AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X vs NVIDIA L4 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data shows a single head-to-head benchmark between the NVIDIA L4 and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X, and it is a decisive victory for the NVIDIA L4. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the NVIDIA L4 scores 140,838, while the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X scores 78,467. That is a delta of 79.5% in favor of the NVIDIA L4, meaning the L4 delivers nearly 80% higher performance in this compute workload. This is not a marginal difference; it is a substantial generational gap expressed in raw benchmark numbers.

To contextualize this score, the NVIDIA L4 sits at the 95th percentile among all GPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 131,072 across its recorded tests. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti at 131,938 (a delta of -0.7%, meaning the L4 trails by less than 1%), the NVIDIA RTX 4000 Ada Generation at 135,218 (-3.1%), the NVIDIA A10M at 135,230 (-3.1%), and the AMD Radeon PRO W6800 at 135,396 (-3.2%). In short, the L4's OpenCL result is essentially on par with some of the most powerful consumer and workstation GPUs of the previous generation, trailing them by only a few percentage points.

The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X, by contrast, sits at the 92nd percentile, but its average benchmark score is only 80,959. Its nearest rivals tell a different story: it is 1.3% behind the AMD Radeon PRO W6600 (81,995), 1.4% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 (79,842), 1.7% ahead of the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB (79,605), and 2% ahead of the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB (79,396). While the Vega 64X is competitive with those specific cards, its absolute score is far below the L4's. The difference in average benchmark scores between the two cards is 50,113 points, a 61.9% gap, which underscores how far apart these two products are in raw compute capability.

The NVIDIA L4 also has a Geekbench Vulkan score of 121,306, further demonstrating its strength in graphics and compute APIs. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X has a Geekbench Metal score of 83,450, but no Vulkan score is recorded in the database, making direct cross-API comparisons impossible. However, the OpenCL result is the only shared test, and it is overwhelmingly in the L4's favor. The data does not show a single test where the AMD card wins; the head-to-head record is 1 win for NVIDIA and 0 for AMD.

FAQ

Q: How much faster is the NVIDIA L4 than the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X in OpenCL?

A: The NVIDIA L4 scores 140,838 in Geekbench OpenCL, while the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X scores 78,467. The L4 is 79.5% faster in this test, a substantial margin that reflects the architectural and process node advantages of the newer card.

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

A: The NVIDIA L4 has an average benchmark score of 131,072 across its recorded tests. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X has an average benchmark score of 80,959. This puts the L4 at the 95th percentile of all GPUs, while the Vega 64X sits at the 92nd percentile.

Q: How does the NVIDIA L4 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The L4 is within 3.2% of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti (131,938), the NVIDIA RTX 4000 Ada Generation (135,218), the NVIDIA A10M (135,230), and the AMD Radeon PRO W6800 (135,396). It trails each by less than 4%, showing it is competitive with those high-end workstation cards.

Q: Which GPUs are closest to the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X in performance?

A: The Vega 64X is 1.3% behind the AMD Radeon PRO W6600 (81,995), and it is 1.4% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 (79,842), 1.7% ahead of the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB (79,605), and 2% ahead of the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB (79,396). Its performance class is clearly below the L4's.

Q: Does the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X win any head-to-head benchmark against the NVIDIA L4?

A: No. The only shared benchmark in the database is Geekbench OpenCL, where the NVIDIA L4 wins with a 79.5% higher score. The recorded head-to-head record is 1 win for the L4 and 0 for the Vega 64X.

Q: What is the production status of each card?

A: The NVIDIA L4 is listed as Active, while the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X is listed as End-of-life. This reflects their release dates: the L4 was released on March 20, 2023, and the Vega 64X was released on March 18, 2019.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from fundamentally different design eras and philosophies. The NVIDIA L4 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture, using the AD104 chip, and is fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X uses the GCN 5.0 architecture with the Vega 10 chip, fabricated on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. The process node difference is stark: 5 nm versus 14 nm, which directly impacts transistor density and power efficiency.

The transistor counts reflect this gap. The NVIDIA L4 packs 35,800 million transistors on a die size of 294 mm², yielding a transistor density of 121.8 million per mm². The AMD card has 12,500 million transistors on a much larger die of 495 mm², resulting in a density of only 25.3 million per mm². The L4 achieves more than four times the transistor density, which is a direct consequence of the more advanced fabrication process.

The memory architectures are also fundamentally different. The NVIDIA L4 uses 24 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 300.1 GB/s. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X uses 16 GB of HBM2 memory on a massive 2048-bit bus, delivering 512.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Despite the wider bus and higher bandwidth, the Vega 64X is slower in compute due to its older architecture and lower raw throughput.

Compute resources differ significantly. The NVIDIA L4 has 7,424 shading units, 240 texture mapping units, 80 raster operations pipelines, 60 ray tracing cores, and 240 tensor cores. The AMD card has 4,096 shading units, 256 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, but it has no ray tracing cores and no tensor cores. The L4's tensor cores and ray tracing support are features the Vega 64X simply does not have, making the L4 more versatile for modern workloads that leverage these accelerators.

The API support also reflects the generational gap. The NVIDIA L4 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The AMD card supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. The L4's higher DirectX version and newer Vulkan version indicate broader compatibility with current software standards.

