AMD Radeon VII vs NVIDIA RTX A1000 Mobile Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data presents a decisive matchup. Across the two shared benchmark tests, the AMD Radeon VII wins both, with margins that are difficult to overlook. The database shows a 2-0 victory for the AMD part, and the percentage gaps indicate that these are not close contests.

In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the AMD Radeon VII scores 91,947 points. The NVIDIA RTX A1000 Mobile manages 48,703 points in the same test. This results in a delta of 88.8% in favor of the AMD card. To put that another way, the Radeon VII delivers nearly twice the compute throughput in this OpenCL workload. The A1000 Mobile is a mobile part designed for efficiency, but the raw compute advantage of the desktop-class Vega 20 chip is stark.

The second shared test, Geekbench Vulkan, shows an even larger gap. The AMD Radeon VII records 91,788 points, while the NVIDIA RTX A1000 Mobile scores 46,782 points. The delta here is 96.2% in favor of AMD. That is almost double the score. The Vulkan API, which can often favor NVIDIA architectures, does not close the gap here. The Radeon VII's higher shading unit count and memory bandwidth overwhelm the Ampere-based mobile GPU.

Context from the broader database is essential. The Radeon VII holds a 90th percentile rank among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 66,004. Its nearest rivals in the database include the NVIDIA Tesla T4 (average score 66,733, delta -1.1%), the NVIDIA Tesla P40 (average score 65,095, delta 1.4%), and the AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100 (average score 64,212, delta 2.8%). This places the Radeon VII in a competitive band with professional workstation cards, slightly ahead of some, slightly behind others.

The RTX A1000 Mobile sits at the 85th percentile, with an average benchmark score of 47,743. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT (average score 48,477, delta -1.5%), the AMD Radeon RX 6550M (average score 46,702, delta 2.2%), and the Intel Arc A530M (average score 46,614, delta 2.4%). The A1000 Mobile is in a much lower performance tier, competing with mid-range and older mobile GPUs, not flagship desktop cards.

The performance gap between these two parts in head-to-head tests is therefore not a surprise. The Radeon VII is a 295 W desktop behemoth with a 4096-bit memory bus. The RTX A1000 Mobile is a 60 W integrated mobile GPU. The benchmark deltas, 88.8% and 96.2%, reflect that fundamental difference in positioning and power envelope.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous. The AMD Radeon VII is the far faster GPU in raw compute benchmarks. Anyone comparing these two for compute-heavy workloads, rendering, or general GPU acceleration should choose the Radeon VII based on recorded scores alone. It wins both head-to-head tests by nearly double the margin of the RTX A1000 Mobile.

However, the RTX A1000 Mobile is not without its own logic. It is a mobile-only part, designed for laptops and portable workstations. Its power draw is 60 W compared to the Radeon VII's 295 W. The A1000 Mobile requires no external power connectors and is listed as an integrated graphics package (IGP). The Radeon VII needs a dual-slot cooler, two 8-pin power connectors, and a 600 W suggested power supply. The physical requirements alone dictate that the Radeon VII cannot be used in a portable system.

The verdict splits by use case. For a desktop workstation with power to spare, the Radeon VII is the clear performance winner. For a mobile workstation where power efficiency and portability are paramount, the RTX A1000 Mobile is the only viable option of the two. The data shows no scenario where the A1000 Mobile outpaces the Radeon VII in compute, but the form factor difference is decisive. The Radeon VII is end-of-life, and the A1000 Mobile is also end-of-life, so neither is a future-looking purchase. Based strictly on benchmark results, the Radeon VII wins on performance; based on physical integration, the A1000 Mobile wins on mobility.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different eras and different design philosophies. The AMD Radeon VII uses the Vega 20 chip, built on GCN 5.1 architecture. It is fabricated on a 7 nm process at TSMC, containing 13,230 million transistors on a 331 mm² die. The transistor density is 40.0 million per square millimeter. The RTX A1000 Mobile uses the GA107 chip, an Ampere architecture part, built on an 8 nm process at Samsung. It packs 8,700 million transistors on a 200 mm² die, with a higher transistor density of 43.5 million per square millimeter.

The memory subsystems are radically different. The Radeon VII features 16 GB of HBM2 memory on a 4096-bit bus, delivering 1.02 TB/s of bandwidth. The A1000 Mobile has 4 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 176.0 GB/s. That is a six-fold difference in memory bandwidth, which explains the Radeon VII's dominance in memory-intensive compute tasks.

Compute resources also favor AMD heavily. The Radeon VII has 3,840 shading units, 240 texture mapping units, and 64 raster output units. Its peak FP32 performance is 13.44 TFLOPS, and FP16 performance is 26.88 TFLOPS with a 2:1 ratio. The A1000 Mobile has 2,048 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. Its FP32 and FP16 performance are both 4.669 TFLOPS, with a 1:1 ratio. The Radeon VII has nearly three times the FP32 throughput.

