AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE vs NVIDIA H20 Comparison

FAQ

Q: How does the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE compare to the NVIDIA H20 in terms of raw compute performance?

A: The RX 7900 GRE delivers 45.98 TFLOPS FP32 and 91.96 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1), while the H20 provides 39.54 TFLOPS FP32 and 79.07 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1). The AMD card holds a 16% advantage in single-precision and a 16% advantage in half-precision throughput.

Q: What are the memory configurations of these two GPUs?

A: The RX 7900 GRE uses 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus with 576.0 GB/s bandwidth. The H20 uses 96 GB of HBM3 on a 6144-bit bus with 4.03 TB/s bandwidth. The H20 has six times the memory capacity and roughly seven times the memory bandwidth.

Q: Which GPU has higher clock speeds?

A: The H20 has a base clock of 1830 MHz and a boost clock of 1980 MHz. The RX 7900 GRE has a base clock of 1287 MHz and a boost clock of 2245 MHz. The AMD part boosts higher, while the NVIDIA part has a higher base clock.

Q: What are the physical differences in size and power requirements?

A: The RX 7900 GRE is a dual-slot card measuring 276 mm in length, 110 mm in height, and 51 mm in width, with a 260 W TDP and two 8-pin power connectors. The H20 is an SXM module with a 500 W TDP and no display outputs, requiring a 900 W suggested PSU.

Q: Which GPU has better benchmark scores?

A: The RX 7900 GRE has recorded benchmark scores across multiple tests including 3DMark Steel Nomad (4814), Geekbench OpenCL (175758), and Passmark G3D (27089). The H20 has no recorded benchmark scores in the database, resulting in an average benchmark score of 0.

Q: What is the architectural generation difference?

A: The RX 7900 GRE uses the Navi 31 chip with RDNA 3.0 architecture on a 5 nm process. The H20 uses the GH100 chip with Hopper architecture, also on a 5 nm process. Both are manufactured by TSMC.

The Verdict

The data shows two fundamentally different products with no overlapping benchmark results. The RX 7900 GRE is an active consumer graphics card with a 77th percentile ranking among all GPUs and an average benchmark score of 32456. The H20 is a server accelerator with no recorded benchmarks, a 50th percentile ranking, and an average benchmark score of 0.

For graphics workloads, the RX 7900 GRE is the only viable option in this comparison. It supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, while the H20 lists N/A for all three APIs. The AMD card also provides display outputs including HDMI 2.1a, two DisplayPort 2.1, and one USB Type-C, whereas the H20 has no outputs.

For compute-heavy server workloads, the H20 presents a different profile. Its 96 GB HBM3 memory with 4.03 TB/s bandwidth, 9984 shading units, and 312 tensor cores indicate a design aimed at large-scale data processing. The RX 7900 GRE counters with 5120 shading units, 80 ray accelerators, and 16 GB of GDDR6.

The specification tables confirm the H20 is a higher-power, higher-bandwidth accelerator with a 500 W TDP and 900 W suggested PSU. The RX 7900 GRE requires 260 W and a 600 W PSU. The H20 was released on 2024-01-31, while the RX 7900 GRE launched on 2023-07-26 with a launch MSRP of 549 USD.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database contains no direct head-to-head benchmark comparisons between these two GPUs. The RX 7900 GRE has ten recorded scores across various tests, while the H20 has zero recorded scores. This absence of overlapping data means the direct performance comparison must rely on architectural specifications rather than measured results.

The RX 7900 GRE's performance profile from the database shows: 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 4814, Geekbench OpenCL score of 175758, Geekbench Vulkan score of 99850, Passmark DirectX 10 score of 139, Passmark DirectX 11 score of 300, Passmark DirectX 12 score of 107, Passmark DirectX 9 score of 310, Passmark G2D score of 1180, Passmark G3D score of 27089, and Passmark GPU Compute score of 15016. Its average benchmark score of 32456 places it in the 77th percentile of all GPUs.

The H20's nearest rivals list is empty, and its percentile rank is 50 with an average score of 0. This indicates the database has no performance measurements for this accelerator.

The RX 7900 GRE's nearest rivals in the database are the AMD FirePro S10000 (avg score 32388, 0.2% lower), the AMD FirePro S9300 X2 (avg score 32540, 0.3% higher), the AMD Radeon RX 590 GME (avg score 32601, 0.4% higher), and the AMD Radeon Pro 570X (avg score 32176, 0.9% lower). These deltas show the RX 7900 GRE sits within 1% of several older AMD workstation cards, indicating its performance level relative to that generation.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ across nearly every measurable specification. The RX 7900 GRE uses 57,700 million transistors on a 529 mm² die with a density of 109.1M per mm². The H20 uses 80,000 million transistors on an 814 mm² die with a density of 98.3M per mm².

