AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT vs NVIDIA Quadro P4000 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The benchmark data presents a decisive overall victory for the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT, which wins 9 of the 10 recorded tests. The only exception is Geekbench OpenCL, where the NVIDIA Quadro P4000 posts a score of 36,212 compared to the AMD card's 18,290, a 49.5% advantage for the NVIDIA product. This single win is notable, but it stands in stark contrast to the remainder of the results.

In the modern DirectX 12 workload, the 3DMark Steel Nomad test, the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT scores 4,157 against the Quadro P4000's 1,115. That is a 272.8% lead, by far the largest margin in the entire comparison. This gap indicates that the AMD architecture is far better equipped for current-generation gaming and compute workloads that rely on DirectX 12 Ultimate features.

The Vulkan results follow a similar, though less extreme, pattern. The RX 7800 XT achieves 54,228 in Geekbench Vulkan, while the Quadro P4000 manages 41,786, a 29.8% difference. This shows that while the NVIDIA card can still hold its own in some cross-platform graphics APIs, it is outclassed by the newer AMD part.

The Passmark suite reveals the breadth of the AMD advantage. In Passmark G3D, the RX 7800 XT scores 24,176 versus 11,466 for the Quadro P4000, a 110.8% lead. The compute-oriented Passmark GPU Compute test shows an even larger gap of 174.2%, with scores of 13,473 and 4,913 respectively. Legacy DirectX tests also favor AMD heavily: the RX 7800 XT leads by 83.3% in DirectX 10, by 189.5% in DirectX 11, by 132.5% in DirectX 12, and by 68% in DirectX 9. Even the 2D performance test, Passmark G2D, shows a 49.7% advantage for the newer card, with scores of 1,177 and 786.

The average benchmark scores reflect this dominance. The Radeon RX 7800 XT has an average score of 11,627, while the Quadro P4000 averages 9,665. This places the AMD card in the 51st percentile of all GPUs in the database, while the NVIDIA card sits at the 47th percentile. Interestingly, the RX 7800 XT's average score is only 0.5% below the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660, and 0.9% above the AMD Radeon Pro 5500M, suggesting it sits in a competitive mid-range segment. The Quadro P4000, by contrast, is virtually tied with the AMD Radeon Pro WX 2100 (0.1% ahead) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M (0.2% ahead), placing it in a much lower performance tier.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from completely different eras of GPU design. The AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT is based on the Navi 32 chip and uses the RDNA 3.0 architecture, with the codename "Wheat Nas." It is fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC. The NVIDIA Quadro P4000 uses the GP104 chip and the much older Pascal architecture, built on a 16 nm process, also at TSMC.

These process differences lead to major disparities in transistor counts and density. The RX 7800 XT packs 28,100 million transistors on a 346 mm² die, resulting in a density of 81.2 million transistors per square millimeter. The Quadro P4000 has only 7,200 million transistors on a slightly smaller 314 mm² die, giving it a density of 22.9 million per square millimeter. The AMD chip is over three times denser, reflecting the generational leap in manufacturing technology.

Clock speeds also diverge significantly. The RX 7800 XT has a base clock of 1295 MHz and a boost clock of 2430 MHz, with a game clock of 2124 MHz. The Quadro P4000 runs at a base of 1202 MHz and boosts to 1480 MHz. The AMD card's higher boost clock, combined with its architectural efficiency, contributes to its substantial performance advantage.

Memory configurations are another major differentiator. The RX 7800 XT comes with 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 624.1 GB/s of bandwidth. The Quadro P4000 has half the capacity at 8 GB, uses older GDDR5 memory on the same 256-bit bus, and provides only 243.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The memory clock rates reflect this: the AMD card runs at 2438 MHz (19.5 Gbps effective), while the NVIDIA card runs at 1901 MHz (7.6 Gbps effective).

The compute resources tell a story of massive scaling. The RX 7800 XT has 3,840 shading units, 240 texture mapping units, and 96 raster operation units. It also includes 60 ray tracing cores, a feature entirely absent from the Pascal-based Quadro P4000, which has no ray tracing hardware. The NVIDIA card has 1,792 shading units, 112 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. The pixel rate for the AMD card is 233.3 GPixel/s, versus 94.72 GPixel/s for the NVIDIA card. Texture rates are 583.2 GTexel/s and 165.8 GTexel/s respectively.

