AMD Radeon 860M vs NVIDIA RTX 2000 Ada Generation Comparison

AMD Radeon 860M and NVIDIA RTX 2000 Ada Generation occupy different segments of the GPU market, and the recorded benchmark data shows a clear performance hierarchy. The RTX 2000 Ada Generation wins all recorded head-to-head tests, with Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan results placing it substantially ahead of the Radeon 860M. However, the Radeon 860M is an integrated graphics processor designed for portable devices, while the RTX 2000 Ada Generation is a dual-slot workstation card, so their roles differ despite the performance gap.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 2000 Ada Generation wins every recorded benchmark in the database. In Geekbench OpenCL, it scores 78074 against 22759 for the Radeon 860M, a margin of 70.8 percent. In Geekbench Vulkan, the RTX 2000 Ada Generation scores 83360 against 30043, a 64 percent advantage. These are the only two head-to-head benchmarks recorded, and the NVIDIA part wins both outright.

The Radeon 860M has no benchmark wins in the head-to-head comparison. Its strengths lie elsewhere: as an IGP with a 15 W TDP, it is designed for power-constrained portable systems, whereas the RTX 2000 Ada Generation uses 70 W and requires a dual-slot form factor. The Radeon 860M also holds a higher percentile ranking against all GPUs at 72, compared to 63 for the RTX 2000 Ada Generation. That percentile reflects its average benchmark score of 26401, which places it near the NVIDIA GeForce MX550 (26421, 0.1 percent higher) and the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT 50th Anniversary (26553, 0.6 percent higher). The RTX 2000 Ada Generation, despite its lower percentile, sits close to the AMD Radeon RX 6600 (19036, 0.4 percent higher) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Mobile (19049, 0.5 percent higher) in average score.

The use-case split is therefore straightforward: the RTX 2000 Ada Generation delivers far higher raw compute performance in both OpenCL and Vulkan workloads, while the Radeon 860M offers an integrated solution with a much lower power envelope and a better percentile standing among all GPUs.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different architectures and process nodes. The Radeon 860M uses RDNA 3.5 on a 4 nm TSMC process, built as part of the Krackan Point chip in the Navi III IGP (Strix Point Mobile) generation. The RTX 2000 Ada Generation uses Ada Lovelace on a 5 nm TSMC process with the AD107 chip, belonging to the Workstation Ada (x000A) generation. Both are active production parts, and both support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

The RTX 2000 Ada Generation has a dedicated memory subsystem: 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 128 bit bus, delivering 256.0 GB/s bandwidth. The Radeon 860M uses system shared memory, with bandwidth described as system dependent. The NVIDIA part also has a much larger compute configuration: 2816 shading units, 88 texture mapping units, 48 raster output units, 22 ray tracing cores, and 88 tensor cores. The Radeon 860M has 512 shading units, 32 TMUs, 16 ROPs, and 8 ray tracing cores, with no tensor cores listed.

Clock behavior differs as well. The Radeon 860M has a base clock of 600 MHz and a boost clock of 3000 MHz, while the RTX 2000 Ada Generation runs at a base of 1620 MHz and boosts to 2130 MHz. The NVIDIA part reports memory at 2000 MHz with 16 Gbps effective, whereas the Radeon 860M memory clock is system shared.

Transistor and die information is only available for the RTX 2000 Ada Generation: 18,900 million transistors on a 159 mm² die, with a transistor density of 118.9M per mm². The Radeon 860M lists both transistors and die size as unknown.

The RTX 2000 Ada Generation includes 88 tensor cores, which the Radeon 860M lacks entirely. That feature difference, combined with the larger ray tracing core count (22 versus 8), indicates the NVIDIA part is built for workstation-class acceleration workloads, while the AMD IGP targets general graphics in mobile devices.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data contains two head-to-head tests, both won by the RTX 2000 Ada Generation. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 2000 Ada Generation scores 78074, which is 70.8 percent higher than the Radeon 860M's 22759. That is the larger margin of the two tests. In Geekbench Vulkan, the RTX 2000 Ada Generation scores 83360 against 30043, a 64 percent advantage.

These results align with the raw specification differences. The RTX 2000 Ada Generation delivers 12.00 TFLOPS FP32, four times the 3.072 TFLOPS of the Radeon 860M. Pixel rate is 102.2 GPixel/s versus 48.00 GPixel/s, and texture rate is 187.4 GTexel/s versus 96.00 GTexel/s. The NVIDIA part also has dedicated GDDR6 memory with 256.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the AMD part depends on system memory.

The delta percentages confirm the consistency of the win: a 70.8 percent OpenCL gap and a 64 percent Vulkan gap. The RTX 2000 Ada Generation also has additional benchmark data beyond the head-to-head tests. Its Passmark G3D score is 16927, its Passmark G2D score is 1072, and its Passmark GPU compute score is 7834. In DirectX tests, it scores 216 in Passmark DirectX 9, 138 in DirectX 11, 82 in DirectX 10, and 71 in DirectX 12. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 1767.

