AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT vs NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded database contains two shared benchmark results for these GPUs, and both are decisive victories for the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the AMD part scores 187,673 against the NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile’s 41,263. That is a delta of 354.8 percent, meaning the Radeon delivers roughly four and a half times the raw compute throughput in this API. The gap is slightly narrower but still overwhelming in Geekbench Vulkan, where the RX 6900 XT posts 148,525 versus 37,873 for the RTX A500 Mobile, a 292.2 percent advantage. These are not marginal differences; they represent entirely different performance tiers.

The head-to-head win count reflects this dominance: the AMD card wins 2 out of 2 shared tests, while the NVIDIA mobile part has zero victories. Looking at the broader average benchmark scores in the database, the RX 6900 XT sits at 50,951 across all recorded tests, while the RTX A500 Mobile averages 39,568. That 28.8 percent gap in aggregate performance is consistent with the individual head-to-head results, though the OpenCL and Vulkan deltas are far larger than the average suggests. The reason is that the RTX A500 Mobile’s average includes only two recorded benchmarks, both of which are compute-oriented, whereas the RX 6900 XT’s average spans eleven tests including legacy DirectX and 2D workloads.

For context on the RX 6900 XT’s standing, its nearest rivals in the database are the NVIDIA CMP 50HX (average score 51,790, delta of -1.6 percent), the AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 (50,001, delta of 1.9 percent), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti (49,957, delta of 2 percent), and the Intel Arc A550M (49,737, delta of 2.4 percent). This places the RX 6900 XT within a tight cluster at the top, with all four rivals within roughly 2.4 percent of its average. The RTX A500 Mobile, by contrast, sits among much slower company: its nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon Pro 575 (39,555, delta of 0 percent), the AMD Radeon Pro 575X (39,116, delta of 1.2 percent), the AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 (40,063, delta of -1.2 percent), and the AMD Radeon Pro 580 (40,318, delta of -1.9 percent). The RTX A500 Mobile is essentially tied with those mobile and workstation parts, while the RX 6900 XT is competing with desktop cards that are several generations newer.

The percentile rankings reinforce this separation. The RX 6900 XT sits at the 86th percentile among all GPUs in the database, while the RTX A500 Mobile is at the 82nd percentile. That four-point gap might sound small, but in a database spanning thousands of GPUs, it represents a meaningful performance gulf, especially given that the mobile part’s percentile is buoyed by its efficiency profile rather than raw speed.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT is the superior performer by every metric recorded. In the only two directly comparable benchmarks, it wins by margins of 354.8 percent and 292.2 percent. Its average benchmark score is 28.8 percent higher than the RTX A500 Mobile’s, and it holds a higher percentile ranking among all GPUs. Anyone selecting between these two strictly on benchmark performance should choose the RX 6900 XT without hesitation.

However, the RTX A500 Mobile is a different class of product. Its 30 W TDP, IGP slot width, and lack of power connectors make it suitable for thin and light laptops where the RX 6900 XT’s 300 W TDP and triple-slot cooler are physically impossible to accommodate. The RX 6900 XT requires a 700 W suggested PSU and two 8-pin connectors, while the RTX A500 Mobile draws power from the system board. If the use case demands a portable device with modest power delivery, the RTX A500 Mobile is the only viable option regardless of its lower scores.

For desktop users with adequate power and cooling, the RX 6900 XT is the clear choice. Its 16 GB of GDDR6 memory versus 4 GB, its 512.0 GB/s bandwidth versus 96.00 GB/s, and its 23.04 TFLOPS FP32 throughput versus 6.296 TFLOPS make it suitable for high-resolution gaming, content creation, and compute workloads. The RTX A500 Mobile, with its 4 GB frame buffer and 64-bit bus, is limited to lighter tasks such as CAD viewing, basic 3D work, or multimedia acceleration. The verdict from the data: buy the RX 6900 XT if you can power it, buy the RTX A500 Mobile only if portability and low power are non-negotiable.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different architectural generations and foundries. The AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT uses the Navi 21 chip built on RDNA 2.0 architecture, fabricated by TSMC on a 7 nm process. The NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile uses the GA107S chip built on Ampere architecture, fabricated by Samsung on an 8 nm process. The process node difference is small in absolute terms, but the transistor counts diverge dramatically: the RX 6900 XT packs 26,800 million transistors on a 520 mm² die, while the RTX A500 Mobile has 8,700 million transistors on a 200 mm² die. The transistor density tells the story: 51.5 million per mm² for the AMD part versus 43.5 million per mm² for the NVIDIA part, reflecting the denser 7 nm process.

The compute architecture differs fundamentally. The RX 6900 XT uses 5,120 shading units, 320 texture mapping units, and 128 raster output units, plus 80 dedicated ray tracing cores. The RTX A500 Mobile has 2,048 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, with 16 ray tracing cores and 64 tensor cores. The AMD part has no tensor cores, while the NVIDIA part includes them, which matters for AI workloads that leverage tensor operations. The FP16 throughput also diverges: the RX 6900 XT achieves 46.08 TFLOPS using a 2:1 ratio (double the FP32 rate), while the RTX A500 Mobile achieves 6.296 TFLOPS at a 1:1 ratio, meaning it offers no FP16 boost over FP32.