The A1000 Mobile does have dedicated features the Radeon VII lacks. It includes 16 ray tracing cores and 64 tensor cores, allowing for hardware-accelerated ray tracing and AI workloads. The Radeon VII has no such dedicated units. The A1000 Mobile also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the Radeon VII supports DirectX 12 (12_1). Both support OpenGL 4.6, but the A1000 Mobile supports Vulkan 1.4 while the Radeon VII supports Vulkan 1.3.

Clock speeds differ as expected. The Radeon VII runs at a base of 1400 MHz and boosts to 1750 MHz. The A1000 Mobile runs at a much lower base of 630 MHz and boosts to 1140 MHz, reflecting its 60 W power target. The Radeon VII's memory clock is 1000 MHz (2 Gbps effective), while the A1000 Mobile's memory clock is 1375 MHz (11 Gbps effective). The higher GDDR6 clock cannot compensate for the much narrower bus.

Pixel and texture rates tell the same story. The Radeon VII achieves 112.0 GPixel/s and 420.0 GTexel/s. The A1000 Mobile achieves 36.48 GPixel/s and 72.96 GTexel/s. The Radeon VII is roughly three times faster in pixel throughput and nearly six times faster in texture throughput.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has more memory bandwidth?

A: The AMD Radeon VII has 1.02 TB/s of memory bandwidth from its 16 GB HBM2 memory on a 4096-bit bus. The NVIDIA RTX A1000 Mobile has 176.0 GB/s from 4 GB GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus.

Q: Does the RTX A1000 Mobile support ray tracing?

A: Yes, the RTX A1000 Mobile has 16 ray tracing cores and 64 tensor cores. The AMD Radeon VII has no dedicated ray tracing or tensor cores.

Q: What are the average benchmark scores?

A: The AMD Radeon VII has an average benchmark score of 66,004, placing it in the 90th percentile. The NVIDIA RTX A1000 Mobile has an average benchmark score of 47,743, placing it in the 85th percentile.

Q: How does the Radeon VII compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Radeon VII is 1.1% behind the NVIDIA Tesla T4, 1.4% ahead of the NVIDIA Tesla P40, 2.8% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100, and 3.4% ahead of the NVIDIA CMP 30HX in average benchmark score.

Q: How does the RTX A1000 Mobile compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX A1000 Mobile is 1.5% behind the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT, 2.2% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6550M, 2.4% ahead of the Intel Arc A530M, and 2.5% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 5600M in average benchmark score.

Q: What is the difference in power consumption?

A: The AMD Radeon VII has a TDP of 295 W and requires two 8-pin power connectors and a 600 W suggested power supply. The NVIDIA RTX A1000 Mobile has a TDP of 60 W and requires no power connectors.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon VII wins in every recorded compute benchmark against the RTX A1000 Mobile. Its 88.8% lead in Geekbench OpenCL and 96.2% lead in Geekbench Vulkan make it the clear choice for any workload that relies on raw GPU compute. Applications that benefit from massive memory bandwidth, such as large dataset processing, high-resolution texture work, or compute shaders, will favor the Radeon VII. Its 16 GB of HBM2 memory and 1.02 TB/s bandwidth are unmatched by the A1000 Mobile's 4 GB GDDR6 configuration.

The Radeon VII also wins in pixel throughput (112.0 GPixel/s vs 36.48 GPixel/s) and texture rate (420.0 GTexel/s vs 72.96 GTexel/s). For rendering tasks that are fill-rate limited, the Radeon VII is the superior part. Its 3,840 shading units provide nearly double the shader count of the A1000 Mobile's 2,048 units.

The NVIDIA RTX A1000 Mobile wins in portability and power efficiency. Its 60 W TDP allows it to be integrated into laptops as an IGP, with no external power connectors and no dedicated slot width. The Radeon VII requires a dual-slot cooler, measures 280 mm in length, and demands a 600 W power supply. The A1000 Mobile also supports PCIe 4.0 x8, while the Radeon VII uses PCIe 3.0 x16. For mobile workstations, the A1000 Mobile is the only realistic option.

The A1000 Mobile also wins on features. It has 16 ray tracing cores and 64 tensor cores, enabling hardware ray tracing and AI acceleration that the Radeon VII cannot provide. It supports DirectX 12 Ultimate and Vulkan 1.4, newer API versions than the Radeon VII's DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.3. The A1000 Mobile's 8 nm Samsung process and higher transistor density (43.5M / mm² vs 40.0M / mm²) indicate a more modern manufacturing approach.

In summary: the Radeon VII wins on absolute performance, memory bandwidth, and raw compute throughput. The A1000 Mobile wins on mobility, power efficiency, and modern feature support. The choice depends entirely on the physical constraints and workload requirements of the user.