AMD Radeon RX 6700S vs NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile Comparison

The AMD Radeon RX 6700S and the NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile are two end-of-life mobile graphics solutions aimed at different priorities, and the benchmark data reveals a genuine split decision. Across nine head-to-head tests, the AMD card takes five wins while the NVIDIA card takes four, but the margins tell a more complex story than the raw tally suggests. The RX 6700S edges ahead in overall average benchmark score with 22,154 points against the A4000 Mobile’s 21,379, yet the NVIDIA part counters with decisive victories in compute-heavy workloads.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most lopsided result in the entire comparison belongs to the NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile in the Geekbench OpenCL test. Here, the A4000 Mobile scores 97,178 against the RX 6700S’s 70,965, a commanding 27% advantage. This is the single largest delta between the two cards, and it underscores the NVIDIA part’s raw compute throughput. The data shows the A4000 Mobile also wins in PassMark DirectX 10, scoring 105 versus 87 for a 17.1% lead, and in PassMark DirectX 12, where it posts 66 against 58 for a 12.1% margin. The GPU compute test further favors NVIDIA, with the A4000 Mobile scoring 6,394 versus 5,990, a 6.3% edge.

The AMD Radeon RX 6700S, however, dominates the legacy and 2D workloads. Its largest win comes in PassMark DirectX 9, where it scores 195 against the A4000 Mobile’s 157, a substantial 24.2% advantage. The RX 6700S also takes the PassMark G2D test by a wide margin, scoring 739 versus 585, a 26.3% lead that indicates superior 2D performance. In the modern API tests, the AMD card shows resilience: it wins Geekbench Vulkan with 76,150 against 73,002, a 4.3% margin, and takes PassMark DirectX 11 with 134 versus 127, a 5.5% lead. The closest contest is PassMark G3D, where the RX 6700S scores 15,066 against 14,796, a narrow 1.8% win.

Looking at the broader context, the RX 6700S’s average score of 22,154 places it just 0.1% behind the AMD Radeon RX 5700 (22,170) and 1.3% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Mobile (22,435). It sits 1.4% ahead of the GeForce GTX 1060 6 GB (21,856). The A4000 Mobile’s average of 21,379 puts it 0.7% ahead of the AMD Radeon HD 8970M (21,237) and 1.1% ahead of the Radeon RX Vega M GL (21,153), while trailing the Quadro RTX 5000 by 1.2% (21,629). These rival positions show both cards are clustered in a tight performance band, with the RX 6700S holding a slight overall edge.

The Verdict

The data presents a clear choice based on workload priorities. The NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile is the pick for compute-intensive tasks and DirectX 12 gaming. Its 27% lead in OpenCL and 12.1% lead in DirectX 12 make it the stronger option for applications that leverage these APIs, and its 6.3% advantage in GPU compute reinforces this positioning. The 17.1% win in DirectX 10 also suggests better compatibility with older DirectX titles that rely on that API.

The AMD Radeon RX 6700S, conversely, is the better choice for legacy API performance and 2D workloads. Its 24.2% win in DirectX 9 and 26.3% lead in G2D are decisive, and it also holds a 5.5% edge in DirectX 11, which remains a widely used API. The 4.3% Vulkan win adds modern API credibility, and the 1.8% G3D lead, while small, keeps it ahead in the most common gaming benchmark.

For a user prioritizing compute performance, the RTX A4000 Mobile is the data-backed choice. For a user prioritizing broad API compatibility and 2D responsiveness, the RX 6700S wins. The overall average score slightly favors AMD, but the NVIDIA card’s compute dominance makes it the more specialized tool.

Architecture Differences

The two cards are built on fundamentally different architectures and process nodes. The AMD Radeon RX 6700S uses the Navi 23 chip based on RDNA 2.0 architecture, manufactured on TSMC’s 7 nm process. It packs 11,060 million transistors into a 237 mm² die, resulting in a transistor density of 46.7 million per mm². The NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile uses the GA104 chip based on Ampere architecture, built on Samsung’s 8 nm process. It contains 17,400 million transistors across a 392 mm² die, with a slightly lower density of 44.4 million per mm².

The core configurations differ substantially. The RX 6700S features 1,792 shading units, 112 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs. It has 28 ray tracing cores and no tensor cores. The A4000 Mobile, by contrast, boasts 5,120 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 80 ROPs, along with 40 ray tracing cores and 160 tensor cores. This gives the NVIDIA card a massive 2.86x advantage in shading unit count, which explains its compute dominance.

