AMD Radeon PRO W6800 vs NVIDIA RTX 4500 Ada Generation Comparison

# NVIDIA RTX 4500 Ada Generation vs AMD Radeon PRO W6800

The NVIDIA RTX 4500 Ada Generation and AMD Radeon PRO W6800 represent two distinct approaches to workstation graphics, separated by two years of architectural evolution. The RTX 4500 Ada leads the aggregate benchmark comparison with an average score of 166,094 against the W6800's 135,396, placing them at the 97th and 96th percentiles of all GPUs respectively. This 22.7% gap in average score, however, only tells part of the story; the two cards are built on fundamentally different design philosophies, with the NVIDIA card leveraging a newer, denser process node and the AMD card countering with a larger memory pool and wider bus. The data reveals a clear performance hierarchy in compute workloads, but the W6800 retains advantages in memory capacity and display connectivity that matter for specific professional use cases.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA RTX 4500 Ada Generation wins decisively in compute-oriented benchmarks. In Geekbench OpenCL, it scores 160,786 against the W6800's 121,808, a 32% advantage. The gap widens further in Geekbench Vulkan, where the RTX 4500 posts 171,401 versus 109,961 for the AMD card, a 55.9% lead. These are not marginal differences; they indicate that the Ada Lovelace architecture delivers substantially higher raw compute throughput in both OpenCL and Vulkan workloads, which are common in rendering, simulation, and machine learning tasks.

The AMD Radeon PRO W6800, by contrast, wins on memory capacity and output flexibility. It carries 32 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, compared to the RTX 4500's 24 GB on a 192-bit bus. This translates to 512.0 GB/s of bandwidth versus 432.0 GB/s. For workloads that are memory-bound — such as large dataset processing, high-resolution texture sets, or multi-app GPU virtualization — the W6800's extra 8 GB and 18.5% higher bandwidth provide a tangible benefit. Additionally, the W6800 offers six mini-DisplayPort 1.4a outputs against four DisplayPort 1.4a on the RTX 4500, making it more suited for multi-display setups or immersive visualization walls.

The Geekbench Metal score of 174,420 for the W6800 is notable, though no equivalent Metal score exists for the RTX 4500 in the data, so cross-API comparison is limited. This Metal result suggests the AMD card performs strongly in Apple-centric ecosystems, but the head-to-head data only includes OpenCL and Vulkan, where NVIDIA dominates.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide between these two cards is stark. The RTX 4500 Ada is built on TSMC's 5 nm process, packing 45,900 million transistors into a 379 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 121.1M per mm². The W6800 uses TSMC's 7 nm node with 26,800 million transistors spread across a much larger 520 mm² die, resulting in a density of just 51.5M per mm². This process advantage allows the NVIDIA card to nearly double the FP32 throughput: 39.63 TFLOPS versus 17.83 TFLOPS for the AMD card.

The shading unit counts reinforce this disparity. The RTX 4500 features 7,680 shading units, 240 TMUs, and 80 ROPs, while the W6800 has 3,840 shading units, 240 TMUs, and 96 ROPs. The RTX 4500's higher shading unit count gives it a 2:1 advantage in raw pixel and texture processing potential, though the W6800's higher ROP count (96 vs 80) helps it achieve a slightly higher pixel rate of 222.9 GPixel/s versus 206.4 GPixel/s for the NVIDIA card. Texture rates are closer: 619.2 GTexel/s for the RTX 4500 versus 557.3 GTexel/s for the W6800.

Both cards feature 60 ray accelerators, but the RTX 4500 additionally integrates 240 tensor cores, which the W6800 lacks entirely. This makes the NVIDIA card suitable for AI and deep learning inference tasks that rely on tensor operations, while the AMD card would need to fall back on shader-based compute. Clock speeds favor the NVIDIA card as well: 2070 MHz base and 2580 MHz boost versus 1575 MHz base and 2322 MHz boost for the AMD card. Power draw is counterintuitive — the RTX 4500 requires only 210 W TDP with no external power connectors, while the W6800 draws 250 W and needs both a 6-pin and 8-pin connector. The suggested PSU ratings are 550 W for NVIDIA and 600 W for AMD.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The direct comparison in Geekbench OpenCL shows the RTX 4500 Ada Generation scoring 160,786 against the W6800's 121,808, a 32% delta. This is a substantial lead that aligns with the FP32 throughput gap: 39.63 TFLOPS versus 17.83 TFLOPS. OpenCL workloads that scale with shading unit count and clock speed will consistently favor the NVIDIA card. The RTX 4500's nearest rival in this metric, the AMD Radeon Pro W6900X, scores 168,574, putting the RTX 4500 1.5% behind that card but still ahead of the W6800 by a wide margin.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the RTX 4500 extends its lead to 55.9%, scoring 171,401 versus 109,961. This is a larger relative advantage than in OpenCL, suggesting that the Ada Lovelace architecture's Vulkan driver implementation and hardware scheduling are particularly efficient. The W6800's Vulkan score is actually its weakest of the three benchmarks it ran, trailing its own OpenCL score by 9.7% and its Metal score by 37.1%. The RTX 4500's Vulkan score is 6.6% higher than its OpenCL score, indicating strong API-level optimization.

