AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 D Comparison

FAQ

Q: How do the two cards compare in average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 D records an average benchmark score of 178,050, while the AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition records 73,370. The NVIDIA card sits in the 98th percentile of all GPUs, whereas the AMD card sits in the 91st percentile.

Q: Which card wins in OpenCL performance?

A: The RTX 4090 D scores 278,621 in Geekbench OpenCL versus 76,111 for the Vega Frontier Edition, a delta of 266.1% in favor of NVIDIA.

Q: Is there any benchmark where the AMD card comes out ahead?

A: No. Across the head-to-head tests recorded in the database, the AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition has zero wins, while the RTX 4090 D wins both recorded tests.

Q: What are the closest rivals for each card based on average score?

A: For the RTX 4090 D, the nearest rival is the NVIDIA RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell at an average score of 182,109, which is 2.2% ahead of the RTX 4090 D. For the Vega Frontier Edition, the nearest rival is the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 at 72,379, which is 1.4% behind the Vega Frontier Edition.

Q: How do the memory subsystems differ?

A: The RTX 4090 D uses 24 GB of GDDR6X on a 384-bit bus with 1.01 TB/s bandwidth. The Vega Frontier Edition uses 16 GB of HBM2 on a 2048-bit bus with 483.8 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: What is the transistor count difference between the two?

A: The RTX 4090 D has 76,300 million transistors on a 609 mm² die, while the Vega Frontier Edition has 12,500 million transistors on a 495 mm² die.

Where Each One Wins

The recorded data shows a clear split in performance class, but not in workload type. The RTX 4090 D wins both head-to-head benchmark entries, so the "where each one wins" story is about scale of advantage rather than category.

In OpenCL, the RTX 4090 D delivers 278,621 points versus 76,111 for the Vega Frontier Edition. That is a 266.1% advantage, the largest single delta recorded between the two. In Vulkan, the RTX 4090 D scores 246,941 against 71,937, a 243.3% lead. Both tests are compute-oriented API workloads, and NVIDIA dominates both.

The Vega Frontier Edition does not win any recorded head-to-head test. Its strengths in the database are relative to its own nearest rivals, not against the RTX 4090 D. Against the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64, it is 1.4% ahead; against the NVIDIA TITAN X Pascal, it is 1.8% ahead; against the AMD Radeon RX 6650M, it is 2.2% ahead; and against the AMD Radeon RX 6600 LE, it is 3.6% ahead. Those deltas show the Vega Frontier Edition is competitive within its own generation and price tier, but the gulf between it and the RTX 4090 D is enormous.

For users seeking maximum compute throughput in OpenCL or Vulkan, the RTX 4090 D is the only choice between these two. The Vega Frontier Edition remains relevant only in contexts where its 91st percentile standing is sufficient, such as legacy workloads or systems limited to PCIe 3.0 and dual-slot cards.

Architecture Differences

The RTX 4090 D is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture using the AD102 chip, fabricated on a 5 nm process by TSMC. The Vega Frontier Edition uses the GCN 5.0 architecture with the Vega 10 chip, fabricated on a 14 nm process by GlobalFoundries. The process node difference is substantial: 5 nm versus 14 nm, which directly influences transistor density. The RTX 4090 D packs 125.3 million transistors per mm², while the Vega Frontier Edition manages 25.3 million per mm². Total transistor counts are 76,300 million versus 12,500 million, despite die sizes of 609 mm² and 495 mm² respectively.

The RTX 4090 D includes 114 ray tracing cores and 456 tensor cores, features entirely absent from the Vega Frontier Edition, which lists no RT cores and no tensor cores. That reflects the architectural generation gap: Ada Lovelace is designed for hardware-accelerated ray tracing and AI workloads, while GCN 5.0 predates those specialized units.

Shader and render pipeline differences are equally stark. The RTX 4090 D has 14,592 shading units, 456 TMUs, and 176 ROPs. The Vega Frontier Edition has 4,096 shading units, 256 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. The NVIDIA card also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, whereas the AMD card supports DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.3. Both support OpenGL 4.6.

The Vega Frontier Edition does have one architectural trait the RTX 4090 D does not: FP16 throughput at a 2:1 ratio, delivering 26.21 TFLOPS versus 13.11 TFLOPS for FP32. The RTX 4090 D runs FP16 at a 1:1 ratio, delivering 73.54 TFLOPS for both FP32 and FP16. In absolute terms, the RTX 4090 D still far exceeds the AMD card in FP16, but the ratio difference indicates a different design philosophy.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every measurable specification. The RTX 4090 D has a base clock of 2280 MHz and a boost clock of 2520 MHz. The Vega Frontier Edition has a base clock of 1382 MHz and a boost clock of 1600 MHz. Memory clocks also diverge: the RTX 4090 D runs at 1313 MHz with 21 Gbps effective, while the Vega Frontier Edition runs at 945 MHz with 1890 Mbps effective.

