AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT vs NVIDIA A100 SXM4 40 GB Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data shows a decisive margin in favor of the NVIDIA A100 SXM4 40 GB across the two shared benchmark workloads. In Geekbench OpenCL, the A100 scores 201096 against 85040 for the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT, a 136.5% advantage. This is not a marginal gap; the A100 more than doubles the AMD part's raw compute throughput in this test. In Geekbench Vulkan, the A100 records 173198 versus 99483, a 74.1% lead. While the Vulkan gap is smaller than OpenCL, it remains substantial and consistent with the A100's design priorities.

The A100's average benchmark score of 187147 places it in the 98th percentile of all GPUs in the database. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA RTX 5000 Ada Generation at 184664 (1.3% behind), the NVIDIA A100 SXM4 80 GB at 183725 (1.9% behind), and the NVIDIA RTX PRO 5000 Blackwell at 182109 (2.8% behind). Notably, the A100 40 GB actually outranks its 80 GB sibling in average score, and it sits 3.7% ahead of the NVIDIA Tesla V100S PCIe 32 GB, which scores 194415. This places the A100 40 GB at the top of a very strong peer group.

The RX 6850M XT, by contrast, averages 78940, putting it in the 92nd percentile. Its nearest rivals are tightly clustered: the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB at 79396 (0.6% ahead), the Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB at 79605 (0.8% ahead), and the GeForce RTX 5090 at 79842 (1.1% ahead). The AMD part also trails the GeForce RTX 5090 D, which scores 77712, by 1.6%. These deltas are small, indicating that the RX 6850M XT sits in a competitive mid-pack rather than at the top of the hierarchy. The A100's percentile advantage (98 vs 92) and its 136.5% OpenCL margin over the RX 6850M XT illustrate a clear performance stratification.

The head-to-head record is 2 wins for the A100 and 0 for the RX 6850M XT. No benchmark in the shared set favors the AMD part. The A100's lead in OpenCL is particularly pronounced, likely reflecting its massive FP32 throughput and memory bandwidth relative to the mobile-focused Radeon.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA A100 SXM4 40 GB averages 187147, while the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT averages 78940. The A100 also holds a higher percentile rank at 98 versus 92.

Q: How does the A100 compare to its nearest rival, the RTX 5000 Ada Generation?

A: The A100 scores 201096 in Geekbench OpenCL and 173198 in Geekbench Vulkan. Its average of 187147 is 1.3% ahead of the RTX 5000 Ada Generation's 184664.

Q: What is the closest rival to the RX 6850M XT?

A: The NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB is the closest, with an average score of 79396, just 0.6% ahead of the RX 6850M XT's 78940. The Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB and GeForce RTX 5090 are also within 1.1%.

Q: Is the RX 6850M XT competitive with the A100 in any benchmark?

A: No. In the two shared benchmarks, Geekbench OpenCL and Geekbench Vulkan, the A100 wins both. The smallest margin is 74.1% in Vulkan, still a very large lead for the A100.

Q: Does the A100 outperform its own 80 GB version?

A: Yes, according to average scores. The A100 SXM4 40 GB averages 187147, which is 1.9% ahead of the A100 SXM4 80 GB's 183725.

Q: Where does the RX 6850M XT sit among all GPUs?

A: It ranks in the 92nd percentile, with an average score of 78940. Its nearest rivals are all within 1.6% in either direction, showing it is a solid but not top-tier performer.

Architecture Differences

The NVIDIA A100 SXM4 40 GB is built on the GA100 chip using the Ampere architecture, fabricated on a 7 nm process at TSMC. It packs 54,200 million transistors on a die size of 826 mm², yielding a transistor density of 65.6 million per square millimeter. This is a massive, server-oriented chip designed for compute density.

The AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT uses the Navi 22 chip with RDNA 2.0 architecture, also on a 7 nm TSMC process. It contains 17,200 million transistors on a 335 mm² die, for a density of 51.3 million per square millimeter. The chip is roughly one-third the transistor count and less than half the die area of the A100, reflecting its mobile and laptop-oriented design.

