AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL vs NVIDIA Quadro RTX 4000 Comparison

AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL and NVIDIA Quadro RTX 4000 represent two very different answers to the question of what a GPU should be. The data shows a clear split: the Vega M GL is a compact, power-conscious integrated part designed for portable devices, while the Quadro RTX 4000 is a full-size workstation card built for sustained professional workloads. Benchmark results indicate that the Quadro RTX 4000 dominates in raw compute and graphics performance, but the Vega M GL occupies a distinct niche where its low power envelope and integrated nature are the primary advantages.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA Quadro RTX 4000 wins every recorded head-to-head benchmark, and it does so by a wide margin. In Geekbench OpenCL, the Quadro RTX 4000 scores 74540 against the Vega M GL's 19549, a gap of 73.8 percent. In Geekbench Vulkan, the Quadro RTX 4000 scores 78844 against 22757, a 71.1 percent advantage. These are not close contests; the Quadro RTX 4000 is in a different performance class entirely.

The AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL wins in the categories that matter for compact systems: power consumption, physical footprint, and integration. Its 65 W TDP is less than half of the Quadro RTX 4000's 160 W, and its slot width is listed as IGP, meaning it is designed to be embedded directly into a motherboard or portable device rather than occupying a PCIe slot. The Vega M GL has no power connectors and no suggested PSU, because it draws power from the host platform. The Quadro RTX 4000, by contrast, requires a single 8-pin power connector and a 450 W suggested PSU.

For professional workloads, the Quadro RTX 4000's feature set gives it additional wins. It includes 36 ray tracing cores and 288 tensor cores, neither of which exist on the Vega M GL. It supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) while the Vega M GL is limited to DirectX 12 (12_0), and it supports Vulkan 1.4 versus the Vega M GL's Vulkan 1.3. The Quadro RTX 4000 also has dedicated display outputs, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a and 1x USB Type-C, whereas the Vega M GL's outputs are listed as Portable Device Dependent.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different process nodes and foundries. The AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL uses a 14 nm process from GlobalFoundries, while the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 4000 uses a 12 nm process from TSMC. The Vega M GL is built on GCN 4.0 architecture with the Polaris 22 chip, part of the Vega (Vega M) generation. The Quadro RTX 4000 uses Turing architecture with the TU104 chip, part of the Quadro Turing (Tx000) generation.

Transistor counts differ substantially. The Vega M GL packs 5,000 million transistors on a 208 mm² die, for a density of 24.0M per mm². The Quadro RTX 4000 has 13,600 million transistors on a 545 mm² die, for a density of 25.0M per mm². The Quadro RTX 4000 has nearly three times the transistors on more than twice the die area.

The shading resources differ by a similar ratio. The Vega M GL has 1280 shading units, 80 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. The Quadro RTX 4000 has 2304 shading units, 144 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. The Quadro RTX 4000 also adds 36 RT cores and 288 tensor cores, which are entirely absent from the Vega M GL. These architectural differences explain the performance gap: the Quadro RTX 4000 has roughly 80 percent more shading units, 80 percent more TMUs, double the ROPs, and dedicated hardware for ray tracing and tensor operations.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded head-to-head data covers two tests, both won decisively by the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 4000. In Geekbench OpenCL, the Quadro RTX 4000 scores 74540 against the Vega M GL's 19549, a delta of 73.8 percent in favor of the NVIDIA part. In Geekbench Vulkan, the Quadro RTX 4000 scores 78844 against 22757, a delta of 71.1 percent.

These numbers reflect the underlying compute capabilities. The Quadro RTX 4000 delivers 7.119 TFLOPS of FP32 performance against the Vega M GL's 2.588 TFLOPS, a roughly 2.75x advantage. The gap in memory bandwidth is even larger: the Quadro RTX 4000 has 416.0 GB/s against 179.2 GB/s, a 2.3x advantage. Pixel rate tells a similar story, with the Quadro RTX 4000 at 98.88 GPixel/s versus 32.35 GPixel/s, and texture rate at 222.5 GTexel/s versus 80.88 GTexel/s.

The average benchmark scores in the database tell a nuanced story. The Vega M GL has an average benchmark score of 21153 across its two recorded tests, while the Quadro RTX 4000 has an average of 17789 across ten tests. The Quadro RTX 4000's average is dragged down by its Passmark scores, which include a low DirectX 12 score of 52 and a DirectX 10 score of 108. The Vega M GL has no Passmark scores recorded, so its average comes only from the two Geekbench tests where it performs relatively well. This is why the Quadro RTX 4000 sits at the 61st percentile of all GPUs while the Vega M GL sits at the 66th percentile, despite losing every head-to-head test.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every specification. Memory capacity is 4 GB of HBM2 on the Vega M GL versus 8 GB of GDDR6 on the Quadro RTX 4000. Bus width is 1024 bit on the AMD part versus 256 bit on the NVIDIA part. Memory clock is 700 MHz (1400 Mbps effective) on the Vega M GL versus 1625 MHz (13 Gbps effective) on the Quadro RTX 4000. Bandwidth is 179.2 GB/s versus 416.0 GB/s.

