AMD Radeon R9 370X vs NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data contains two directly comparable benchmark results between the AMD Radeon R9 370X and the NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile. In both instances, the NVIDIA part emerges victorious with substantial margins. The first test, Geekbench OpenCL, shows the NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile scoring 56,518 against the AMD Radeon R9 370X's 25,893. This represents a delta of -54.2 percent for the AMD card, meaning the NVIDIA solution delivers more than double the raw compute throughput in this particular workload. The margin is significant enough that the AMD part's score is less than half of its competitor's, a gap that speaks to the generational shift between the two architectures.

The second head-to-head test, Geekbench Vulkan, reveals an even more pronounced disparity. The NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile records 53,146 points, while the AMD Radeon R9 370X manages only 9,018 points. The delta here is -83 percent, indicating that the AMD card retains merely 17 percent of the NVIDIA card's performance in this API. This is not a marginal difference; it is a categorical separation in capability. Vulkan workloads tend to stress driver efficiency and architectural features, and the data suggests that the Ampere-based NVIDIA solution handles these tasks with far greater proficiency than the GCN 1.0 based AMD part.

Overall, the head-to-head tally stands at zero wins for the AMD Radeon R9 370X and two wins for the NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile. The average benchmark score for the AMD card is 15,862, while the NVIDIA card's average sits at 13,821. Interestingly, despite the NVIDIA card winning every direct comparison, its average benchmark score across all recorded tests is lower than the AMD card's average. This discrepancy arises because the NVIDIA card's benchmark suite includes additional tests, such as Passmark DirectX 9, 10, 11, and 12, G2D, G3D, and GPU Compute, which are not present in the AMD card's benchmark list. The AMD card's average is derived solely from its three Geekbench results, which skew its average upward relative to the NVIDIA card's broader and more varied test set.

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark data paints a clear picture of workload-specific strengths. The NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile dominates in both OpenCL and Vulkan compute scenarios. For OpenCL, the NVIDIA card's 56,518 score versus the AMD card's 25,893 indicates a decisive advantage in general-purpose GPU compute, particularly in tasks that leverage OpenCL's cross-platform capabilities. The Vulkan result, with the NVIDIA card at 53,146 versus the AMD card's 9,018, reinforces this dominance in modern graphics APIs. Applications that rely on Vulkan for rendering or compute will see a dramatic performance uplift on the NVIDIA solution.

The AMD Radeon R9 370X, while losing both head-to-head tests, does hold a higher average benchmark score of 15,862 compared to the NVIDIA card's 13,821. This is a quirk of the test selection rather than a genuine performance advantage. The AMD card's average is computed from only three Geekbench results, all of which are relatively strong for its architecture. The NVIDIA card, however, is evaluated across nine tests, including several Passmark legacy DirectX tests where it scores modestly (57 in DirectX 10, 68 in DirectX 11, 47 in DirectX 12, 115 in DirectX 9). These lower scores drag down its average despite its stellar Geekbench performance.

For users prioritizing modern compute workloads, the NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile is the clear choice. The data shows it leads by 54.2 percent in OpenCL and by 83 percent in Vulkan. For users who value consistent performance across a wide range of legacy and modern APIs, the AMD card's narrower test profile shows fewer weak points, but this is a reflection of limited data rather than a true advantage. The NVIDIA card's Passmark results, while lower than its Geekbench scores, still demonstrate functional capability across DirectX 9 through 12, with a G3D score of 9,611 and a GPU Compute score of 4,334.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon R9 370X has an average benchmark score of 15,862, while the NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile has an average of 13,821. However, the AMD card's average is based on only three Geekbench tests, whereas the NVIDIA card is evaluated across nine tests including several Passmark benchmarks.

Q: How much faster is the NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile in Geekbench OpenCL?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile scores 56,518, while the AMD Radeon R9 370X scores 25,893. The NVIDIA card is 54.2 percent ahead in this test.

Q: What is the performance gap in Geekbench Vulkan?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile scores 53,146, while the AMD Radeon R9 370X scores 9,018. This represents an 83 percent lead for the NVIDIA card.

Q: Does the AMD Radeon R9 370X win any head-to-head benchmark?

A: No. The recorded head-to-head data shows zero wins for the AMD card and two wins for the NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile.

Q: How do the two GPUs compare in terms of percentile ranking among all GPUs?

A: The AMD Radeon R9 370X sits at the 58th percentile, while the NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile sits at the 55th percentile. Despite losing both direct comparisons, the AMD card ranks slightly higher overall due to its higher average benchmark score.

Q: What are the nearest rivals for each GPU based on average score?

