NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 vs NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark split between these two NVIDIA parts is not a close contest. The RTX A4000 Mobile wins every recorded head-to-head test, and the margins are substantial. In OpenCL compute, the mobile workstation GPU scores 97,178 against the GTX 780's 22,863, a 325% advantage. In Vulkan, the A4000 Mobile posts 73,002 versus 24,514, a 197.8% lead. The data does not show a single workload category where the older Kepler card takes the lead.

This is not a case of one card winning raster while the other wins compute. The GTX 780's only recorded benchmarks are three Geekbench entries: Metal at 10,114, OpenCL at 22,863, and Vulkan at 24,514. None of those approach the A4000 Mobile's scores. The RTX A4000 Mobile also has a much broader benchmark footprint, with PassMark entries across DirectX 9, 10, 11, 12, G2D, G3D, and GPU compute. Its PassMark G3D score is 14,796, and its GPU compute score is 6,394. The GTX 780 has no PassMark results in this database, so the comparison in legacy DirectX workloads is one-sided by absence.

The use-case split favors the A4000 Mobile for anything that stresses modern APIs or compute throughput. The GTX 780's remaining strength is not visible in the data. Its architecture lacks hardware ray tracing and tensor cores entirely, and its DirectX support stops at 12 (11_0), which means it cannot run DirectX 12 Ultimate features. The A4000 Mobile supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), making it the only one of the two that can execute feature-level 12_2 workloads. For any current-generation game or GPU compute task, the A4000 Mobile is the only viable option.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different foundries, nodes, and design philosophies. The RTX A4000 Mobile uses the GA104 chip on Samsung's 8 nm process, with 17,400 million transistors on a 392 mm² die. That yields a transistor density of 44.4 million per mm². The GTX 780 uses the GK110 chip on TSMC's 28 nm process, with 7,080 million transistors on a much larger 561 mm² die. Its density is only 12.6 million per mm². The process node gap explains a great deal: the newer chip packs more than twice the transistors into roughly two-thirds the silicon area.

The compute architecture differs fundamentally. The A4000 Mobile has 5,120 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 80 ROPs. It also includes 40 RT cores and 160 tensor cores. The GTX 780 has 2,304 shading units, 192 TMUs, and 48 ROPs, with no RT cores and no tensor cores. The A4000 Mobile's FP32 throughput is 17.20 TFLOPS, while the GTX 780 manages 4.156 TFLOPS. The A4000 Mobile also achieves FP16 at 17.20 TFLOPS with a 1:1 ratio, a capability the GTX 780 does not list at all.

Memory systems diverge as well. The A4000 Mobile uses 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 384.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GTX 780 uses 3 GB of GDDR5 on a wider 384-bit bus, but only reaches 288.4 GB/s. The newer memory type and higher effective clock of 12 Gbps versus 6 Gbps more than compensate for the narrower bus. The A4000 Mobile's pixel rate is 134.4 GPixel/s versus 43.30 GPixel/s for the GTX 780, and its texture rate is 268.8 GTexel/s versus 173.2 GTexel/s.

Power and physical design reflect their intended markets. The A4000 Mobile is a laptop part with a 115 W TDP and no power connectors, as power comes through the mobile socket. The GTX 780 is a desktop card with a 250 W TDP, dual-slot cooler, 1x 6-pin plus 1x 8-pin power connectors, and a suggested 600 W PSU. The GTX 780 measures 267 mm long, 111 mm tall, and 38 mm wide. The A4000 Mobile's dimensions are not recorded, but its bus interface is PCIe 4.0 x16 versus PCIe 3.0 x16 on the GTX 780.

API support also differs. The A4000 Mobile supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The GTX 780 supports DirectX 12 (11_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.175. The Vulkan version gap matters for modern titles that rely on newer extensions. Display outputs on the GTX 780 are fixed at 2x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 1x DisplayPort 1.2, while the A4000 Mobile's outputs are described as "Portable Device Dependent."

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has higher raw compute throughput?

A: The RTX A4000 Mobile. Its FP32 rating is 17.20 TFLOPS versus 4.156 TFLOPS for the GTX 780. In OpenCL, it scores 97,178 against 22,863, a 325% lead.

Q: Does the GTX 780 support ray tracing?

A: No. The GTX 780 has no RT cores listed in the database. The RTX A4000 Mobile includes 40 RT cores and 160 tensor cores.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth difference?

A: The A4000 Mobile delivers 384.0 GB/s over a 256-bit GDDR6 bus. The GTX 780 delivers 288.4 GB/s over a 384-bit GDDR5 bus. Despite the narrower bus, the newer memory type gives the A4000 Mobile a 33% bandwidth advantage.

Q: Which card is more power efficient?

A: The A4000 Mobile. Its TDP is 115 W, while the GTX 780 is rated at 250 W. The A4000 Mobile also requires no external power connectors, whereas the GTX 780 needs a 6-pin and an 8-pin connector.

Q: Can the GTX 780 run DirectX 12 Ultimate games?

A: No. The GTX 780 supports DirectX 12 (11_0), which lacks the feature level 12_2 requirements. The A4000 Mobile supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2).

Q: How do the two compare in Vulkan performance?

A: The A4000 Mobile scores 73,002 in Geekbench Vulkan versus 24,514 for the GTX 780, a 197.8% advantage.

