NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER vs NVIDIA RTX A2000 Comparison

The NVIDIA RTX A2000 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER represent two distinct philosophies from the same manufacturer, with the data showing a clear performance hierarchy that is heavily influenced by their target use cases. The RTX 4070 SUPER dominates in raw compute and graphics benchmarks, while the RTX A2000 offers a unique combination of professional features and extreme power efficiency that the benchmark scores alone do not fully capture.

The Verdict

The benchmark data is unambiguous: the RTX 4070 SUPER wins every single head-to-head comparison, and by substantial margins. In the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, the RTX 4070 SUPER scores 4627 against the A2000’s 1345, representing a 70.9% advantage. This is not a close contest; it is a generational and architectural gap made visible through synthetic workloads.

However, the verdict is not simply "buy the faster card." The RTX A2000, despite its 85th percentile ranking versus the RTX 4070 SUPER’s 83rd percentile, is a fundamentally different product. The A2000 is an end-of-life workstation card from the Ampere generation, designed for compact systems and professional environments where its 70 W power draw and lack of external power connectors are critical advantages. The RTX 4070 SUPER, while also end-of-life, is a 220 W consumer card that requires a 1x 16-pin power connector and a 550 W suggested PSU.

For users who prioritize raw performance, the RTX 4070 SUPER is the clear choice from the data. For users constrained by power, physical space, or who need a card that can fit into a system without power connector requirements, the RTX A2000 is the only viable option between these two. The data shows the RTX 4070 SUPER is faster, but the A2000 is far more flexible in deployment scenarios.

Architecture Differences

The two cards are built on entirely different architectures, process nodes, and foundries. The RTX A2000 uses the GA106 chip on the Ampere architecture, manufactured on Samsung’s 8 nm process. The RTX 4070 SUPER uses the AD104 chip on the Ada Lovelace architecture, manufactured on TSMC’s 5 nm process. This process difference is stark: the A2000 has 12,000 million transistors on a 276 mm² die, while the RTX 4070 SUPER packs 35,800 million transistors into a 294 mm² die. The transistor density tells the story: 43.5 million transistors per mm² for the A2000 versus 121.8 million per mm² for the RTX 4070 SUPER.

The compute resources differ dramatically. The RTX 4070 SUPER has 7168 shading units, 224 TMUs, and 80 ROPs, compared to the A2000’s 3328 shading units, 104 TMUs, and 48 ROPs. The RTX 4070 SUPER also has 56 RT cores and 224 tensor cores, versus the A2000’s 26 RT cores and 104 tensor cores. Clock speeds are similarly lopsided: the A2000 boosts to 1200 MHz from a 562 MHz base, while the RTX 4070 SUPER boosts to 2475 MHz from a 1980 MHz base.

Memory configurations differ in type and bandwidth. Both use a 192-bit bus, but the A2000 has 6 GB of GDDR6 at 288.0 GB/s, while the RTX 4070 SUPER has 12 GB of GDDR6X at 504.2 GB/s. The FP32 compute is 7.987 TFLOPS for the A2000 versus 35.48 TFLOPS for the RTX 4070 SUPER, a 4.4x difference. The A2000’s memory clocks at 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective), while the RTX 4070 SUPER runs at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective).

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 4070 SUPER wins in every benchmark category present in the data. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, it outperforms the A2000 by 70.9%. In Geekbench OpenCL, it scores 172795 versus 67695, a 60.8% advantage. In Geekbench Vulkan, the margin is 66.4%, with scores of 205624 versus 69089. The RTX 4070 SUPER also has a comprehensive Passmark suite of results, including a G3D score of 29995 and a GPU compute score of 17108, which the A2000 does not have in its benchmark list.

The RTX A2000’s wins are not in performance but in physical and power characteristics. It is 167 mm long versus the RTX 4070 SUPER’s 267 mm. It is 69 mm high versus 112 mm. It has no power connectors, while the RTX 4070 SUPER requires a 1x 16-pin connector. The A2000’s suggested PSU is 250 W versus 550 W for the RTX 4070 SUPER. These are not benchmark scores, but they are decisive in many real-world deployments.

