AMD Radeon RX 7900M vs NVIDIA RTX 4500 Ada Generation Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data shows the NVIDIA RTX 4500 Ada Generation winning both benchmark tests against the AMD Radeon RX 7900M. The most significant margin appears in Geekbench OpenCL, where the RTX 4500 scores 160,786 against the RX 7900M’s 129,499, a 24.2% advantage. This is a decisive gap for compute-heavy workloads that rely on OpenCL acceleration.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the RTX 4500 again leads, scoring 171,401 versus 158,760 for the RX 7900M, an 8% difference. While narrower than the OpenCL result, this still represents a clean sweep for NVIDIA in the head-to-head tests available. The RX 7900M has no benchmark wins in this comparison.

Context from the database’s nearest rival data helps interpret these scores. The RTX 4500’s average benchmark score of 166,094 places it just 0.5% ahead of the NVIDIA RTX A5500 (165,217) and 0.7% ahead of the AMD Radeon PRO W7800 (164,894). It also sits 2.2% above the NVIDIA A100 PCIe 40 GB (162,504). The only rival it trails in the recorded set is the AMD Radeon Pro W6900X, which averages 168,574, putting the RTX 4500 1.5% behind that card.

For the RX 7900M, its average benchmark score of 97,487 is markedly lower than the RTX 4500’s figure, but that average includes a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 4,201, a test the RTX 4500 does not have recorded. The RX 7900M’s nearest rivals tell a different story: it sits 0.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro VII (97,131), 5.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon Instinct MI60 (92,466), and 6.3% ahead of the NVIDIA RTX A4500 (91,671). Against the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000 (101,872), the RX 7900M is 4.3% behind.

The percentile rankings reinforce the separation. The RTX 4500 falls in the 97th percentile of all GPUs in the database, while the RX 7900M lands in the 94th percentile. Both are high-end parts, but the RTX 4500 sits in a stronger overall position.

The Verdict

From the data alone, the NVIDIA RTX 4500 Ada Generation is the clear choice for users prioritizing raw compute and graphics scores across the tests recorded. It wins both head-to-head benchmarks, holds a higher percentile ranking (97th versus 94th), and has a substantially higher average benchmark score (166,094 versus 97,487). If your workload is dominated by OpenCL or Vulkan performance, the RTX 4500 is the better pick.

The AMD Radeon RX 7900M is not without merit, but its strengths lie elsewhere in the specification sheet rather than in the benchmark results captured here. It has a higher memory bandwidth (576.0 GB/s versus 432.0 GB/s) and a higher pixel rate (401.3 GPixel/s versus 206.4 GPixel/s), which could benefit specific rasterization-heavy scenarios. However, the recorded benchmarks do not show it winning any direct comparison.

Users who need the higher average score and the consistent lead in the two tests should select the NVIDIA RTX 4500 Ada Generation. Those who prioritize the RX 7900M’s mobile form factor (IGP slot width, portable device dependent outputs) and higher bandwidth should consider it only if those traits outweigh the benchmark deficit.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins in Geekbench OpenCL?

A: The NVIDIA RTX 4500 Ada Generation wins with a score of 160,786 versus 129,499 for the AMD Radeon RX 7900M, a 24.2% lead.

Q: How do the two compare in Geekbench Vulkan?

A: The NVIDIA RTX 4500 Ada Generation scores 171,401, while the AMD Radeon RX 7900M scores 158,760. The RTX 4500 leads by 8%.

Q: What is the percentile ranking for each GPU?

A: The NVIDIA RTX 4500 Ada Generation is in the 97th percentile of all GPUs, while the AMD Radeon RX 7900M is in the 94th percentile.

Q: Which card has more memory?

A: The NVIDIA RTX 4500 Ada Generation has 24 GB of GDDR6 memory, while the AMD Radeon RX 7900M has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory.

Q: Does the RX 7900M have any benchmark win over the RTX 4500?

A: No. The head-to-head data shows the RTX 4500 winning both recorded tests, with 2 wins for NVIDIA and 0 for AMD.

Q: What is the average benchmark score difference?

