NVIDIA RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell Workstation vs NVIDIA Switch 2 GPU Comparison

The Verdict

The data in the database shows two NVIDIA GPUs built for entirely different purposes. The NVIDIA RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell Workstation is a professional compute and rendering product aimed at demanding workstation workloads, while the NVIDIA Switch 2 GPU is a console-oriented chip designed for a fixed-function gaming device. The recorded specifications indicate the RTX PRO 4500 delivers approximately 11.7 times the FP32 throughput of the Switch 2 GPU (50.53 TFLOPS versus 4.301 TFLOPS), and the memory bandwidth advantage is even more pronounced: 896.0 GB/s versus 102.4 GB/s, a factor of 8.75. The Switch 2 GPU operates within a 40 W power envelope, whereas the workstation card has a 200 W TDP. The RTX PRO 4500 is the clear choice for professionals requiring high compute throughput, large memory capacity, and multi-display output. The Switch 2 GPU serves a console platform where fixed performance targets, low power draw, and compact dimensions are the priorities. Neither product is a substitute for the other; the data indicates they occupy separate market segments.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different architectural generations and manufacturing processes. The RTX PRO 4500 uses the GB203 chip built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture, manufactured on a 5 nm process at TSMC. The Switch 2 GPU uses the GA10B chip based on the older Ampere architecture, produced on an 8 nm process at Samsung. This process difference alone accounts for a substantial gap in transistor density, with the Blackwell chip achieving 120.6 million transistors per square millimeter versus an unreported figure for the Ampere chip.

The RTX PRO 4500 integrates 45,600 million transistors across a 378 mm² die. The Switch 2 GPU has a smaller 200 mm² die, though its transistor count is listed as unknown. The Blackwell chip packs 10,496 shading units, 328 TMUs, and 112 ROPs, while the Ampere chip uses 1,536 shading units, 48 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. The RTX PRO 4500 also carries 82 RT cores and 328 tensor cores, compared to 12 RT cores and 48 tensor cores on the Switch 2 GPU. These structural differences reflect the workstation product's focus on parallel computation and ray tracing workloads, whereas the console chip is balanced for a fixed gaming experience.

The memory subsystems diverge sharply as well. The RTX PRO 4500 uses 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 896.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The Switch 2 GPU uses 12 GB of LPDDR5X memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 102.4 GB/s. Clock speeds also differ: the workstation card runs at a 1635 MHz base and 2407 MHz boost, while the console chip runs at a 561 MHz base and 1400 MHz boost. The memory clocks are likewise far apart, with the RTX PRO 4500 at 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective) versus the Switch 2 GPU at 800 MHz (6.4 Gbps effective). Both products support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, so API compatibility is identical.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database contains no direct head-to-head benchmark results for these two products, and the average benchmark scores are recorded as zero for both. However, the specification data allows for a quantitative comparison of theoretical peak performance. The RTX PRO 4500 delivers 50.53 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, while the Switch 2 GPU delivers 4.301 TFLOPS. This represents a 1,074.8% advantage for the workstation card. In FP16 throughput, the RTX PRO 4500 again hits 50.53 TFLOPS with a 1:1 ratio, while the Switch 2 GPU reaches 8.602 TFLOPS with a 2:1 ratio, meaning the workstation card leads by a factor of 5.87.

Pixel fill rates tell a similar story. The RTX PRO 4500 achieves 269.6 GPixel/s, compared to 22.40 GPixel/s for the Switch 2 GPU, a 12-fold difference. Texture fill rates are 789.5 GTexel/s versus 67.20 GTexel/s, an 11.75-fold gap. These figures indicate that the workstation card can handle far higher resolution rendering and more complex texture-heavy scenes than the console chip. The memory bandwidth advantage of 896.0 GB/s versus 102.4 GB/s means the RTX PRO 4500 can feed its compute units at a much higher rate, which is critical for large dataset manipulation and high-resolution texture streaming.