Clock speeds favor the NVIDIA part. The Vega M GL has a base clock of 931 MHz and a boost clock of 1011 MHz. The Quadro RTX 4000 has a base clock of 1005 MHz and a boost clock of 1545 MHz. The boost clock difference is substantial: the Quadro RTX 4000 boosts 534 MHz higher.

Power and physical specifications diverge sharply. The Vega M GL has a TDP of 65 W, no power connectors, no suggested PSU, an IGP slot width, and an IGP bus interface. The Quadro RTX 4000 has a TDP of 160 W, one 8-pin power connector, a 450 W suggested PSU, a single-slot form factor, and a PCIe 3.0 x16 bus interface. The Quadro RTX 4000 measures 241 mm (9.5 inches) in length and 111 mm (4.4 inches) in height.

Release dates are close, with the Vega M GL launching on 2018-01-31 and the Quadro RTX 4000 on 2018-11-12. Both are end-of-life. The Quadro RTX 4000 has a predecessor (Quadro Volta) and successor (Workstation Ampere), while the Vega M GL has neither recorded. The Quadro RTX 4000 has a launch MSRP of 899 USD.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in benchmarks?

A: The NVIDIA Quadro RTX 4000 wins both recorded head-to-head tests. It leads by 73.8 percent in Geekbench OpenCL (74540 vs 19549) and by 71.1 percent in Geekbench Vulkan (78844 vs 22757).

Q: Why does the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL have a higher percentile ranking than the Quadro RTX 4000?

A: The Vega M GL sits at the 66th percentile of all GPUs, while the Quadro RTX 4000 sits at the 61st percentile. This is because the Vega M GL's average score of 21153 comes from only two Geekbench tests, while the Quadro RTX 4000's average of 17789 includes ten tests, several of which (Passmark DirectX 12 at 52, DirectX 10 at 108) are very low.

Q: Does the Quadro RTX 4000 support ray tracing?

A: Yes. The Quadro RTX 4000 has 36 RT cores and 288 tensor cores. The Radeon RX Vega M GL has no RT cores or tensor cores listed.

Q: Can the Radeon RX Vega M GL be installed in a desktop PCIe slot?

A: No. The Vega M GL has an IGP bus interface and IGP slot width, meaning it is integrated into a host device. The Quadro RTX 4000 uses PCIe 3.0 x16 and is a single-slot card.

Q: What are the memory differences?

A: The Vega M GL has 4 GB of HBM2 on a 1024 bit bus with 179.2 GB/s bandwidth. The Quadro RTX 4000 has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256 bit bus with 416.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: How much power does each GPU require?

A: The Vega M GL has a 65 W TDP and no power connectors. The Quadro RTX 4000 has a 160 W TDP, requires one 8-pin power connector, and has a suggested PSU of 450 W.

The Verdict

The choice between these two GPUs is determined entirely by the use case, not by benchmark scores alone. The NVIDIA Quadro RTX 4000 is the clear winner for anyone who needs professional-grade compute, whether for 3D rendering, simulation, or other GPU-accelerated workloads. Its 7.119 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, 416.0 GB/s of bandwidth, and dedicated RT and tensor cores make it a far more capable compute device. The 73.8 percent lead in OpenCL and 71.1 percent lead in Vulkan confirm that no amount of architectural efficiency can close the gap.

The AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL is the right choice only for systems where the Quadro RTX 4000 physically cannot fit or operate. Its 65 W TDP, IGP form factor, and lack of external power connectors make it suitable for portable devices where power draw and space are the limiting factors. The data shows it performs at roughly a quarter of the Quadro RTX 4000's level in compute tests, which is a reasonable trade for the power savings.

The recorded data gives the Quadro RTX 4000 two wins and the Vega M GL zero wins in head-to-head tests. The Quadro RTX 4000 also offers a higher boost clock (1545 MHz vs 1011 MHz), more shading units (2304 vs 1280), and newer API support including DirectX 12 Ultimate and Vulkan 1.4. For any workload that fits within a desktop chassis and a 450 W PSU budget, the Quadro RTX 4000 is the only rational choice from this data. The Vega M GL should be selected only when the IGP form factor and 65 W TDP are mandatory constraints.