benchmarks by significant margins, and its average benchmark score of 91,671 is roughly 26.7% higher than the Radeon Pro Vega 64's 72,379. The RTX A4500 also demonstrates superior compute capabilities, with FP32 performance listed at 23.65 TFLOPS compared to 11.06 TFLOPS for the Radeon Pro Vega 64. This is a direct 2:1 advantage in single-precision floating-point throughput.

The data suggests the RTX A4500 is the stronger option for any workload that prioritizes raw compute, modern API support, or higher memory bandwidth. It features PCIe 4.0 x16 support, while the Radeon Pro Vega 64 is limited to PCIe 3.0 x16. The RTX A4500 also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, whereas the Radeon Pro Vega 64 only supports DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.3. For users requiring the latest graphics features, the RTX A4500 is the only viable option.

The Radeon Pro Vega 64, however, is not without its niche. Its form factor is listed as "IGP" (integrated graphics processor) with no power connectors and "Portable Device Dependent" display outputs. This suggests it is designed for specific integrated or mobile platforms, likely Apple Mac systems. For a workstation that requires a specific form factor or compatibility with such a platform, the Radeon Pro Vega 64 may be the only choice. But for general-purpose workstation use, the RTX A4500 is the superior performer in every measurable category in this data.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide between these two GPUs is stark. The NVIDIA RTX A4500 is built on the GA102 chip using the Ampere architecture, fabricated on an 8 nm process at Samsung. It contains 28,300 million transistors on a 628 mm² die, resulting in a transistor density of 45.1 million per mm². The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64, in contrast, uses the Vega 10 chip based on the older GCN 5.0 architecture, produced on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. It packs 12,500 million transistors on a 495 mm² die, with a density of 25.3 million per mm². The RTX A4500's smaller process node allows for significantly more transistors in a larger area.

Memory configurations diverge completely. The RTX A4500 uses 20 GB of GDDR6 on a 320-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 640.0 GB/s. The Radeon Pro Vega 64 uses 16 GB of HBM2 on a much wider 2048-bit bus, but its bandwidth is lower at 402.4 GB/s. This is a notable advantage for the NVIDIA part in memory-intensive tasks. Shader resources also favor the RTX A4500, with 7,168 shading units and 224 TMUs compared to 4,096 shading units and 256 TMUs for the AMD card. The RTX A4500 has 96 ROPs versus 64 ROPs on the Radeon.

Feature support is a major differentiator. The RTX A4500 includes 56 RT cores and 224 tensor cores, enabling hardware-accelerated ray tracing and AI workloads. The Radeon Pro Vega 64 has no RT or tensor cores listed. In terms of compute rates, the RTX A4500 achieves 23.65 TFLOPS FP32 and 23.65 TFLOPS FP16 (at a 1:1 ratio). The Radeon Pro Vega 64 manages 11.06 TFLOPS FP32 but 22.12 TFLOPS FP16 (at a 2:1 ratio). While the AMD card is competitive in FP16, the NVIDIA card's FP32 advantage is decisive for standard compute.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A4500 has an average benchmark score of 91,671, while the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 scores 72,379. This places the RTX A4500 in the 93rd percentile and the Radeon Pro Vega 64 in the 91st percentile of all GPUs.

Q: How do they compare in Vulkan performance?

A: In the Geekbench Vulkan test, the NVIDIA RTX A4500 scores 129,980, which is 75.2% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64's score of 74,174.

Q: Does the Radeon Pro Vega 64 support hardware ray tracing?

A: No. The Radeon Pro Vega 64 has no RT cores listed in its specifications. The NVIDIA RTX A4500 includes 56 RT cores for this purpose.

Q: What are the memory bandwidth differences?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A4500 has a memory bandwidth of 640.0 GB/s using 20 GB of GDDR6, while the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 has 402.4 GB/s using 16 GB of HBM2.

Q: Which GPU has a higher transistor count?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A4500 contains 28,300 million transistors, compared to 12,500 million for the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64.