A: For the AMD Radeon R9 370X, the nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon RX 7700 (15,852, delta 0.1 percent), AMD Radeon RX 9060 (16,014, delta -1 percent), AMD Radeon Pro W5500 (15,679, delta 1.2 percent), and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (16,129, delta -1.7 percent). For the NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile, the nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon 660M (13,812, delta 0.1 percent), AMD Radeon RX 570X (13,871, delta -0.4 percent), AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT (13,745, delta 0.6 percent), and NVIDIA Tesla K10 (14,029, delta -1.5 percent).

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ substantially across nearly every specification category. The AMD Radeon R9 370X features 1,280 shading units, 80 texture mapping units, and 32 raster operations pipelines. The NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile doubles the shading unit count to 2,560, matches the TMU count at 80, and increases the ROP count to 48. The NVIDIA card also includes 20 ray tracing cores and 80 tensor cores, features entirely absent from the AMD card.

Clock speeds favor the NVIDIA card. The AMD part has a base clock of 980 MHz and a boost clock of 1,030 MHz. The NVIDIA card runs at a base of 1,215 MHz and boosts to 1,687 MHz. Memory clocks also differ: the AMD card runs at 1,400 MHz with 5.6 Gbps effective, while the NVIDIA card runs at 1,500 MHz with 12 Gbps effective.

Memory configuration diverges significantly. The AMD Radeon R9 370X has 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 179.2 GB/s of bandwidth. The NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile has 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, delivering 192.0 GB/s. Despite the narrower bus, the NVIDIA card achieves higher bandwidth due to the faster memory type and effective clock.

Pixel and texture rates reflect the architectural differences. The AMD card achieves 32.96 GPixel/s and 82.40 GTexel/s. The NVIDIA card reaches 80.98 GPixel/s and 135.0 GTexel/s. FP32 throughput shows the largest gap: the AMD card delivers 2.637 TFLOPS, while the NVIDIA card delivers 8.637 TFLOPS. The NVIDIA card also supports FP16 at 8.637 TFLOPS with a 1:1 ratio, a capability the AMD card does not list.

Power and physical specifications favor the NVIDIA card in power draw but the AMD card in interface breadth. The AMD Radeon R9 370X has a TDP of 180 W, requires dual-slot cooling, uses two 6-pin power connectors, and recommends a 450 W PSU. The NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile has a TDP of 95 W, is an integrated graphics processor (IGP), requires no power connectors, and lists no suggested PSU. The AMD card uses PCIe 3.0 x16, while the NVIDIA card uses PCIe 4.0 x16. Display outputs also differ: the AMD card provides 2x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 1x DisplayPort 1.2, while the NVIDIA card's outputs are described as portable device dependent.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide between these two GPUs is generational. The AMD Radeon R9 370X is built on GCN 1.0 architecture, using the Trinidad chip, and belongs to the Pirate Islands (R9 300) generation. It is fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC, containing 2,800 million transistors on a 212 mm² die, for a transistor density of 13.2 million per mm². This architecture supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170.

The NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile uses the Ampere architecture with the GA107 chip, belonging to the Ampere-MW (Ax000) generation. It is fabricated on an 8 nm process at Samsung, containing 8,700 million transistors on a 200 mm² die, for a transistor density of 43.5 million per mm². This represents a significant increase in transistor density, more than tripling the AMD card's figure. The Ampere architecture supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

The NVIDIA card's inclusion of ray tracing cores and tensor cores marks a fundamental architectural advancement over the AMD card, which has neither. These specialized units enable hardware-accelerated ray tracing and AI-based features that the GCN 1.0 architecture cannot provide. The NVIDIA card also features a unified FP16 and FP32 throughput of 8.637 TFLOPS, whereas the AMD card lists no FP16 capability.

Release timelines reflect this architectural gap. The AMD Radeon R9 370X was released on August 26, 2015, with a launch MSRP of 199 USD. The NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile was released on April 11, 2021, nearly six years later. Both are now end-of-life products. The AMD card's predecessor is Volcanic Islands and its successor is Arctic Islands. The NVIDIA card's predecessor is Quadro Turing-M and its successor is Ada-MW.

The production process differences are stark. The AMD card uses a mature 28 nm node with lower transistor density, while the NVIDIA card uses a more advanced 8 nm node with a density of 43.5M per mm². This allows the NVIDIA chip to pack more than three times the transistors into a slightly smaller die area, enabling its higher shading unit count, ray tracing cores, tensor cores, and improved clock speeds while consuming less power. The NVIDIA card's 95 W TDP versus the AMD card's 180 W TDP illustrates the efficiency gains from the newer process and architecture.