Clock speeds tell a different story. The RX 6700S runs at a 1700 MHz base clock and 2000 MHz boost clock, with a game clock of 1890 MHz. The A4000 Mobile has a much lower 1140 MHz base and 1680 MHz boost. This clock speed advantage helps the AMD card close the gap in some tests despite its far fewer shading units.

Memory configurations also diverge. Both cards have 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, but the RX 6700S uses a 128-bit bus with 224.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the A4000 Mobile uses a 256-bit bus with 384.0 GB/s bandwidth. The NVIDIA card’s 71.4% bandwidth advantage is significant for memory-heavy workloads. The RX 6700S memory runs at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective), while the A4000 Mobile runs at 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective), yet the wider bus wins out.

Power consumption differs markedly. The RX 6700S has an 80 W TDP, while the A4000 Mobile draws 115 W. The RX 6700S is an IGP with no power connectors, while the A4000 Mobile also lists no power connectors. Both use PCIe 4.0, but the RX 6700S is x8 while the A4000 Mobile is x16. The RX 6700S also has a higher pixel rate of 128.0 GPixel/s versus 134.4 GPixel/s for the A4000 Mobile, and a lower texture rate of 224.0 GTexel/s versus 268.8 GTexel/s. FP32 throughput heavily favors NVIDIA at 17.20 TFLOPS versus 7.168 TFLOPS, while FP16 is 14.34 TFLOPS (2:1) for AMD and 17.20 TFLOPS (1:1) for NVIDIA.

Both support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The A4000 Mobile was released earlier, on 2021-04-11, while the RX 6700S came later on 2022-01-03. The A4000 Mobile’s predecessor is the Quadro Turing-M and its successor is Ada-MW, while the RX 6700S’s predecessor is Polaris Mobile.

FAQ

Q: Which card has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6700S has an average benchmark score of 22,154, which is 775 points higher than the NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile’s 21,379.

Q: How much faster is the RTX A4000 Mobile in OpenCL?

A: The RTX A4000 Mobile scores 97,178 in Geekbench OpenCL, which is 27% higher than the RX 6700S’s 70,965.

Q: Does the RX 6700S win any modern API tests?

A: Yes, the RX 6700S wins Geekbench Vulkan with a 4.3% margin and PassMark DirectX 11 with a 5.5% margin.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth difference between the two cards?

A: The RTX A4000 Mobile has 384.0 GB/s bandwidth on a 256-bit bus, while the RX 6700S has 224.0 GB/s on a 128-bit bus.

Q: Which card has more shading units?

A: The RTX A4000 Mobile has 5,120 shading units, which is 3,328 more than the RX 6700S’s 1,792.

Q: How do their percentile rankings compare?

A: The RX 6700S is in the 67th percentile of all GPUs, while the RTX A4000 Mobile is in the 66th percentile.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile is the clear winner in compute and specific DirectX workloads. Its 27% OpenCL lead makes it the superior choice for GPU-accelerated compute tasks, and its 12.1% DirectX 12 advantage positions it well for modern games that use that API. The 17.1% DirectX 10 win and 6.3% GPU compute lead further reinforce its strengths. The 160 tensor cores give it dedicated AI acceleration hardware that the RX 6700S lacks entirely. The 384.0 GB/s bandwidth and 256-bit bus make it better suited for memory-intensive professional workloads.

The AMD Radeon RX 6700S wins in legacy APIs and 2D performance. The 24.2% DirectX 9 lead and 26.3% G2D advantage are the largest margins in its favor, making it the better option for older games and desktop applications. The 5.5% DirectX 11 win covers a huge library of current titles, and the 4.3% Vulkan lead shows it holds its own in modern cross-platform APIs. The 1.8% G3D win, while small, means it edges ahead in general 3D performance. The 80 W TDP also makes it a more power-efficient option, running cooler and drawing less power than the A4000 Mobile’s 115 W. The 2000 MHz boost clock and 1890 MHz game clock give it a clock speed advantage that helps offset its lower core count.

In practice, the A4000 Mobile suits professionals and gamers focused on DirectX 12 and compute, while the RX 6700S suits users with a mixed workload of legacy games, 2D applications, and modern Vulkan titles. The data shows five wins for AMD and four for NVIDIA, but the magnitude of NVIDIA’s compute victories makes both cards compelling in their respective domains.