Specification Differences

| Specification | NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 |

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

| Chip | GA104 | GK110 |

| Architecture | Ampere | Kepler |

| Process node | 8 nm (Samsung) | 28 nm (TSMC) |

| Transistors | 17,400 million | 7,080 million |

| Die size | 392 mm² | 561 mm² |

| Transistor density | 44.4M / mm² | 12.6M / mm² |

| Base clock | 1140 MHz | 863 MHz |

| Boost clock | 1680 MHz | 902 MHz |

| Memory clock | 1500 MHz, 12 Gbps effective | 1502 MHz, 6 Gbps effective |

| Memory size | 8 GB GDDR6 | 3 GB GDDR5 |

| Memory bus width | 256 bit | 384 bit |

| Memory bandwidth | 384.0 GB/s | 288.4 GB/s |

| Shading units | 5120 | 2304 |

| TMUs | 160 | 192 |

| ROPs | 80 | 48 |

| RT cores | 40 | None |

| Tensor cores | 160 | None |

| Pixel rate | 134.4 GPixel/s | 43.30 GPixel/s |

| Texture rate | 268.8 GTexel/s | 173.2 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 17.20 TFLOPS | 4.156 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 17.20 TFLOPS (1:1) | Not listed |

| TDP | 115 W | 250 W |

| Power connectors | None | 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin |

| Suggested PSU | Not listed | 600 W |

| Bus interface | PCIe 4.0 x16 | PCIe 3.0 x16 |

| DirectX | 12 Ultimate (12_2) | 12 (11_0) |

| Vulkan | 1.4 | 1.2.175 |

| Length | Not listed | 267 mm |

| Height | Not listed | 111 mm |

| Width | Not listed | 38 mm |

| Release date | 2021-04-11 | 2013-05-22 |

| Launch MSRP | Not listed | 649 USD (stated once) |

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database records only two shared benchmark tests between these GPUs, and both are decisive wins for the A4000 Mobile.

In Geekbench OpenCL, the A4000 Mobile scores 97,178 against the GTX 780's 22,863. That is a 325% delta, meaning the newer card delivers more than four times the compute performance in this workload. The GTX 780's score places it near its nearest rivals, which include the NVIDIA TITAN Xp at 19,177 and the AMD Radeon RX 6600 at 19,036. The A4000 Mobile's score, meanwhile, sits above its nearest rivals: the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000 at 21,629, the AMD Radeon HD 8970M at 21,237, and the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL at 21,153. Note the A4000 Mobile's nearest rivals are all clustered around 21,000, yet its own OpenCL score is 97,178. This suggests the average benchmark score used for rival clustering masks the OpenCL extreme.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the gap narrows but remains enormous. The A4000 Mobile scores 73,002, and the GTX 780 scores 24,514, a 197.8% lead. The GTX 780's Vulkan score is actually its highest recorded result across all three of its benchmarks, yet it still trails the A4000 Mobile by nearly triple.

The GTX 780's only other recorded benchmark is Geekbench Metal at 10,114, a test the A4000 Mobile does not have. That absence prevents a direct comparison, but the GTX 780's Metal score is far below its own OpenCL and Vulkan numbers, indicating that even its strongest API is not competitive with the A4000 Mobile's weakest shared test.

The PassMark suite further separates the two. The A4000 Mobile scores 14,796 in G3D and 6,394 in GPU compute. Its DirectX 9 score is 157, DirectX 10 is 105, DirectX 11 is 127, and DirectX 12 is 66. The GTX 780 has no PassMark entries at all, so the database cannot confirm how it would fare in those legacy raster tests. Given its architectural limitations, the expectation from the recorded data is that it would trail significantly.

The Verdict

The data points to a single conclusion: the RTX A4000 Mobile is the superior GPU in every measurable way. It wins both head-to-head benchmarks by margins of 325% and 197.8%, and it offers features the GTX 780 cannot match: ray tracing cores, tensor cores, DirectX 12 Ultimate, FP16 compute, and a much higher transistor density on a smaller, more efficient process node.

The GTX 780's position in the database is that of a legacy desktop part. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA TITAN Xp and the GeForce RTX 4050 Mobile, all within 0.7% of its average score of 19,164. That places it in the 64th percentile of all GPUs, which is respectable for a 2013 card. The A4000 Mobile sits at the 66th percentile with an average benchmark score of 21,379, and its nearest rivals include the Quadro RTX 5000 and the RTX 5050, all within 1.6%.

For a user choosing between these two today, the decision hinges on workload compatibility. If the task requires modern API support, hardware ray tracing, tensor operations, or high-throughput compute, the A4000 Mobile is the only option that can deliver. The GTX 780 still holds value for legacy DirectX 11-era software or as a collector's piece, but its 3 GB of GDDR5 memory and 4.156 TFLOPS FP32 throughput limit it to older titles and basic compute. The A4000 Mobile's 8 GB GDDR6 and 17.20 TFLOPS make it a viable choice for current-generation workloads, despite its mobile form factor and end-of-life production status.

The power story reinforces the verdict. The A4000 Mobile achieves all of this at 115 W, less than half the GTX 780's 250 W TDP. It requires no external power connectors, while the GTX 780 demands a 6-pin and 8-pin setup with a 600 W PSU recommendation. The efficiency gap is the clearest sign of architectural progress: the A4000 Mobile delivers roughly four times the OpenCL performance while consuming less than half the power.

In short, the RTX A4000 Mobile wins on performance, features, efficiency, and API readiness. The GTX 780 wins on nothing recorded in this database. Users seeking a modern GPU should choose the A4000 Mobile; users seeking a period-accurate Kepler card should look elsewhere, as the data shows no scenario where the GTX 780 outperforms its successor.