AMD Radeon VII vs NVIDIA RTX A4500 Comparison

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A4500 has an average benchmark score of 91,671, which places it in the 93rd percentile of all GPUs. The AMD Radeon VII scores 66,004 on average, placing it in the 90th percentile.

Q: How does the RTX A4500 compare to its closest rival, the RTX A4500 Mobile?

A: The desktop RTX A4500 is 0.6% ahead of the RTX A4500 Mobile in average score, with 91,671 versus 91,134. This is a marginal lead, indicating near-identical performance between the desktop and mobile variants.

Q: What is the Radeon VII's closest competitor according to the database?

A: The Radeon VII's nearest rival is the NVIDIA Tesla T4, which trails by 1.1% (66,733 versus 66,004). The Tesla P40 is 1.4% behind, and the Radeon Pro WX 9100 is 2.8% behind.

Q: In which benchmark does the RTX A4500 show its largest advantage over the Radeon VII?

A: The largest margin is in Geekbench OpenCL, where the RTX A4500 scores 141,837 against 91,947, a 54.3% advantage. This is the widest gap across all three recorded tests.

Q: Does the Radeon VII have any benchmark where it wins?

A: No. The recorded data shows the RTX A4500 wins all three head-to-head tests, with a 38.7% lead in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, 54.3% in Geekbench OpenCL, and 41.6% in Geekbench Vulkan. The win count is 3 for the RTX A4500 and 0 for the Radeon VII.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth difference between the two cards?

A: The Radeon VII has a higher memory bandwidth at 1.02 TB/s over a 4096-bit HBM2 bus. The RTX A4500 offers 640.0 GB/s over a 320-bit GDDR6 bus. Despite the Radeon VII's bandwidth advantage, the RTX A4500 still leads in all compute benchmarks.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The head-to-head data is unambiguous. The NVIDIA RTX A4500 wins all three recorded benchmarks, and the margins are substantial. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, the RTX A4500 scores 3,196 against the Radeon VII's 2,304, a 38.7% advantage. This is the smallest of the three deltas, yet it still represents a decisive lead in a modern DX12 workload.

The gap widens considerably in Geekbench Vulkan. The RTX A4500 records 129,980, while the Radeon VII manages 91,788. The 41.6% delta shows that the Ampere architecture's Vulkan implementation is markedly stronger than GCN 5.1's. For applications relying on Vulkan compute or graphics, the RTX A4500 offers a clear performance tier above the Radeon VII.

The largest discrepancy appears in Geekbench OpenCL. The RTX A4500 posts 141,837, versus 91,947 for the Radeon VII, a 54.3% difference. OpenCL is often used in professional and scientific workloads, so this result suggests that the RTX A4500 is the more capable card for compute-heavy tasks. The Radeon VII's FP16 throughput is higher on paper, but the recorded OpenCL score favors the NVIDIA card by a wide margin.

Context from the nearest rivals reinforces the RTX A4500's position. The RTX A4500 sits 4.8% above the Quadro GP100 (87,445) and 5.2% above the Radeon PRO W7600 (87,108). Meanwhile, the Radeon VII trails the Tesla T4 by 1.1% and leads the Tesla P40 by only 1.4%. In other words, the RTX A4500 is competitive with higher-tier workstation cards, while the Radeon VII lands closer to entry-level or mid-range accelerators.

The win tally is straightforward: 3 wins for the RTX A4500, 0 for the Radeon VII. No benchmark in the database favors the AMD card. The average scores reflect this: 91,671 versus 66,004, a difference of 25,667 points or roughly 38.9% relative to the Radeon VII's average. The percentile rankings also differ, with the RTX A4500 at the 93rd percentile and the Radeon VII at the 90th. While both are above average, the RTX A4500 sits in a higher performance bracket.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from fundamentally different design philosophies. The NVIDIA RTX A4500 uses the GA102 chip built on Ampere architecture, fabricated on Samsung's 8 nm process. It integrates 28,300 million transistors on a 628 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 45.1 million per mm². The Radeon VII uses the Vega 20 chip with GCN 5.1 architecture, built on TSMC's 7 nm process. It packs 13,230 million transistors on a 331 mm² die, for a density of 40.0 million per mm². The RTX A4500 has more than twice the transistor count and nearly double the die area.

The compute layouts are equally distinct. The RTX A4500 features 7,168 shading units, 224 TMUs, and 96 ROPs. It also includes 56 RT cores and 224 tensor cores, enabling hardware-accelerated ray tracing and AI workloads. The Radeon VII has 3,840 shading units, 240 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. It has no RT cores and no tensor cores, so ray tracing and tensor operations are absent from its feature set. The Radeon VII does have more TMUs, but the RTX A4500 compensates with nearly double the shading units and 50% more ROPs.

