AMD Radeon VII vs NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000 Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The recorded data splits this pairing cleanly down the middle, with each GPU taking one decisive victory in the two shared benchmark tests. The AMD Radeon VII dominates the Geekbench OpenCL workload, posting a score of 91,947 against the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000’s 74,179. That is a 19.3% advantage for AMD in raw compute throughput, a result that aligns with its higher transistor density and memory bandwidth. For tasks that lean heavily on general-purpose GPU compute, OpenCL acceleration, or workloads where memory bandwidth is the limiting factor, the Radeon VII is the clear choice.

The NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000 answers back in the Geekbench Vulkan test, and it does so decisively. Its score of 129,564 crushes the Radeon VII’s 91,788, a 41.2% margin that is the single largest performance gap between the two cards in any recorded test. Vulkan is a lower-level, driver-controlled API that tends to favor architectures with dedicated hardware for graphics-specific tasks, and the data shows Turing’s RT and tensor cores providing a substantial edge. If the application leverages Vulkan, the Quadro RTX 6000 is not just better, it is in a different performance tier.

The database’s overall scoring also paints a nuanced picture. The Quadro RTX 6000 carries an average benchmark score of 101,872, placing it in the 94th percentile of all GPUs. The Radeon VII’s average score of 66,004 sits in the 90th percentile. That difference is largely explained by the fact that the Radeon VII has more recorded benchmarks in its profile, including a low 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2,304 and a Metal score of 77,975, which drag its average down. The Quadro RTX 6000 only has two Geekbench scores, both strong. So while the average score favors NVIDIA, the head-to-head results show a split: AMD for OpenCL, NVIDIA for Vulkan.

Architecture Differences

These are two fundamentally different designs built on two distinct process nodes. The NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000 uses the TU102 chip, based on the Turing architecture, fabricated by TSMC on a 12 nm process. It packs 18,600 million transistors onto a die size of 754 mm², resulting in a transistor density of 24.7 million per square millimeter. The AMD Radeon VII uses the Vega 20 chip, based on GCN 5.1 architecture, also from TSMC but on a 7 nm process. It packs 13,230 million transistors onto a much smaller 331 mm² die, for a density of 40.0 million per square millimeter. AMD’s node advantage is clear: much higher density, but NVIDIA’s larger die allows for more specialized hardware.

The GPU cores tell the story of differing design philosophies. NVIDIA’s TU102 has 4608 shading units, 288 texture mapping units, and 96 ROPs. It also includes 72 dedicated RT cores for ray tracing and 576 tensor cores for AI acceleration. The Radeon VII has 3840 shading units, 240 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, but no RT cores or tensor cores at all. This is a compute-heavy design, not a graphics-optimized one. The Turing architecture’s feature set is entirely absent from Vega 20.

Clock speeds are similar at the base level: NVIDIA runs at 1440 MHz base and 1770 MHz boost, while AMD runs at 1400 MHz base and 1750 MHz boost. The real difference lies in memory. NVIDIA uses 24 GB of GDDR6 on a 384-bit bus, delivering 672.0 GB/s of bandwidth. AMD uses 16 GB of HBM2 on a massive 4096-bit bus, delivering 1.02 TB/s of bandwidth. That is the defining hardware difference: NVIDIA has more capacity, AMD has far more bandwidth. The Radeon VII’s memory clock is listed at 1000 MHz (2 Gbps effective), while the Quadro RTX 6000 runs at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective), but the bus width difference completely flips the bandwidth equation.

FAQ

Q: Which card has more memory bandwidth?

A: The AMD Radeon VII. Its HBM2 memory runs on a 4096-bit bus and achieves 1.02 TB/s, compared to the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000’s 672.0 GB/s over a 384-bit GDDR6 interface.

Q: Does the AMD Radeon VII support ray tracing?

A: No. The Radeon VII has no RT cores and no tensor cores. The NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000 is equipped with 72 RT cores and 576 tensor cores, which explains its massive Vulkan advantage.

Q: Which GPU is more advanced in terms of process node?