The Radeon 860M has no additional benchmark entries beyond the two Geekbench tests, so the full comparison rests on those two results.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon 860M has an average benchmark score of 26401, while the NVIDIA RTX 2000 Ada Generation averages 18954. Despite losing both head-to-head tests, the Radeon 860M ranks higher by this aggregate metric.

Q: How large is the performance gap in Geekbench OpenCL?

A: The RTX 2000 Ada Generation scores 78074 versus 22759 for the Radeon 860M, a delta of 70.8 percent in favor of the NVIDIA part.

Q: What memory configurations do the two GPUs use?

A: The RTX 2000 Ada Generation uses 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 128 bit bus with 256.0 GB/s bandwidth. The Radeon 860M uses system shared memory with system dependent bandwidth.

Q: Do both GPUs support the same graphics APIs?

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

Q: What is the power consumption difference?

A: The Radeon 860M has a 15 W TDP, while the RTX 2000 Ada Generation has a 70 W TDP. The NVIDIA part also lists a suggested PSU of 250 W.

Q: Which GPU has tensor cores?

A: Only the RTX 2000 Ada Generation has tensor cores, with 88 of them. The Radeon 860M lists no tensor cores.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ in nearly every measured specification. The Radeon 860M uses a 4 nm process, while the RTX 2000 Ada Generation uses 5 nm. The AMD part is an IGP with no slot width, while the NVIDIA part is dual-slot. Power draw is 15 W versus 70 W. The RTX 2000 Ada Generation has a suggested PSU of 250 W; the Radeon 860M has none listed.

Compute resources differ sharply: 512 shading units versus 2816, 32 TMUs versus 88, 16 ROPs versus 48, and 8 ray tracing cores versus 22. The RTX 2000 Ada Generation adds 88 tensor cores where the Radeon 860M has none. FP32 performance is 3.072 TFLOPS versus 12.00 TFLOPS, and FP16 is also 3.072 TFLOPS (1:1) versus 12.00 TFLOPS (1:1).

Memory is fundamentally different. The Radeon 860M uses system shared memory with a system dependent bus width and bandwidth. The RTX 2000 Ada Generation has 16 GB GDDR6, a 128 bit bus, and 256.0 GB/s bandwidth. Memory clock is system shared for the AMD part, versus 2000 MHz 16 Gbps effective for the NVIDIA part.

Clocks also diverge: the Radeon 860M boosts to 3000 MHz from a 600 MHz base, while the RTX 2000 Ada Generation boosts to 2130 MHz from 1620 MHz. Pixel rate is 48.00 GPixel/s versus 102.2 GPixel/s, and texture rate is 96.00 GTexel/s versus 187.4 GTexel/s.

The RTX 2000 Ada Generation has a launch MSRP of 649 USD. It measures 168 mm by 69 mm. The Radeon 860M lists no dimensions. Display outputs are portable device dependent for the AMD part, while the NVIDIA part has 4x mini-DisplayPort 1.4a. Both use PCIe 4.0 x8 and have no power connectors. The RTX 2000 Ada Generation has 18,900 million transistors on a 159 mm² die with 118.9M per mm² density; the Radeon 860M lists these as unknown.

Release dates differ: the Radeon 860M released on 2025-02-28, while the RTX 2000 Ada Generation released on 2024-02-11. The AMD part's predecessor is Navi II IGP, and the NVIDIA part's predecessor is Workstation Ampere with a successor of Blackwell PRO W.

The Verdict

The data directs different buyers to different products. The RTX 2000 Ada Generation is the clear choice for compute-intensive workloads, as it wins both recorded benchmarks by wide margins. Its 70.8 percent OpenCL lead and 64 percent Vulkan lead, combined with 88 tensor cores and dedicated 16 GB GDDR6 memory, make it suited for workstation tasks that require sustained throughput. The 12.00 TFLOPS FP32 figure is four times that of the Radeon 860M, and the 256.0 GB/s memory bandwidth removes the system dependency that limits the AMD part.

The Radeon 860M serves a different purpose. Its 15 W TDP and IGP form factor fit portable devices where the dual-slot, 70 W RTX 2000 Ada Generation cannot operate. Its average benchmark score of 26401 and 72nd percentile standing among all GPUs indicate that, despite losing both head-to-head tests, it delivers competitive performance for its class. The nearest rivals to the Radeon 860M, the NVIDIA GeForce MX550 at 26421 and the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT 50th Anniversary at 26553, sit within one percent of its average score.

Users who need maximum graphics compute in a workstation should select the RTX 2000 Ada Generation. Users who need an integrated GPU for a portable system with minimal power draw should select the Radeon 860M. The benchmark results do not present a contest between equals; they present two products for different deployment scenarios, with the NVIDIA part dominating raw performance and the AMD part offering efficiency and integration.