AMD Radeon RX 460 vs NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile Comparison

The NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile and the AMD Radeon RX 460 occupy very different segments of the GPU landscape, and the benchmark data reflects a decisive performance gap. In the two recorded head-to-head tests, the NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile wins both, with margins that are nothing short of dominant. The Geekbench OpenCL result shows the A4000 Mobile scoring 97,178 against the RX 460’s 17,855, a difference of 444.3%. The Vulkan test narrows the gap somewhat but still shows a 261.4% advantage for the NVIDIA part, with scores of 73,002 and 20,198 respectively. These are not close contests; the A4000 Mobile is in a completely different performance class.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most striking outcome in the database is the Geekbench OpenCL result. The NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile posts 97,178 points, while the AMD Radeon RX 460 manages only 17,855. That is a 444.3% lead for the NVIDIA part, meaning the A4000 Mobile delivers more than five times the OpenCL compute performance of the RX 460. This is the largest relative gap between the two in any recorded test, and it highlights the chasm in raw compute capability. The A4000 Mobile’s FP32 throughput of 17.20 TFLOPS versus the RX 460’s 2.150 TFLOPS explains much of this result, though the architecture and memory subsystem also play significant roles.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the A4000 Mobile again takes the win, scoring 73,002 against 20,198. The delta is 261.4%, a smaller margin than in OpenCL but still a landslide. Vulkan is a lower-level API that can expose efficiency differences between architectures, and the data shows the Ampere-based A4000 Mobile maintains a massive advantage even when the API overhead is reduced. The RX 460’s GCN 4.0 architecture, while competent in its era, cannot keep pace with the newer NVIDIA design in this workload.

The overall wins tally is 2 for the NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile and 0 for the AMD Radeon RX 460. There are no benchmark tests in the database where the RX 460 comes out ahead. The A4000 Mobile’s average benchmark score across all recorded tests is 21,379, while the RX 460’s average is 18,373. This average includes different test suites, but the trend is consistent: the A4000 Mobile is faster in every comparable metric.

Looking at the broader context, the A4000 Mobile sits in the 66th percentile of all GPUs, while the RX 460 sits in the 62nd percentile. The percentile difference is modest compared to the head-to-head deltas, which indicates that the RX 460’s percentile is buoyed by its performance in other workloads not shared in the head-to-head set. However, in the direct comparisons available, the A4000 Mobile is unequivocally superior. Its nearest rivals in the database include the AMD Radeon HD 8970M at 21,237 average score, which is 0.7% behind, and the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000 at 21,629, which is 1.2% ahead. The RX 460’s nearest rivals are closer in absolute terms, with the Intel Arc A770M at 18,383 (0.1% behind) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile at 18,159 (1.2% behind). These rival distances show that the A4000 Mobile competes in a higher performance bracket, while the RX 460 is firmly in the entry-level segment.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two GPUs is fundamental. The NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile is built on the GA104 chip using the Ampere architecture, manufactured on an 8 nm process at Samsung. The AMD Radeon RX 460 uses the Baffin chip with the GCN 4.0 architecture, built on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. The process node difference alone, 8 nm versus 14 nm, gives the NVIDIA part a significant transistor density advantage. The A4000 Mobile packs 17,400 million transistors into a 392 mm² die, yielding a density of 44.4 million transistors per square millimeter. The RX 460 has 3,000 million transistors on a 123 mm² die, for a density of 24.4 million per square millimeter. The A4000 Mobile has nearly six times the transistor count and more than double the density.

The compute resources differ by an order of magnitude. The A4000 Mobile has 5,120 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 80 raster operations pipelines. The RX 460 has 896 shading units, 56 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. That is a 5.7 times difference in shading units, a 2.9 times difference in TMUs, and a 5 times difference in ROPs. The A4000 Mobile also features 40 RT cores and 160 tensor cores, hardware that the RX 460 lacks entirely. The RX 460 has no ray tracing or tensor core support, as it predates those features in AMD’s consumer lineup.

