NVIDIA RTX A4500 vs NVIDIA RTX A4500 Mobile Comparison

NVIDIA’s entry into the professional mobile and desktop GPU markets often results in close comparisons, but the data here shows a clear hierarchy. The desktop RTX A4500 and the RTX A4500 Mobile are both Ampere-generation workstation parts, yet they are distinct silicon implementations with different performance envelopes. The benchmark results indicate that the desktop A4500 is the faster card in both measured workloads, with the mobile variant trailing significantly in raw compute and graphics APIs. The average benchmark score for the desktop model is 92,145, placing it 1.1% ahead of the mobile part’s average of 91,134, a gap that is statistically small in aggregate but masks much larger differences in individual tests.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The two GPUs were evaluated in two shared benchmark workloads, and the desktop NVIDIA RTX A4500 won both. The largest margin appears in the Geekbench Vulkan test, where the desktop card scores 131,402 against the mobile part’s 76,960. That is a delta of 70.7%, meaning the desktop A4500 delivers more than two-thirds higher performance in this API-specific workload. Such a wide gap suggests that the desktop card’s higher shader count, faster clocks, and wider memory bus translate directly into raw graphics throughput, while the mobile variant is constrained by its power envelope and reduced silicon.

In Geekbench OpenCL, the desktop A4500 again leads, scoring 141,837 versus 105,307 for the mobile version. This represents a 34.7% advantage. While still substantial, the OpenCL margin is roughly half the Vulkan gap, indicating that compute-heavy workloads are less sensitive to the architectural differences between the two chips than graphics-oriented tasks. The desktop card’s FP32 throughput of 23.65 TFLOPS compared to the mobile’s 17.66 TFLOPS aligns with this result, as the desktop part has a 34% raw compute advantage.

When viewed against the wider field, both cards sit in the 95th percentile of all GPUs, which is notable given the mobile part’s lower absolute scores. The desktop A4500’s nearest rival is the AMD Radeon RX 7900M, which averages 91,713, a mere 0.5% behind. This places the desktop card in a tight cluster with high-end mobile and workstation parts. The mobile A4500, by contrast, trails the same AMD part by only 0.6%, meaning the two NVIDIA cards are separated by less than the margin between the mobile A4500 and its nearest competitor. The AMD Radeon Pro VII sits 3.6% behind the desktop A4500 and 2.4% ahead of the mobile A4500, while the NVIDIA Quadro GP100 trails both by 4.1% and 2.9%, respectively.

Where Each One Wins

The desktop NVIDIA RTX A4500 wins every benchmark in the head-to-head dataset, so the use-case split is straightforward: it is the superior choice for any workload that relies on the tested APIs. Its 70.7% lead in Vulkan suggests a decisive advantage in games and real-time rendering engines that leverage Vulkan’s low overhead, as well as in professional visualization tools that use this API. The 34.7% OpenCL lead covers compute tasks like ray tracing, physics simulation, and general-purpose GPU computing in applications that favor OpenCL over CUDA.

The RTX A4500 Mobile, despite losing both tests, still holds value in scenarios where the desktop card cannot be physically deployed. Its 16 GB of GDDR6 memory and 512.0 GB/s bandwidth are adequate for large datasets, but the desktop card’s 20 GB and 640.0 GB/s are objectively superior. The mobile part’s 140 W TDP allows it to fit in high-end laptops, whereas the desktop card requires 200 W and a dedicated dual-slot cooler. For professionals who need Ampere-class workstation features on the move, the mobile A4500 is the only option in this pairing, but its performance is closer to the AMD Radeon Pro VII (2.4% faster) than to its desktop sibling.

The winsA and winsB counts reflect this lopsided result: the desktop A4500 claims 2 wins, the mobile part 0. There is no benchmark where the mobile card pulls ahead, which is expected given the desktop card’s higher base clock of 1050 MHz versus 930 MHz, and boost clock of 1650 MHz versus 1500 MHz. The desktop card’s texture rate of 369.6 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 158.4 GPixel/s dwarf the mobile part’s 276.0 GTexel/s and 144.0 GPixel/s, respectively.

FAQ

Q: How much faster is the desktop RTX A4500 than the mobile version in Vulkan?

A: The desktop card scores 131,402 in Geekbench Vulkan, which is 70.7% higher than the mobile card’s 76,960. This is the largest performance gap between the two in any shared benchmark.

Q: Do the two cards have the same memory capacity?