A: The NVIDIA RTX 4500 Ada Generation averages 166,094, while the AMD Radeon RX 7900M averages 97,487. The RTX 4500 is notably higher, though the RX 7900M’s average includes a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 result of 4,201 that the RTX 4500 does not have recorded.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every core specification. The NVIDIA RTX 4500 Ada Generation has a base clock of 2070 MHz and a boost clock of 2580 MHz, while the AMD Radeon RX 7900M runs at 1825 MHz base and 2090 MHz boost. The RTX 4500 has 7680 shading units, 240 texture mapping units, and 80 render output units. The RX 7900M has 4608 shading units, 288 TMUs, and 192 ROPs.

Memory configuration is a major split: the RTX 4500 uses a 192-bit bus with 24 GB of GDDR6 and 432.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the RX 7900M uses a 256-bit bus with 16 GB of GDDR6 and 576.0 GB/s bandwidth. Both run memory at 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective).

Compute rates differ notably. The RTX 4500 delivers 39.63 TFLOPS FP32, matching its FP16 rate at 39.63 TFLOPS (1:1). The RX 7900M delivers 38.52 TFLOPS FP32 but doubles its FP16 to 77.05 TFLOPS (2:1). Pixel and texture rates favor the RX 7900M in pixels (401.3 GPixel/s versus 206.4 GPixel/s) but slightly favor the RTX 4500 in textures (619.2 GTexel/s versus 601.9 GTexel/s).

Power and physical design diverge: the RTX 4500 has a 210 W TDP with a suggested 550 W PSU, dual-slot width, and 245 mm length (112 mm height). The RX 7900M has a 180 W TDP, no suggested PSU listed, IGP slot width, and no recorded dimensions, being a mobile part with portable device dependent outputs. The RTX 4500 offers 4x DisplayPort 1.4a outputs.

Architecture Differences

The NVIDIA RTX 4500 Ada Generation uses the AD103 chip built on the Ada Lovelace architecture, fabricated by TSMC on a 5 nm process. It contains 45,900 million transistors on a 379 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 121.1M per mm². It includes 60 ray tracing cores and 240 tensor cores, the latter being absent from the AMD card’s specification listing.

The AMD Radeon RX 7900M uses the Navi 31 chip with the RDNA 3.0 architecture, codenamed Plum Bonito. It is also built on TSMC’s 5 nm process but packs more hardware: 57,700 million transistors on a 529 mm² die, with a lower density of 109.1M per mm². It has 72 ray tracing cores, which exceeds the RTX 4500’s 60, but no tensor cores are listed.

Both cards support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The RTX 4500 is part of the Workstation Ada generation, while the RX 7900M belongs to the Navi Mobile (RX 7000M) generation. The RTX 4500’s predecessor is Workstation Ampere, and its successor is Blackwell PRO W. The RX 7900M’s predecessor is Polaris Mobile, with no successor listed.

Release timing differs: the RTX 4500 launched on 2023-08-08, while the RX 7900M launched later on 2023-10-18. Both are marked as Active in production status.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA RTX 4500 Ada Generation wins where compute consistency matters most. Its OpenCL lead of 24.2% and Vulkan lead of 8% make it the stronger choice for applications that rely on those APIs, including rendering, simulation, and general GPU compute. The 24 GB memory capacity also supports larger datasets than the RX 7900M’s 16 GB, and the higher FP32 throughput (39.63 TFLOPS versus 38.52 TFLOPS) adds a slight edge for single-precision workloads. The tensor cores, absent from the RX 7900M’s listings, give the RTX 4500 a distinct advantage for AI and machine learning tasks that use Tensor Core acceleration.

The AMD Radeon RX 7900M wins in raw memory bandwidth, with 576.0 GB/s versus 432.0 GB/s, which benefits memory-bound workloads that can saturate the 256-bit bus. Its pixel rate of 401.3 GPixel/s is nearly double the RTX 4500’s 206.4 GPixel/s, making it the stronger candidate for fill-rate-heavy rasterization. The FP16 throughput of 77.05 TFLOPS (2:1) is significantly higher than the RTX 4500’s 39.63 TFLOPS (1:1), so workloads that exploit half-precision math will see a clear benefit. The lower 180 W TDP also makes it a more efficient option for mobile or thermally constrained systems, though it comes with portable device dependent display outputs and no standard dimensions.

The data does not support a scenario where the RX 7900M beats the RTX 4500 in the recorded benchmarks, so any choice favoring AMD must rest on the specification advantages listed above. For most compute and graphics workloads measured here, the RTX 4500 is the safer recommendation.