The Switch 2 GPU does hold one advantage in the recorded data: power efficiency relative to its target workload. At 40 W TDP, the console chip draws one-fifth the power of the workstation card's 200 W TDP. The Switch 2 GPU also has a smaller physical footprint in terms of width, at 14 mm versus 40 mm, and a slightly shorter length at 272 mm versus 267 mm for the RTX PRO 4500. The database shows both products at the 50th percentile among all GPUs, though this figure is based on the absence of benchmark scores rather than actual measured performance.

Specification Differences

The two products differ across nearly every recorded specification field. The RTX PRO 4500 uses the GB203 chip, while the Switch 2 GPU uses the GA10B chip. The workstation card is built on a 5 nm TSMC process; the console chip uses an 8 nm Samsung process. Transistor count is 45,600 million for the RTX PRO 4500 versus unknown for the Switch 2 GPU. Die size is 378 mm² against 200 mm². Transistor density is 120.6M per mm² for the workstation card, with no figure for the console chip.

Clock speeds differ substantially: the RTX PRO 4500 runs at 1635 MHz base and 2407 MHz boost, while the Switch 2 GPU runs at 561 MHz base and 1400 MHz boost. Memory clocks are 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective) versus 800 MHz (6.4 Gbps effective). Memory capacity is 32 GB of GDDR7 on a 256-bit bus for the workstation card, versus 12 GB of LPDDR5X on a 128-bit bus for the console chip. Bandwidth is 896.0 GB/s versus 102.4 GB/s.

Compute resources show a 10496-to-1536 shading unit gap, 328-to-48 TMUs, 112-to-16 ROPs, 82-to-12 RT cores, and 328-to-48 tensor cores. Pixel rate is 269.6 GPixel/s versus 22.40 GPixel/s. Texture rate is 789.5 GTexel/s versus 67.20 GTexel/s. FP32 is 50.53 TFLOPS versus 4.301 TFLOPS. FP16 is 50.53 TFLOPS (1:1) versus 8.602 TFLOPS (2:1). TDP is 200 W versus 40 W.

The RTX PRO 4500 is a dual-slot card with a 1x 16-pin power connector and requires a 550 W suggested PSU. The Switch 2 GPU has no slot width, no power connector, and no suggested PSU listed. The workstation card uses a PCIe 5.0 x16 bus interface, while the console chip has no bus interface listed. Display outputs are 4x DisplayPort 2.1b for the RTX PRO 4500 versus no outputs for the Switch 2 GPU. Dimensions differ: the RTX PRO 4500 measures 267 mm by 111 mm by 40 mm, while the Switch 2 GPU measures 272 mm by 116 mm by 14 mm. The RTX PRO 4500 was released on 2025-03-17, and the Switch 2 GPU followed on 2025-06-04. The Switch 2 GPU has a launch MSRP of 449 USD; the RTX PRO 4500 has no launch MSRP recorded.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has higher FP32 compute performance?

A: The NVIDIA RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell Workstation delivers 50.53 TFLOPS of FP32 throughput, while the NVIDIA Switch 2 GPU delivers 4.301 TFLOPS. The workstation card leads by a factor of approximately 11.7.

Q: What are the memory capacities and types for each GPU?

A: The RTX PRO 4500 uses 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus with 896.0 GB/s bandwidth. The Switch 2 GPU uses 12 GB of LPDDR5X memory on a 128-bit bus with 102.4 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: How do the power requirements compare?

A: The RTX PRO 4500 has a 200 W TDP, uses a 1x 16-pin power connector, and requires a 550 W suggested PSU. The Switch 2 GPU has a 40 W TDP with no power connector or suggested PSU listed.

Q: Do both GPUs support the same graphics APIs?

A: Yes. Both the RTX PRO 4500 and the Switch 2 GPU support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

Q: Which GPU has more RT cores and tensor cores?

A: The RTX PRO 4500 has 82 RT cores and 328 tensor cores. The Switch 2 GPU has 12 RT cores and 48 tensor cores.

Q: What are the release dates for these products?

A: The RTX PRO 4500 was released on 2025-03-17, and the Switch 2 GPU was released on 2025-06-04. The Switch 2 GPU has a launch MSRP of 449 USD, while no launch MSRP is recorded for the RTX PRO 4500.