Architecturally, the A100 has no dedicated ray tracing cores, but it includes 432 tensor cores. The RX 6850M XT has 40 ray tracing cores but no tensor cores. This is a fundamental design split: the A100 targets AI and HPC workloads where tensor operations matter, while the Radeon targets graphics rendering with ray tracing support. The A100 also has no display outputs, while the RX 6850M XT's outputs are listed as "Portable Device Dependent," meaning it can drive displays depending on the laptop implementation.

The A100 supports no exposed DirectX, OpenGL, or Vulkan API versions in the database, while the RX 6850M XT lists DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. This reinforces that the A100 is not designed for consumer graphics APIs, whereas the Radeon is a full-featured graphics part.

Both cards use the PCIe 4.0 x16 bus interface. The A100 is a SXM module with no power connectors, while the RX 6850M XT is an IGP (integrated graphics processor) also with no power connectors, typical of mobile designs.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ sharply across nearly every specification field.

Memory: The A100 has 40 GB of HBM2e on a 5120-bit bus, delivering 1.56 TB/s of bandwidth. The RX 6850M XT has 12 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, providing 432.0 GB/s. The A100 offers over 3.6 times the bandwidth and more than 3 times the capacity.

Clocks: The A100 runs at a base of 1095 MHz and a boost of 1410 MHz, with memory at 1215 MHz (2.4 Gbps effective). The RX 6850M XT runs far higher: a base of 2321 MHz, boost of 2581 MHz, and a game clock of 2463 MHz, with memory at 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective). The AMD part's clock advantage is substantial, but it cannot compensate for the A100's architectural and memory advantages.

Compute units: The A100 has 6912 shading units, 432 TMUs, and 160 ROPs. The RX 6850M XT has 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. The A100 leads by 2.7 times in shading units and 2.5 times in ROPs.

Throughput: The A100 delivers 19.49 TFLOPS FP32 and 77.97 TFLOPS FP16 (4:1). The RX 6850M XT delivers 13.21 TFLOPS FP32 and 26.43 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1). The A100 leads by 47.5% in FP32 and nearly 3 times in FP16. Pixel and texture rates follow the same pattern: the A100 hits 225.6 GPixel/s and 609.1 GTexel/s, versus 165.2 GPixel/s and 413.0 GTexel/s for the Radeon.

Power: The A100 has a TDP of 400 W and a suggested PSU of 800 W. The RX 6850M XT has a TDP of 165 W with no suggested PSU listed. The A100 consumes more than double the power, consistent with its server-class footprint.

Release and status: The A100 was released on 2020-05-13, while the RX 6850M XT came later on 2022-01-03. Both are marked end-of-life. The A100's predecessor is Tesla Turing and its successor is Server Ada. The RX 6850M XT's predecessor is Polaris Mobile, with no successor listed.

The Verdict

The data tells a clear story. The NVIDIA A100 SXM4 40 GB is the dominant performer in every shared benchmark, with a 136.5% lead in OpenCL and a 74.1% lead in Vulkan over the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT. It ranks in the 98th percentile of all GPUs, ahead of its own 80 GB sibling and the RTX 5000 Ada Generation. This is a compute powerhouse built for server workloads, with 40 GB of HBM2e, 432 tensor cores, and 19.49 TFLOPS FP32.

The AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT is a different class of product. It ranks in the 92nd percentile, with an average score of 78940, and its nearest rivals are all within 1.6%. It offers ray tracing cores, a modern graphics API stack, and a much lower 165 W TDP, making it suitable for mobile gaming laptops. However, it cannot match the A100's raw compute, memory bandwidth, or FP16 throughput.

Who should pick which? Strictly from the data, the A100 is the choice for anyone needing maximum compute performance in OpenCL and Vulkan workloads, particularly those involving large memory footprints or tensor operations. Its 40 GB HBM2e and 1.56 TB/s bandwidth are unmatched in this comparison. The RX 6850M XT is the choice for a power-constrained, graphics-oriented mobile system where ray tracing and DirectX 12 Ultimate support matter, and where the 165 W TDP is a practical limit. But for raw benchmark scores, the A100 wins decisively on both shared tests, and its 98th percentile standing versus 92nd confirms the gap. The RX 6850M XT is a capable mid-tier mobile GPU; the A100 is an elite compute accelerators.