AMD Radeon Pro VII vs NVIDIA L4 Comparison

The data positions the NVIDIA L4 and AMD Radeon Pro VII as fundamentally different tools: the L4 is a modern, efficiency-focused compute accelerator that wins every shared benchmark by a wide margin, while the Radeon Pro VII is an older, end-of-life workstation card whose only unique advantage lies in its memory subsystem and display outputs. Across the two head-to-head benchmarks available, the NVIDIA L4 secures a decisive 2–0 victory, with an average benchmark score of 131,072 against the Radeon Pro VII’s 97,131. The percentile ranking reinforces this gulf, with the L4 sitting in the 95th percentile of all GPUs compared to the Radeon’s 93rd percentile.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA L4 wins outright in every compute benchmark where both cards were tested. In Geekbench OpenCL, the L4 scores 140,838 against the Radeon Pro VII’s 90,148, a 56.2% advantage. In Geekbench Vulkan, the L4 scores 121,306 against 92,862, a 30.6% lead. These results indicate the L4 is the superior choice for general-purpose compute workloads that leverage OpenCL or Vulkan APIs, particularly those that can exploit its newer Ada Lovelace architecture and higher raw FP32 throughput of 30.29 TFLOPS versus 13.06 TFLOPS.

The Radeon Pro VII’s only statistical win comes from a benchmark the L4 does not participate in. The Radeon scores 108,383 in Geekbench Metal, which is a macOS-specific API. Since the L4 has no display outputs and is designed for server use, it cannot run Metal workloads, giving the Radeon a clear niche in Apple-centric environments. Additionally, the Radeon Pro VII offers 6x mini-DisplayPort 1.4a outputs, enabling direct display connectivity, while the L4 has no outputs at all. For users needing a GPU that drives multiple monitors, the Radeon is the only choice between the two.

The Radeon Pro VII also wins on memory bandwidth by a substantial factor: its HBM2 memory provides 1.02 TB/s across a 4096-bit bus, versus the L4’s 300.1 GB/s over a 192-bit GDDR6 bus. This makes the Radeon potentially faster for memory-bandwidth-bound tasks, though the benchmark data does not include a direct test of this capability. The L4 counters with twice the memory capacity (24 GB versus 16 GB), which benefits large datasets that exceed the Radeon’s capacity.

The Verdict

Pick the NVIDIA L4 if your workload relies on OpenCL or Vulkan compute performance, power efficiency, or large memory capacity. The benchmark data is unambiguous: the L4 leads by 56.2% in OpenCL and 30.6% in Vulkan. Its 24 GB of GDDR6 memory is 50% larger than the Radeon’s 16 GB, and its 72 W TDP is less than a third of the Radeon’s 250 W, requiring only a 250 W suggested PSU versus 600 W. The L4 is also an active product with a single-slot form factor and no external power connectors, making it far easier to deploy in dense server environments.

Pick the AMD Radeon Pro VII only if you specifically need Metal API support, direct display outputs, or extreme memory bandwidth. Its 1.02 TB/s bandwidth is 3.4 times the L4’s, which could matter for certain scientific or visualization workloads. The Radeon also has 6x mini-DisplayPort 1.4a for multi-monitor setups. However, the data shows it is slower in every shared benchmark, has less memory, consumes more power, and is end-of-life. The Radeon’s launch MSRP was 1,899 USD, but its performance class, per the nearest rivals, is comparable to the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000 (average score 101,872, 4.7% higher) and the AMD Radeon RX 7900M (97,487, 0.4% higher).

For the vast majority of compute-intensive tasks, the NVIDIA L4 is the clear winner. The Radeon Pro VII is a legacy product that only makes sense for a narrow set of compatibility or bandwidth-critical use cases.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most lopsided result is in Geekbench OpenCL, where the NVIDIA L4 scores 140,838 versus the AMD Radeon Pro VII’s 90,148. This 56.2% delta is the largest margin in any shared test. The L4’s FP32 throughput of 30.29 TFLOPS, combined with 7,424 shading units, explains why it dominates in this compute-heavy API. The Radeon’s 3,840 shading units and 13.06 TFLOPS FP32 are simply outclassed, despite its higher base clock of 1400 MHz versus the L4’s 795 MHz.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the gap narrows but remains substantial. The L4 scores 121,306, while the Radeon scores 92,862, a 30.6% advantage. Vulkan is more driver-dependent, and the L4’s support for DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4 suggests better modern API optimization. The Radeon’s Vulkan 1.3 support and older GCN 5.1 architecture likely hold it back. Notably, the L4’s Vulkan score is 13.9% lower than its OpenCL score, while the Radeon’s Vulkan score is actually 3% higher than its OpenCL score, indicating the Radeon handles Vulkan relatively better, though it still loses.

