AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X vs NVIDIA RTX 4500 Ada Generation Comparison

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA RTX 4500 Ada Generation records an average benchmark score of 166,094, placing it in the 97th percentile among all GPUs. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X averages 80,959, which puts it in the 92nd percentile. The NVIDIA card leads by roughly 105% in average performance.

Q: What are the direct benchmark results between the two cards?

A: In the only head-to-head test available, Geekbench OpenCL, the NVIDIA RTX 4500 Ada Generation scores 160,786 versus 78,467 for the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X. That is a 104.9% advantage for the NVIDIA card, meaning it more than doubles the AMD card’s score in this workload.

Q: How do the memory subsystems differ?

A: The NVIDIA card uses 24 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 432.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The AMD card uses 16 GB of HBM2 memory on a 2048-bit bus, delivering 512.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The AMD card has higher raw bandwidth but far less capacity.

Q: Which GPU supports hardware ray tracing?

A: The NVIDIA RTX 4500 Ada Generation includes 60 dedicated RT cores. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X has no RT core count listed in the database, indicating it lacks dedicated ray tracing hardware. This is a fundamental architectural difference.

Q: What is the production status of each card?

A: The NVIDIA RTX 4500 Ada Generation is marked as Active, meaning it is currently in production. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X is marked as End-of-life, meaning it is no longer produced.

Q: Which card has a higher transistor density?

A: The NVIDIA RTX 4500 Ada Generation, built on a 5 nm process from TSMC, has a transistor density of 121.1 million transistors per square millimeter. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X, built on a 14 nm process from GlobalFoundries, has a density of 25.3 million transistors per square millimeter. That is nearly 4.8 times higher density for the NVIDIA chip.

Architecture Differences

The NVIDIA RTX 4500 Ada Generation is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture using the AD103 chip, manufactured on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It packs 45,900 million transistors into a 379 mm² die. The architecture is designed for modern workstation workloads, with 60 RT cores for ray tracing and 240 tensor cores for AI acceleration, alongside 7,680 shading units.

The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X uses the older GCN 5.0 architecture with the Vega 10 chip, built on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. This chip contains 12,500 million transistors on a larger 495 mm² die. It has no dedicated RT cores and no tensor cores, meaning it lacks hardware acceleration for ray tracing and tensor-based AI workloads. Its 4,096 shading units operate at lower clock speeds.

The process node difference is stark: 5 nm versus 14 nm. This directly impacts transistor density, with the NVIDIA chip achieving 121.1 million transistors per mm² compared to just 25.3 million for the AMD chip. The NVIDIA chip crams nearly 3.7 times more transistors into a smaller die, enabling far higher compute throughput per unit area.

The memory architectures are fundamentally different. The NVIDIA card uses GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, a conventional design for workstation cards. The AMD card uses HBM2 memory on a 2048-bit bus, a high-bandwidth stacked memory design typical of professional GPUs. This gives AMD a bandwidth advantage (512.0 GB/s versus 432.0 GB/s) but at the cost of capacity (16 GB versus 24 GB).

The API support also differs. The NVIDIA card supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), Vulkan 1.4, and OpenGL 4.6. The AMD card supports DirectX 12 (12_1), Vulkan 1.3, and OpenGL 4.6. The NVIDIA card has a more recent DirectX feature level and a newer Vulkan version.

Clock speeds show the efficiency of the newer process. The NVIDIA card has a base clock of 2070 MHz and a boost clock of 2580 MHz. The AMD card runs at 1250 MHz base and 1468 MHz boost. The NVIDIA card runs at nearly double the boost frequency, a direct result of the advanced 5 nm process.

The NVIDIA card is a dual-slot PCIe 4.0 x16 card with 4 DisplayPort 1.4a outputs. The AMD card is an integrated graphics processor (IGP) with a PCIe 3.0 x16 interface and display outputs described as portable device dependent, reflecting its Mac-oriented design.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA RTX 4500 Ada Generation wins decisively in raw compute performance. Its FP32 throughput is 39.63 TFLOPS, more than three times the AMD card’s 12.03 TFLOPS. This translates directly to faster general-purpose compute, simulation, and rendering workloads. The NVIDIA card also delivers 619.2 GTexel/s texture rate versus 375.8 GTexel/s for AMD, and 206.4 GPixel/s pixel rate versus 93.95 GPixel/s.

