AMD Radeon RX 6800S vs NVIDIA RTX PRO 2000 Blackwell Comparison

The NVIDIA RTX PRO 2000 Blackwell and AMD Radeon RX 6800S represent two fundamentally different approaches to mobile graphics, and the benchmark data shows a decisive, if nuanced, victory for the NVIDIA part. While the AMD card is an established RDNA 2 mobile part, the newer Blackwell-based NVIDIA card dominates across every single test in the head-to-head comparison, winning all 10 benchmarks. However, the margins of victory vary significantly by workload, and the architectural context reveals why this is not a simple case of one card being universally "better" for every user.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most striking result is in the synthetic 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, where the RTX PRO 2000 Blackwell scores 2374.5 against the RX 6800S’s 1689, a 40.6% lead. This is a modern, demanding workload, and the NVIDIA card’s advantage here points to a substantial raw performance gap in current-generation gaming and rendering scenarios. The Geekbench results reinforce this trend: in OpenCL, the NVIDIA card scores 106087 versus 73202 (44.9% ahead), and in Vulkan it scores 113865 versus 81272 (40.1% ahead). These are large, consistent deltas across different compute APIs.

The NVIDIA card’s dominance extends to legacy DirectX workloads, though the margins are tighter. In Passmark DirectX 10, the scores are 122 against 91, a 34.1% win for NVIDIA. DirectX 11 shows a 25.2% lead (174 vs 139), and DirectX 12 narrows further to a 23.1% advantage (80 vs 65). The oldest API tested, DirectX 9, shows the smallest gap at 20.5% (241 vs 200). This pattern suggests that as the workload becomes more modern and more reliant on parallel compute and advanced features, the NVIDIA architecture pulls further ahead. The exception to this trend is the Passmark G2D test, which measures 2D graphics performance; here, the NVIDIA card wins by a massive 78% (1303 vs 732), a huge outlier that likely reflects differences in memory bandwidth allocation and display output handling rather than raw 3D muscle.

In the more holistic Passmark G3D test, the NVIDIA card scores 20049 versus 15908, a 26% advantage. Finally, in the compute-focused Passmark GPU Compute test, the NVIDIA card again wins decisively at 8396 versus 6144, a 36.7% lead. The overall average benchmark score tells the same story: NVIDIA’s average is 25269, while AMD’s is 24063. Interestingly, the NVIDIA card’s nearest rival is the AMD Radeon RX 6700M at -1.4% delta, meaning it sits just below that part in the broader database, while the AMD RX 6800S’s closest competitor is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER at -0.4% delta. This places the two cards in similar performance tiers relative to the broader market, despite the NVIDIA card’s clear head-to-head victory.

Architecture Differences

The underlying architectures could hardly be more different. The NVIDIA RTX PRO 2000 Blackwell is built on the GB206 chip using a 5 nm process at TSMC, packing 21,900 million transistors into a 181 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 121.0M / mm². The AMD RX 6800S uses the Navi 23 chip on a 7 nm process, also from TSMC, with 11,060 million transistors on a larger 237 mm² die, giving a much lower density of 46.7M / mm². This is a fundamental generational shift: the NVIDIA card crams nearly twice the transistors into a smaller physical space, which directly enables its higher core counts and feature set.

The core configuration amplifies this difference. The NVIDIA card features 4352 shading units, 136 TMUs, and 48 ROPs, alongside 34 RT cores and 136 tensor cores. The AMD card has 2048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, with 32 RT cores and no tensor cores. NVIDIA’s shading unit count is more than double AMD’s, which explains the massive FP32 compute advantage: 17.03 TFLOPS versus 8.602 TFLOPS. However, the AMD card’s ROP count is higher (64 vs 48), which contributes to its higher pixel rate of 134.4 GPixel/s versus NVIDIA’s 93.94 GPixel/s. The texture rates are nearly identical (266.2 GTexel/s vs 268.8 GTexel/s), despite the core count disparity, suggesting AMD’s texture units are more efficient per core.

Memory is another critical differentiator. The NVIDIA card uses 16 GB of GDDR7 on a 128-bit bus, delivering 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The AMD card has 8 GB of GDDR6 on the same 128-bit bus, yielding 256.0 GB/s. The NVIDIA card has double the capacity and 12.5% more bandwidth. The clock speeds also differ dramatically: AMD’s base clock is 1800 MHz with a 2100 MHz boost, while NVIDIA’s base is just 982 MHz with a 1957 MHz boost. The NVIDIA card compensates for lower clocks with far more cores. Power consumption tells a contrasting story: NVIDIA’s TDP is 70 W, while AMD’s is 100 W, meaning NVIDIA achieves higher performance while drawing less power, a signal of the efficiency of the 5 nm process and Blackwell architecture.

