AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE vs NVIDIA RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell Comparison

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE and the NVIDIA RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell represent two very different philosophies for high-end graphics: the former is a gaming-focused RDNA 3 part, while the latter is a workstation-oriented Blackwell 2.0 GPU. The benchmark data shows a decisive, though not uniform, advantage for the NVIDIA card across every single head-to-head test, with the AMD card failing to secure a single win in the nine direct comparisons. However, the magnitude of those wins varies wildly by workload, revealing important architectural strengths and weaknesses that go beyond a simple aggregate score.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most striking disparity appears in the Vulkan compute test. In Geekbench Vulkan, the RTX PRO 4500 scores 221,768 against the RX 7900 GRE’s 99,850, a massive 55% deficit for AMD. This is the single largest gap in the entire comparison and signals a fundamental difference in how each GPU handles modern, low-level graphics and compute APIs. The NVIDIA card’s lead is so pronounced that it nearly doubles the AMD card's output, a clear indicator of superior driver optimization or hardware scheduling for this specific workload.

The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, which represents a modern DirectX 12 gaming workload, also heavily favors NVIDIA. The RTX PRO 4500 scores 7,025, while the RX 7900 GRE manages 4,814, putting the AMD card 31.5% behind. This is a substantial margin for a gaming-centric benchmark and suggests that the NVIDIA Blackwell architecture has a significant edge in rasterization performance in this particular scenario. While the RX 7900 GRE holds its own in legacy DirectX 11 tests, the gap there narrows to just 6.2% (320 vs. 300), indicating that the AMD card’s older architecture is comparatively more competitive with older APIs.

The pattern continues across the Passmark suite. In Passmark G3D, the NVIDIA card scores 33,360 against AMD’s 27,089, an 18.8% advantage. The compute-focused Passmark GPU Compute test shows a 22% lead for NVIDIA (19,255 vs. 15,016). Even in 2D tests, where memory bandwidth and raster operations are critical, NVIDIA wins with a score of 1,336 versus 1,180, an 11.7% margin. The legacy DirectX 9 test shows a 21.9% NVIDIA lead (397 vs. 310), and DirectX 10 shows a 31.9% lead (204 vs. 139). Across the board, from modern 3DMark to legacy API tests, the RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell demonstrates a consistent, often overwhelming, performance advantage over the RX 7900 GRE.

Where Each One Wins

Given that the NVIDIA RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell wins all nine head-to-head benchmarks, there is no test category where the AMD card emerges victorious. However, the degree of the NVIDIA victory varies, which defines the competitive landscape.

The NVIDIA card’s biggest wins are in compute-heavy and modern API workloads. The 55% lead in Geekbench Vulkan and the 31.5% lead in 3DMark Steel Nomad are its strongest showings. These are workloads that benefit from high raw compute throughput and efficient scheduling, where the Blackwell architecture’s 10,496 shading units and 328 tensor cores clearly outclass the AMD card's 5,120 shading units. The 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on the NVIDIA card also provides a major advantage in memory-intensive compute tasks that can exceed the 16 GB frame buffer of the AMD card.

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE’s best relative performance comes in the legacy DirectX 11 test, where its 300 score is only 6.2% behind NVIDIA’s 320. This indicates that for older games or applications that rely heavily on this API, the performance difference is negligible. The AMD card also has a higher pixel rate (359.2 GPixel/s vs. 269.6 GPixel/s) and a faster boost clock (2245 MHz vs. 2407 MHz, though NVIDIA’s base clock is higher), suggesting it may have advantages in specific fill-rate-bound scenarios, even if the overall benchmark scores don’t reflect a win. In essence, AMD's card is more competitive in legacy workloads, while NVIDIA dominates in modern, compute-heavy tasks.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the NVIDIA RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell is the superior performer in every single benchmark test. Its overall average benchmark score of 31,532 places it in the 76th percentile of all GPUs, while the AMD card’s average of 32,456 places it in the 77th percentile, an interesting discrepancy where the AMD card has a slightly higher aggregate percentile despite losing every head-to-head test. This is explained by the average score calculation, which includes a Geekbench OpenCL score for the AMD card (175,758) that is not present in the head-to-head data, skewing its aggregate average upward.

