AMD Radeon RX 7900M vs NVIDIA RTX A4500 Comparison

The NVIDIA RTX A4500 and AMD Radeon RX 7900M are two high-end GPUs that target different segments of the market, yet their average benchmark scores place them as direct competitors. The RTX A4500 is a desktop workstation card built on the Ampere architecture, while the RX 7900M is a mobile part based on RDNA 3.0. The aggregate data shows the RTX A4500 holds a slight edge in average benchmark score at 92145, just 0.5% ahead of the RX 7900M's 91713. Both GPUs sit in the 95th percentile of all GPUs, indicating they are among the top performers available. The head-to-head benchmark results, however, reveal a more nuanced picture, with each card winning decisively in different test types. The following analysis breaks down these results, specification differences, and architectural divergences to determine which GPU is suited for which workload.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A4500 has an average benchmark score of 92145, which is 0.5% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 7900M's average score of 91713. These scores place both GPUs in the 95th percentile of all GPUs.

Q: How do the two GPUs compare in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7900M wins this test decisively with a score of 4201, compared to the NVIDIA RTX A4500's 3196. This represents a 23.9% performance advantage for the AMD card in this specific DX12 workload.

Q: Which GPU performs better in Geekbench OpenCL?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A4500 is the clear winner in Geekbench OpenCL, scoring 141837 against the AMD Radeon RX 7900M's 117665. The NVIDIA card is 20.5% faster in this compute-oriented test.

Q: What is the result of the Geekbench Vulkan test?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7900M takes the win in the Geekbench Vulkan test, scoring 153274 compared to the NVIDIA RTX A4500's 131402. This gives the AMD card a 14.3% advantage in this API.

Q: How many total benchmark wins does each GPU have in the head-to-head comparison?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7900M wins 2 out of 3 head-to-head benchmarks, while the NVIDIA RTX A4500 wins 1. The AMD card wins in 3DMark Steel Nomad and Geekbench Vulkan, while NVIDIA wins in Geekbench OpenCL.

Q: What are the process nodes and transistor counts for each GPU?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A4500 is built on Samsung's 8 nm process with 28,300 million transistors on a 628 mm² die. The AMD Radeon RX 7900M uses TSMC's 5 nm process with 57,700 million transistors on a 529 mm² die.

