AMD Steam Machine GPU vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database contains no direct head-to-head benchmark results between the AMD Steam Machine GPU and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile. The AMD Steam Machine GPU has an average benchmark score of 0 with no recorded tests, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile has a substantial set of nine recorded benchmark scores.

The RTX 4090 Mobile delivers an average benchmark score of 43,667, placing it in the 84th percentile among all GPUs in the database. In contrast, the AMD Steam Machine GPU sits at the 50th percentile with no recorded benchmark data. This means the NVIDIA part has a measurable performance footprint, whereas the AMD part currently has no empirical performance record to compare directly.

The RTX 4090 Mobile's strongest benchmark result comes from Geekbench OpenCL, where it scores 180,831. Its Geekbench Vulkan result is 170,774, indicating strong compute performance across both major GPU compute APIs. In PassMark tests, the G3D score of 27,212 represents the most demanding graphics workload in that suite, while the GPU compute score of 12,347 shows a significant gap between graphics rendering and compute throughput.

The PassMark DirectX results show a clear hierarchy: DirectX 9 scores 310, DirectX 11 scores 262, DirectX 10 scores 173, and DirectX 12 scores 107. This pattern suggests the architecture handles legacy DirectX workloads more efficiently relative to modern ones, though all scores are within the same order of magnitude. The PassMark G2D score of 984 measures 2D graphics acceleration, which is substantially lower than the 3D scores, reflecting the GPU's focus on 3D rendering.

The RTX 4090 Mobile's nearest rivals in the database provide context for its positioning. The NVIDIA RTX A6000 scores 44,075, which is 0.9% higher than the 4090 Mobile. The NVIDIA Quadro M6000 scores 43,301, which is 0.8% lower. The GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile scores 43,268, also 0.9% lower. The Quadro M6000 24 GB scores 43,262, again 0.9% lower. This places the RTX 4090 Mobile in a tight cluster where the top workstation and mobile GPUs are all within roughly one percent of each other.

The AMD Steam Machine GPU's lack of recorded benchmarks means its performance cannot be compared numerically against the RTX 4090 Mobile. Its 50th percentile ranking is derived from its specifications rather than measured results, and the absence of nearest rivals in the database further confirms that no comparable performance data exists for this part.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile wins in every measurable category because it is the only one of the two with recorded benchmark data. Its compute performance is particularly strong: the Geekbench OpenCL score of 180,831 and Vulkan score of 170,774 indicate that the GPU delivers high throughput for general-purpose compute workloads. The PassMark GPU compute score of 12,347 reinforces this, though it is notable that this score is less than half of the G3D score, suggesting the architecture prioritizes graphics rendering over raw compute in certain test configurations.

For graphics rendering, the RTX 4090 Mobile's PassMark G3D score of 27,212 is the highest among its recorded graphics tests. The DirectX suite shows that legacy API performance is stronger than modern API performance, with DirectX 9 at 310 versus DirectX 12 at 107. This could indicate that the architecture's hardware features for modern APIs, such as mesh shaders and ray tracing, are not fully exercised by the PassMark test suite, or that driver optimizations favor older rendering paths.

The AMD Steam Machine GPU cannot claim a win in any benchmark category because no test results exist in the database. Its specifications suggest capability in certain areas, but without measured data, the database cannot attribute any performance victory to it. The GPU's 8 GB GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus delivers 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is a constrained memory subsystem compared to the RTX 4090 Mobile's 16 GB on a 256-bit bus with 576.0 GB/s. The AMD part's 17.56 TFLOPS FP32 throughput is roughly 53% of the RTX 4090 Mobile's 32.98 TFLOPS, but these are theoretical peak rates, not measured benchmark scores.

The RTX 4090 Mobile also wins on memory capacity and bandwidth, with double the VRAM and double the memory bus width, resulting in exactly double the bandwidth. For applications that require large working sets or high memory throughput, the NVIDIA part has a clear specification advantage. The AMD part's 8 GB capacity may suffice for many games at moderate settings, but the database shows no evidence of its actual performance in such scenarios.

The Verdict

Based strictly on recorded data, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile is the only GPU in this comparison with measured performance. Its average benchmark score of 43,667, 84th percentile ranking, and position within 0.9% of professional workstation GPUs like the RTX A6000 and Quadro M6000 establish it as a high-performance mobile graphics solution. The AMD Steam Machine GPU has no benchmark records, so no performance verdict can be derived from the database.

The RTX 4090 Mobile's nearest rival data shows a competitive landscape: the RTX A6000 leads by 0.9%, while the Quadro M6000, RTX 5050 Mobile, and Quadro M6000 24 GB trail by 0.8% to 0.9%. This tight clustering indicates that the RTX 4090 Mobile sits at the peak of mobile GPU performance in the database, with only the RTX A6000, a desktop workstation card, edging it out by a marginal amount.

For users seeking a GPU with verified performance, the RTX 4090 Mobile is the choice supported by data. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 180,831 and Vulkan score of 170,774 demonstrate strong compute capabilities, while its PassMark G3D score of 27,212 confirms solid graphics rendering. The AMD Steam Machine GPU may have specifications that suggest capability, but the database contains no measurements to validate any performance claim.

