GPU Comparison

The AMD Radeon RX 6800M is the clear winner in this comparison, dominating the NVIDIA CMP 70HX in both shared benchmark tests by margins of over 60%. The data indicates that despite the CMP 70HX holding a higher percentile ranking (75th vs 74th), the Radeon's raw compute scores are in a different league, making it the superior choice for any workload that leverages OpenCL or Vulkan APIs.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA CMP 70HX has a higher average benchmark score of 30,476, while the AMD Radeon RX 6800M averages 28,874. However, this aggregate figure is misleading, as it includes different benchmark suites for each card.

Q: How do the two cards compare in the Geekbench OpenCL test?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6800M scores 87,621, which is 71.3% higher than the NVIDIA CMP 70HX's score of 25,135. This is the largest performance gap in the head-to-head data.

Q: What is the performance difference in Geekbench Vulkan?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6800M achieves a score of 94,766, outperforming the NVIDIA CMP 70HX's 35,817 by 62.2%. The Radeon wins this test decisively as well.

Q: Which card has a higher transistor density?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6800M has a transistor density of 51.3M per mm², which is higher than the NVIDIA CMP 70HX's 44.4M per mm². This is despite the NVIDIA chip having slightly more total transistors (17,400 million vs 17,200 million).

Q: What are the memory specifications for each GPU?

A: The NVIDIA CMP 70HX features 8 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus with 608.3 GB/s bandwidth. The AMD Radeon RX 6800M has 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus with 384.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which GPU has a higher boost clock speed?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6800M has a boost clock of 2390 MHz, significantly higher than the NVIDIA CMP 70HX's boost clock of 1395 MHz. The Radeon's base clock of 2116 MHz also exceeds the NVIDIA's boost clock.

Architecture Differences

The NVIDIA CMP 70HX is built on the Ampere architecture using the GA104 chip, manufactured by Samsung on an 8 nm process. In contrast, the AMD Radeon RX 6800M uses the RDNA 2.0 architecture with the Navi 22 chip, produced by TSMC on a more advanced 7 nm node. This process advantage contributes to the AMD card's higher transistor density of 51.3M per mm² compared to 44.4M per mm² for the NVIDIA chip.

The two GPUs take fundamentally different approaches to compute. The NVIDIA CMP 70HX packs 3840 shading units, 120 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, supplemented by 30 RT cores and 120 tensor cores. The AMD Radeon RX 6800M has fewer shading units at 2560, but compensates with 160 TMUs and 64 ROPs, along with 40 ray accelerators and no tensor cores. This architectural divergence explains why the AMD card achieves higher texture and pixel rates despite lower shader counts.

Clock speeds differ dramatically. The AMD Radeon RX 6800M operates at a base clock of 2116 MHz and boosts to 2390 MHz, with a game clock of 2300 MHz. The NVIDIA CMP 70HX runs much lower, with a 1365 MHz base and 1395 MHz boost. These clock differences directly impact the headline compute figures: the AMD card delivers 12.24 TFLOPS FP32 and 24.47 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1 ratio), while the NVIDIA card offers 10.71 TFLOPS for both FP32 and FP16 (1:1 ratio).

Memory subsystems are also distinct. The NVIDIA CMP 70HX uses 8 GB of GDDR6X on a 256-bit bus, achieving 608.3 GB/s bandwidth. The AMD Radeon RX 6800M uses 12 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, resulting in 384.0 GB/s. The NVIDIA card's memory runs at 19 Gbps effective, while the AMD operates at 16 Gbps. The CMP 70HX also uses a PCIe 1.0 x4 interface, whereas the Radeon uses PCIe 4.0 x16, a substantial difference in host connectivity.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon RX 6800M wins decisively in compute-oriented workloads. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 87,621 against the NVIDIA's 25,135 demonstrates overwhelming superiority in general-purpose GPU compute. Similarly, the Vulkan test shows the Radeon at 94,766 versus 35,817, indicating better performance in modern graphics APIs. The AMD card also offers higher FP32 throughput at 12.24 TFLOPS and more than double the FP16 performance at 24.47 TFLOPS, making it better suited for workloads that leverage half-precision arithmetic.

The NVIDIA CMP 70HX retains advantages in memory bandwidth, offering 608.3 GB/s compared to the Radeon's 384.0 GB/s. This could benefit memory-bound workloads that require rapid data movement, despite the AMD card's higher compute throughput. The NVIDIA card also has a wider 256-bit memory bus versus AMD's 192-bit, which contributes to its bandwidth lead. However, the CMP 70HX has no display outputs, indicating it is designed purely for compute tasks rather than gaming or content creation.

