AMD Radeon Pro Vega II Duo vs NVIDIA L4 Comparison

NVIDIA L4 and AMD Radeon Pro Vega II Duo represent two very different eras of GPU design, with the L4's modern Ada Lovelace architecture and the Vega II Duo's dual-die GCN 5.1 approach. The benchmark data shows a clear performance hierarchy, but the specifics of how each card wins and loses reveal deeper architectural trade-offs.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The head-to-head results are unambiguous in favor of the NVIDIA L4. In Geekbench OpenCL, the L4 scores 140,838 against the Vega II Duo's 98,432, a 43.1% advantage. That is a substantial margin, indicating the L4 delivers roughly 43% more raw compute throughput in this cross-platform API. The Vulkan test narrows the gap but still favors NVIDIA: 121,306 for the L4 versus 99,296 for the AMD card, a 22.2% delta. Both wins are decisive, but the different margins across APIs hint at where each architecture's strengths lie.

The OpenCL result is particularly telling. The L4's 43.1% lead suggests its compute pipeline is far more efficient per clock or per shader, given that its FP32 rating of 30.29 TFLOPS more than doubles the Vega II Duo's 14.09 TFLOPS. The raw throughput difference explains the OpenCL margin, but the Vulkan gap is smaller at 22.2%, implying the AMD card's Vulkan implementation or its dual-die design narrows the efficiency gap in that API. Interestingly, the Vega II Duo also has a Geekbench Metal score of 122,522, which is competitive with the L4's OpenCL score, but no head-to-head Metal comparison exists in the data.

Looking at the average benchmark scores, the L4's 131,072 average sits 22.8% above the Vega II Duo's 106,750. The L4's percentile rank of 95 versus the AMD's 94 places both in the top tier of all GPUs, but the L4 is clearly the stronger performer overall. The nearest rival data contextualizes this: the L4 is only 0.7% behind the GeForce RTX 3090 Ti (avg 131,938), while the Vega II Duo is 0.6% behind the Radeon Pro W6600X (avg 107,342). The L4 competes with high-end consumer and workstation cards, whereas the Vega II Duo sits closer to mid-range professional offerings.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA L4 wins every head-to-head benchmark in the data, so its case is straightforward. It dominates in OpenCL and Vulkan, with 43.1% and 22.2% leads respectively. Its advantage stems from a 30.29 TFLOPS FP32 rating, which is 115% higher than the Vega II Duo's 14.09 TFLOPS. The L4 also has a higher pixel rate at 163.2 GPixel/s versus 110.1 GPixel/s, and a higher texture rate at 489.6 GTexel/s versus 440.3 GTexel/s. For any workload that relies on general compute, rasterization throughput, or texture filtering, the L4 is the clear choice based on the numbers.

The AMD Radeon Pro Vega II Duo's wins are not in the head-to-head benchmarks, but the data reveals specific niches. Its 32 GB of HBM2 memory with 1.02 TB/s bandwidth dwarfs the L4's 24 GB GDDR6 at 300.1 GB/s. That is a 3.4x bandwidth advantage and 33% more capacity. For memory-bound workloads—large datasets, high-resolution textures, or in-memory compute—the Vega II Duo's memory subsystem could provide a decisive edge, even if its raw compute is lower. Additionally, its FP16 performance of 28.18 TFLOPS (2:1 ratio) approaches the L4's FP16 of 30.29 TFLOPS (1:1), so in half-precision workloads the gap narrows significantly. The Vega II Duo also offers display outputs (1x HDMI 2.0b and 4x Thunderbolt), while the L4 has no outputs, making the AMD card the only option for direct display connectivity.

The win count of 2 to 0 in favor of the L4 reflects only the tested APIs. In Metal, the Vega II Duo scores 122,522, which would likely beat the L4 if a comparison existed, given the L4's highest score is 140,838 in OpenCL but its Vulkan score is 121,306. The AMD card's Metal performance suggests it is optimized for Apple's ecosystem, which aligns with its "Radeon Pro Mac" generation designation.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide is stark. The NVIDIA L4 uses the AD104 chip on a 5 nm TSMC process, with 35,800 million transistors on a 294 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 121.8M per mm². The AMD Vega II Duo uses two Vega 20 chips (implied by the "Duo" name) on a 7 nm TSMC process, with 13,230 million transistors per chip on a 331 mm² die, giving a density of 40.0M per mm². The L4's newer process allows for 2.7x the transistor density, which directly contributes to its higher compute per watt and per mm².

The L4's Ada Lovelace architecture includes 7,424 shading units, 240 TMUs, 80 ROPs, 60 RT cores, and 240 tensor cores. The Vega II Duo has 4,096 shading units, 256 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, but it has no RT cores or tensor cores listed. This means the L4 supports hardware ray tracing and tensor acceleration, while the Vega II Duo relies on pure GCN compute. The L4 also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, versus the AMD's DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.3. The API support differences reflect the L4's modern feature set.

Memory architecture is another major split. The L4 uses 24 GB GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, delivering 300.1 GB/s. The Vega II Duo uses 32 GB HBM2 on a 4096-bit bus, delivering 1.02 TB/s. The 4096-bit bus is the key enabler for the AMD's massive bandwidth, but it also explains the card's 475 W TDP and quad-slot form factor. The L4's 72 W TDP is a fraction of the AMD's power draw, and it requires no power connectors, whereas the Vega II Duo needs a suggested 850 W PSU. The L4 is a single-slot, 169 mm card, while the Vega II Duo is quad-slot and uses the Apple MPX bus interface.