The Verdict

The benchmark data indicates a clear split: the AMD Radeon RX 7900M is the stronger choice for graphics-intensive and modern API workloads, while the NVIDIA RTX A4500 excels in traditional compute tasks. Users prioritizing raw performance in DirectX 12 and Vulkan scenarios, which are common in gaming and real-time rendering, should lean toward the RX 7900M, given its 23.9% lead in 3DMark Steel Nomad and 14.3% lead in Geekbench Vulkan. Conversely, professionals running OpenCL-based compute workloads, such as certain scientific simulations or data processing, will find the RTX A4500's 20.5% advantage in Geekbench OpenCL more valuable. The overall average scores are nearly identical, with a 0.5% difference, but the workload-specific deltas are substantial. The RX 7900M is a mobile IGP solution, while the RTX A4500 is a dual-slot desktop card, which fundamentally dictates their deployment environments. For a mobile workstation or gaming laptop where DX12 and Vulkan performance is key, the RX 7900M is the data-backed pick. For a desktop workstation where OpenCL compute is a primary task, the RTX A4500 is the justified choice.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The three head-to-head benchmarks reveal a stark contrast in performance characteristics. In the 3Dmark Steel Nomad DX12 test, the AMD Radeon RX 7900M delivers a score of 4201, which towers over the NVIDIA RTX A4500's 3196. This is a 23.9% difference, the largest margin of victory in any test. This suggests the RX 7900M's architecture is significantly more efficient at handling the modern DirectX 12 rendering pipeline, likely due to its higher pixel and texture rates. The Geekbench Vulkan test also favors the AMD card, with a score of 153274 versus 131402 for the NVIDIA card, a 14.3% advantage. Vulkan is another low-level API, and the RX 7900M's dominance here reinforces its strength in contemporary graphics APIs. The Geekbench OpenCL test swings the pendulum back toward the NVIDIA RTX A4500, which scores 141837 against the RX 7900M's 117665. The NVIDIA card's 20.5% lead in this compute benchmark is notable, suggesting its compute shader performance and driver optimization for OpenCL are superior. The pattern is consistent: AMD wins in graphics-centric APIs, NVIDIA wins in a general-purpose compute API.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ fundamentally in their form factor and power requirements. The NVIDIA RTX A4500 is a dual-slot desktop card, 267 mm long and 112 mm high, requiring a single 8-pin power connector and a 550 W recommended PSU, with a 200 W TDP. The AMD Radeon RX 7900M is an IGP (Integrated Graphics Processor) for mobile devices, meaning it has no dimensions listed, no power connectors, and a 180 W TDP. The memory configurations also differ: the RTX A4500 has 20 GB of GDDR6 on a 320-bit bus, providing 640.0 GB/s of bandwidth, while the RX 7900M has 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, with 576.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The NVIDIA card offers more memory and higher bandwidth, which is advantageous for large datasets. The RTX A4500 has 7168 shading units, 224 TMUs, and 96 ROPs, whereas the RX 7900M has 4608 shading units, 288 TMUs, and 192 ROPs. The RX 7900M has a higher base clock at 1825 MHz and boost clock at 2090 MHz, compared to the RTX A4500's 1050 MHz base and 1650 MHz boost. The RX 7900M also has a higher memory clock at 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective) versus the RTX A4500's 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective). In terms of compute rates, the RX 7900M leads in FP32 with 38.52 TFLOPS, FP16 with 77.05 TFLOPS, pixel rate at 401.3 GPixel/s, and texture rate at 601.9 GTexel/s. The RTX A4500 has lower rates: 23.65 TFLOPS FP32, 23.65 TFLOPS FP16, 158.4 GPixel/s, and 369.6 GTexel/s.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide is substantial. The NVIDIA RTX A4500 uses the GA102 chip on the Ampere architecture, built on Samsung's 8 nm process with 28,300 million transistors and a 628 mm² die size. Its transistor density is 45.1M / mm². The AMD Radeon RX 7900M uses the Navi 31 chip on RDNA 3.0, built on TSMC's 5 nm process with 57,700 million transistors and a 529 mm² die size, achieving a transistor density of 109.1M / mm². The RX 7900M's chip is more than twice as dense, indicating a more advanced manufacturing process. The RTX A4500 features 56 RT cores and 224 tensor cores, which are absent in the RX 7900M. The RX 7900M has 72 RT cores. The RTX A4500's FP16 performance is 1:1 with its FP32 (both 23.65 TFLOPS), while the RX 7900M's FP16 is 2:1 (77.05 TFLOPS), indicating a different approach to half-precision compute. The RTX A4500 is from the Workstation Ampere generation, with its predecessor being Quadro Turing, and its successor being Workstation Ada. The RX 7900M is from the Navi Mobile generation, with its predecessor being Polaris Mobile, and has no successor listed. In terms of API support, both GPUs support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The RTX A4500 has 4x DisplayPort 1.4a outputs, while the RX 7900M's display outputs are portable device dependent. The RTX A4500 is end-of-life, while the RX 7900M is active in production.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon RX 7900M is the winner in graphics-heavy, low-level API workloads. Its 23.9% lead in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 and 14.3% lead in Geekbench Vulkan make it the superior choice for real-time 3D rendering, gaming, and applications that leverage these modern APIs. Its higher pixel rate of 401.3 GPixel/s and texture rate of 601.9 GTexel/s contribute to this advantage. The RX 7900M is also the better fit for mobile platforms, given its IGP form factor and lower 180 W TDP, making it suitable for high-performance laptops. Its architecture supports FP16 at a 2:1 ratio, which could benefit certain machine learning inference tasks that use half precision. The NVIDIA RTX A4500 is the winner in OpenCL compute workloads, as evidenced by its 20.5% lead in Geekbench OpenCL. This makes it the preferred choice for professional applications like scientific computing, data analytics, and engineering simulations that rely heavily on OpenCL. The RTX A4500's larger 20 GB memory capacity and higher 640.0 GB/s bandwidth provide an edge in handling large datasets that exceed the 16 GB capacity of the RX 7900M. The presence of 224 tensor cores also gives the RTX A4500 a distinct advantage in AI and deep learning workloads that utilize tensor core acceleration, a feature the RX 7900M lacks. For desktop workstation environments where compute performance and memory capacity are paramount, the RTX A4500 is the data-supported option.