AMD Radeon Pro W6800X vs NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000 Comparison

FAQ

Q: How does the AMD Radeon Pro W6800X compare to the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000 in overall average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro W6800X records an average benchmark score of 160,671, while the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000 records 101,872. This places the AMD card at the 97th percentile among all GPUs, while the NVIDIA card sits at the 94th percentile.

Q: What is the single head-to-head benchmark result between these two cards?

A: The database contains one direct head-to-head test, Geekbench OpenCL. The AMD Radeon Pro W6800X scores 124,498, which is 67.8% higher than the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000's score of 74,179.

Q: Which card has a higher transistor density, and what does that indicate?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro W6800X, built on a 7 nm process, has a transistor density of 51.5M per mm². The NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000, built on a 12 nm process, has a density of 24.7M per mm². This indicates the AMD chip packs significantly more transistors per area.

Q: What is the memory configuration difference between the two cards?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro W6800X features 32 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus with 512.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000 features 24 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 384-bit bus with 672.0 GB/s of bandwidth.

Q: What is the launch MSRP for each card?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro W6800X has a launch MSRP of 2,799 USD. The NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000 has a launch MSRP of 6,299 USD.

Q: Which card has a higher pixel rate and texture rate?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro W6800X achieves a pixel rate of 200.4 GPixel/s, which is higher than the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000's 169.9 GPixel/s. However, the NVIDIA card has a slightly higher texture rate at 509.8 GTexel/s compared to the AMD card's 500.9 GTexel/s.

Architecture Differences

The AMD Radeon Pro W6800X is built on the Navi 21 chip using the RDNA 2.0 architecture, manufactured by TSMC on a 7 nm process. The NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000 uses the TU102 chip with the Turing architecture, also manufactured by TSMC but on a 12 nm process. This process difference is significant: the AMD chip contains 26,800 million transistors on a 520 mm² die, while the NVIDIA chip contains 18,600 million transistors on a larger 754 mm² die. Consequently, the transistor density of the AMD chip is 51.5M per mm², compared to 24.7M per mm² for the NVIDIA chip.

The two cards have distinct feature sets. The AMD Radeon Pro W6800X includes 60 ray tracing cores and no tensor cores, while the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000 includes 72 ray tracing cores and 576 tensor cores. The NVIDIA card also has a higher number of shading units (4,608 versus 3,840) and texture mapping units (288 versus 240), while both cards have 96 ROPs.

The AMD card uses an Apple MPX bus interface and power connector, with a quad-slot form factor. The NVIDIA card uses a standard PCIe 3.0 x16 interface, a dual-slot form factor, and a 1x 6-pin plus 1x 8-pin power connector setup. Display outputs also differ: the AMD card provides 1x HDMI 2.1 and 4x Thunderbolt, while the NVIDIA card provides 4x DisplayPort 1.4a and 1x USB Type-C.

Both cards support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The AMD card is based on RDNA 2.0, while the NVIDIA card is based on Turing. The AMD card was released on 2021-08-02, whereas the NVIDIA card was released earlier on 2018-08-12. Both are marked as end-of-life in production status.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded head-to-head data shows a single benchmark test: Geekbench OpenCL. The AMD Radeon Pro W6800X scores 124,498, while the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000 scores 74,179. This represents a 67.8% advantage for the AMD card. This is a substantial margin, indicating a clear performance lead for the AMD card in this particular OpenCL workload.

The average benchmark score reinforces this trend. The AMD Radeon Pro W6800X has an average score of 160,671, which is 57.7% higher than the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000's average of 101,872. The AMD card's percentile ranking of 97 versus the NVIDIA card's 94 further illustrates the gap, though both cards sit in the upper echelon of all GPUs.

Looking at the nearest rivals for each card provides additional context. The AMD Radeon Pro W6800X's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA A100 PCIe 40 GB, which scores 162,504 and is 1.1% higher, the AMD Radeon PRO W7800 at 164,894 (2.6% higher), the NVIDIA RTX A5500 at 165,217 (2.8% higher), and the NVIDIA RTX 4500 Ada Generation at 166,094 (3.3% higher). These deltas are all relatively small, indicating the AMD card sits in a tightly contested performance band.

The NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000's nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 7900M, which scores 97,487 and is 4.5% lower, the AMD Radeon Pro VII at 97,131 (4.9% lower), the AMD Radeon Pro Vega II Duo at 106,750 (4.6% higher), and the AMD Radeon Pro W6600X at 107,342 (5.1% higher). This shows the NVIDIA card competes with a different tier of hardware, with its rivals clustering around the 97,000 to 107,000 score range.