The NVIDIA card wins in memory capacity with 24 GB versus 16 GB. This extra memory is critical for large datasets, complex 3D scenes, or machine learning models that exceed 16 GB. The NVIDIA card also has a larger memory bandwidth in practical terms for most workloads, despite the AMD card’s higher raw bandwidth figure, because the NVIDIA card’s 432.0 GB/s is sufficient for its compute capabilities.

The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X wins in one specific area: memory bandwidth. At 512.0 GB/s, it offers nearly 19% more bandwidth than the NVIDIA card. This could benefit workloads that are extremely bandwidth-sensitive, such as certain data processing or large matrix operations that fit within the 16 GB capacity. However, this advantage is narrow and does not overcome the NVIDIA card’s massive compute lead.

The AMD card also has a higher texture unit count (256 TMUs versus 240), but the NVIDIA card’s much higher clock speeds make its texture rate far superior. The AMD card’s only clean win is the raw memory bandwidth figure.

In benchmark results, the NVIDIA card wins the sole head-to-head test. There are no recorded benchmarks where the AMD card wins. The NVIDIA card’s average benchmark score of 166,094 places it near the top of the database, while the AMD card’s 80,959 places it in the 92nd percentile, still strong but far behind.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every specification category. The NVIDIA RTX 4500 Ada Generation uses a 5 nm process, while the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X uses 14 nm. The NVIDIA chip has 45,900 million transistors on a 379 mm² die; the AMD chip has 12,500 million on a 495 mm² die. Transistor density is 121.1M per mm² for NVIDIA versus 25.3M for AMD.

Clock speeds: NVIDIA runs at 2070 MHz base and 2580 MHz boost. AMD runs at 1250 MHz base and 1468 MHz boost. Memory clocks differ as well: NVIDIA uses 2250 MHz with 18 Gbps effective, while AMD uses 1000 MHz with 2 Gbps effective.

Memory capacity: NVIDIA has 24 GB GDDR6, AMD has 16 GB HBM2. Bus width: NVIDIA uses 192 bit, AMD uses 2048 bit. Bandwidth: NVIDIA delivers 432.0 GB/s, AMD delivers 512.0 GB/s.

Shading units: NVIDIA has 7,680, AMD has 4,096. TMUs: NVIDIA has 240, AMD has 256. ROPs: NVIDIA has 80, AMD has 64. RT cores: NVIDIA has 60, AMD has none. Tensor cores: NVIDIA has 240, AMD has none.

Pixel rate: NVIDIA achieves 206.4 GPixel/s, AMD achieves 93.95 GPixel/s. Texture rate: NVIDIA achieves 619.2 GTexel/s, AMD achieves 375.8 GTexel/s. FP32: NVIDIA delivers 39.63 TFLOPS, AMD delivers 12.03 TFLOPS. FP16: NVIDIA delivers 39.63 TFLOPS (1:1), AMD delivers 24.05 TFLOPS (2:1).

Power: NVIDIA has a TDP of 210 W, AMD has a TDP of 250 W. The NVIDIA card is dual-slot with no power connectors listed, while the AMD card is an IGP with no power connectors. The NVIDIA card suggests a 550 W PSU, while the AMD card has no PSU suggestion. Bus interface: NVIDIA uses PCIe 4.0 x16, AMD uses PCIe 3.0 x16. Display outputs: NVIDIA has 4x DisplayPort 1.4a, AMD has portable device dependent outputs.