A: No. The desktop RTX A4500 has 20 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 320-bit bus, while the mobile RTX A4500 Mobile has 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus. Consequently, memory bandwidth differs: 640.0 GB/s versus 512.0 GB/s.

Q: Which card has more shading units?

A: The desktop RTX A4500 has 7,168 shading units, while the mobile RTX A4500 Mobile has 5,888. The desktop card also has more texture mapping units (224 versus 184) and more ray tracing cores (56 versus 46).

Q: Are the two cards based on the same chip?

A: No, though both are Ampere architecture. The desktop A4500 uses the GA102 chip, while the mobile A4500 uses the GA104. The GA102 is a larger die at 628 mm² with 28,300 million transistors, compared to 392 mm² and 17,400 million transistors for the GA104.

Q: What is the average benchmark score difference between them?

A: The desktop RTX A4500 has an average benchmark score of 92,145, which is 1.1% higher than the mobile card’s average of 91,134. This places them 1.1% apart in the aggregate, despite the much larger gaps in individual tests.

Q: How do they compare to the AMD Radeon RX 7900M?

A: The desktop A4500 is 0.5% faster than the RX 7900M, while the mobile A4500 is 0.6% slower. Both NVIDIA cards sit within 1% of the AMD part, making them near-peers in overall performance.

Specification Differences

The most obvious difference is physical: the desktop RTX A4500 is a dual-slot card measuring 267 mm in length and 112 mm in height, with a single 8-pin power connector and a suggested PSU of 550 W. The mobile RTX A4500 Mobile has no slot width, dimensions, or power connector specifications, as it is designed for integration into laptops. The desktop card draws 200 W, while the mobile part draws 140 W.

Memory configurations differ substantially. The desktop A4500 offers 20 GB of GDDR6 over a 320-bit bus, yielding 640.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The mobile A4500 comes with 16 GB of GDDR6 over a 256-bit bus, providing 512.0 GB/s. Both use 2000 MHz memory with 16 Gbps effective speed, but the wider bus gives the desktop card the bandwidth edge.

Compute resources are also unevenly distributed. The desktop card has 7,168 shading units, 224 TMUs, and 96 ROPs, while the mobile card has 5,888 shading units, 184 TMUs, and the same 96 ROPs. Ray tracing cores number 56 on desktop versus 46 on mobile, and tensor cores are 224 versus 184. This results in the desktop card’s FP32 performance of 23.65 TFLOPS versus 17.66 TFLOPS for the mobile part.

Clock speeds favor the desktop card, with a base of 1050 MHz and boost of 1650 MHz, compared to 930 MHz base and 1500 MHz boost on mobile. Pixel rate and texture rate follow suit: 158.4 GPixel/s and 369.6 GTexel/s on desktop, versus 144.0 GPixel/s and 276.0 GTexel/s on mobile. Both cards share the same API support (DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, Vulkan 1.4) and the same PCIe 4.0 x16 interface. Display outputs differ, with the desktop card offering 4x DisplayPort 1.4a while the mobile card’s outputs are marked as "Portable Device Dependent."

Architecture Differences

Both GPUs are built on NVIDIA’s Ampere architecture and manufactured by Samsung on an 8 nm process. However, they use different dies. The desktop RTX A4500 is based on the GA102 chip, which is a large, high-end silicon with a die size of 628 mm² and 28,300 million transistors. The mobile RTX A4500 Mobile uses the GA104 chip, a smaller and less complex die at 392 mm² with 17,400 million transistors. Transistor density is nearly identical—45.1 million per mm² for GA102 versus 44.4 million per mm² for GA104—indicating that the performance gap comes from scale, not process efficiency.

The generation naming reflects their different lineages. The desktop card belongs to the "Workstation Ampere (Ax000)" generation, while the mobile part is classified under "Ampere-MW (Ax000)." This is a key distinction: the desktop card is a full workstation part, while the mobile card is a mobile workstation variant with reduced resources to fit thermal and power constraints. The desktop card’s predecessor is Quadro Turing, and its successor is Workstation Ada. The mobile card’s predecessor is Quadro Turing-M, and its successor is Ada-MW.

Both cards support the same feature set, including DirectX 12 Ultimate with the 12_2 feature level, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The FP16 performance is 1:1 with FP32 on both, meaning they do not rely on separate tensor core paths for half-precision work. The release dates differ by about four months: the desktop A4500 launched on 2021-11-22, while the mobile A4500 launched on 2022-03-21. Both are now marked as end-of-life in production status. The desktop card has no official launch MSRP listed, and neither does the mobile card, so no pricing data is available for comparison.