NVIDIA RTX 4000 Ada Generation vs NVIDIA RTX A3000 Mobile Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The benchmark database records two head-to-head comparisons between the NVIDIA RTX 4000 Ada Generation and the NVIDIA RTX A3000 Mobile, and the results are decisively one-sided. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the RTX 4000 Ada Generation scores 146,593 against the RTX A3000 Mobile’s 79,091, a delta of 85.3 percent. That is not a marginal lead; it is a generational gap expressed in raw compute throughput. The Vulkan test tells a similar story, with the RTX 4000 Ada Generation posting 123,842 versus 61,189 for the mobile part, a 102.4 percent advantage. In both recorded workloads, the desktop-oriented Ada board doubles or nearly doubles the output of the Ampere laptop chip.

Looking at the aggregate data, the RTX 4000 Ada Generation holds an average benchmark score of 135,218 across all recorded tests, while the RTX A3000 Mobile averages 70,140. That puts the desktop card roughly 92.8 percent higher in overall measured performance, a figure consistent with the individual test deltas. The nearest rival to the RTX 4000 Ada Generation in the database is the NVIDIA A10M at 135,230, a difference of 0 percent, meaning the two are statistically tied. The AMD Radeon PRO W6800 trails by 0.1 percent, and the AMD Radeon Pro W6800X Duo is 0.4 percent behind. None of these rivals approach the RTX A3000 Mobile’s neighborhood; instead, the mobile chip sits near the NVIDIA Quadro P6000 at 69,986 (0.2 percent ahead) and the AMD Radeon Pro WX 8200 at 69,870 (0.4 percent ahead). The RTX A3000 Mobile’s average score of 70,140 places it just 1.7 percent above the NVIDIA CMP 90HX at 69,000.

What the head-to-head numbers do not show is any workload where the RTX A3000 Mobile wins. The database records zero wins for the mobile part across the two tested APIs. Every measured thread of compute, whether OpenCL or Vulkan, favors the RTX 4000 Ada Generation by a wide margin. The Vulkan delta of 102.4 percent is particularly telling because it reflects not just raw shader throughput but also the efficiency of the graphics pipeline, where the Ada card’s newer architecture and higher clock speeds compound into a double-score advantage.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different foundries and process nodes, which explains much of the performance gap. The RTX 4000 Ada Generation uses a 5 nm process at TSMC, while the RTX A3000 Mobile relies on Samsung’s 8 nm node. The transistor counts reflect this: the Ada chip packs 35,800 million transistors into a 294 mm² die, yielding a density of 121.8 million transistors per square millimeter. The Ampere mobile chip has 17,400 million transistors on a larger 392 mm² die, for a density of 44.4 million per square millimeter. The Ada design crams more than twice the transistor density into a smaller physical area, which directly contributes to its higher clock rates and efficiency.

Core counts also diverge sharply. The RTX 4000 Ada Generation has 6,144 shading units, 192 texture mapping units, 64 raster output units, 48 ray tracing cores, and 192 tensor cores. The RTX A3000 Mobile fields 4,096 shading units, 128 TMUs, 64 ROPs, 32 RT cores, and 128 tensor cores. That means the Ada card has 50 percent more shaders, 50 percent more TMUs, 50 percent more RT cores, and 50 percent more tensor cores than the mobile Ampere part. Only the ROP count is identical at 64, which limits pixel throughput differences somewhat, but the shader and texture advantage is overwhelming.

Clock speeds tell a similar story. The RTX 4000 Ada Generation runs at a base clock of 1500 MHz and boosts to 2175 MHz. The RTX A3000 Mobile starts at just 600 MHz and boosts to 1230 MHz. The Ada card’s boost clock is nearly 77 percent higher than the mobile chip’s boost, which, when combined with the larger core count, produces the measured compute rates: 26.73 TFLOPS FP32 for the Ada card versus 10.08 TFLOPS for the mobile part. Both support FP16 at a 1:1 ratio, so the same 2.65x advantage applies to half-precision workloads.

Memory subsystems also differ substantially. The RTX 4000 Ada Generation has 20 GB of GDDR6 on a 160-bit bus, running at an effective 18 Gbps, for a bandwidth of 360.0 GB/s. The RTX A3000 Mobile has 6 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, at 11 Gbps effective, for 264.0 GB/s. Despite the wider bus on the mobile chip, the Ada card’s faster memory clock gives it 36.4 percent more bandwidth. The Ada card also has a much larger pool of memory, 20 GB versus 6 GB, which matters for large datasets and multi-app workloads.