Specification Differences

The clock speeds tell a clear story. The NVIDIA L4 has a base clock of 795 MHz and a boost clock of 2040 MHz. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X has a higher base clock of 1250 MHz but a lower boost clock of 1468 MHz. The L4's boost clock is significantly higher, which contributes to its superior compute performance. Memory clocks differ as well: the L4 runs at 1563 MHz with 12.5 Gbps effective speed, while the Vega 64X runs at 1000 MHz with 2 Gbps effective speed.

The FP32 compute throughput is a major differentiator. The NVIDIA L4 delivers 30.29 TFLOPS, while the AMD card delivers 12.03 TFLOPS. This is more than a 2.5x advantage for the L4. In FP16, the L4 again delivers 30.29 TFLOPS (1:1 ratio), while the Vega 64X delivers 24.05 TFLOPS (2:1 ratio). Even in FP16, where the AMD card has a theoretical advantage due to its 2:1 ratio, the L4 still wins outright.

Pixel and texture rates follow the same pattern. The NVIDIA L4 achieves 163.2 GPixel/s and 489.6 GTexel/s. The AMD card achieves 93.95 GPixel/s and 375.8 GTexel/s. The L4 is ahead in both metrics, though the texture rate gap is smaller than the pixel rate gap.

Power consumption is a critical difference. The NVIDIA L4 has a TDP of 72 W, while the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X has a TDP of 250 W. The L4 delivers far more performance while consuming less than a third of the power. The L4 is a single-slot card with no power connectors and a suggested PSU of 250 W. The Vega 64X is classified as an IGP (integrated graphics processor) with no power connectors and no suggested PSU listed. The L4 uses a PCIe 4.0 x16 interface, while the Vega 64X uses PCIe 3.0 x16.

Physical dimensions are only recorded for the NVIDIA L4: 169 mm (6.7 inches) in length and 56 mm (2.2 inches) in height. The AMD card has no recorded dimensions. The L4 has no display outputs, while the Vega 64X has display outputs that are described as "Portable Device Dependent," reflecting its intended use in Apple's Mac systems.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous. The NVIDIA L4 is the superior GPU in every measurable category that matters for compute performance. It is 79.5% faster in the only shared benchmark, has more than double the FP32 throughput, uses significantly less power, and is built on a far more advanced process node. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X, while respectable for its era, is an end-of-life product that cannot compete with the L4's modern architecture.

For users who need raw compute performance, the NVIDIA L4 is the clear choice. Its 30.29 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, 24 GB of memory, and support for ray tracing and tensor cores make it a versatile accelerator for a wide range of workloads. The fact that it achieves this performance at just 72 W is remarkable, especially when compared to the Vega 64X's 250 W TDP. The L4's single-slot form factor and lack of power connectors also make it easier to integrate into dense server deployments.

The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X is not without merit, but its advantages are narrow. It offers higher memory bandwidth (512.0 GB/s versus 300.1 GB/s) due to its HBM2 memory and 2048-bit bus. This could matter for memory-bandwidth-bound workloads, though the database does not include a benchmark that isolates this factor. It also has a higher base clock (1250 MHz versus 795 MHz), but its boost clock is much lower (1468 MHz versus 2040 MHz). For users already invested in Apple's ecosystem, the Vega 64X's "Portable Device Dependent" display outputs might be a consideration, but that is a niche use case.

The verdict is straightforward: the NVIDIA L4 wins decisively. It is faster, more efficient, more feature-rich, and still in active production. The AMD card is end-of-life and cannot match the L4's performance in any recorded test.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA L4 wins in every benchmark category recorded in the database. Its OpenCL score of 140,838 versus 78,467 is a 79.5% advantage. Its Vulkan score of 121,306 further demonstrates its strength in modern graphics APIs. The L4 also wins on compute throughput: 30.29 TFLOPS FP32 versus 12.03 TFLOPS. It wins on power efficiency, delivering more performance at 72 W compared to the Vega 64X's 250 W. It wins on memory capacity with 24 GB versus 16 GB. It wins on architectural features with ray tracing cores and tensor cores, neither of which the AMD card has. It wins on process technology with 5 nm versus 14 nm, and on transistor density with 121.8M per mm² versus 25.3M per mm².

The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X does have a few areas where it is not worse, though none translate to a benchmark win. It has higher memory bandwidth at 512.0 GB/s versus 300.1 GB/s, which could be an advantage in specific memory-intensive scenarios that are not represented in the recorded tests. It has a higher base clock at 1250 MHz versus 795 MHz. It has more texture mapping units (256 versus 240) and a larger die size (495 mm² versus 294 mm²), though the larger die is a consequence of the older process node. Its FP16 throughput of 24.05 TFLOPS is closer to the L4's 30.29 TFLOPS than its FP32 result, but it still trails.

The use-case split is therefore clear. The NVIDIA L4 is the choice for anyone prioritizing compute performance, modern API support, power efficiency, and future-proofing. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X might be considered only in scenarios where higher memory bandwidth is critical and where the older GCN architecture's quirks are acceptable, but the database provides no benchmark evidence that this card wins anywhere. The recorded data shows one winner, and it is the NVIDIA L4.