Memory configurations diverge sharply: the RX 7900 GRE has 16 GB GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus delivering 576.0 GB/s, while the H20 has 96 GB HBM3 on a 6144-bit bus delivering 4.03 TB/s.

Compute unit counts differ as well. The RX 7900 GRE has 5120 shading units, 320 texture mapping units, and 160 ROPs. The H20 has 9984 shading units, 312 TMUs, and only 24 ROPs. The AMD card features 80 ray tracing cores; the H20 lists none. The NVIDIA part has 312 tensor cores; the AMD card has none.

Clock speeds show a mixed picture. The H20's base clock of 1830 MHz exceeds the RX 7900 GRE's 1287 MHz base. The RX 7900 GRE's boost clock of 2245 MHz exceeds the H20's 1980 MHz boost. The RX 7900 GRE also has a game clock of 1880 MHz, which the H20 does not list.

Power delivery differs substantially. The RX 7900 GRE has a 260 W TDP, dual-slot form factor, and two 8-pin connectors. The H20 has a 500 W TDP, SXM module form factor, and no listed power connectors. The suggested PSU is 600 W for the AMD card and 900 W for the NVIDIA module.

The bus interfaces differ: the RX 7900 GRE uses PCIe 4.0 x16, while the H20 uses PCIe 5.0 x16. Display outputs exist only on the AMD card: one HDMI 2.1a, two DisplayPort 2.1, and one USB Type-C.

Architecture Differences

The RX 7900 GRE is built on RDNA 3.0 architecture with the Navi 31 chip, codenamed Plum Bonito, from the Navi III (RX 7000) generation. The H20 is built on Hopper architecture with the GH100 chip from the Server Hopper (Hxx) generation.

Both use a 5 nm process from TSMC, but the transistor counts and die sizes differ significantly. The H20's GH100 die is 814 mm² with 80,000 million transistors, while the RX 7900 GRE's Navi 31 is 529 mm² with 57,700 million transistors. The AMD die achieves a higher transistor density of 109.1M per mm² compared to the H20's 98.3M per mm².

The memory technology reflects their different purposes. The RX 7900 GRE uses GDDR6 with an 18 Gbps effective data rate and a 2250 MHz memory clock. The H20 uses HBM3 with a 5.3 Gbps effective data rate and a 1313 MHz memory clock. The H20's 6144-bit bus is 24 times wider than the RX 7900 GRE's 256-bit bus, enabling its 4.03 TB/s bandwidth.

The RX 7900 GRE includes 80 ray tracing cores, making it suitable for real-time graphics rendering. The H20 has 312 tensor cores but no ray tracing cores, indicating its focus on matrix operations and AI workloads rather than graphics.

The API support differs completely: the RX 7900 GRE supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, while the H20 lists N/A for all three. The H20's predecessor is Server Ada and its successor is Server Blackwell, while the RX 7900 GRE's predecessor is Navi II and successor is Navi IV.

The production status for both is Active. The RX 7900 GRE was released on 2023-07-26, and the H20 on 2024-01-31.

Where Each One Wins

The RX 7900 GRE wins in raw FP32 compute with 45.98 TFLOPS versus the H20's 39.54 TFLOPS, a 16% advantage. It also wins in FP16 throughput with 91.96 TFLOPS versus 79.07 TFLOPS, another 16% edge. The AMD card wins in pixel fill rate with 359.2 GPixel/s versus 47.52 GPixel/s, a factor of 7.6 advantage. Its texture rate of 718.4 GTexel/s also exceeds the H20's 617.8 GTexel/s.

The RX 7900 GRE wins in graphics capability because it has display outputs, full API support, and a consumer form factor. It wins in clock speed flexibility with a higher boost clock of 2245 MHz and a game clock of 1880 MHz. Its higher transistor density of 109.1M per mm² reflects a more compact design.

The H20 wins in memory capacity with 96 GB versus 16 GB, a six-fold advantage. It wins in memory bandwidth with 4.03 TB/s versus 576.0 GB/s, roughly seven times higher. It wins in shading unit count with 9984 versus 5120. Its 312 tensor cores provide dedicated AI acceleration hardware that the RX 7900 GRE lacks.

The H20 wins in base clock speed at 1830 MHz versus 1287 MHz, and it uses a newer PCIe 5.0 x16 interface compared to the RX 7900 GRE's PCIe 4.0 x16. The H20's SXM module form factor and lack of display outputs indicate its server-oriented design, while the RX 7900 GRE's dual-slot layout with multiple display connectors targets desktop use.

The H20's 500 W TDP and 900 W suggested PSU show it is engineered for data center power delivery, while the RX 7900 GRE's 260 W TDP and 600 W PSU fit consumer systems. The RX 7900 GRE's 77th percentile ranking and average score of 32456 confirm it performs within the expected range for its class, whereas the H20 has no measured performance in the database to compare.