AMD Radeon Pro Vega II vs NVIDIA RTX 4500 Ada Generation Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The recorded benchmark data splits cleanly along workload type. The NVIDIA RTX 4500 Ada Generation wins every head-to-head comparison available in the database, taking both OpenCL and Vulkan tests. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega II has no recorded wins in direct comparisons, but it does have one exclusive benchmark result: a Geekbench Metal score of 130183, which the NVIDIA card cannot produce because it has no Metal result in the database.

For compute workloads using OpenCL, the RTX 4500 Ada is decisively ahead. Its score of 160786 versus 99048 for the Vega II represents a 62.3% advantage. That is not a marginal edge; it is a generational gap in raw compute throughput. For Vulkan workloads, the gap widens further: 171401 versus 99621, a 72.1% lead. The RTX 4500 Ada appears to scale better with the Vulkan API, whereas the Vega II stays nearly flat between OpenCL and Vulkan (99048 vs 99621).

The AMD card's only claim to a workload-specific win is the Metal API, where it scores 130183. This is the only test in the database where the Vega II posts a result at all without a direct NVIDIA counterpart. For users locked into Apple's Metal ecosystem, this is the relevant number. The RTX 4500 Ada has no Metal score recorded, so any comparison there would be speculative.

The takeaway: if your software stack uses OpenCL or Vulkan, the RTX 4500 Ada is the clear choice by a wide margin. If your stack is Metal-only, the Vega II is the only card here with a recorded result, and it is a usable one.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from fundamentally different design philosophies. The RTX 4500 Ada Generation uses NVIDIA's Ada Lovelace architecture on the AD103 chip, built on a 5 nm TSMC process with 45,780 million transistors on a 379 mm² die. The transistor density works out to 121.1M per mm², a figure that reflects a modern, tightly packed design with heavy reliance on specialized hardware.

The Vega II uses AMD's GCN 5.1 architecture on the Vega 20 chip, built on a 7 nm TSMC process with 13,230 million transistors on a 331 mm² die. Its density is 40.0M per mm², about a third the density of the Ada chip. The NVIDIA GPU packs 7,680 shading units, 240 texture mapping units, and 80 ROPs, with 60 RT cores and 240 tensor cores. The Vega II has 4,096 shading units, 256 TMUs and 64 ROPs, and it has no RT cores and no tensor cores at all. RT and tensor functionality is completely absent from the Vega II's feature set, which means AI-accelerated tasks and hardware ray tracing are not part of what it offers.

The AMD GPU counters with raw resources instead. It has a 4,096-bit memory bus with 825.3 GB/s of bandwidth from 32 GB of HBM2 memory. The NVIDIA card uses a 192-bit bus with GDDR6 at 432.0 GB/s from 24 GB of memory. The memory type difference is stark: HBM2 versus GDDR6, and the Vega II's wider bus gives it nearly double the bandwidth.

The RTX 4500 Ada hits a 5 nm process with 45,900 million transistors versus 13,230 million for the Vega II. The Ada chip runs at a base of 2070 MHz and boosts to 2580 MHz, while the Vega II runs at 1574 MHz base and 1720 MHz boost. The NVIDIA card has 7680 shading units versus 4096 for AMD. In terms of pure FP32 throughput, the RTX 4500 Ada is at 39.63 TFLOPS, while the Vega II is at 14.09 TFLOPS. The Vega II does have an FP16 advantage in ratio terms: 28.18 TFLOPS at 2:1, versus the Ada's 39.63 TFLOPS at 1:1, but the absolute FP16 number still favors NVIDIA.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The two head-to-head results in the database are both Geekbench tests, and both go to the NVIDIA card.

In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 4500 Ada scores 160786 against the Vega II's 99048. The delta is 62.3% in favor of NVIDIA. This is the smaller of the two gaps, but it is still a dominant margin. For context, the RTX 4500 Ada's nearest rivals in the database are cards like the AMD Radeon PRO W7800 at 164894 (0.7% higher) and the NVIDIA RTX A5500 at 165217 (0.5% higher). The Vega II, by contrast, sits near the AMD Radeon PRO W7900 at 110725 (1% higher than the Vega II's average). The Vega II's OpenCL score is roughly 38% below the RTX 4500 Ada's, and that puts it in a different performance class entirely.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the gap grows. The RTX 4500 Ada scores 171401, while the Vega II scores 99621. The delta is 72.1% in NVIDIA's favor. This suggests the Ada architecture handles Vulkan compute more efficiently than the older GCN 5.1 design. The Vega II's Vulkan score is nearly identical to its OpenCL score, indicating that the API does not unlock much additional performance on that card. The RTX 4500 Ada, meanwhile, improves from OpenCL to Vulkan by about 6.6%, showing that Vulkan is a stronger path for the newer architecture.

The average benchmark scores in the database tell the same story. The RTX 4500 Ada has an average benchmark score of 166094, while the Vega II sits at 109617. That is a 51.5% difference in the average. The Vega II's percentile ranking among all GPUs is 94, while the RTX 4500 Ada is at 97. Both are high-end cards, but the RTX 4500 Ada sits in a higher tier.

One nuance: the Vega II has a Metal score of 130183, which is higher than its OpenCL or Vulkan scores. This indicates that the Vega II performs best in Apple's Metal API, likely due to its design for the Mac Pro ecosystem. But since the RTX 4500 Ada has no Metal result, there is no direct comparison.

Specification Differences

The specification sheet shows several areas where the two cards diverge sharply. The RTX 4500 Ada is built on a 5 nm process with 45,900 million transistors on a 379 mm² die. The Vega II uses a 7 nm process with 13,230 million transistors on a 331 mm² die. Transistor density: 121.1M per mm² versus 40.0M per mm².

