AMD Radeon Pro Vega II vs NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada Generation Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The benchmark data records two shared tests between the NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada Generation and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega II, and the NVIDIA part wins both decisively. In Geekbench OpenCL, the NVIDIA card scores 311,629 against AMD's 99,048, a delta of 214.6% in NVIDIA's favor. That is the largest margin recorded in the comparison, and it reflects a fundamental performance gap rather than a narrow edge.

The Vulkan test tells the same story. The NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada Generation posts 262,845, while the AMD Radeon Pro Vega II scores 99,621. The delta is 163.8%. Neither result is close, and the data does not show any workload category where the AMD part takes the lead. With two wins for NVIDIA and zero for AMD across the shared benchmarks, the head-to-head record is unambiguous.

To put these numbers in context, the RTX 6000 Ada Generation sits at the 99th percentile among all GPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 287,237. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA L40, averages 284,111, which is just 1.1% lower. The L40S is 2.9% ahead, and the AMD Instinct MI300X is 9.7% ahead, but the RTX 6000 Ada easily outpaces the NVIDIA L20 by 14.4%. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega II, by contrast, sits at the 94th percentile with an average score of 109,617. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon PRO W7900, is only 1% higher, and the Radeon Pro W6600X is 2.1% lower. The Vega II Duo is 2.7% lower, while the NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile runs 3.8% higher. The gap in average benchmark scores between the two cards in this comparison is roughly 177,620 points, a massive chasm that no single architectural feature can close.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from different architectural generations and design philosophies. The NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada Generation uses the AD102 chip built on TSMC's 5 nm process, with an architecture labeled Ada Lovelace. It packs 76,300 million transistors into a 609 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 125.3 million per square millimeter. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega II uses the Vega 20 chip on TSMC's 7 nm process, with a GCN 5.1 architecture. It contains 13,230 million transistors on a 331 mm² die, for a density of 40.0 million per square millimeter. The process node advantage is clear: 5 nm versus 7 nm, and the NVIDIA chip carries nearly six times the transistor count.

Core configuration differences are stark. The RTX 6000 Ada has 18,176 shading units, 568 texture mapping units, 192 ROPs, 142 ray tracing cores, and 568 tensor cores. The Radeon Pro Vega II has 4,096 shading units, 256 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, with no ray tracing cores and no tensor cores listed. That absence matters: the NVIDIA card is designed for hardware-accelerated ray tracing and tensor workloads, while the AMD part predates those dedicated units in this product class.

Memory architecture also diverges sharply. The NVIDIA card uses 48 GB of GDDR6 on a 384-bit bus, delivering 960.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The AMD card uses 32 GB of HBM2 on a 4096-bit bus, delivering 825.3 GB/s. The AMD part has a wider bus but lower total bandwidth, and less capacity. Clock behavior differs too: the NVIDIA card runs a base clock of 915 MHz and boosts to 2505 MHz, while the AMD card has a higher base clock of 1574 MHz and a boost of 1720 MHz. The NVIDIA part compensates with a much higher boost ceiling and far more parallel hardware.

Compute throughput numbers reflect the core count gap. The RTX 6000 Ada delivers 91.06 TFLOPS of FP32 and 91.06 TFLOPS of FP16 at a 1:1 ratio. The Radeon Pro Vega II delivers 14.09 TFLOPS of FP32 and 28.18 TFLOPS of FP16 at a 2:1 ratio. Pixel and texture rates follow the same pattern: the NVIDIA card hits 481.0 GPixel/s and 1,422.8 GTexel/s, while the AMD card manages 110.1 GPixel/s and 440.3 GTexel/s.

API support also differs. The NVIDIA card 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 NVIDIA part has a higher DirectX feature level and a newer Vulkan revision, which can matter for compatibility with modern rendering features. The AMD card's display outputs are 1x HDMI 2.0b and 4x Thunderbolt, while the NVIDIA card offers 4x DisplayPort 1.4a.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear recommendation for compute-heavy or ray-tracing workloads: the NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada Generation is the stronger card by every recorded metric. Its OpenCL score is 214.6% higher, its Vulkan score is 163.8% higher, its average benchmark score is about 177,620 points higher, and it sits at the 99th percentile versus the 94th. It also has more memory, higher bandwidth, more shading units, dedicated ray tracing and tensor cores, and a more advanced process node.

