AMD Radeon RX 9070 vs NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The head-to-head data shows a decisive overall victory for the AMD Radeon RX 9070, which claims 8 of the 9 recorded benchmark wins. The average benchmark score for the AMD card is 23877, compared to 21379 for the NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile, placing the RX 9070 roughly 11.7% higher in aggregate performance.

The largest single-test gap comes in PassMark GPU Compute, where the RX 9070 scores 14737 against the A4000 Mobile's 6394, a 130.5% advantage. This is a massive delta that signals a fundamental difference in raw compute throughput. The AMD card also dominates PassMark DirectX 11, scoring 281 versus 127, a 121.3% lead, and PassMark DirectX 9, where it posts 343 against 157, a 118.5% margin. The 2D workload shows a similar pattern: the RX 9070 hits 1280 in PassMark G2D, while the NVIDIA card manages only 585, a 118.8% difference.

In 3D gaming workloads, the RX 9070 continues to lead. PassMark G3D scores 25381 for AMD versus 14796 for NVIDIA, a 71.5% advantage. The DirectX 10 test also favors AMD, with 141 versus 105, a 34.3% gap. The DirectX 12 result is closer, but AMD still wins: 74 against 66, a 12.1% margin. OpenCL performance follows the same trend, with the RX 9070 scoring 131539 compared to 97178, a 35.4% lead.

The single NVIDIA victory comes in Geekbench Vulkan, where the RTX A4000 Mobile scores 73002 against the RX 9070's 58705. That is a 19.6% margin in favor of the NVIDIA card, a rare bright spot for the Ampere architecture in this comparison. It is worth remembering this Vulkan result stands in contrast to the OpenCL result, where AMD leads by over a third, suggesting NVIDIA's driver stack handles Vulkan compute more efficiently on this workload.

The percentile rankings place both cards close together in the overall GPU landscape. The RX 9070 sits at the 69th percentile against all GPUs, while the RTX A4000 Mobile sits at the 66th percentile. The nearest rivals for the AMD card include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile (average score 23628, delta 1.1%) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER (24170, delta -1.2%), showing that the RX 9070 trades blows with those established parts. The A4000 Mobile's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000 (21629, delta -1.2%) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 (21035, delta 1.6%), indicating it sits in a similar performance tier.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different generations and foundries. The AMD Radeon RX 9070 uses the Navi 48 chip built on RDNA 4.0 architecture, fabricated on a 4 nm process at TSMC. The NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile uses the GA104 chip with Ampere architecture, fabricated on an 8 nm process at Samsung. This process gap is significant: the AMD chip packs 53,900 million transistors into a 357 mm² die, achieving a transistor density of 151.0 million per square millimeter. The NVIDIA chip contains 17,400 million transistors on a 392 mm² die, with a density of just 44.4 million per square millimeter.

The AMD card has a larger memory footprint with 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 644.6 GB/s of bandwidth. The NVIDIA card offers 8 GB of GDDR6 on the same 256-bit bus, but bandwidth drops to 384.0 GB/s. Clock speeds also favor AMD: the RX 9070 has a base clock of 1330 MHz, a boost of 2520 MHz, and a game clock of 2070 MHz. The A4000 Mobile runs at 1140 MHz base and 1680 MHz boost. Memory clocks differ as well, with AMD at 2518 MHz (20.1 Gbps effective) versus NVIDIA's 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective).

Shading unit counts tell a nuanced story. The NVIDIA card has 5120 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 80 ROPs. The AMD card has fewer shading units at 3584, but more TMUs at 224 and more ROPs at 128. For ray tracing, AMD provides 56 RT cores, while NVIDIA offers 40 RT cores plus 160 tensor cores, a feature absent from the AMD specification. In raw throughput, the RX 9070 posts 36.13 TFLOPS FP32 and FP16 (1:1 ratio), while the A4000 Mobile delivers 17.20 TFLOPS in both. Pixel rate is 322.6 GPixel/s for AMD versus 134.4 GPixel/s for NVIDIA, and texture rate is 564.5 GTexel/s versus 268.8 GTexel/s.

Power consumption differs substantially. The RX 9070 has a TDP of 220 W, requires dual 8-pin power connectors, and suggests a 550 W power supply. The A4000 Mobile has a TDP of 115 W, uses no power connectors (portable device dependent), and lists no suggested PSU. The AMD card is dual-slot and uses PCIe 5.0 x16, while the NVIDIA card uses PCIe 4.0 x16. Display outputs also differ: the RX 9070 has 1x HDMI 2.1b and 3x DisplayPort 2.1a, whereas the A4000 Mobile's outputs are described as portable device dependent. Both support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 is the clear winner for compute-heavy workloads. Its PassMark GPU Compute score of 14737 is more than double the A4000 Mobile's 6394, and its OpenCL score of 131539 is 35.4% higher. For users running general-purpose GPU compute, machine learning inference, or any task that stresses raw FP32 throughput, the RX 9070's 36.13 TFLOPS dwarfs the NVIDIA card's 17.20 TFLOPS. The 2D performance delta is also stark, with the RX 9070 scoring 1280 in PassMark G2D versus 585, a 118.8% lead that suggests snappier desktop compositing and lighter GUI workloads.

