AMD Radeon RX 590 GME vs NVIDIA RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell Comparison

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 590 GME has a slightly higher average benchmark score of 32,601 compared to the NVIDIA RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell’s 31,532, a difference of about 3.4%. This places the AMD card at the 77th percentile of all GPUs, while the NVIDIA card sits at the 76th percentile.

Q: How large is the performance gap in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test?

A: The NVIDIA RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell scores 7,025 points versus the AMD Radeon RX 590 GME’s 1,001 points. The delta is -85.8%, meaning the AMD card trails by roughly 86% in this workload.

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

A: For the RX 590 GME, the closest rival is the AMD FirePro S9300 X2 (32,540 avg, 0.2% delta). For the RTX PRO 4500, the closest rival is the NVIDIA TITAN RTX (31,676 avg, -0.5% delta). Note that these rival scores are within 1.1% of each card’s own average.

Q: Which card has more memory, and what is the type?

A: The NVIDIA RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell has 32 GB of GDDR7 memory, while the AMD Radeon RX 590 GME has 8 GB of GDDR5. The bus width is 256-bit for both, but the bandwidth differs substantially: 896.0 GB/s for NVIDIA versus 256.0 GB/s for AMD.

Q: Is the AMD card still in production?

A: No, the AMD Radeon RX 590 GME is marked as end-of-life, with a release date of March 8, 2020. The NVIDIA RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell is active, released on March 17, 2025.

Q: Which API versions does each card support?

A: The AMD card supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. The NVIDIA card supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. Both support OpenGL 4.6, but the NVIDIA card has a higher DirectX feature level and a newer Vulkan version.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from fundamentally different architectural eras. The AMD Radeon RX 590 GME uses the Polaris 20 chip built on GCN 4.0 architecture, fabricated on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. It packs 5,700 million transistors on a 232 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 24.6 million per square millimeter. The NVIDIA RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell, by contrast, uses the GB203 chip on Blackwell 2.0 architecture, built on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It contains 45,600 million transistors across a 378 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 120.6 million per square millimeter — roughly five times denser.

The compute resources differ dramatically. The RX 590 GME has 2,304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. The RTX PRO 4500 has 10,496 shading units, 328 TMUs, and 112 ROPs. Additionally, the NVIDIA card includes 82 ray tracing cores and 328 tensor cores, features entirely absent from the AMD card’s specification list. The NVIDIA card also supports a higher DirectX feature level (12_2 versus 12_0) and newer Vulkan (1.4 versus 1.3).

Clock speeds and memory technology mark further separation. The RX 590 GME runs at a base clock of 1257 MHz and boost of 1420 MHz, with memory at 2000 MHz (8 Gbps effective). The RTX PRO 4500 boosts much higher at 2407 MHz (base 1635 MHz) and uses memory at 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective). The memory bus is 256-bit for both, but the NVIDIA card’s GDDR7 memory delivers 896.0 GB/s bandwidth versus 256.0 GB/s for the AMD card’s GDDR5.

Power and interface specifications also differ. The AMD card has a TDP of 175 W, uses a single 8-pin connector, and recommends a 450 W PSU. The NVIDIA card has a TDP of 200 W, uses a single 16-pin connector, and recommends a 550 W PSU. The bus interface is PCIe 3.0 x16 for AMD and PCIe 5.0 x16 for NVIDIA. Display outputs are 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a for AMD, versus 4x DisplayPort 2.1b for NVIDIA.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The head-to-head data contains two benchmark comparisons, and the NVIDIA RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell wins both decisively. In the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, the NVIDIA card scores 7,025 points while the AMD Radeon RX 590 GME scores 1,001 points. The delta is -85.8%, meaning the AMD card delivers only about 14% of the NVIDIA card’s performance in this workload. This is a massive, one-sided result that reflects the generational leap in raw graphics throughput.

The Geekbench Vulkan test shows a similar pattern, though the relative gap is slightly smaller. The NVIDIA card scores 221,768 points versus the AMD card’s 60,508 points, a delta of -72.7%. In percentage terms, the AMD card achieves roughly 27% of the NVIDIA card’s Vulkan performance. Both results indicate that the RTX PRO 4500 is in a different performance class entirely.

The wins tally is 0 for the AMD card and 2 for the NVIDIA card across these head-to-head tests. There are no benchmark categories where the RX 590 GME comes out ahead in the direct comparison. This lopsided outcome is consistent with the underlying specifications: the NVIDIA card has over 4.5 times the shading units, nearly 3.5 times the bandwidth, and roughly 7.7 times the FP32 throughput (50.53 TFLOPS versus 6.543 TFLOPS).

It is notably the average benchmark scores from the broader database tell a slightly different story. The RX 590 GME’s average score of 32,601 is actually higher than the RTX PRO 4500’s 31,532, and the AMD card sits at a higher percentile (77th versus 76th). This discrepancy arises because the averages include different test sets — the AMD card’s average is drawn from OpenCL, Vulkan, and Steel Nomad results, while the NVIDIA card’s average includes a broader range of PassMark tests (DirectX 9 through 12, G2D, G3D, and compute) plus Steel Nomad and Vulkan. The head-to-head tests, however, are the only direct apples-to-apples comparisons available, and they favor NVIDIA overwhelmingly.