Where Each One Wins

The data is unambiguous: the NVIDIA RTX PRO 2000 Blackwell wins in every single head-to-head benchmark. There is no test in this dataset where the AMD RX 6800S comes out ahead. This means for any workload that falls within the tested categories—DX9 through DX12, OpenCL, Vulkan, G2D, G3D, and compute—the NVIDIA card is the better performer. The question is not if NVIDIA wins, but by how much.

The largest margins are in modern compute and 3D workloads. The 40.6% lead in 3DMark Steel Nomad and the 44.9% lead in OpenCL suggest that the NVIDIA card is particularly strong in AI-adjacent compute tasks and modern game engines that leverage parallel processing. The 78% lead in G2D is anomalous and likely irrelevant to most 3D users, but it does highlight a potential advantage in 2D desktop compositing and multi-monitor setups. The smaller, but still substantial, leads in DirectX 9 (20.5%) and DirectX 11 (25.2%) show that the NVIDIA card also handles older APIs gracefully, just with less of a gap. The AMD card’s only theoretical advantage is its higher pixel rate (134.4 GPixel/s vs 93.94 GPixel/s), but this does not translate into a single benchmark win, suggesting that raw pixel throughput is not the limiting factor in these tests.

FAQ

Q: Which card has higher raw compute performance in FP32?

A: The NVIDIA RTX PRO 2000 Blackwell has 17.03 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, which is double the AMD RX 6800S’s 8.602 TFLOPS.

Q: How do the memory configurations compare?

A: The NVIDIA card has 16 GB of GDDR7 memory with 288.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the AMD card has 8 GB of GDDR6 with 256.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Is the AMD RX 6800S competitive in any benchmark?

A: No. In the head-to-head dataset, the AMD card wins zero out of 10 benchmarks. The NVIDIA card wins all 10.

Q: What is the power draw difference?

A: The NVIDIA card has a TDP of 70 W, while the AMD card has a TDP of 100 W. The NVIDIA card delivers higher performance at a lower power draw.

Q: Do the architectural ages affect performance?

A: Yes. The NVIDIA card uses a 5 nm process and Blackwell architecture with 21,900 million transistors, while the AMD card uses a 7 nm process and RDNA 2 with 11,060 million transistors. The NVIDIA card’s more advanced node and higher transistor count enable its superior core configuration.

Q: Which card has more RT cores?

A: The NVIDIA card has 34 RT cores, while the AMD card has 32 RT cores. NVIDIA also has 136 tensor cores, which the AMD card lacks entirely.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every specification category. The process node is 5 nm for NVIDIA versus 7 nm for AMD. Transistor counts are 21,900 million versus 11,060 million, and die sizes are 181 mm² versus 237 mm². Clock speeds differ significantly: NVIDIA has a 982 MHz base and 1957 MHz boost, while AMD has a 1800 MHz base and 2100 MHz boost. Memory is 16 GB GDDR7 versus 8 GB GDDR6, with bandwidth of 288.0 GB/s versus 256.0 GB/s. Core counts are 4352 shading units, 136 TMUs, and 48 ROPs for NVIDIA, versus 2048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 64 ROPs for AMD. FP32 performance is 17.03 TFLOPS versus 8.602 TFLOPS, while FP16 performance is 17.03 TFLOPS (1:1) versus 17.20 TFLOPS (2:1). TDP is 70 W versus 100 W. The bus interface is PCIe 5.0 x8 for NVIDIA versus PCIe 4.0 x8 for AMD. Display outputs are 4x mini-DisplayPort 2.1b versus portable device dependent. Slot width is dual-slot versus IGP. Production status is Active versus End-of-life.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear conclusion: the NVIDIA RTX PRO 2000 Blackwell is the superior performer in every measured category. It wins all 10 benchmarks, with leads ranging from 20.5% in DirectX 9 to 78% in G2D. Its 5 nm process, higher transistor count, double the shading units, and double the memory capacity (16 GB vs 8 GB) provide a comprehensive advantage that the AMD RX 6800S cannot overcome. The AMD card’s higher base and boost clocks and higher ROP count do not compensate for its lower core count and older architecture.

For users requiring maximum performance in modern 3D rendering, compute, or AI workloads, the NVIDIA card is the unequivocal choice based on this data. Its 40.6% lead in 3DMark Steel Nomad and 44.9% lead in OpenCL are decisive. The AMD RX 6800S, being end-of-life and based on the older RDNA 2 architecture, is simply outclassed. The only scenario where the AMD card might be considered is if its lower pixel rate and higher texture rate (which are actually nearly identical to NVIDIA’s) were the sole criteria, but since no benchmark reflects a win, that is a theoretical consideration at best. The NVIDIA RTX PRO 2000 Blackwell is the clear winner.