For DirectX gaming, the RX 9070 leads across every API version tested. The smallest gap is DirectX 12 at 12.1%, and the largest is DirectX 11 at 121.3%. This suggests that the AMD card handles a broad range of gaming scenarios better, from older titles that rely on DirectX 9 or 11 to modern games using DirectX 12. The PassMark G3D score of 25381 versus 14796 reinforces this, showing a 71.5% advantage in overall 3D rendering performance.

The NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile wins only in Geekbench Vulkan, scoring 73002 versus 58705. This is a meaningful result for users who rely heavily on Vulkan-based applications, particularly cross-platform game engines or compute frameworks that target Vulkan directly. The 19.6% margin suggests that NVIDIA's Ampere architecture has a specific strength in Vulkan workload scheduling, possibly tied to its driver optimizations for that API. However, this single win does not offset the broader pattern, as AMD leads in every other benchmark category.

For power-constrained environments, the A4000 Mobile's 115 W TDP versus the RX 9070's 220 W is a significant differentiator, though no wattage-based benchmark data exists in the record to quantify the impact. The NVIDIA card also offers tensor cores, which the RX 9070 lacks, potentially benefiting AI-specific tasks that use Tensor Core acceleration, though no direct benchmark in the data measures that capability.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 9070 has an average benchmark score of 23877, while the NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile averages 21379, a difference of roughly 11.7% in favor of AMD.

Q: How does the AMD card compare in memory capacity and bandwidth?

A: The RX 9070 has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory with 644.6 GB/s bandwidth, while the A4000 Mobile has 8 GB of GDDR6 with 384.0 GB/s bandwidth. Both use a 256-bit bus, but the AMD card's higher memory clock (2518 MHz versus 1500 MHz) drives its bandwidth advantage.

Q: In which benchmark does the NVIDIA card beat the AMD card?

A: The RTX A4000 Mobile wins only in Geekbench Vulkan, scoring 73002 against the RX 9070's 58705, a 19.6% margin. AMD wins the other 8 head-to-head tests.

Q: What is the transistor density difference between the two chips?

A: The AMD Navi 48 chip reaches 151.0 million transistors per square millimeter on a 4 nm TSMC process, while the NVIDIA GA104 chip achieves 44.4 million per square millimeter on an 8 nm Samsung process. The AMD die is smaller at 357 mm² versus 392 mm² but packs more total transistors (53,900 million versus 17,400 million).

Q: Does the AMD card have tensor cores?

A: No. The RX 9070 specification lists no tensor cores, while the RTX A4000 Mobile includes 160 tensor cores. The AMD card instead relies on its 56 RT cores for ray tracing and its higher FP32 throughput.

Q: What are the power requirements for each card?

A: The RX 9070 has a 220 W TDP, requires dual 8-pin power connectors, and suggests a 550 W power supply. The A4000 Mobile has a 115 W TDP, uses no power connectors, and lists no suggested PSU, reflecting its mobile design.

The Verdict

The data presents a clear performance hierarchy. The AMD Radeon RX 9070 wins 8 of 9 benchmarks, with margins ranging from 12.1% in DirectX 12 to 130.5% in GPU Compute. Its average score of 23877 places it at the 69th percentile of all GPUs, while the A4000 Mobile's 21379 places it at the 66th percentile. For gaming, content creation, and general compute tasks, the RX 9070 is the stronger choice based on every recorded metric except Vulkan.

The NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile retains a specific niche. Its Vulkan win, tensor core count, and lower 115 W TDP make it relevant for workloads that prioritize those features, particularly in mobile or power-sensitive systems. The card also holds its own against its nearest rivals, trading within 1.6% of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 and within 1.2% of the Quadro RTX 5000. But in a direct comparison, the RX 9070's advantages in memory capacity (16 GB versus 8 GB), bandwidth (644.6 GB/s versus 384.0 GB/s), and raw throughput (36.13 TFLOPS versus 17.20 TFLOPS) are decisive.

The recommendation depends on the workload. For users who prioritize compute performance, DirectX gaming across multiple API generations, or higher memory capacity, the AMD Radeon RX 9070 is the clear pick. For users who need Vulkan-specific performance, tensor core acceleration, or minimal power draw in a mobile form factor, the NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile remains a viable option. The benchmark data does not support a broader case for the NVIDIA card beyond those specifics.