Specification Differences

The following fields differ between the two cards, based on the FACT PACK data:

• Process node: 14 nm (AMD) versus 5 nm (NVIDIA)
• Foundry: GlobalFoundries versus TSMC
• Transistors: 5,700 million versus 45,600 million
• Die size: 232 mm² versus 378 mm²
• Transistor density: 24.6M / mm² versus 120.6M / mm²
• Base clock: 1257 MHz versus 1635 MHz
• Boost clock: 1420 MHz versus 2407 MHz
• Memory clock: 2000 MHz (8 Gbps effective) versus 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective)
• Memory size: 8 GB versus 32 GB
• Memory type: GDDR5 versus GDDR7
• Memory bandwidth: 256.0 GB/s versus 896.0 GB/s
• Shading units: 2304 versus 10496
• TMUs: 144 versus 328
• ROPs: 32 versus 112
• Ray tracing cores: None versus 82
• Tensor cores: None versus 328
• Pixel rate: 45.44 GPixel/s versus 269.6 GPixel/s
• Texture rate: 204.5 GTexel/s versus 789.5 GTexel/s
• FP32 performance: 6.543 TFLOPS versus 50.53 TFLOPS
• FP16 performance: 6.543 TFLOPS (1:1) versus 50.53 TFLOPS (1:1)
• TDP: 175 W versus 200 W
• Power connector: 1x 8-pin versus 1x 16-pin
• Suggested PSU: 450 W versus 550 W
• Bus interface: PCIe 3.0 x16 versus PCIe 5.0 x16
• Display outputs: 1x HDMI 2.0b, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a versus 4x DisplayPort 2.1b
• DirectX support: 12 (12_0) versus 12 Ultimate (12_2)
• Vulkan support: 1.3 versus 1.4
• Dimensions: 241 mm length versus 267 mm length, 111 mm height, 40 mm width
• Production status: End-of-life versus Active
• Release date: March 8, 2020 versus March 17, 2025
• Predecessor: Arctic Islands versus Workstation Ada
• Successor: Vega versus None

Fields that are identical or absent in both entries include: slot width (Dual-slot for both), bus width (256-bit for both), OpenGL support (4.6 for both), and launch MSRP (null for both).

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous in raw performance terms. The NVIDIA RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell wins both head-to-head benchmarks by margins of 72.7% and 85.8%, and it holds overwhelming specification advantages in every compute category — shading units, texture rate, pixel rate, FP32 throughput, memory capacity, and memory bandwidth. If the purchase decision rests solely on measured 3D performance and modern feature support, the NVIDIA card is the only rational choice.

However, the broader benchmark averages introduce a nuance. The AMD Radeon RX 590 GME has a higher average score (32,601 versus 31,532) and a higher percentile ranking (77th versus 76th). This suggests that in certain workloads — particularly those captured by the OpenCL and Vulkan tests that dominate its benchmark set — the older card remains competitive relative to the wider GPU landscape. The AMD card also draws less power (175 W versus 200 W) and uses a more common 8-pin power connector, which may simplify installation in systems with older power supplies.

The production status is another factor. The AMD card is end-of-life, meaning it is no longer manufactured. The NVIDIA card is active, which implies ongoing availability and driver support. For new system builds, the active NVIDIA card is the safer long-term investment. For legacy systems or specific compute tasks where the AMD card’s GCN architecture is already deployed, the RX 590 GME could still serve adequately, but the data shows no head-to-head scenario where it outperforms the RTX PRO 4500.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell wins in every direct comparison available. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, it is 85.8% ahead of the AMD card. In Geekbench Vulkan, it leads by 72.7%. These are the only two head-to-head tests in the dataset, and NVIDIA dominates both. The specification sheet reinforces this: the NVIDIA card has 4.5 times the shading units, 3.5 times the memory bandwidth, 7.7 times the FP32 throughput, and 4 times the VRAM. It also adds ray tracing cores and tensor cores, which the AMD card lacks entirely. For any modern DX12 workload, ray-traced content, or compute task that can leverage tensor cores, the NVIDIA card is the clear winner.

The AMD Radeon RX 590 GME does not win any head-to-head benchmark. Its strengths are relative rather than absolute. It has a higher average benchmark score in the database (32,601 versus 31,532) and a slightly higher percentile rank (77th versus 76th). Its nearest rivals include the AMD FirePro S9300 X2 (0.2% delta) and the NVIDIA T600 Mobile (-0.8% delta), indicating that its average performance sits in a competitive cluster. The AMD card also has a lower TDP (175 W versus 200 W) and a smaller physical footprint (241 mm versus 267 mm length), which could matter in compact builds. Its PCIe 3.0 interface is older, but it remains compatible with modern motherboards. The card’s end-of-life status and 2020 release date mean it is a legacy product, but for users already running GCN-based systems, the RX 590 GME may still handle older DirectX 12 and Vulkan workloads adequately — just not at the level of the RTX PRO 4500.