AMD Radeon RX 6800S vs NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000 Comparison

The benchmark database comparison between the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000 and the AMD Radeon RX 6800S shows a decisive performance advantage for the Quadro in every recorded test. The Quadro RTX 8000 wins all nine head-to-head benchmarks, with margins ranging from a modest 5.5% to a commanding 62.6%. The Radeon RX 6800S, while a capable mobile part in its own right, does not claim a single victory in these measurements. This outcome aligns with their respective positions: the Quadro is a desktop workstation-class card with a 260W TDP, while the RX 6800S is an integrated graphics processor for laptops with a 100W TDP.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most lopsided result is in the Passmark GPU Compute test, where the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000 scores 9992 against the AMD Radeon RX 6800S’s 6144, a delta of 62.6%. This indicates a substantial lead in raw compute throughput, a critical metric for professional workloads such as rendering and scientific simulation. The Quadro’s FP32 performance of 16.31 TFLOPS, nearly double the RX 6800S’s 8.602 TFLOPS, supports this outcome.

In the Vulkan API test, the Quadro again dominates, posting 122637 points versus 81272 for the RX 6800S, a 50.9% advantage. This is followed closely by the DirectX 10 test, where the Quadro’s 137 score beats the RX 6800S’s 91 by 50.5%. These results suggest that the Quadro’s Turing architecture handles both modern and legacy graphics APIs with significantly more headroom.

The OpenCL benchmark shows a 39.2% lead for the Quadro, with scores of 101883 against 73202. This test is particularly relevant for cross-platform compute workloads, and the gap reinforces the Quadro’s workstation positioning. In DirectX 11, the Quadro leads 188 to 139, a 35.3% margin, further cementing its strength in traditional gaming and professional D3D applications.

The DirectX 12 test narrows the gap, with the Quadro scoring 79 versus 65, a 21.5% advantage. While still a clear win for NVIDIA, this smaller margin suggests that the RDNA 2.0 architecture in the RX 6800S is more competitive in newer, lower-level APIs. The Passmark G3D test, representing overall 3D graphics performance, shows the Quadro at 19799 against 15908, a 24.5% lead. The 2D test (G2D) also favors the Quadro, 866 to 732, an 18.3% difference.

The closest contest is in DirectX 9, where the Quadro’s 211 barely edges out the RX 6800S’s 200, a 5.5% margin. This legacy API result shows that the AMD part is not far behind in older workloads, but it remains a loss nonetheless. Across all nine tests, the Quadro RTX 8000’s average benchmark score is 28421, compared to 24063 for the RX 6800S, a difference that places the Quadro in the 74th percentile of all GPUs versus the RX 6800S’s 69th percentile.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000 is the superior performer in every measured category. Any user prioritizing raw speed, compute throughput, or graphics fidelity should choose the Quadro. Its nearest rivals in the database include the AMD Radeon RX 570 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti, with the Quadro sitting 1.2% below the RX 570 and 1.4% above the GTX 980 Ti in average score. This places it in a performance class that the RX 6800S, which trades closely with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER (0.4% below) and GTX 780 Ti (0.7% below), cannot approach.

However, the RX 6800S is not without merit. Its 100W TDP and IGP form factor make it suitable for portable systems where power efficiency and space are paramount. The Quadro requires a dual-slot footprint, a 600W suggested PSU, and external power connectors, making it incompatible with thin-and-light laptops. For a mobile workstation or gaming laptop, the RX 6800S is the only viable option of the two, despite its performance deficit. The choice hinges on the use case: desktop professional workloads demand the Quadro, while on-the-go computing necessitates the RX 6800S.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are built on fundamentally different architectures from their respective manufacturers. The NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000 uses the Turing architecture, fabricated on TSMC’s 12 nm process with the TU102 chip. This is a massive die, measuring 754 mm² and housing 18,600 million transistors. In contrast, the AMD Radeon RX 6800S uses the RDNA 2.0 architecture on the Navi 23 chip, built on a more advanced 7 nm process. Its die is 237 mm² with 11,060 million transistors, resulting in a much higher transistor density of 46.7M per mm² versus 24.7M per mm² for the Quadro.

The Quadro’s Turing architecture includes dedicated hardware for ray tracing and AI, with 72 RT cores and 576 tensor cores. The RX 6800S also has ray tracing capabilities, featuring 32 ray accelerators, but it lacks tensor cores entirely. This absence of tensor cores means the Radeon cannot accelerate AI-specific tasks like deep learning inference in the same hardware-accelerated manner as the Quadro.