Clock speeds: the RTX 4500 Ada runs at 2070 MHz base and 2580 MHz boost. The Vega II runs at 1574 MHz base and 1720 MHz boost. Memory clock: the NVIDIA card runs at 2250 MHz with 18 Gbps effective, while the AMD card runs at 806 MHz with 1612 Mbps effective.

Memory configuration is a major split. The RTX 4500 Ada has 24 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus with 432.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The Vega II has 32 GB of HBM2 on a 4096-bit bus with 825.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The Vega II has more memory and more than double the bandwidth, but it achieves this with a much wider bus and different memory technology.

Compute units: the RTX 4500 Ada has 7,680 shading units, 240 TMUs, 80 ROPs, 60 RT cores, and 240 tensor cores. The Vega II has 4,096 shading units, 256 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, with no RT cores and no tensor cores. Pixel rate: 206.4 GPixel/s for NVIDIA versus 110.1 GPixel/s for AMD. Texture rate: 619.2 GTexel/s versus 440.3 GTexel/s. FP32: 39.63 TFLOPS versus 14.09 TFLOPS. FP16: 39.63 TFLOPS (1:1) versus 28.18 TFLOPS (2:1).

Power and physical design differ substantially. The RTX 4500 Ada has a TDP of 210 W with a suggested PSU of 550 W. The Vega II has a TDP of 475 W with a suggested PSU of 850 W. The NVIDIA card is dual-slot with no power connectors listed; the AMD card is quad-slot with no power connectors listed. The RTX 4500 Ada uses PCIe 4.0 x16, while the Vega II uses Apple MPX. Display outputs: the RTX 4500 Ada has 4x DisplayPort 1.4a; the Vega II has 1x HDMI 2.0b and 4x Thunderbolt.

API support: the RTX 4500 Ada supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The Vega II supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. The NVIDIA card has a higher DirectX tier and a newer Vulkan version. Production status: the RTX 4500 Ada is Active, released on 2023-08-08, while the Vega II is End-of-life, released on 2019-06-02. The Vega II has a launch MSRP of 2,199 USD. The RTX 4500 Ada has no launch MSRP in the database.

FAQ

Q: Which card is faster in OpenCL?

A: The NVIDIA RTX 4500 Ada Generation scores 160786 in Geekbench OpenCL, versus 99048 for the AMD Radeon Pro Vega II. That is a 62.3% advantage for NVIDIA.

Q: Which card is faster in Vulkan?

A: The NVIDIA RTX 4500 Ada Generation scores 171401 in Geekbench Vulkan, versus 99621 for the AMD Radeon Pro Vega II. The gap is 72.1% in NVIDIA's favor.

Q: Does the AMD card win any benchmark?

A: The only benchmark where the Vega II has a recorded result without a direct NVIDIA counterpart is Geekbench Metal, where it scores 130183. In the two head-to-head tests (OpenCL and Vulkan), the Vega II loses both.

Q: How does the memory bandwidth compare?

A: The Vega II has 825.3 GB/s of memory bandwidth from 32 GB of HBM2 on a 4096-bit bus. The RTX 4500 Ada has 432.0 GB/s from 24 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus. The Vega II has nearly double the bandwidth.

Q: Does the RTX 4500 Ada support ray tracing and tensor cores?

A: Yes. The RTX 4500 Ada has 60 RT cores and 240 tensor cores. The Vega II has no RT cores and no tensor cores.

Q: What is the power requirement difference?

A: The RTX 4500 Ada has a TDP of 210 W with a suggested PSU of 550 W. The Vega II has a TDP of 475 W with a suggested PSU of 850 W. The Vega II requires substantially more power.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear choice for most users. The NVIDIA RTX 4500 Ada Generation outperforms the AMD Radeon Pro Vega II by 62.3% in OpenCL and 72.1% in Vulkan. It has a higher average benchmark score (166094 versus 109617), a higher percentile ranking (97 versus 94), and it does so at lower power draw (210 W versus 475 W). It is also a current, active product, while the Vega II is end-of-life. For any workload that uses OpenCL or Vulkan, the RTX 4500 Ada is the better card.

The Vega II does have advantages worth acknowledging. It has 32 GB of memory versus 24 GB, and its HBM2 memory provides 825.3 GB/s of bandwidth, nearly double the RTX 4500 Ada's 432.0 GB/s. For memory-bound tasks that fit within the Vega II's larger pool, that bandwidth could matter. It also has a Metal score of 130183, which is the only Metal result in this comparison. If you are in an Apple ecosystem that relies on Metal, the Vega II is the only one of these two with a recorded result.

But the overall picture is not close. The RTX 4500 Ada has more shading units (7680 versus 4096), higher clocks (2580 MHz boost versus 1720 MHz boost), more than double the FP32 throughput (39.63 TFLOPS versus 14.09 TFLOPS), and hardware ray tracing and tensor cores that the Vega II lacks entirely. Its nearest rivals in the database are cards like the AMD Radeon PRO W7800 (0.7% away) and the NVIDIA RTX A5500 (0.5% away), placing it in a competitive modern workstation tier. The Vega II's nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon Pro Vega II Duo (2.7% away) and the NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile (3.8% away), placing it in a lower tier.

Pick the RTX 4500 Ada for OpenCL, Vulkan, or general compute workloads. Pick the Vega II only if you specifically need its 32 GB memory capacity, its 825.3 GB/s bandwidth, or a Metal-compatible card in an Apple MPX environment. For everything else, the RTX 4500 Ada is the stronger choice by a wide margin.