The W6800's Metal score of 174,420 stands as its best result, but without a comparable NVIDIA Metal score in the data, it cannot be used for direct head-to-head comparison. The RTX 4500's average benchmark score of 166,094 places it 0.5% ahead of the NVIDIA RTX A5500 and 0.7% ahead of the AMD Radeon PRO W7800, while sitting 1.5% behind the AMD Radeon Pro W6900X and 2.2% ahead of the NVIDIA A100 PCIe 40 GB. The W6800's average of 135,396 puts it 0.1% ahead of both the NVIDIA A10M and the NVIDIA RTX 4000 Ada Generation, 0.3% behind the AMD Radeon Pro W6800X Duo, and 0.8% behind the AMD Radeon PRO V620.

FAQ

Q: Which card has higher FP32 compute performance?

A: The NVIDIA RTX 4500 Ada Generation delivers 39.63 TFLOPS of FP32 throughput, compared to 17.83 TFLOPS for the AMD Radeon PRO W6800 — a 2.2x advantage for the NVIDIA card.

Q: How much memory does each card have, and what is the bandwidth difference?

A: The W6800 has 32 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus providing 512.0 GB/s bandwidth. The RTX 4500 has 24 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus providing 432.0 GB/s. The AMD card offers 33.3% more capacity and 18.5% more bandwidth.

Q: Which card is more power-efficient?

A: The RTX 4500 Ada Generation has a 210 W TDP and requires no external power connectors, while the W6800 has a 250 W TDP and needs a 6-pin and 8-pin connector. The suggested PSU is 550 W for NVIDIA and 600 W for AMD.

Q: Does the W6800 have tensor cores?

A: No. The W6800 has 60 ray accelerators but no tensor cores. The RTX 4500 includes 240 tensor cores alongside its 60 ray accelerators, enabling dedicated AI acceleration.

Q: Which card has more display outputs?

A: The AMD Radeon PRO W6800 offers six mini-DisplayPort 1.4a outputs, while the NVIDIA RTX 4500 has four DisplayPort 1.4a outputs.

Q: What is the average benchmark score for each card?

A: The RTX 4500 Ada Generation averages 166,094 across its benchmark results, while the W6800 averages 135,396. The NVIDIA card sits at the 97th percentile of all GPUs, the AMD card at the 96th.

The Verdict

The data makes the performance hierarchy unambiguous: the NVIDIA RTX 4500 Ada Generation is the faster card in compute workloads, leading by 32% in OpenCL and 55.9% in Vulkan. Its 5 nm process node, 7,680 shading units, and 240 tensor cores provide a generational leap that the older RDNA 2.0 architecture cannot match. For professionals running OpenCL or Vulkan-based rendering, simulation, or inference tasks, the RTX 4500 is the clear choice from a raw performance standpoint.

The AMD Radeon PRO W6800, however, retains specific advantages. Its 32 GB memory pool and 512.0 GB/s bandwidth make it better suited for memory-intensive workflows that exceed 24 GB, such as massive point clouds or multi-layer compositing. The six mini-DisplayPort outputs also give it an edge in multi-display configurations. The W6800 is an end-of-life product, while the RTX 4500 remains active in production, which may matter for long-term driver support and availability.

The RTX 4500's nearest rival is actually the AMD Radeon Pro W6900X at 168,574 average score, not the W6800, underscoring how far ahead the Ada generation sits. For most users, the RTX 4500's performance advantages in the available benchmarks will outweigh the W6800's memory and output benefits. Choose the NVIDIA card for compute density and speed; choose the AMD card only if the 32 GB frame buffer or six-display capability is a hard requirement.