Both GPUs support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, so API-level feature parity is not a differentiator. The memory subsystems are architecturally distinct as well. The RX 6900 XT uses a 256-bit GDDR6 bus with 16 GB capacity and 512.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the RTX A500 Mobile uses a 64-bit GDDR6 bus with 4 GB capacity and 96.00 GB/s bandwidth. The AMD card’s memory clock is listed at 2000 MHz with 16 Gbps effective speed, whereas the NVIDIA part runs at 1500 MHz with 12 Gbps effective. The RX 6900 XT also supports PCIe 4.0 x16, while the RTX A500 Mobile uses PCIe 4.0 x8, halving the available bus bandwidth.

Specification Differences

The following fields differ between the two products, based on the recorded data:

• Process node: AMD uses 7 nm (TSMC), NVIDIA uses 8 nm (Samsung).
• Transistors: 26,800 million for AMD versus 8,700 million for NVIDIA.
• Die size: 520 mm² versus 200 mm².
• Transistor density: 51.5M / mm² versus 43.5M / mm².
• Base clock: 1825 MHz versus 832 MHz.
• Boost clock: 2250 MHz versus 1537 MHz.
• Game clock: 2015 MHz (AMD only, NVIDIA has none).
• Memory clock: 2000 MHz / 16 Gbps effective versus 1500 MHz / 12 Gbps effective.
• Memory size: 16 GB versus 4 GB.
• Memory bus width: 256 bit versus 64 bit.
• Memory bandwidth: 512.0 GB/s versus 96.00 GB/s.
• Shading units: 5,120 versus 2,048.
• TMUs: 320 versus 64.
• ROPs: 128 versus 32.
• Ray tracing cores: 80 versus 16.
• Tensor cores: none versus 64.
• Pixel rate: 288.0 GPixel/s versus 49.18 GPixel/s.
• Texture rate: 720.0 GTexel/s versus 98.37 GTexel/s.
• FP32 performance: 23.04 TFLOPS versus 6.296 TFLOPS.
• FP16 performance: 46.08 TFLOPS (2:1) versus 6.296 TFLOPS (1:1).
• TDP: 300 W versus 30 W.
• Slot width: Triple-slot versus IGP.
• Power connectors: 2x 8-pin versus none.
• Suggested PSU: 700 W versus none.
• Bus interface: PCIe 4.0 x16 versus PCIe 4.0 x8.
• Display outputs: 1x HDMI 2.1, 2x DisplayPort 1.4a, 1x USB Type-C versus portable device dependent.
• Dimensions: 267 mm length, 120 mm height, 50 mm width versus no recorded dimensions.
• Release date: 2020-10-27 versus 2022-03-21.
• Predecessor: Navi versus Quadro Turing-M.
• Successor: Navi III versus Ada-MW.

Fields that match include DirectX version, OpenGL version, Vulkan version, production status (both end-of-life), and memory type (both GDDR6).

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT has an average benchmark score of 50,951, which is 28.8 percent higher than the NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile’s 39,568.

Q: How much faster is the RX 6900 XT in Geekbench OpenCL?

A: The RX 6900 XT scores 187,673 versus 41,263 for the RTX A500 Mobile, a delta of 354.8 percent.

Q: Do both GPUs support ray tracing?

A: Yes, both support ray tracing, but the RX 6900 XT has 80 ray tracing cores while the RTX A500 Mobile has 16.

Q: What is the memory capacity difference?

A: The RX 6900 XT has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory, while the RTX A500 Mobile has 4 GB.

Q: Which GPU has tensor cores?

A: Only the NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile has tensor cores, with 64 of them. The AMD RX 6900 XT has no tensor cores.

Q: What is the TDP difference?

A: The RX 6900 XT has a TDP of 300 W, while the RTX A500 Mobile has a TDP of 30 W, a tenfold difference.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT wins every benchmark category where both are measured. Its Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan results are 354.8 percent and 292.2 percent higher, respectively. Its average benchmark score is 28.8 percent higher, and it sits at the 86th percentile versus the 82nd percentile for the RTX A500 Mobile. The RX 6900 XT also wins on raw specifications that translate to real-world performance: 23.04 TFLOPS FP32 versus 6.296 TFLOPS, 512.0 GB/s memory bandwidth versus 96.00 GB/s, and 80 ray tracing cores versus 16. For any workload that stresses the GPU, the RX 6900 XT is categorically faster.

The NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile wins on efficiency and physical footprint. Its 30 W TDP is one-tenth of the RX 6900 XT’s 300 W, allowing it to fit in an IGP slot with no power connectors and no external dimensions recorded. The RX 6900 XT, by contrast, requires a triple-slot cooler, 267 mm of length, 120 mm of height, 50 mm of width, and a 700 W suggested PSU. The RTX A500 Mobile also carries 64 tensor cores, which the AMD part lacks entirely, giving it an edge in workloads that can leverage tensor operations such as certain AI inference tasks. Its 1:1 FP16 ratio means no throughput penalty when switching from FP32 to FP16, whereas the RX 6900 XT’s 2:1 ratio is a feature rather than a limitation, but it only applies to FP16-specific workloads.

For a desktop gaming rig or a workstation with a spacious case and robust power supply, the RX 6900 XT is the clear winner. For a mobile workstation or a compact system where power draw and heat dissipation are the primary constraints, the RTX A500 Mobile is the only realistic option. The RX 6900 XT is end-of-life, as is the RTX A500 Mobile, and the AMD card launched at an MSRP of 999 USD. The RTX A500 Mobile has no recorded launch MSRP. Ultimately, the data shows that these GPUs serve different markets: the RX 6900 XT is a high-performance desktop part, and the RTX A500 Mobile is a low-power mobile part. Comparing them on raw speed alone is not meaningful without considering the physical and power constraints of the target system.