For gaming and graphics workloads, the AMD Radeon RX 6800M is the practical choice given its higher clock speeds, superior rasterization rates (153.0 GPixel/s vs 89.28 GPixel/s), and support for ray tracing with 40 dedicated cores. The NVIDIA card's lack of display outputs makes it unsuitable for interactive use cases entirely. The Radeon's higher texture rate of 382.4 GTexel/s versus 167.4 GTexel/s also points to better performance in texture-heavy scenes.

Specification Differences

| Specification | NVIDIA CMP 70HX | AMD Radeon RX 6800M |

|---|---|---|

| Architecture | Ampere | RDNA 2.0 |

| Process Node | 8 nm | 7 nm |

| Foundry | Samsung | TSMC |

| Die Size | 392 mm² | 335 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 44.4M / mm² | 51.3M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1365 MHz | 2116 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1395 MHz | 2390 MHz |

| Game Clock | None | 2300 MHz |

| Memory Size | 8 GB | 12 GB |

| Memory Type | GDDR6X | GDDR6 |

| Memory Bus | 256 bit | 192 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 608.3 GB/s | 384.0 GB/s |

| Memory Speed | 19 Gbps effective | 16 Gbps effective |

| Shading Units | 3840 | 2560 |

| TMUs | 120 | 160 |

| RT Cores | 30 | 40 |

| Tensor Cores | 120 | None |

| Pixel Rate | 89.28 GPixel/s | 153.0 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 167.4 GTexel/s | 382.4 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 10.71 TFLOPS | 12.24 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 10.71 TFLOPS (1:1) | 24.47 TFLOPS (2:1) |

| TDP | None | 145 W |

| Slot Width | Dual-slot | IGP |

| Power Connectors | 1x 12-pin | None |

| Suggested PSU | 200 W | None |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 1.0 x4 | PCIe 4.0 x16 |

| Display Outputs | No outputs | Portable Device Dependent |

| Release Date | None | 2021-05-30 |

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The two shared benchmark tests reveal a stark performance divide. In Geekbench OpenCL, the AMD Radeon RX 6800M scores 87,621, while the NVIDIA CMP 70HX manages only 25,135. This represents a delta of -71.3% for the NVIDIA card, meaning the Radeon outperforms it by more than three and a half times. This is not a marginal victory; it is a complete rout in compute performance.

The Geekbench Vulkan test shows a similar pattern, though slightly less extreme. The AMD Radeon RX 6800M achieves 94,766, while the NVIDIA CMP 70HX scores 35,817, a delta of -62.2%. While the gap narrows slightly, the Radeon still delivers nearly 2.6 times the performance of the NVIDIA card in this modern graphics API. Both tests confirm that the AMD architecture's higher clock speeds and superior FP32 throughput translate directly into real-world benchmark dominance.

The NVIDIA CMP 70HX's average benchmark score of 30,476 is higher than the AMD's 28,874, but this figure is skewed by the different benchmark sets. The NVIDIA card's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Tesla M60 (30,490), AMD Radeon RX 6700 (30,433), AMD Radeon RX 6800 (30,095), and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti (29,945), all within 1.8% of its score. The AMD Radeon RX 6800M's nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon RX 570 (28,766), AMD Radeon RX 470 (28,996), AMD Radeon R9 M295X (28,580), and Intel Arc A370M (29,175), showing it competes in a lower performance tier when considering aggregate scores.

The Verdict

The data leaves no room for ambiguity: the AMD Radeon RX 6800M is the superior GPU for compute workloads. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 87,621 is 71.3% higher than the NVIDIA CMP 70HX's 25,135, and its Vulkan score of 94,766 is 62.2% higher than the NVIDIA's 35,817. These are not close contests; the AMD card dominates both head-to-head benchmarks entirely, winning 2 out of 2 tests.

The NVIDIA CMP 70HX does offer advantages in memory bandwidth (608.3 GB/s vs 384.0 GB/s) and a wider memory bus (256-bit vs 192-bit), which could theoretically benefit bandwidth-sensitive tasks. However, its compute capabilities are fundamentally limited by its lower clock speeds (1395 MHz boost vs 2390 MHz boost) and reduced FP32 throughput (10.71 TFLOPS vs 12.24 TFLOPS). Additionally, the NVIDIA card's PCIe 1.0 x4 interface severely hampers data transfer speeds compared to the AMD's PCIe 4.0 x16, potentially bottlenecking any external workload.

For users selecting a GPU for OpenCL or Vulkan compute tasks, the AMD Radeon RX 6800M is the obvious choice. Its higher transistor density, superior clock speeds, and significantly higher compute throughput make it more capable for these workloads. The NVIDIA CMP 70HX, with its lack of display outputs and mining-focused design, appears intended for a narrow use case that does not align with general compute performance. The Radeon's additional 4 GB of memory (12 GB vs 8 GB) also provides more headroom for larger datasets. Based on the benchmark data, the AMD Radeon RX 6800M is the recommended GPU for anyone requiring strong compute performance.