AMD Radeon RX 7700S vs NVIDIA RTX A2000 12 GB Comparison

The NVIDIA RTX A2000 12 GB and AMD Radeon RX 7700S are two very different GPUs that happen to land near each other in aggregate benchmark scores. The data shows a split decision: the RTX A2000 wins in OpenCL compute, while the RX 7700S dominates in DirectX 12 3D rendering. The average benchmark scores are nearly identical — 34,154 for the A2000 versus 33,849 for the RX 7700S, a gap of less than 1% — but how they achieve those scores could not be more different. The A2000 is an end-of-life workstation card built on a larger, older process node, while the RX 7700S is an active mobile part using a smaller, denser chip. Your choice should come down to workload priority: raw compute consistency versus modern gaming and rasterization performance.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear recommendation for each use case. If your priority is OpenCL compute performance, the NVIDIA RTX A2000 12 GB is the pick. It scores 66,998 in Geekbench OpenCL, which is 6.4% ahead of the RX 7700S's 62,983. The A2000 also carries 12 GB of VRAM versus 8 GB, which matters for larger datasets even if the aggregate scores are close. It sits at the 79th percentile among all GPUs, and its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA TITAN V, a former flagship, with a delta of only -0.6%.

If your priority is DirectX 12 gaming or any workload that leans on 3D rendering, the AMD Radeon RX 7700S is the clear winner. It scores 2,185 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, which is 40.1% ahead of the A2000's 1,309. That is a massive margin. The RX 7700S also has a higher pixel rate (160.0 GPixel/s vs 57.60 GPixel/s), higher texture rate (320.0 GTexel/s vs 124.8 GTexel/s), and more than double the FP32 throughput (20.48 TFLOPS vs 7.987 TFLOPS). It is a newer, faster architecture for rasterization, and the 78th percentile ranking reflects that.

For a builder assembling a compact workstation, the A2000's dual-slot, 70 W design with no power connectors is a practical choice. For a laptop or small-form-factor gaming system, the RX 7700S's 100 W TDP and IGP form factor make it suitable for mobile integration. Do not buy the A2000 for modern gaming; do not buy the RX 7700S for compute-heavy OpenCL tasks. The data is unambiguous on both counts.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from fundamentally different design philosophies. The NVIDIA RTX A2000 uses the GA106 chip on the Ampere architecture, fabricated on Samsung's 8 nm process. It packs 12,000 million transistors into a 276 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 43.5 million per square millimeter. The AMD Radeon RX 7700S uses the Navi 33 chip on RDNA 3.0, fabricated on TSMC's 6 nm process. It fits 13,300 million transistors into a smaller 204 mm² die, giving a much higher density of 65.2 million per square millimeter.

The A2000 is a workstation part from the "Workstation Ampere (Ax000)" generation, released in November 2021, with a predecessor of Quadro Turing and a successor of Workstation Ada. It is now end-of-life. The RX 7700S belongs to the Radeon RX 7000 series, specifically the "Navi Mobile (RX 7000M)" generation, released in January 2023, and is still active. Its predecessor is Polaris Mobile, and it has no listed successor.

Shading unit counts differ substantially: the A2000 has 3,328 shading units, while the RX 7700S has 2,048. However, the RX 7700S compensates with more texture mapping units (128 vs 104) and more render output units (64 vs 48). The A2000 has 26 ray tracing cores and 104 tensor cores, while the RX 7700S has 32 ray tracing cores and no tensor cores. Memory clocks also differ: the A2000 runs at 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective), while the RX 7700S runs at 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective). Both use GDDR6 with a 288.0 GB/s bandwidth, but the A2000 uses a 192-bit bus while the RX 7700S uses a 128-bit bus. The RX 7700S has a game clock of 2200 MHz and a boost of 2500 MHz, versus the A2000's base of 562 MHz and boost of 1200 MHz.

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark results split cleanly by workload type. The NVIDIA RTX A2000 12 GB wins the OpenCL compute test. Its score of 66,998 in Geekbench OpenCL is 6.4% higher than the RX 7700S's 62,983. This suggests the A2000 is better suited for general-purpose compute tasks that rely on OpenCL, which is common in scientific, medical, and engineering applications. The A2000 also has a 12 GB memory buffer, which is 50% larger than the RX 7700S's 8 GB, providing more headroom for large models or datasets that exceed 8 GB.

The AMD Radeon RX 7700S wins decisively in 3D rendering. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2,185 is 40.1% higher than the A2000's 1,309. This is a massive gap that points to the RX 7700S being far stronger in DirectX 12 gaming and real-time 3D workloads. The RX 7700S also has a higher pixel rate (160.0 GPixel/s vs 57.60 GPixel/s) and texture rate (320.0 GTexel/s vs 124.8 GTexel/s), which directly translate to faster fill rates in games. Its FP32 throughput of 20.48 TFLOPS is more than 2.5 times the A2000's 7.987 TFLOPS, and its FP16 throughput of 40.96 TFLOPS (2:1 ratio) dwarfs the A2000's 7.987 TFLOPS (1:1 ratio).