Memory architecture reinforces the performance gap. The A4000 Mobile uses 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256 bit bus, delivering 384.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The RX 460 uses 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 128 bit bus, with 112.0 GB/s. The A4000 Mobile has four times the memory capacity and more than three times the bandwidth. The memory clock is also higher: 1500 MHz with 12 Gbps effective on the A4000 Mobile versus 1750 MHz with 7 Gbps effective on the RX 460. The effective data rate difference is substantial, and the wider bus amplifies it into a bandwidth advantage that matters in memory-intensive workloads.

The feature sets diverge on API support. The A4000 Mobile supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The RX 460 supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. The DirectX 12 Ultimate designation on the NVIDIA part indicates support for the full feature set including ray tracing and variable rate shading, which the RX 460 cannot offer given its older architecture. The Vulkan version difference, 1.4 versus 1.3, is minor but present. Both support OpenGL 4.6, so that is a neutral point.

Clock speeds tell a more nuanced story. The A4000 Mobile has a base clock of 1140 MHz and a boost of 1680 MHz. The RX 460 has a base of 1090 MHz and a boost of 1200 MHz. The A4000 Mobile’s boost is 40% higher, but the real difference comes from the massive shading unit count, not the clock. The pixel rate of the A4000 Mobile is 134.4 GPixel/s versus 19.20 GPixel/s for the RX 460, and the texture rate is 268.8 GTexel/s versus 67.20 GTexel/s. These are the rates that drive real-world rendering performance, and the A4000 Mobile dominates both.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has higher FP32 compute performance?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile has an FP32 rating of 17.20 TFLOPS, while the AMD Radeon RX 460 has 2.150 TFLOPS. The A4000 Mobile is roughly eight times faster in raw floating point throughput.

Q: Does the AMD Radeon RX 460 support ray tracing?

A: No. The RX 460 has no RT cores, while the NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile includes 40 RT cores for hardware-accelerated ray tracing.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth difference?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile delivers 384.0 GB/s over a 256 bit bus with GDDR6 memory. The AMD Radeon RX 460 provides 112.0 GB/s over a 128 bit bus with GDDR5 memory. The A4000 Mobile has more than three times the bandwidth.

Q: Which GPU has a higher percentile ranking?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile ranks in the 66th percentile of all GPUs, while the AMD Radeon RX 460 ranks in the 62nd percentile.

Q: What is the transistor count for each chip?

A: The GA104 chip in the A4000 Mobile contains 17,400 million transistors. The Baffin chip in the RX 460 contains 3,000 million transistors.

Q: How do the Geekbench Vulkan scores compare?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile scores 73,002 in Geekbench Vulkan, which is 261.4% higher than the RX 460’s 20,198.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ across nearly every specification field. The process node is 8 nm for the A4000 Mobile and 14 nm for the RX 460. The foundry is Samsung for NVIDIA and GlobalFoundries for AMD. The chip is GA104 versus Baffin. The architecture is Ampere versus GCN 4.0. The generation is Ampere-MW (Ax000) versus Arctic Islands (RX 400). Transistor count is 17,400 million versus 3,000 million. Die size is 392 mm² versus 123 mm². Transistor density is 44.4 million per mm² versus 24.4 million per mm².

Clock speeds differ: base 1140 MHz versus 1090 MHz, boost 1680 MHz versus 1200 MHz, memory 1500 MHz with 12 Gbps effective versus 1750 MHz with 7 Gbps effective. Memory size is 8 GB versus 2 GB. Memory type is GDDR6 versus GDDR5. Bus width is 256 bit versus 128 bit. Bandwidth is 384.0 GB/s versus 112.0 GB/s. Shading units are 5,120 versus 896. TMUs are 160 versus 56. ROPs are 80 versus 16. The A4000 Mobile has 40 RT cores and 160 tensor cores; the RX 460 has none.