Memory capacity and type differ completely. The RTX 4090 D offers 24 GB of GDDR6X on a 384-bit bus with 1.01 TB/s bandwidth. The Vega Frontier Edition offers 16 GB of HBM2 on a 2048-bit bus with 483.8 GB/s bandwidth. The bus width is wider on the AMD card, but the bandwidth is less than half.

Compute throughput figures favor NVIDIA overwhelmingly. The RTX 4090 D delivers 73.54 TFLOPS FP32 and 73.54 TFLOPS FP16. The Vega Frontier Edition delivers 13.11 TFLOPS FP32 and 26.21 TFLOPS FP16. Pixel rate is 443.5 GPixel/s versus 102.4 GPixel/s, and texture rate is 1,149.1 GTexel/s versus 409.6 GTexel/s.

Power and physical specifications also differ. The RTX 4090 D has a TDP of 425 W, is triple-slot, uses a single 16-pin power connector, and requires a suggested 800 W PSU. The Vega Frontier Edition has a TDP of 300 W, is dual-slot, uses two 8-pin connectors, and requires a suggested 700 W PSU. The RTX 4090 D is 304 mm long, 137 mm tall, and 61 mm wide. The Vega Frontier Edition is 267 mm long and 111 mm tall, with no recorded width.

Bus interface and display outputs differ as well. The RTX 4090 D uses PCIe 4.0 x16 and outputs 1x HDMI 2.1 plus 3x DisplayPort 1.4a. The Vega Frontier Edition uses PCIe 3.0 x16 and outputs 1x HDMI 2.0b plus 3x DisplayPort 1.4a. Both cards are end-of-life in production status. The RTX 4090 D was released on 2023-12-27, while the Vega Frontier Edition was released on 2017-06-26.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database records two direct head-to-head benchmark comparisons between these cards, and the RTX 4090 D wins both by a wide margin.

In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 4090 D scores 278,621 against the Vega Frontier Edition's 76,111. The delta is 266.1% in favor of NVIDIA. This is the largest percentage gap in any recorded test between the two. The OpenCL result reflects the raw compute advantage of the Ada Lovelace architecture: higher shading unit count, higher clocks, and far higher FP32 throughput. The Vega Frontier Edition's 13.11 TFLOPS FP32 is simply outclassed by the RTX 4090 D's 73.54 TFLOPS.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the RTX 4090 D scores 246,941 against 71,937, a delta of 243.3%. The Vulkan gap is slightly narrower than OpenCL, but still represents a dominant lead. The RTX 4090 D's Vulkan 1.4 support and modern driver stack contribute to the result, while the Vega Frontier Edition's Vulkan 1.3 support and older GCN architecture limit its performance.

The average benchmark scores reinforce the head-to-head results. The RTX 4090 D averages 178,050, which places it in the 98th percentile of all GPUs. The Vega Frontier Edition averages 73,370, placing it in the 91st percentile. The percentile difference is notable: both are above average, but the RTX 4090 D sits near the very top of the database, while the Vega Frontier Edition sits in the upper tier but well below the top.

Looking at nearest rivals provides context for each card's standing. The RTX 4090 D trails the NVIDIA RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell by 2.2%, the NVIDIA A100 SXM4 80 GB by 3.1%, the NVIDIA RTX 5000 Ada Generation by 3.6%, and the NVIDIA A100 SXM4 40 GB by 4.9%. All four rivals score slightly higher on average, meaning the RTX 4090 D is competitive with professional workstation and data center cards despite being a GeForce product.

The Vega Frontier Edition leads its nearest rivals by smaller margins. It is 1.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64, 1.8% ahead of the NVIDIA TITAN X Pascal, 2.2% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6650M, and 3.6% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6600 LE. These are much tighter deltas, indicating the Vega Frontier Edition is closely matched with its contemporaries rather than dominant.

The data shows no scenario where the Vega Frontier Edition outperforms the RTX 4090 D. The wins tally is 2 for NVIDIA and 0 for AMD across the recorded head-to-head tests. The RTX 4090 D is the clear performer in OpenCL and Vulkan, with advantages of over 240% in both. The Vega Frontier Edition remains a capable card within its own peer group, but it cannot compete with the Ada Lovelace flagship on any recorded metric.