The AMD Radeon Pro Vega II is not without merits, but they are narrower. It has a higher base clock, a wider memory bus, and a much lower launch MSRP. For users constrained to Apple MPX bus systems, the AMD card is the only one of the two with that interface. It also supports HBM2 memory, which can be advantageous in specific bandwidth-sensitive scenarios, although the recorded bandwidth is still lower than the NVIDIA card's GDDR6 implementation.

Who should pick which? A user prioritizing raw compute, ray tracing, tensor acceleration, or modern API support should choose the NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada Generation. A user whose system requires an Apple MPX form factor, or who needs a dual-slot or quad-slot option with specific display outputs, may find the AMD Radeon Pro Vega II more suitable. The AMD part's lower average benchmark score and older architecture mean it is not a performance competitor, but it remains a viable choice for compatibility-constrained environments.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every major specification field. The NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada Generation uses a 5 nm process, while the AMD Radeon Pro Vega II uses 7 nm. Transistor counts are 76,300 million versus 13,230 million. Die sizes are 609 mm² versus 331 mm². Transistor density is 125.3M per mm² versus 40.0M per mm².

Clock speeds differ: the NVIDIA card has a base of 915 MHz and boost of 2505 MHz, while the AMD card has a base of 1574 MHz and boost of 1720 MHz. Memory configurations are 48 GB GDDR6 on a 384-bit bus versus 32 GB HBM2 on a 4096-bit bus. Bandwidth is 960.0 GB/s versus 825.3 GB/s.

Core counts are dramatically different: 18,176 shading units versus 4,096; 568 TMUs versus 256; 192 ROPs versus 64. The NVIDIA card has 142 ray tracing cores and 568 tensor cores; the AMD card has none. FP32 performance is 91.06 TFLOPS versus 14.09 TFLOPS. FP16 is 91.06 TFLOPS (1:1) versus 28.18 TFLOPS (2:1). Pixel rate is 481.0 GPixel/s versus 110.1 GPixel/s. Texture rate is 1,422.8 GTexel/s versus 440.3 GTexel/s.

Power and physical specs differ as well. The NVIDIA card has a TDP of 300 W, is dual-slot, uses a 1x 16-pin power connector, and suggests a 700 W PSU. The AMD card has a TDP of 475 W, is quad-slot, has no power connector listed, and suggests an 850 W PSU. The NVIDIA card is 267 mm long and 112 mm tall, while the AMD card has no recorded dimensions. Bus interfaces are PCIe 4.0 x16 versus Apple MPX. Display outputs are 4x DisplayPort 1.4a versus 1x HDMI 2.0b and 4x Thunderbolt.

API support differs: DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) versus DirectX 12 (12_1), Vulkan 1.4 versus 1.3, with both supporting OpenGL 4.6. Release dates are December 2022 for the NVIDIA card and June 2019 for the AMD card. The NVIDIA card has a predecessor (Workstation Ampere) and a successor (Blackwell PRO W); the AMD card has neither listed. The NVIDIA card's launch MSRP is 6,799 USD, and the AMD card's launch MSRP is 2,199 USD.

FAQ

Q: Which card has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada Generation has an average benchmark score of 287,237, while the AMD Radeon Pro Vega II has 109,617.

Q: How large is the performance gap in OpenCL?

A: In Geekbench OpenCL, the NVIDIA card scores 311,629 versus the AMD card's 99,048, a delta of 214.6% in NVIDIA's favor.

Q: Does the AMD card have ray tracing or tensor cores?

A: No, the AMD Radeon Pro Vega II has no ray tracing cores and no tensor cores listed. The NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada Generation has 142 ray tracing cores and 568 tensor cores.

Q: What memory types and capacities do the two cards use?

A: The NVIDIA card uses 48 GB of GDDR6 on a 384-bit bus with 960.0 GB/s bandwidth. The AMD card uses 32 GB of HBM2 on a 4096-bit bus with 825.3 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which card has a higher TDP?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro Vega II has a TDP of 475 W, while the NVIDIA RTX 6000 Ada Generation has a TDP of 300 W.

Q: What are the DirectX support levels?

A: The NVIDIA card supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), and the AMD card supports DirectX 12 (12_1).