AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE vs NVIDIA Quadro GV100 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data splits cleanly between the two cards, with the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE taking seven of the nine head-to-head tests. The largest single margin belongs to the NVIDIA Quadro GV100, however, which beats the AMD card by 39.7% in Geekbench Vulkan (139526 versus 99850). That is a striking outlier, since the AMD card wins the OpenCL test by 14.7% (175758 versus 150004). The Vulkan result suggests the older Volta architecture retains a strong compute-oriented API path, while the newer RDNA 3.0 part excels in the more general OpenCL workload.

In the legacy DirectX tests, the AMD card dominates. Passmark DirectX 11 shows a 44% advantage (300 versus 168), DirectX 9 a 33.2% edge (310 versus 207), and DirectX 12 a 21.5% lead (107 versus 84). The NVIDIA card only manages a marginal 0.7% win in DirectX 10 (140 versus 139), which is effectively a tie. That pattern implies the AMD card scales better across the older API tiers, while the GV100's DirectX 10 showing is its only meaningful win in that family.

The compute and rasterization splits follow the same direction. Passmark GPU Compute gives the AMD card a 39.6% lead (15016 versus 9069), and Passmark G3D shows a 27.5% advantage (27089 versus 19650). The 2D score also favors AMD by 29.2% (1180 versus 836). Overall, the AMD card wins decisively in most measurable workloads, but the NVIDIA card's Vulkan margin is large enough to warrant attention for Vulkan-specific applications.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE is the clear winner for DirectX-based gaming and general compute. Its Passmark DirectX 11 score of 300 versus 168, DirectX 12 score of 107 versus 84, and DirectX 9 score of 310 versus 207 all point to a card that handles legacy and modern game APIs with more headroom. The GPU Compute score of 15016 versus 9069 also makes it the stronger choice for OpenCL-style compute tasks. The 3D score of 27089 versus 19650 reinforces that positioning for rasterization-heavy workloads.

The NVIDIA Quadro GV100's wins are narrower but specific. Its Geekbench Vulkan score of 139526 versus 99850 is a 39.7% margin, which is the largest single delta in the entire comparison. That makes it the better option for Vulkan-centric applications, particularly those that leverage the Volta architecture's compute capabilities through that API. The DirectX 10 score of 140 versus 139 is essentially negligible, but it does count as a win. For any workload that relies heavily on Vulkan, the GV100 holds a clear edge.

The use-case split is therefore straightforward: AMD for DirectX gaming and general compute, NVIDIA for Vulkan-specific tasks. The average benchmark score also favors AMD (32456 versus 35520 for NVIDIA, though the GV100 has a higher average), but the head-to-head data shows AMD winning the majority of tests. The percentile ranks are close (77th for AMD versus 80th for NVIDIA), indicating both cards sit in similar overall performance tiers despite their divergent strengths.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from different design philosophies. The NVIDIA Quadro GV100 uses the Volta architecture, built on a 12 nm process at TSMC, with 21,100 million transistors on an 815 mm² die. The AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE uses RDNA 3.0, also from TSMC but on a 5 nm node, packing 57,700 million transistors into a smaller 529 mm² die. That yields a much higher transistor density for AMD: 109.1M per mm² versus 25.9M per mm² for NVIDIA. The process node advantage is clear, but the die size difference means the GV100 is a physically larger chip.

Memory architecture diverges sharply. The GV100 uses 32 GB of HBM2 on a 4096-bit bus, delivering 868.4 GB/s of bandwidth. The RX 7900 GRE uses 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, with 576.0 GB/s. The NVIDIA card has more than double the memory capacity and 50% more bandwidth, but the AMD card's memory runs at a higher effective speed (18 Gbps versus 1696 Mbps effective). The bus width difference is the key factor: 4096-bit versus 256-bit explains the bandwidth gap despite the slower memory clock on the HBM2 side.