The A2000 also has a higher average benchmark score (34,154 vs 33,849) and a slightly better percentile rank (79th vs 78th), but these differences are marginal. The wins are workload-specific, not general.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A2000 12 GB has a slightly higher average benchmark score of 34,154, compared to the AMD Radeon RX 7700S's 33,849. The difference is less than 1%, and the nearest rivals for both include the AMD Radeon RX 480, with deltas of 0.5% and -0.4%, respectively.

Q: How much faster is the RX 7700S in DirectX 12?

A: In the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, the RX 7700S scores 2,185, which is 40.1% higher than the RTX A2000's 1,309. This is the largest performance gap in the head-to-head benchmarks.

Q: Does the RTX A2000 beat the RX 7700S in any benchmark?

A: Yes, the RTX A2000 wins the Geekbench OpenCL test with a score of 66,998, which is 6.4% higher than the RX 7700S's 62,983.

Q: Which GPU has more memory bandwidth?

A: Both GPUs have identical memory bandwidth of 288.0 GB/s. However, the RTX A2000 achieves this with a 192-bit bus and 12 Gbps effective memory speed, while the RX 7700S uses a 128-bit bus and 18 Gbps effective memory speed.

Q: What are the power requirements for each card?

A: The RTX A2000 has a TDP of 70 W and requires a suggested power supply of 250 W, with no power connectors needed. The RX 7700S has a TDP of 100 W and no listed suggested PSU or power connectors, as it is an IGP (integrated graphics processor) designed for mobile use.

Q: Which GPU is still in production?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7700S is listed as active, while the NVIDIA RTX A2000 12 GB is end-of-life. The A2000 was released in November 2021, and the RX 7700S was released in January 2023.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The two head-to-head benchmarks tell a story of specialization. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, the AMD Radeon RX 7700S wins with a score of 2,185 against the NVIDIA RTX A2000's 1,309. The delta is -40.1% from the A2000's perspective, meaning the A2000 trails by over 40%. This is the single largest performance gap between the two cards, and it aligns with the RX 7700S's architectural advantages: a 2500 MHz boost clock versus 1200 MHz, a 160.0 GPixel/s pixel rate versus 57.60, and a 320.0 GTexel/s texture rate versus 124.8. The RX 7700S's FP32 output of 20.48 TFLOPS is also more than double the A2000's 7.987 TFLOPS, which directly impacts rasterization-heavy workloads.

In Geekbench OpenCL, the NVIDIA RTX A2000 wins with a score of 66,998 against the RX 7700S's 62,983, a 6.4% margin. This is a narrower win, but it is consistent with the A2000's workstation heritage. Despite having fewer shading units (3,328 vs 2,048), the A2000's Ampere architecture and tensor cores (104 of them) may contribute to its OpenCL efficiency. The RX 7700S has no tensor cores, which could explain its lower compute score in this particular test. The A2000's 12 GB of memory also provides a larger working set compared to the RX 7700S's 8 GB, which can help in memory-bound compute tasks.

The overall wins are split one apiece, but the magnitude of the DX12 win for the RX 7700S far exceeds the magnitude of the OpenCL win for the A2000. If you weight benchmarks by typical gaming importance, the RX 7700S is the stronger overall performer. If you weight by compute versatility, the A2000 holds its ground.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ in nearly every measurable specification. The process node is a major divergence: the A2000 uses an 8 nm Samsung process, while the RX 7700S uses a 6 nm TSMC process. Transistor counts are close (12,000 million for A2000, 13,300 million for RX 7700S), but the die sizes differ significantly — 276 mm² for A2000 versus 204 mm² for RX 7700S. The transistor density reflects this: 43.5M per mm² for A2000 versus 65.2M per mm² for RX 7700S.

Clock speeds are drastically different. The A2000 has a base clock of 562 MHz and a boost of 1200 MHz, while the RX 7700S has a base of 1500 MHz, a game clock of 2200 MHz, and a boost of 2500 MHz. Memory clocks also differ: 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective) for A2000 versus 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective) for RX 7700S. Both use 12 GB or 8 GB of GDDR6, respectively, with bus widths of 192-bit and 128-bit, but identical bandwidth of 288.0 GB/s.

Compute resources vary: the A2000 has 3,328 shading units, 104 TMUs, and 48 ROPs, while the RX 7700S has 2,048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. The A2000 has 26 RT cores and 104 tensor cores; the RX 7700S has 32 RT cores and no tensor cores. Pixel rates are 57.60 GPixel/s for A2000 versus 160.0 GPixel/s for RX 7700S, and texture rates are 124.8 GTexel/s versus 320.0 GTexel/s. FP32 performance is 7.987 TFLOPS for A2000 versus 20.48 TFLOPS for RX 7700S; FP16 is 7.987 TFLOPS (1:1) versus 40.96 TFLOPS (2:1).

Power and physical design also differ. The A2000 has a 70 W TDP, is dual-slot, measures 167 mm in length and 69 mm in height, and has four mini-DisplayPort 1.4a outputs. The RX 7700S has a 100 W TDP, is an IGP with no dimensions listed, and has portable-device-dependent display outputs. The A2000 suggests a 250 W PSU; the RX 7700S has none. Finally, the A2000 has a launch MSRP of 449 USD, while the RX 7700S has no launch MSRP listed.