Clock speeds also differ: the L4 has a 795 MHz base and 2040 MHz boost, while the Vega II Duo has a 1400 MHz base and 1720 MHz boost. The AMD card's higher base clock is offset by the L4's much higher boost, which is enabled by the efficient 5 nm process. The L4's memory runs at 1563 MHz (12.5 Gbps effective), while the AMD's runs at 1000 MHz (2 Gbps effective), but the AMD's wider bus compensates.

FAQ

Q: Which card has higher raw FP32 compute?

A: The NVIDIA L4, with 30.29 TFLOPS versus the AMD Radeon Pro Vega II Duo's 14.09 TFLOPS. This 115% advantage explains the L4's 43.1% lead in OpenCL.

Q: Does the AMD card have any memory advantage?

A: Yes, significantly. The Vega II Duo has 32 GB of HBM2 with 1.02 TB/s bandwidth, compared to the L4's 24 GB GDDR6 at 300.1 GB/s. That is a 3.4x bandwidth advantage and 33% more capacity.

Q: Can either card do hardware ray tracing?

A: Only the NVIDIA L4, which has 60 RT cores. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega II Duo has no RT cores listed in its specifications.

Q: What are the power requirements?

A: The L4 has a 72 W TDP and needs no power connectors, with a suggested 250 W PSU. The Vega II Duo has a 475 W TDP and requires a suggested 850 W PSU.

Q: Which card supports more modern APIs?

A: The NVIDIA L4 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, while the AMD card supports DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.3.

Q: Is the AMD card still in production?

A: No, the AMD Radeon Pro Vega II Duo is end-of-life, while the NVIDIA L4 is active.

Specification Differences

| Specification | NVIDIA L4 | AMD Radeon Pro Vega II Duo |

|---|---|---|

| Architecture | Ada Lovelace | GCN 5.1 |

| Process Node | 5 nm | 7 nm |

| Transistors | 35,800 million | 13,230 million |

| Die Size | 294 mm² | 331 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 121.8M / mm² | 40.0M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 795 MHz | 1400 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 2040 MHz | 1720 MHz |

| Memory Size | 24 GB GDDR6 | 32 GB HBM2 |

| Memory Bus Width | 192 bit | 4096 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 300.1 GB/s | 1.02 TB/s |

| Shading Units | 7424 | 4096 |

| TMUs | 240 | 256 |

| ROPs | 80 | 64 |

| RT Cores | 60 | None |

| Tensor Cores | 240 | None |

| FP32 | 30.29 TFLOPS | 14.09 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 30.29 TFLOPS (1:1) | 28.18 TFLOPS (2:1) |

| Pixel Rate | 163.2 GPixel/s | 110.1 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 489.6 GTexel/s | 440.3 GTexel/s |

| TDP | 72 W | 475 W |

| Slot Width | Single-slot | Quad-slot |

| Power Connectors | None | Not listed |

| Suggested PSU | 250 W | 850 W |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 4.0 x16 | Apple MPX |

| Display Outputs | No outputs | 1x HDMI 2.0b, 4x Thunderbolt |

| DirectX | 12 Ultimate (12_2) | 12 (12_1) |

| Vulkan | 1.4 | 1.3 |

| Production Status | Active | End-of-life |

| Release Date | 2023-03-20 | 2019-06-02 |

| Launch MSRP | None listed | 4,399 USD |

The Verdict

The data directs different users to different cards. For anyone needing raw compute, modern API support, or low power consumption, the NVIDIA L4 is the only rational choice. Its 43.1% OpenCL lead and 22.2% Vulkan lead over the Vega II Duo are decisive, and its 72 W TDP versus 475 W makes it dramatically more energy-efficient. The L4's 95th percentile ranking, alongside RTX 3090 Ti-class performance, positions it as a high-performance compute card in a compact single-slot form factor.

The AMD Radeon Pro Vega II Duo appeals to a narrower set of use cases. Its 1.02 TB/s memory bandwidth and 32 GB capacity are unmatched by the L4, making it superior for memory-bound workloads that need to keep massive datasets resident on the GPU. Its FP16 performance at 28.18 TFLOPS is close to the L4's 30.29 TFLOPS, so half-precision tasks see a smaller gap. The card's display outputs and Metal support also make it viable for Apple Mac Pro environments, as indicated by its "Radeon Pro Mac" generation. However, its 94th percentile ranking and end-of-life status, combined with a 475 W TDP and quad-slot footprint, limit its appeal.

The verdict is clear: the NVIDIA L4 wins on compute, efficiency, and longevity, while the AMD Radeon Pro Vega II Duo wins on memory bandwidth, capacity, and display connectivity. The L4's 30.29 TFLOPS of FP32 and 60 RT cores make it a future-proof choice for general compute and ray tracing, whereas the Vega II Duo's 32 GB HBM2 and 1.02 TB/s bandwidth serve specialized high-bandwidth workloads. For most users, the L4's performance and 72 W power draw are compelling; for those with massive memory requirements in Apple ecosystems, the Vega II Duo remains relevant despite its age.