The AMD part's 50th percentile ranking is a neutral position, indicating it sits at the median of all GPUs by specification-based assessment. Without benchmark scores or nearest rival comparisons, the database cannot place this GPU relative to the RTX 4090 Mobile or any other measured part. The RTX 4090 Mobile's 84th percentile and confirmed rival relationships provide a concrete performance context that the AMD GPU entirely lacks.

FAQ

Q: What is the average benchmark score for the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile?

A: The RTX 4090 Mobile has an average benchmark score of 43,667, placing it in the 84th percentile among all GPUs in the database.

Q: Does the AMD Steam Machine GPU have any recorded benchmark results?

A: No. The AMD Steam Machine GPU has no benchmark entries in the database, and its average benchmark score is 0.

Q: How does the RTX 4090 Mobile compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX A6000 scores 44,075, which is 0.9% higher. The Quadro M6000 scores 43,301, which is 0.8% lower. The GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile scores 43,268, which is 0.9% lower. The Quadro M6000 24 GB scores 43,262, also 0.9% lower.

Q: What are the memory specifications of each GPU?

A: The AMD Steam Machine GPU has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus with 288.0 GB/s bandwidth. The RTX 4090 Mobile has 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus with 576.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which GPU has higher FP32 throughput?

A: The RTX 4090 Mobile has 32.98 TFLOPS FP32, while the AMD Steam Machine GPU has 17.56 TFLOPS FP32.

Q: What are the recorded DirectX benchmark scores for the RTX 4090 Mobile?

A: The PassMark DirectX scores are: DirectX 9 at 310, DirectX 11 at 262, DirectX 10 at 173, and DirectX 12 at 107.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs use fundamentally different architectures and process technologies. The AMD Steam Machine GPU is built on RDNA 3.0 architecture with the Navi 33 chip, manufactured on a 6 nm process at TSMC. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile uses Ada Lovelace architecture with the AD103 chip, manufactured on a 5 nm process also at TSMC. The process node difference gives NVIDIA a density advantage: 121.1 million transistors per square millimeter versus 65.2 million for AMD.

The transistor counts reflect this difference dramatically. The RTX 4090 Mobile has 45,900 million transistors on a 379 mm² die, while the AMD Steam Machine GPU has 13,300 million transistors on a 204 mm² die. The NVIDIA chip packs roughly 3.5 times more transistors into less than twice the die area. Both chips are produced by TSMC, so the process difference is entirely attributable to the node technology rather than the foundry.

Compute resources differ significantly in scale. The RTX 4090 Mobile has 9,728 shading units, 304 texture mapping units, and 112 raster operation units. The AMD Steam Machine GPU has 1,792 shading units, 112 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. The NVIDIA part also features 76 ray tracing cores and 304 tensor cores, while the AMD part has 28 ray tracing cores and no tensor cores. The tensor core presence gives NVIDIA dedicated hardware for AI and deep learning workloads that AMD lacks entirely.

Clock speeds show an interesting inversion. The AMD GPU has a base clock of 1720 MHz and a boost clock of 2450 MHz, with a game clock of 2250 MHz. The NVIDIA GPU has a lower base clock of 1335 MHz and a boost clock of 1695 MHz. Despite the lower clocks, the RTX 4090 Mobile achieves higher throughput due to its massive shading unit count. Both GPUs run their memory at 2250 MHz with 18 Gbps effective speed.

Pixel and texture rates follow the core count differences. The RTX 4090 Mobile delivers 189.8 GPixel/s and 515.3 GTexel/s, while the AMD Steam Machine GPU delivers 156.8 GPixel/s and 274.4 GTexel/s. The texture rate gap is particularly large, with NVIDIA delivering nearly double the texel throughput. The FP16 rates match the FP32 rates on both GPUs, indicating 1:1 FP16 processing without dedicated half-precision hardware.

Memory configurations differ in both capacity and bandwidth. The AMD GPU uses 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, yielding 288.0 GB/s. The NVIDIA GPU uses 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, yielding 576.0 GB/s, exactly double the bandwidth. The RTX 4090 Mobile uses a PCIe 4.0 x16 bus interface, while the AMD GPU has no recorded bus interface in the database.

Power characteristics show the RTX 4090 Mobile has a 120 W TDP, while the AMD Steam Machine GPU has a 110 W TDP. Neither GPU requires external power connectors, and the RTX 4090 Mobile is classified as an integrated graphics processor (IGP) with no slot width. The AMD GPU has physical dimensions of 156 mm length, 152 mm height, and 162 mm width, while the NVIDIA part has no recorded dimensions.

API support is identical between the two GPUs. Both support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The AMD GPU provides display outputs of 1x HDMI 2.1a and 1x DisplayPort 2.1, while the RTX 4090 Mobile's display outputs are listed as portable device dependent. The RTX 4090 Mobile was released in January 2023, while the AMD Steam Machine GPU has a release date of June 2026. The NVIDIA part lists its predecessor as GeForce 30 Mobile and successor as GeForce 50 Mobile, while the AMD part has no recorded predecessor or successor.