Compute throughput is where the gap becomes enormous. The RX 7800 XT delivers 37.32 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. The Quadro P4000 manages only 5.304 TFLOPS. For FP16, the AMD card again provides 37.32 TFLOPS at a 1:1 ratio, while the NVIDIA card offers just 82.88 GFLOPS at a 1:64 ratio. This means the AMD card is roughly seven times faster in FP32 and over 400 times faster in FP16, making it far more suitable for modern AI and compute workloads that leverage reduced precision.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: for nearly every workload in the database, the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT is the superior performer. It wins 9 out of 10 benchmarks, often by massive margins exceeding 100%. The card's modern RDNA 3.0 architecture, 5 nm process, 16 GB of memory, and ray tracing support make it a far more capable and future-proof option for gaming, content creation, and compute tasks.

The NVIDIA Quadro P4000's single victory in Geekbench OpenCL is interesting but isolated. The 36,212 score against the RX 7800 XT's 18,290 indicates that the Pascal architecture still has strengths in certain OpenCL compute scenarios. However, this does not compensate for the losses everywhere else, particularly in DirectX and Vulkan tests where the AMD card leads by double or triple digits.

Users who require the absolute best performance in DirectX 12, Vulkan, or general GPU compute should select the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT. Its 272.8% lead in 3DMark Steel Nomad and 174.2% lead in Passmark GPU Compute are decisive. The card's 16 GB of VRAM also provides double the capacity of the Quadro P4000, which is critical for modern high-resolution textures and large datasets.

The NVIDIA Quadro P4000, given its end-of-life production status and 105 W TDP, may still appeal to users with legacy software that is optimized for OpenCL or who require a single-slot, low-power card. Its 47th percentile ranking and average score of 9,665 place it near cards like the GeForce GTX 960M, indicating its age. For any new purchase, the benchmark results point overwhelmingly to the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT as the only logical choice.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ on nearly every specification. The AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT uses a 5 nm process, while the NVIDIA Quadro P4000 uses 16 nm. Transistor counts are 28,100 million versus 7,200 million, with die sizes of 346 mm² and 314 mm² respectively. The AMD card has a base clock of 1295 MHz and boost of 2430 MHz; the NVIDIA card has a base of 1202 MHz and boost of 1480 MHz. Memory is 16 GB GDDR6 versus 8 GB GDDR5, with bandwidth of 624.1 GB/s versus 243.3 GB/s. Shading units are 3,840 versus 1,792, TMUs are 240 versus 112, and ROPs are 96 versus 64. The AMD card has 60 ray tracing cores; the NVIDIA card has none. FP32 performance is 37.32 TFLOPS versus 5.304 TFLOPS. FP16 performance is 37.32 TFLOPS versus 82.88 GFLOPS. TDP is 263 W versus 105 W. The AMD card is dual-slot with 2x 8-pin power connectors; the NVIDIA card is single-slot with 1x 6-pin. Suggested PSU is 600 W versus 300 W. Bus interface is PCIe 4.0 x16 versus PCIe 3.0 x16. Display outputs are 1x HDMI 2.1a and 3x DisplayPort 2.1 versus 4x DisplayPort 1.4a. DirectX support is 12 Ultimate (12_2) versus 12 (12_1). The AMD card measures 267 mm in length; the NVIDIA card is 241 mm. Production status is Active versus End-of-life.

FAQ

Q: Which card wins more benchmarks?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT wins 9 out of 10 recorded benchmarks, with the NVIDIA Quadro P4000 winning only the Geekbench OpenCL test.

Q: What is the biggest performance gap between the two cards?

A: The largest margin is in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, where the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT scores 4,157 against the Quadro P4000's 1,115, a 272.8% lead.

Q: How much faster is the AMD card in Vulkan?

A: In Geekbench Vulkan, the RX 7800 XT scores 54,228 while the Quadro P4000 scores 41,786, giving the AMD card a 29.8% advantage.

Q: Does the NVIDIA card have ray tracing support?

A: No, the Quadro P4000 has no ray tracing cores. The AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT includes 60 ray tracing cores.

Q: What is the memory capacity and bandwidth difference?

A: The RX 7800 XT has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory with 624.1 GB/s bandwidth. The Quadro P4000 has 8 GB of GDDR5 memory with 243.3 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: How do the average benchmark scores compare?

A: The AMD card has an average benchmark score of 11,627, while the NVIDIA card averages 9,665. The AMD card ranks in the 51st percentile of all GPUs, while the NVIDIA card is in the 47th percentile.