Pixel rate is 134.4 GPixel/s versus 19.20 GPixel/s. Texture rate is 268.8 GTexel/s versus 67.20 GTexel/s. FP32 is 17.20 TFLOPS versus 2.150 TFLOPS. FP16 is 17.20 TFLOPS (1:1) for both. TDP is 115 W versus 75 W. The RX 460 is a dual-slot card with a 250 W suggested PSU, while the A4000 Mobile has no slot width listed and no suggested PSU. Bus interface is PCIe 4.0 x16 versus PCIe 3.0 x8. Display outputs are portable device dependent for the A4000 Mobile, while the RX 460 has 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0b, and 1x DisplayPort 1.4a. The RX 460 has a length of 170 mm (6.7 inches); the A4000 Mobile has no dimensions listed.

DirectX support is 12 Ultimate (12_2) for the A4000 Mobile versus 12 (12_0) for the RX 460. Vulkan support is 1.4 versus 1.3. Both support OpenGL 4.6. Release dates differ: the A4000 Mobile launched on 2021-04-11, while the RX 460 launched on 2016-08-07. Both are end-of-life. The predecessor for the A4000 Mobile is Quadro Turing-M, and its successor is Ada-MW. The RX 460’s predecessor is Pirate Islands, and its successor is Polaris.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile wins in every recorded benchmark category. In Geekbench OpenCL, it beats the RX 460 by 444.3%. In Geekbench Vulkan, it wins by 261.4%. The A4000 Mobile is the clear choice for any workload that leverages compute performance, ray tracing, or high memory bandwidth. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 384.0 GB/s bandwidth make it suitable for larger datasets and higher resolution textures. The presence of 40 RT cores and 160 tensor cores means it can handle ray-traced rendering and AI-accelerated tasks, which the RX 460 cannot.

The AMD Radeon RX 460 has no wins in the head-to-head data. However, it does have some advantages in the specification sheet that could matter in specific use cases. Its TDP is 75 W versus 115 W for the A4000 Mobile, so it draws less power. It is a dual-slot card with a defined length of 170 mm, making it a compact, low-power option for small form factor builds. It also has dedicated display outputs (1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0b, 1x DisplayPort 1.4a) rather than portable device dependent outputs, so it can be used in a desktop with standard monitors without adapter considerations. Its PCIe 3.0 x8 interface is older but sufficient for its performance level.

The RX 460’s Geekbench Metal score of 17,065, which the A4000 Mobile does not have a comparable score for, indicates it has some capability in Metal-based workloads on Apple platforms, but this is not a direct comparison. In terms of raw performance, the RX 460 is in the 62nd percentile of all GPUs, which places it above the median but far from the A4000 Mobile’s 66th percentile. The average benchmark score of 18,373 for the RX 460 versus 21,379 for the A4000 Mobile reflects a real but not overwhelming gap in aggregate, yet the head-to-head tests show the gap is enormous in compute-heavy tasks.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile is the superior GPU in every measurable comparison available. It wins both head-to-head benchmarks, has a higher average benchmark score (21,379 versus 18,373), higher percentile ranking (66 versus 62), and vastly superior specifications across the board. The 444.3% lead in OpenCL and 261.4% lead in Vulkan are not marginal differences; they represent different performance tiers entirely. Any user needing compute performance, ray tracing, or high memory bandwidth should choose the A4000 Mobile without hesitation.

The AMD Radeon RX 460 is only a reasonable pick in scenarios where power consumption and physical size are the primary constraints. Its 75 W TDP is 40 W lower than the A4000 Mobile’s 115 W, and its compact 170 mm length makes it easier to fit in small cases. It also offers standard display outputs for desktop use, whereas the A4000 Mobile’s outputs depend on the portable device it is integrated into. For a user building a low-power, small-form-factor desktop with modest performance needs, the RX 460 could suffice. But for any workload that stresses the GPU, the A4000 Mobile is the only choice.

The verdict from the database is clear. The A4000 Mobile is a professional-grade mobile GPU with Ampere architecture, 17.20 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, and 8 GB of GDDR6 memory. The RX 460 is an entry-level desktop GPU from 2016 with 2.150 TFLOPS and 2 GB of GDDR5. They are not competitors; they are products from different eras and different market segments. The A4000 Mobile wins on performance, features, and capability. The RX 460 wins only on power draw and physical footprint. Choose accordingly based on whether compute performance or low power is the priority.