Q: What is the difference in FP32 performance?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A4500 delivers 23.65 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, while the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 delivers 11.06 TFLOPS.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA RTX A4500 wins in every shared benchmark and in most raw specification comparisons. Its 23.65 TFLOPS FP32 and 23.65 TFLOPS FP16 performance is double the FP32 rate of the Radeon Pro Vega 64. The RTX A4500 also has a significant memory bandwidth advantage (640.0 GB/s vs 402.4 GB/s), which is critical for large dataset processing. Its 20 GB VRAM capacity is 4 GB larger than the Radeon's 16 GB, offering more headroom for high-resolution textures or large models. The presence of RT and tensor cores makes the RTX A4500 the sole option for ray-traced rendering or machine learning inference tasks.

The Radeon Pro Vega 64 does have a few specific advantages based on the data. Its FP16 performance of 22.12 TFLOPS is close to the RTX A4500's 23.65 TFLOPS, though it achieves this via a 2:1 ratio rather than 1:1. It also has a higher texture rate relative to its FP32 throughput, but in absolute terms, the RTX A4500's texture rate of 369.6 GTexel/s is higher than the Radeon's 345.6 GTexel/s. The Radeon Pro Vega 64's "IGP" form factor and lack of power connectors suggest it is intended for integrated systems, where the RTX A4500's dual-slot, 200W design would not fit. For that specific platform, the Radeon wins by default.

Specification Differences

• Process Node: NVIDIA RTX A4500: 8 nm | AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64: 14 nm
• Foundry: NVIDIA RTX A4500: Samsung | AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64: GlobalFoundries
• Transistors: NVIDIA RTX A4500: 28,300 million | AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64: 12,500 million
• Die Size: NVIDIA RTX A4500: 628 mm² | AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64: 495 mm²
• Transistor Density: NVIDIA RTX A4500: 45.1M / mm² | AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64: 25.3M / mm²
• Base Clock: NVIDIA RTX A4500: 1050 MHz | AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64: 1250 MHz
• Boost Clock: NVIDIA RTX A4500: 1650 MHz | AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64: 1350 MHz
• Memory Size: NVIDIA RTX A4500: 20 GB | AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64: 16 GB
• Memory Type: NVIDIA RTX A4500: GDDR6 | AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64: HBM2
• Memory Bus Width: NVIDIA RTX A4500: 320 bit | AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64: 2048 bit
• Memory Bandwidth: NVIDIA RTX A4500: 640.0 GB/s | AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64: 402.4 GB/s
• Shading Units: NVIDIA RTX A4500: 7168 | AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64: 4096
• TMUs: NVIDIA RTX A4500: 224 | AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64: 256
• ROPs: NVIDIA RTX A4500: 96 | AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64: 64
• RT Cores: NVIDIA RTX A4500: 56 | AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64: None
• Tensor Cores: NVIDIA RTX A4500: 224 | AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64: None
• Pixel Rate: NVIDIA RTX A4500: 158.4 GPixel/s | AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64: 86.40 GPixel/s
• Texture Rate: NVIDIA RTX A4500: 369.6 GTexel/s | AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64: 345.6 GTexel/s
• FP32 Performance: NVIDIA RTX A4500: 23.65 TFLOPS | AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64: 11.06 TFLOPS
• FP16 Performance: NVIDIA RTX A4500: 23.65 TFLOPS (1:1) | AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64: 22.12 TFLOPS (2:1)
• TDP: NVIDIA RTX A4500: 200 W | AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64: 250 W
• Slot Width: NVIDIA RTX A4500: Dual-slot | AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64: IGP
• Power Connectors: NVIDIA RTX A4500: 1x 8-pin | AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64: None
• Bus Interface: NVIDIA RTX A4500: PCIe 4.0 x16 | AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64: PCIe 3.0 x16
• DirectX Support: NVIDIA RTX A4500: 12 Ultimate (12_2) | AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64: 12 (12_1)
• Vulkan Support: NVIDIA RTX A4500: 1.4 | AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64: 1.3
• Release Date: NVIDIA RTX A4500: 2021-11-22 | AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64: 2017-06-26