For professional users, the RTX PRO 4500 is the clear choice. The massive 55% lead in Vulkan compute and 22% lead in GPU compute tests, combined with double the memory capacity (32 GB vs. 16 GB) and higher bandwidth (896.0 GB/s vs. 576.0 GB/s), make it the superior tool for rendering, simulation, and AI workloads. The 31.5% lead in the modern DX12 Steel Nomad test also suggests it is the better card for future-proofing against next-generation gaming titles. The AMD RX 7900 GRE, despite its lower scores, is not without merit. Its competitive performance in DirectX 11, combined with a higher pixel rate, makes it a viable option for users primarily running older games or applications. However, based strictly on the benchmark data, the RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell is the definitive winner in performance, leaving the RX 7900 GRE as the alternative only for those with specific legacy workload requirements.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE has a higher average benchmark score of 32,456, compared to the NVIDIA RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell's 31,532.

Q: How much faster is the NVIDIA card in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test?

A: The NVIDIA RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell is 31.5% faster, scoring 7,025 compared to the AMD card's 4,814.

Q: What is the most significant performance gap between the two cards?

A: The largest gap is in the Geekbench Vulkan test, where the NVIDIA card scores 221,768, which is 55% higher than the AMD card's 99,850.

Q: Which card has more memory and bandwidth?

A: The NVIDIA RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell has 32 GB of GDDR7 memory with 896.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the AMD card has 16 GB of GDDR6 with 576.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: In which test does the AMD card perform closest to the NVIDIA card?

A: The AMD card is closest in the Passmark DirectX 11 test, where its score of 300 is only 6.2% behind NVIDIA's 320.

Q: Does the AMD card win any head-to-head benchmark?

A: No, the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE loses all nine head-to-head benchmark comparisons to the NVIDIA RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are built on fundamentally different architectures. The AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE uses the RDNA 3.0 architecture on the Navi 31 chip, codenamed "Plum Bonito," with a 5 nm process from TSMC. It packs 57,700 million transistors on a 529 mm² die, resulting in a transistor density of 109.1M per mm². In contrast, the NVIDIA RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell uses the Blackwell 2.0 architecture on the GB203 chip, also on a 5 nm TSMC process, but with fewer transistors (45,600 million) on a smaller 378 mm² die, giving it a higher transistor density of 120.6M per mm².

The compute configurations differ dramatically. The NVIDIA card features 10,496 shading units, 328 TMUs, and 112 ROPs, alongside 82 ray tracing cores and 328 tensor cores. The AMD card has 5,120 shading units, 320 TMUs, and 160 ROPs, with 80 ray tracing cores and no tensor cores. This structural difference explains the performance gaps: NVIDIA’s higher shading unit count and dedicated tensor cores give it a significant edge in parallel compute, while AMD’s higher ROP count (160 vs. 112) contributes to its higher pixel rate (359.2 GPixel/s vs. 269.6 GPixel/s).

The memory subsystems are also distinct. The AMD card uses 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus with a bandwidth of 576.0 GB/s, while the NVIDIA card uses 32 GB of GDDR7 on a 256-bit bus with a much higher bandwidth of 896.0 GB/s. The NVIDIA card also supports PCIe 5.0 x16, whereas the AMD card uses PCIe 4.0 x16. Power and physical design differ as well: the NVIDIA card has a lower TDP of 200 W and uses a single 16-pin connector, while the AMD card has a 260 W TDP and requires two 8-pin connectors. The NVIDIA card is also slightly shorter (267 mm vs. 276 mm) and thinner (40 mm vs. 51 mm). Both cards support DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, but the NVIDIA card offers four DisplayPort 2.1b outputs, while the AMD card offers two DisplayPort 2.1 outputs, one HDMI 2.1a, and one USB Type-C.