A: The AMD Radeon VII is built on TSMC’s 7 nm process, while the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000 uses TSMC’s 12 nm process. AMD’s node has a higher transistor density: 40.0 million per mm² versus NVIDIA’s 24.7 million per mm².

Q: How do their average benchmark scores compare?

A: The NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000 has an average benchmark score of 101,872, while the AMD Radeon VII scores 66,004. The NVIDIA card sits in the 94th percentile of all GPUs, while the AMD card is in the 90th percentile.

Q: Which card wins in the Geekbench OpenCL test?

A: The AMD Radeon VII wins with 91,947 points, 19.3% ahead of the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000’s 74,179 points.

Q: Which card wins in the Geekbench Vulkan test?

A: The NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000 wins decisively with 129,564 points, marking a 41.2% advantage over the AMD Radeon VII’s 91,788 points.

Specification Differences

| Specification | NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000 | AMD Radeon VII |

|---------------|------------------------|-----------------|

| Process node | 12 nm (TSMC) | 7 nm (TSMC) |

| Transistor count | 18,600 million | 13,230 million |

| Die size | 754 mm² | 331 mm² |

| Transistor density | 24.7M / mm² | 40.0M / mm² |

| Shading units | 4608 | 3840 |

| TMUs | 288 | 240 |

| ROPs | 96 | 64 |

| RT cores | 72 | 0 |

| Tensor cores | 576 | 0 |

| Pixel rate | 169.9 GPixel/s | 112.0 GPixel/s |

| Texture rate | 509.8 GTexel/s | 420.0 GTexel/s |

| FP32 performance | 16.31 TFLOPS | 13.44 TFLOPS |

| FP16 performance | 32.62 TFLOPS (2:1) | 26.88 TFLOPS (2:1) |

| Memory size | 24 GB | 16 GB |

| Memory type | GDDR6 | HBM2 |

| Memory bus width | 384 bit | 4096 bit |

| Memory bandwidth | 672.0 GB/s | 1.02 TB/s |

| Memory clock | 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) | 1000 MHz (2 Gbps effective) |

| TDP | 260 W | 295 W |

| Power connectors | 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin | 2x 8-pin |

| Display outputs | 4x DisplayPort 1.4a, 1x USB Type-C | 1x HDMI 2.0b, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a |

| DirectX support | 12 Ultimate (12_2) | 12 (12_1) |

| Vulkan support | 1.4 | 1.3 |

| Dimensions (L x H x W) | 267 mm x 111 mm | 280 mm x 125 mm x 40 mm |

| Launch MSRP | 6,299 USD | 699 USD |

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The two available head-to-head tests tell a story of split dominance. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the AMD Radeon VII scores 91,947 against the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000’s 74,179. That is a 19.3% win for AMD. The Radeon VII’s HBM2 memory and wider bus are likely the primary drivers here, as OpenCL workloads often stress memory bandwidth heavily. The NVIDIA card’s 672.0 GB/s is respectable, but 1.02 TB/s is a 51% advantage for AMD, and it shows up directly in the score.

Flip to the Geekbench Vulkan test, and the tables turn completely. The NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000 scores 129,564, while the AMD Radeon VII falls to 91,788. That is a 41.2% margin in favor of NVIDIA, the largest single-test gap in this comparison. Unlike the compute-oriented OpenCL test, Vulkan exercises the full graphics pipeline. The Turing architecture’s RT and tensor cores, along with its higher pixel rate of 169.9 GPixel/s versus 112.0 GPixel/s, give NVIDIA a massive edge in this API. The Radeon VII’s lack of hardware ray tracing support and lower ROP count (64 vs 96) hurt it here.

The database shows that each card wins exactly one head-to-head test. The NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000 wins the Vulkan test with a delta of +41.2%, while the AMD Radeon VII wins the OpenCL test with a delta of +19.3%. The sum of these results puts the NVIDIA card’s average benchmark score at 101,872, well above the Radeon VII’s 66,004, but that average is skewed by the Radeon VII’s additional tests. For a direct comparison, the two shared tests show a total performance picture: NVIDIA is the faster card in graphics-heavy APIs, AMD is the faster card in raw compute. The choice depends entirely on the application’s dominant workload.