Compute resources show both similarities and differences. Both cards have 5120 shading units and 320 TMUs, but the AMD card has 160 ROPs versus 128 on the NVIDIA card. The GV100 includes 640 tensor cores, while the RX 7900 GRE has 80 ray tracing cores instead. The AMD card has no tensor cores, and the NVIDIA card has no dedicated RT cores. Pixel rate favors AMD at 359.2 GPixel/s versus 208.3 GPixel/s, and texture rate also favors AMD at 718.4 GTexel/s versus 520.6 GTexel/s. FP32 compute is dramatically higher on AMD: 45.98 TFLOPS versus 16.66 TFLOPS, with FP16 at 91.96 TFLOPS versus 33.32 TFLOPS.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ on nearly every specification except shading units, TMUs, TDP, slot width, and suggested PSU. The AMD card has a higher base clock (1287 MHz versus 1132 MHz) and boost clock (2245 MHz versus 1627 MHz), plus a game clock of 1880 MHz that the NVIDIA card lacks. Memory size, type, bus width, and bandwidth all differ as described above. ROPs are 160 versus 128. The AMD card has 80 RT cores and no tensor cores; the NVIDIA card has 640 tensor cores and no RT cores.

The process node and die size differ (5 nm versus 12 nm, 529 mm² versus 815 mm²), as do transistor counts (57,700 million versus 21,100 million) and density (109.1M versus 25.9M per mm²). The bus interface is PCIe 4.0 x16 on AMD versus PCIe 3.0 x16 on NVIDIA. Display outputs differ: AMD offers 1x HDMI 2.1a, 2x DisplayPort 2.1, and 1x USB Type-C, while NVIDIA has 4x DisplayPort 1.4a. Physical dimensions are close: the AMD card is 276 mm long, 110 mm tall, and 51 mm wide, while the NVIDIA card is 267 mm long and 111 mm tall. Power connectors differ (2x 8-pin versus 1x 8-pin), though both have a 250 W or 260 W TDP and a 600 W suggested PSU. The AMD card is Active in production; the NVIDIA card is End-of-life. Release dates are 2023-07-26 for AMD and 2018-03-26 for NVIDIA.

FAQ

Q: Which card has higher FP32 compute performance?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE, with 45.98 TFLOPS versus 16.66 TFLOPS for the NVIDIA Quadro GV100.

Q: What is the memory capacity difference?

A: The NVIDIA Quadro GV100 has 32 GB of HBM2, while the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE has 16 GB of GDDR6.

Q: How do the two cards compare in Geekbench OpenCL?

A: The AMD card scores 175758, which is 14.7% ahead of the NVIDIA card's 150004.

Q: Which card wins in Geekbench Vulkan?

A: The NVIDIA Quadro GV100, scoring 139526 versus 99850, a 39.7% margin.

Q: What is the transistor density difference?

A: The AMD card has 109.1M transistors per mm², versus 25.9M per mm² for the NVIDIA card.

Q: Which card has ray tracing cores?

A: Only the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE, with 80 RT cores. The NVIDIA card has 640 tensor cores instead.

The Verdict

The data points to different buyers for each card. The AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE is the stronger choice for DirectX-based gaming and general compute workloads. Its wins in DirectX 11, 12, and 9, plus GPU Compute and 3D scores, make it the more versatile card for most users. The 44% margin in DirectX 11 and 39.6% in GPU Compute are decisive. Its higher FP32 throughput (45.98 TFLOPS) and faster pixel/texture rates support that conclusion.

The NVIDIA Quadro GV100 is the better pick only for Vulkan-heavy tasks. Its 39.7% Vulkan advantage is significant, and the 32 GB HBM2 memory with 868.4 GB/s bandwidth remains a unique asset for memory-bound workloads. However, the card is End-of-life, and its overall benchmark wins are limited to two tests out of nine. The average benchmark score is higher on the NVIDIA card (35520 versus 32456), but the head-to-head record favors AMD by a wide margin.

For gaming, DirectX applications, or general compute, the AMD card wins on the recorded data. For Vulkan-specific compute or applications that can leverage the larger memory pool, the NVIDIA card retains a specialized edge. The percentile ranks (77th for AMD, 80th for NVIDIA) show both are capable performers, but the AMD card's seven wins out of nine tests make it the default recommendation from the benchmark results.