The A2000’s 4x mini-DisplayPort 1.4a outputs cater to multi-display workstation setups, while the RTX 4070 SUPER offers 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a. Both support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, so API support is identical.

FAQ

Q: Which card has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The RTX A2000 has a higher average benchmark score of 46043 compared to the RTX 4070 SUPER’s 43223. This is despite the RTX 4070 SUPER winning all head-to-head tests, suggesting the A2000’s benchmark set is weighted toward different workloads.

Q: How much faster is the RTX 4070 SUPER in 3DMark Steel Nomad?

A: The RTX 4070 SUPER scores 4627 versus the RTX A2000’s 1345, a 70.9% advantage. This is the largest margin in the head-to-head data.

Q: What is the difference in memory bandwidth?

A: The RTX 4070 SUPER has 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth from 12 GB of GDDR6X, while the RTX A2000 has 288.0 GB/s from 6 GB of GDDR6. Both use a 192-bit memory bus.

Q: Do both cards support the same APIs?

A: Yes. Both support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. Neither card has an API advantage over the other.

Q: Which card has a higher transistor density?

A: The RTX 4070 SUPER has 121.8 million transistors per mm² on TSMC’s 5 nm process, while the RTX A2000 has 43.5 million per mm² on Samsung’s 8 nm process.

Q: What is the launch MSRP of each card?

A: The RTX A2000 launched at 449 USD, and the RTX 4070 SUPER launched at 599 USD.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The three head-to-head benchmarks all favor the RTX 4070 SUPER, but the margins vary. The largest delta is in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, where the RTX 4070 SUPER’s 4627 score crushes the A2000’s 1345. The deltaPct of -70.9 indicates the A2000 is nearly three-quarters slower in this test. This benchmark is particularly telling because it is the only dedicated DirectX 12 gaming-style test in the comparison.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the RTX 4070 SUPER scores 205624 versus 69089 for the A2000, a 66.4% delta. Vulkan is a low-level API that often scales with raw compute resources, and the RTX 4070 SUPER’s 7168 shading units and 224 tensor cores provide a massive advantage over the A2000’s 3328 and 104, respectively.

The Geekbench OpenCL result is the closest margin at 60.8%, with the RTX 4070 SUPER scoring 172795 versus 67695. OpenCL workloads can be more sensitive to memory bandwidth and driver optimization, but even here, the RTX 4070 SUPER’s 504.2 GB/s versus 288.0 GB/s proves decisive. The pattern is consistent: the RTX 4070 SUPER wins by roughly 60-70% across all tests, with no benchmark where the A2000 comes close.

Specification Differences

The specifications where these two cards differ are extensive, reflecting their divergent design goals. The process node differs: 8 nm Samsung for the A2000 versus 5 nm TSMC for the RTX 4070 SUPER. Transistor count is 12,000 million versus 35,800 million, and die size is 276 mm² versus 294 mm². The RTX 4070 SUPER has more than double the shading units (7168 vs 3328), TMUs (224 vs 104), ROPs (80 vs 48), RT cores (56 vs 26), and tensor cores (224 vs 104).

Clock speeds are dramatically different. The A2000 has a 562 MHz base and 1200 MHz boost, while the RTX 4070 SUPER has a 1980 MHz base and 2475 MHz boost. Memory size is 6 GB versus 12 GB, and memory type is GDDR6 versus GDDR6X. Bandwidth is 288.0 GB/s versus 504.2 GB/s. FP32 compute is 7.987 TFLOPS versus 35.48 TFLOPS.

The power envelope is a major differentiator: 70 W TDP for the A2000 versus 220 W for the RTX 4070 SUPER. The A2000 has no power connectors, while the RTX 4070 SUPER requires a 1x 16-pin connector. Suggested PSU is 250 W versus 550 W. Physical dimensions differ significantly: 167 mm length and 69 mm height for the A2000, versus 267 mm length, 112 mm height, and 42 mm width for the RTX 4070 SUPER. Display outputs are 4x mini-DisplayPort 1.4a for the A2000 versus 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a for the RTX 4070 SUPER. Both are dual-slot cards with PCIe 4.0 x16 interfaces.