The Radeon’s only benchmark win is Geekbench Metal, where it scores 108,383. The L4 has no Metal result because it lacks display outputs and is not designed for Apple ecosystems. This is not a head-to-head comparison, but it highlights the Radeon’s sole functional advantage. Interestingly, the Radeon’s Metal score is higher than its OpenCL and Vulkan scores, suggesting the architecture is better optimized for Apple’s API.

The average benchmark scores reinforce the verdict: the L4 averages 131,072, placing it 0.7% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Ti (131,938) and 3.1% behind the NVIDIA RTX 4000 Ada Generation (135,218). The Radeon averages 97,131, which is 0.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 7900M (97,487) and 5% ahead of the AMD Radeon Instinct MI60 (92,466). The L4’s nearest rival cluster sits at roughly 135,000, while the Radeon’s sits near 97,000, a 35% class difference.

FAQ

Q: Which card is faster in OpenCL compute?

A: The NVIDIA L4 is significantly faster, scoring 140,838 versus the AMD Radeon Pro VII’s 90,148, a 56.2% advantage.

Q: Does the Radeon Pro VII have any benchmark where it beats the L4?

A: Yes, the Radeon Pro VII scores 108,383 in Geekbench Metal, but the NVIDIA L4 has no Metal benchmark result because it has no display outputs and is not designed for Apple platforms.

Q: Which card has more memory bandwidth?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro VII has 1.02 TB/s of bandwidth from HBM2 memory on a 4096-bit bus, while the NVIDIA L4 offers 300.1 GB/s from GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus.

Q: What is the power consumption difference?

A: The NVIDIA L4 has a TDP of 72 W with no power connectors and a 250 W suggested PSU, while the AMD Radeon Pro VII has a TDP of 250 W, requires 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin connectors, and a 600 W suggested PSU.

Q: Which card has more memory capacity?

A: The NVIDIA L4 has 24 GB of GDDR6 memory, which is 50% more than the AMD Radeon Pro VII’s 16 GB of HBM2.

Q: Which card is better for multi-monitor setups?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro VII is the only option for direct display output, featuring 6x mini-DisplayPort 1.4a, while the NVIDIA L4 has no display outputs.

Architecture Differences

The NVIDIA L4 is built on the AD104 chip using the Ada Lovelace architecture, fabricated on TSMC’s 5 nm process. It packs 35,800 million transistors into a 294 mm² die, achieving a transistor density of 121.8M per mm². The L4 includes 60 ray-tracing cores and 240 tensor cores, marking it as a modern accelerator with specialized AI and RT hardware. Its FP16 performance is 30.29 TFLOPS (1:1 ratio with FP32), indicating full-rate FP16 throughput.

The AMD Radeon Pro VII uses the Vega 20 chip with the GCN 5.1 architecture, on TSMC’s 7 nm node. It contains 13,230 million transistors on a larger 331 mm² die, resulting in a lower density of 40.0M per mm². The Radeon has no ray-tracing cores and no tensor cores, reflecting its older design. Its FP16 performance is 26.11 TFLOPS (2:1 ratio), meaning it is half-rate compared to FP32, unlike the L4’s 1:1 ratio.

The L4 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, while the Radeon is limited to DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.3. This gives the L4 access to newer rendering features. The L4 is a single-slot card measuring 169 mm in length and 56 mm in height, whereas the Radeon is a dual-slot card at 305 mm by 111 mm. The Radeon’s larger physical footprint and higher power draw are consistent with its older, less efficient architecture.

Specification Differences

The table below highlights only the fields where the two differ, excluding identical specs like PCIe 4.0 x16 and OpenGL 4.6.

| Specification | NVIDIA L4 | AMD Radeon Pro VII |

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

| 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 | 1700 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 1563 MHz (12.5 Gbps effective) | 1000 MHz (2 Gbps effective) |

| Memory Size | 24 GB | 16 GB |

| Memory Type | GDDR6 | HBM2 |

| Memory Bus Width | 192 bit | 4096 bit |

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

| Shading Units | 7424 | 3840 |

| ROPs | 80 | 64 |

| RT Cores | 60 | None |

| Tensor Cores | 240 | None |

| Pixel Rate | 163.2 GPixel/s | 108.8 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 489.6 GTexel/s | 408.0 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 30.29 TFLOPS | 13.06 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 30.29 TFLOPS (1:1) | 26.11 TFLOPS (2:1) |

| TDP | 72 W | 250 W |

| Slot Width | Single-slot | Dual-slot |

| Power Connectors | None | 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin |

| Suggested PSU | 250 W | 600 W |

| Display Outputs | No outputs | 6x mini-DisplayPort 1.4a |

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

| Vulkan | 1.4 | 1.3 |

| Dimensions (L×H) | 169 mm × 56 mm | 305 mm × 111 mm |

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

| Release Date | 2023-03-20 | 2020-05-12 |

| Predecessor | Server Ampere | Radeon Pro Polaris |

| Successor | Server Hopper | Radeon Pro Navi |