Specification Differences

The following specifications differ between the AMD Radeon Pro W6800X and the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000:

• Process Node: AMD uses 7 nm, NVIDIA uses 12 nm.
• Transistors: AMD has 26,800 million, NVIDIA has 18,600 million.
• Die Size: AMD has 520 mm², NVIDIA has 754 mm².
• Transistor Density: AMD has 51.5M / mm², NVIDIA has 24.7M / mm².
• Base Clock: AMD runs at 1800 MHz, NVIDIA at 1440 MHz.
• Boost Clock: AMD runs at 2087 MHz, NVIDIA at 1770 MHz.
• Memory Clock: AMD runs at 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective), NVIDIA at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective).
• Memory Size: AMD has 32 GB, NVIDIA has 24 GB.
• Memory Bus Width: AMD uses 256 bit, NVIDIA uses 384 bit.
• Memory Bandwidth: AMD has 512.0 GB/s, NVIDIA has 672.0 GB/s.
• Shading Units: AMD has 3840, NVIDIA has 4608.
• TMUs: AMD has 240, NVIDIA has 288.
• RT Cores: AMD has 60, NVIDIA has 72.
• Tensor Cores: AMD has none, NVIDIA has 576.
• Pixel Rate: AMD has 200.4 GPixel/s, NVIDIA has 169.9 GPixel/s.
• Texture Rate: AMD has 500.9 GTexel/s, NVIDIA has 509.8 GTexel/s.
• FP32 Performance: AMD has 16.03 TFLOPS, NVIDIA has 16.31 TFLOPS.
• FP16 Performance: AMD has 32.06 TFLOPS (2:1), NVIDIA has 32.62 TFLOPS (2:1).
• TDP: AMD is rated at 200 W, NVIDIA at 260 W.
• Slot Width: AMD is quad-slot, NVIDIA is dual-slot.
• Power Connectors: AMD uses Apple MPX, NVIDIA uses 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin.
• Suggested PSU: AMD recommends 550 W, NVIDIA recommends 600 W.
• Bus Interface: AMD uses Apple MPX, NVIDIA uses PCIe 3.0 x16.
• Display Outputs: AMD has 1x HDMI 2.1 and 4x Thunderbolt, NVIDIA has 4x DisplayPort 1.4a and 1x USB Type-C.
• Height: AMD is 120 mm (4.7 inches), NVIDIA is 111 mm (4.4 inches).
• Release Date: AMD released on 2021-08-02, NVIDIA on 2018-08-12.
• Predecessor: NVIDIA lists Quadro Volta as predecessor, AMD lists none.
• Successor: NVIDIA lists Workstation Ampere as successor, AMD lists none.
• Launch MSRP: AMD is 2,799 USD, NVIDIA is 6,299 USD.

The Verdict

The AMD Radeon Pro W6800X is the stronger performer in the recorded data. Its average benchmark score of 160,671 versus the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000's 101,872 represents a clear advantage, and the head-to-head Geekbench OpenCL result shows a 67.8% lead. The AMD card also achieves higher pixel rate (200.4 GPixel/s versus 169.9 GPixel/s), a higher base clock (1800 MHz versus 1440 MHz), and a higher boost clock (2087 MHz versus 1770 MHz). Its 32 GB memory capacity is also larger than the NVIDIA card's 24 GB, and it does so with a lower TDP of 200 W versus 260 W.

The NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000 retains advantages in several specific areas. It offers higher memory bandwidth (672.0 GB/s versus 512.0 GB/s) due to its wider 384-bit bus, higher FP32 performance (16.31 TFLOPS versus 16.03 TFLOPS), and higher FP16 performance (32.62 TFLOPS versus 32.06 TFLOPS). It also has more shading units (4,608 versus 3,840), more TMUs (288 versus 240), more RT cores (72 versus 60), and includes 576 tensor cores, which the AMD card lacks entirely. Its texture rate is marginally higher at 509.8 GTexel/s versus 500.9 GTexel/s.

The data suggests the AMD Radeon Pro W6800X is the better choice for users prioritizing raw compute throughput and memory capacity, particularly in OpenCL workloads. Its higher percentile ranking (97 versus 94) and its position among rivals like the NVIDIA RTX A5500 and RTX 4500 Ada Generation indicate it competes at a higher performance tier. The NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000, while older and scoring lower on average, offers features the AMD card does not have, notably tensor cores for AI-accelerated tasks and a higher texture rate. Users who require those specific capabilities may prefer the NVIDIA card, but the benchmark data favors the AMD card overall.