Clock behavior also differs. The Radeon VII has a higher base clock at 1400 MHz and a boost of 1750 MHz. The RTX A4500 starts at 1050 MHz and boosts to 1650 MHz. Despite lower clocks, the RTX A4500 achieves higher pixel rate (158.4 GPixel/s versus 112.0 GPixel/s) and much higher FP32 throughput (23.65 TFLOPS versus 13.44 TFLOPS). The Radeon VII's FP16 rate of 26.88 TFLOPS (2:1) exceeds its FP32 rate, while the RTX A4500 offers FP16 at 1:1 with FP32, both at 23.65 TFLOPS.

Memory architecture is another major divergence. The Radeon VII uses 16 GB of HBM2 with a 4096-bit bus and 1.02 TB/s bandwidth. The RTX A4500 uses 20 GB of GDDR6 with a 320-bit bus and 640.0 GB/s bandwidth. The Radeon VII has the bandwidth advantage, but the RTX A4500 has 4 GB more capacity. For large datasets, the extra capacity may be more valuable than raw bandwidth, depending on the workload.

API support also differs. The RTX A4500 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The Radeon VII supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. The RTX A4500's newer feature level and higher Vulkan version align with its more recent release. The Radeon VII launched earlier and carries older API specifications.

Specification Differences

The physical and power specifications separate the two cards clearly. The RTX A4500 has a TDP of 200 W and requires a single 8-pin power connector, with a suggested PSU of 550 W. The Radeon VII has a TDP of 295 W and needs two 8-pin connectors, with a suggested PSU of 600 W. The RTX A4500 is more power-efficient on paper, delivering higher FP32 performance at a lower power draw.

Dimensions differ slightly. The RTX A4500 is 267 mm long and 112 mm tall. The Radeon VII is 280 mm long, 125 mm tall, and 40 mm wide. Both are dual-slot cards, but the Radeon VII is larger in every dimension. The RTX A4500's shorter length may improve compatibility with smaller chassis.

Display outputs are another point of difference. The RTX A4500 provides 4x DisplayPort 1.4a. The Radeon VII offers 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a. The RTX A4500 has four DisplayPort outputs, which is common for workstation multi-monitor setups, while the Radeon VII mixes HDMI and DisplayPort.

Bus interface also differs. The RTX A4500 uses PCIe 4.0 x16, while the Radeon VII uses PCIe 3.0 x16. The newer PCIe generation on the RTX A4500 provides higher bandwidth to the host system, which can benefit data transfer in professional workflows.

Memory clocks and effective speeds differ as well. The RTX A4500 runs its GDDR6 at 2000 MHz with 16 Gbps effective. The Radeon VII runs its HBM2 at 1000 MHz with 2 Gbps effective. The Radeon VII's wider bus compensates for its lower clock speed, but the RTX A4500's memory is faster per pin.

The Verdict

The recorded data points to a clear winner. The NVIDIA RTX A4500 outperforms the AMD Radeon VII in every benchmark recorded, with deltas ranging from 38.7% to 54.3%. The average score difference is substantial: 91,671 versus 66,004. For any workload represented by these tests, the RTX A4500 is the stronger choice.

The RTX A4500 also brings architecture advantages. It has dedicated RT cores and tensor cores, which the Radeon VII lacks entirely. It supports DirectX 12 Ultimate and Vulkan 1.4, while the Radeon VII is limited to DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.3. Its 20 GB of GDDR6 memory exceeds the Radeon VII's 16 GB of HBM2, even though the Radeon VII has higher bandwidth. The RTX A4500 also runs at a lower TDP, requiring only one 8-pin connector and a 550 W PSU, compared to the Radeon VII's 295 W and two 8-pin connectors.

The Radeon VII does have some favorable attributes. Its 1.02 TB/s bandwidth is significantly higher than the RTX A4500's 640.0 GB/s, which could benefit memory-bound workloads that fit within 16 GB. Its FP16 throughput of 26.88 TFLOPS exceeds the RTX A4500's 23.65 TFLOPS, making it theoretically stronger for FP16 compute. Its base clock of 1400 MHz is higher, though the RTX A4500's boost clock of 1650 MHz is closer to the Radeon VII's 1750 MHz boost.

For users choosing between these two cards, the decision rests on which factors matter most. The RTX A4500 wins on raw benchmark performance, newer architecture features, higher memory capacity, lower power draw, and more modern API support. The Radeon VII offers higher memory bandwidth and FP16 throughput, but these advantages do not translate into wins in any recorded test. The benchmark data consistently favors the RTX A4500, and its architectural feature set is more aligned with modern professional workloads. The Radeon VII may still serve specific niche use cases, but the evidence from the database points to the RTX A4500 as the superior card for general and professional compute.