Shader resources differ substantially: the Quadro has 4608 shading units, 288 TMUs, and 96 ROPs, while the RX 6800S has 2048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. The Quadro’s pixel rate is 169.9 GPixel/s and its texture rate is 509.8 GTexel/s, both far exceeding the RX 6800S’s 134.4 GPixel/s and 268.8 GTexel/s. The memory subsystems are equally divergent, with the Quadro using a 384-bit bus and 48 GB of GDDR6, while the RX 6800S uses a 128-bit bus and 8 GB of GDDR6.

Specification Differences

The most obvious specification difference is memory capacity. The Quadro RTX 8000 offers 48 GB of GDDR6 memory with a bandwidth of 672.0 GB/s, while the RX 6800S provides 8 GB with 256.0 GB/s. This 6x capacity and 2.6x bandwidth advantage is critical for large datasets and high-resolution textures. The bus widths also differ, with the Quadro at 384-bit versus 128-bit for the Radeon.

Clock speeds favor the AMD part. The RX 6800S has a base clock of 1800 MHz and a boost of 2100 MHz, with a game clock of 1975 MHz. The Quadro runs at 1395 MHz base and 1770 MHz boost, with memory at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) versus 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective) for the Radeon. Despite higher clocks, the RX 6800S cannot overcome the Quadro’s massive resource advantage.

Power and physical specifications are starkly different. The Quadro has a 260W TDP, a dual-slot design, and requires a 1x 6-pin plus 1x 8-pin power connector, with a suggested PSU of 600W. The RX 6800S has a 100W TDP, is an IGP (integrated graphics processor), and requires no power connectors. The Quadro measures 267 mm in length and 111 mm in height, while the RX 6800S has no recorded dimensions due to its mobile nature. The Quadro uses PCIe 3.0 x16, while the RX 6800S uses PCIe 4.0 x8. Display outputs also differ: the Quadro has 4x DisplayPort 1.4a and 1x USB Type-C, while the RX 6800S’s outputs are portable device dependent.

Both GPUs support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The Quadro was released in August 2018 with a launch MSRP of 9,999 USD, while the RX 6800S launched in January 2022 with no recorded MSRP. Both are end-of-life products, with the Quadro succeeding Quadro Volta and preceding Workstation Ampere, and the RX 6800S succeeding Polaris Mobile.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has more memory?

A: The NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000 has 48 GB of GDDR6 memory, while the AMD Radeon RX 6800S has 8 GB.

Q: What is the performance difference in compute workloads?

A: In the Passmark GPU Compute test, the Quadro scores 9992 versus 6144 for the RX 6800S, a 62.6% advantage for NVIDIA.

Q: Are both GPUs compatible with DirectX 12 Ultimate?

A: Yes, both support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), along with OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4.

Q: Which GPU requires external power connectors?

A: The Quadro RTX 8000 requires a 1x 6-pin and 1x 8-pin power connector, while the RX 6800S requires none.

Q: What are the transistor densities of each chip?

A: The Quadro’s TU102 has a density of 24.7M transistors per mm², while the RX 6800S’s Navi 23 has 46.7M per mm².

Q: How do their average benchmark scores compare?

A: The Quadro has an average benchmark score of 28421, placing it in the 74th percentile, while the RX 6800S averages 24063, in the 69th percentile.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000 wins in every benchmark category, but its largest margins are in compute-heavy and API-diverse tests. It is the clear choice for desktop workstations requiring 48 GB of VRAM, such as 3D rendering, scientific computing, or AI inference thanks to its tensor cores. The 62.6% lead in GPU compute and the 50.9% lead in Vulkan make it ideal for developers and professionals who need maximum throughput. Its 260W TDP and dual-slot size are acceptable in full-size desktop chassis.

The AMD Radeon RX 6800S, despite losing all head-to-head tests, wins in the context of portability and efficiency. Its 100W TDP and IGP design mean it can be integrated into laptops without external power, which the Quadro cannot do. For users who need a capable GPU in a thin-and-light system, the RX 6800S is the only option, and its 8 GB of memory and 256.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for 1080p gaming and moderate creative work. The RX 6800S also has a higher boost clock of 2100 MHz, which can help in scenarios where per-clock efficiency matters more than raw resource count. In the DirectX 9 test, the 5.5% gap is the closest any test comes, showing that for legacy workloads, the RX 6800S is not far behind. Ultimately, the Quadro is for stationary, performance-critical environments, and the RX 6800S is for mobile, power-constrained systems.