API support: NVIDIA supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), Vulkan 1.4, OpenGL 4.6. AMD supports DirectX 12 (12_1), Vulkan 1.3, OpenGL 4.6. Production status: NVIDIA is Active, AMD is End-of-life. Release dates: NVIDIA launched August 2023, AMD launched March 2019. Dimensions: NVIDIA is 245 mm long and 112 mm high; AMD has no listed dimensions.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct benchmark recorded between these two cards is Geekbench OpenCL. In this test, the NVIDIA RTX 4500 Ada Generation scores 160,786, while the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X scores 78,467. The NVIDIA card wins with a delta of 104.9%, meaning it more than doubles the AMD card’s score. This is a decisive victory that reflects the NVIDIA card’s superior compute architecture, higher clock speeds, and greater shading unit count.

The NVIDIA card also has a Geekbench Vulkan score of 171,401. The AMD card has a Geekbench Metal score of 83,450. These tests run on different APIs, so they are not directly comparable, but they show that the NVIDIA card maintains high performance across its supported APIs, while the AMD card achieves roughly half the score on its native Metal API compared to the NVIDIA card’s Vulkan score.

The average benchmark score gap is even larger. The NVIDIA card averages 166,094, while the AMD card averages 80,959. The NVIDIA card sits in the 97th percentile of all GPUs, while the AMD card sits in the 92nd percentile. The difference in percentile ranking, while not huge, masks the fact that the NVIDIA card is more than double the AMD card’s average score.

Looking at nearest rivals, the NVIDIA RTX 4500 Ada Generation is most comparable to the NVIDIA RTX A5500, which scores 165,217 (a 0.5% delta), and the AMD Radeon PRO W7800, scoring 164,894 (a 0.7% delta). It is slightly behind the AMD Radeon Pro W6900X, which scores 168,574 (a -1.5% delta), and ahead of the NVIDIA A100 PCIe 40 GB, which scores 162,504 (a 2.2% delta). The NVIDIA card is well-positioned among modern workstation GPUs.

The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X’s nearest rivals are much lower in absolute score. The AMD Radeon PRO W6600 scores 81,995 (a -1.3% delta), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 scores 79,842 (a 1.4% delta), and the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB and 12 GB score 79,605 and 79,396 respectively (1.7% and 2% deltas). The AMD card is competitive within its peer group, but that group sits at roughly half the performance level of the NVIDIA card’s peer group.

The Verdict

The NVIDIA RTX 4500 Ada Generation is the clear winner in this comparison. It more than doubles the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X in the only direct benchmark, delivers over three times the FP32 compute throughput, offers 50% more memory capacity, and does so at a lower TDP of 210 W versus 250 W. Its 97th percentile ranking versus the AMD card’s 92nd percentile confirms its position as a high-end workstation GPU.

The NVIDIA card should be chosen by users who need maximum compute performance for rendering, simulation, AI inference, or any workload that leverages its 60 RT cores and 240 tensor cores. Its 24 GB memory capacity handles larger datasets than the AMD card’s 16 GB. The newer Vulkan 1.4 and DirectX 12 Ultimate support also make it more future-proof for applications that adopt newer graphics APIs.

The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X has one narrow advantage: memory bandwidth. Its 512.0 GB/s exceeds the NVIDIA card’s 432.0 GB/s by about 19%. Users with workloads that are purely bandwidth-bound and fit within 16 GB might see some benefit. However, this advantage is unlikely to overcome the compute deficit in most real-world tasks. The AMD card is also end-of-life, meaning no further driver optimizations or production support are expected.

The release date gap matters: the NVIDIA card launched in August 2023, while the AMD card launched in March 2019. The NVIDIA card represents a full generation of architectural advancement, reflected in its 5 nm process versus 14 nm, its far higher clock speeds, and its dedicated RT and tensor cores. The AMD card lacks these modern features entirely.

In practical terms, the NVIDIA RTX 4500 Ada Generation is the appropriate choice for any professional workstation requiring current-generation performance. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X, while still a capable GPU in its own right, is an older design that cannot match the NVIDIA card’s compute, memory capacity, or feature set. The data is unambiguous: one card wins 1-0 in head-to-head benchmarks, and the average score gap is over 105%. Users seeking maximum performance should select the NVIDIA card. Users constrained to the AMD card’s specific bandwidth profile or Mac ecosystem might consider it, but the recorded data shows no scenario where the AMD card outperforms the NVIDIA card.