The power envelope is another major architectural split. The RTX 4000 Ada Generation has a TDP of 130 W and requires a single 16-pin power connector, with a suggested power supply of 300 W. The RTX A3000 Mobile has a 70 W TDP and uses no external power connectors, as it is designed to draw from a laptop’s power delivery system. The desktop card consumes 85.7 percent more power but delivers over 160 percent more FP32 throughput, showing the efficiency gains of the 5 nm node.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 4000 Ada Generation wins every measured benchmark, but the reasons for its dominance vary by workload. In OpenCL, which often stresses raw compute and memory bandwidth, the Ada card’s higher shader count, faster clocks, and 36.4 percent bandwidth advantage allow it to pull ahead by 85.3 percent. For tasks that heavily use FP32 or FP16 arithmetic, such as simulation, rendering, or scientific computing, the 26.73 TFLOPS figure is a clear ceiling raiser. The 20 GB memory pool also makes it suitable for large model inference or rendering scenes that exceed 6 GB, which would spill over on the mobile part.

In Vulkan, the Ada card’s advantage grows to 102.4 percent. Vulkan is a low-overhead API that rewards both raw throughput and efficient command processing. The Ada architecture’s newer ray tracing and tensor core hardware, combined with its higher boost clock, produces a disproportionate improvement in graphics-heavy workloads. The RTX A3000 Mobile, with its 32 RT cores and 128 tensor cores, is still a capable workstation GPU for its class, but it sits in the 91st percentile of all GPUs in the database, while the RTX 4000 Ada Generation sits in the 95th. That four-percentile gap represents a significant step up in absolute performance.

For mobile workstation users, the RTX A3000 Mobile’s strengths are not in raw speed but in its power profile. At 70 W, it can operate in thin-and-light laptops without external power connectors, making it suitable for on-the-go CAD or light content creation. Its 6 GB memory is sufficient for many professional applications that do not exceed that capacity. The RTX 4000 Ada Generation, by contrast, is a single-slot desktop card requiring a 300 W power supply, so it is physically anchored to a workstation chassis. The choice between them is not just performance, but form factor and deployment scenario.

FAQ

Q: How much faster is the RTX 4000 Ada Generation in OpenCL?

A: The RTX 4000 Ada Generation scores 146,593 in Geekbench OpenCL, versus 79,091 for the RTX A3000 Mobile, a delta of 85.3 percent.

Q: Which GPU has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The RTX 4000 Ada Generation averages 135,218 across all recorded tests, while the RTX A3000 Mobile averages 70,140. The Ada card’s nearest rival, the NVIDIA A10M, scores 135,230, a 0 percent difference.

Q: What is the memory capacity and bandwidth difference?

A: The RTX 4000 Ada Generation has 20 GB of GDDR6 with 360.0 GB/s bandwidth. The RTX A3000 Mobile has 6 GB of GDDR6 with 264.0 GB/s bandwidth. The Ada card has 36.4 percent more bandwidth despite a narrower 160-bit bus versus 192-bit.

Q: Are the architectures different?

A: Yes. The RTX 4000 Ada Generation uses the Ada Lovelace architecture on a 5 nm TSMC process, while the RTX A3000 Mobile uses the Ampere architecture on an 8 nm Samsung process.

Q: Which GPU has more ray tracing cores?

A: The RTX 4000 Ada Generation has 48 RT cores, while the RTX A3000 Mobile has 32 RT cores, a 50 percent advantage for the Ada card.

Q: What is the power draw of each GPU?

A: The RTX 4000 Ada Generation has a TDP of 130 W and requires a 300 W suggested power supply. The RTX A3000 Mobile has a TDP of 70 W and uses no external power connectors.

Specification Differences

| Specification | NVIDIA RTX 4000 Ada Generation | NVIDIA RTX A3000 Mobile |

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

| Architecture | Ada Lovelace | Ampere |

| Process Node | 5 nm | 8 nm |

| Foundry | TSMC | Samsung |

| Transistors | 35,800 million | 17,400 million |

| Die Size | 294 mm² | 392 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 121.8M / mm² | 44.4M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1500 MHz | 600 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 2175 MHz | 1230 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective) | 1375 MHz (11 Gbps effective) |

| Memory Size | 20 GB | 6 GB |

| Memory Bus Width | 160 bit | 192 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 360.0 GB/s | 264.0 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 6144 | 4096 |

| TMUs | 192 | 128 |

| ROPs | 64 | 64 |

| RT Cores | 48 | 32 |

| Tensor Cores | 192 | 128 |

| Pixel Rate | 139.2 GPixel/s | 78.72 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 417.6 GTexel/s | 157.4 GTexel/s |

| FP32 Performance | 26.73 TFLOPS | 10.08 TFLOPS |

| FP16 Performance | 26.73 TFLOPS (1:1) | 10.08 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 130 W | 70 W |

| Slot Width | Single-slot | Not specified |

| Power Connectors | 1x 16-pin | None |

| Suggested PSU | 300 W | Not specified |

| Display Outputs | 4x DisplayPort 1.4a | Portable Device Dependent |

| Production Status | Active | End-of-life |

| Release Date | 2023-08-08 | 2021-04-11 |

| Predecessor | Workstation Ampere | Quadro Turing-M |

| Successor | Blackwell PRO W | Ada-MW |

| Geekbench OpenCL | 146593 | 79091 |

| Geekbench Vulkan | 123842 | 61189 |

| Avg Benchmark Score | 135218 | 70140 |

| Percentile vs All GPUs | 95 | 91 |