NVIDIA RTX A3000 Mobile

The NVIDIA RTX A3000 Mobile sits at the 92nd percentile of all GPUs benchmarked, with an average score of 70,140. This places it in a competitive mid-to-high tier, notably outperforming several desktop and professional cards while trailing a key mobile rival. In Geekbench, it scores 79,091 in OpenCL and 61,189 in Vulkan, indicating strong compute performance with a more modest showing in graphics-API workloads.

Benchmark Performance

The RTX A3000 Mobile’s average benchmark score of 70,140 positions it 1.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro WX 8200, a professional workstation card. This is a narrow margin, effectively a statistical tie, but the A3000 achieves it at a fraction of the power envelope. Against the Intel Arc A770, the lead expands to 1.9%, showing the A3000 edges out a desktop discrete GPU known for ray tracing and compute. The margin over the AMD Radeon Instinct MI25 is 2.3%, reinforcing that this mobile part competes with older data-center accelerators in raw compute throughput.

The more telling comparison is against the AMD Radeon RX 6650M, a fellow mobile GPU. Here, the A3000 trails by 3.0%, a clear but modest deficit. The RX 6650M is a gaming-focused part, and its lead in average score suggests the A3000 sacrifices some raw rasterization throughput for its professional feature set. The Geekbench split is revealing: the OpenCL score of 79,091 is substantially higher than the Vulkan score of 61,189, a 29.2% gap. This suggests the A3000’s architecture is optimized for compute-heavy OpenCL workloads, typical of professional applications, rather than gaming-oriented Vulkan paths. A user prioritizing gaming performance would see less benefit from this GPU than one running CAD, simulation, or AI inference.

Who Should Consider It

Given its 6 GB VRAM and 264.0 GB/s bandwidth, the RTX A3000 Mobile is best suited for 1080p and 1440p professional workloads, not high-resolution gaming. The FP32 throughput of 10.08 TFLOPS indicates capable performance for real-time rendering and moderate simulation tasks. Users working with OpenCL-accelerated applications, such as video encoding or scientific computing, will find the 79,091 OpenCL score compelling. Conversely, the 61,189 Vulkan score suggests that gaming at high settings, particularly with ray tracing enabled, will strain the GPU at resolutions above 1440p.

For content creators using DirectX 12 Ultimate, the A3000 supports the full feature set, but the 6 GB memory capacity will limit texture-heavy scenes at 4K. The 92nd percentile ranking means it outperforms the vast majority of GPUs, so it is a solid choice for mobile workstations where power efficiency is paramount. It is not, however, a high-refresh-rate gaming card; the 3% deficit to the RX 6650M indicates a gaming-focused alternative would deliver smoother frame rates. The A3000 is for the professional who needs reliable compute in a laptop, not the enthusiast seeking maximum fps.

Ray Tracing and Feature Set

The RTX A3000 Mobile includes 32 dedicated ray tracing cores and 128 tensor cores, built on the Ampere architecture. This provides hardware-accelerated ray tracing and AI-driven features like DLSS, though the 6 GB memory may limit the complexity of RT scenes. The API support is comprehensive: DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4 are all present. This ensures compatibility with the latest Windows graphics features and cross-platform Vulkan applications.

The 128 tensor cores deliver 10.08 TFLOPS of FP16 performance (1:1 ratio), which is identical to the FP32 throughput. This is notable for AI inference tasks, as it allows for rapid processing of neural networks without a performance penalty for reduced precision. The 32 RT cores, while fewer than some desktop Ampere parts, still enable real-time ray tracing in supported software. The pixel rate of 78.72 GPixel/s and texture rate of 157.4 GTexel/s indicate balanced rasterization throughput, but the RT and tensor capabilities are the differentiators for professional users employing ray-traced rendering or AI denoising.

FAQ

Q: How does the RTX A3000 Mobile compare to the AMD Radeon RX 6650M?

A: The A3000 trails by 3.0% in average benchmark score. Its Geekbench Vulkan score of 61,189 is notably lower than its OpenCL score of 79,091, suggesting it is less optimized for gaming workloads than the RX 6650M.

Q: What is the memory configuration and bandwidth?

A: It features 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing 264.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This is adequate for 1080p and 1440p workloads but may bottleneck at 4K with high-texture assets.

Q: Does it support hardware ray tracing?

A: Yes, it has 32 dedicated ray tracing cores. Combined with DirectX 12 Ultimate support, it can handle ray-traced effects, though the 6 GB VRAM may limit scene complexity.

Q: What is the thermal design power (TDP)?

A: The TDP is 70 W, making it a power-efficient mobile GPU. It requires no external power connectors, drawing all power from the laptop’s PCIe slot.

Q: What is the production status?

A: The GPU is marked as end-of-life, with a release date of April 11, 2021. Its predecessor is the Quadro Turing-M and its successor is the Ada-MW series.

Q: Which APIs are supported?

A: It supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. This covers modern Windows and cross-platform graphics applications.

Power and Cooling

The RTX A3000 Mobile has a TDP of 70 W, which is modest for a GPU of its performance class. This low power draw allows for thinner, lighter laptops without aggressive cooling solutions. The power connectors field is listed as "None," meaning the GPU draws all power directly from the PCIe 4.0 x16 slot. No separate PSU recommendation is provided, but the 70 W TDP suggests a standard 90 W laptop power adapter would suffice for the GPU alone, assuming the rest of the system is efficient.

The 8 nm process node, manufactured by Samsung, contributes to this efficiency. With 17,400 million transistors on a 392 mm² die, the transistor density is 44.4 million per mm². This is a dense design that balances compute capability with power constraints. The absence of a suggested PSU and power connectors indicates that this is a drop-in solution for laptop OEMs, not an upgradeable desktop card. Users should verify their laptop’s cooling solution can sustain the 70 W load, but the data shows this is a manageable thermal requirement for most mobile workstations.

Memory Subsystem

The memory subsystem consists of 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, offering 264.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The memory clock is 1375 MHz, with an effective data rate of 11 Gbps. This configuration is a balance between capacity and speed, suitable for professional applications that require moderate memory footprints. The 264.0 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p workloads, but it may become a limiting factor at 4K resolutions with high-resolution textures.

For comparison, the A3000’s bandwidth is 3.8% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro WX 8200’s average score would suggest, but raw bandwidth is not directly comparable to benchmark scores. The 6 GB capacity is the more significant constraint; modern professional applications with large datasets or high-res assets will exceed this limit. Users working with 4K video editing or large 3D scenes should consider this a limitation. The 192-bit bus width is narrower than some rivals, but the 11 Gbps effective memory speed compensates, delivering competitive throughput for the GPU’s price-performance tier.

How It Compares

AMD Radeon Pro WX 8200: The A3000 leads by 1.1% in average score, making this a nominal victory. The WX 8200 is a desktop workstation card with higher power draw, so the A3000 achieves comparable performance in a mobile form factor. This is a clear win for portability without sacrificing compute.

Intel Arc A770: The A3000 is 1.9% faster on average. The Arc A770 is a desktop gaming GPU with ray tracing support, so the A3000’s lead is notable given its lower power envelope. However, the A3000’s Vulkan score is lower, indicating the Arc A770 might be better for Vulkan-based games.

AMD Radeon Instinct MI25: The A3000 outperforms this data-center GPU by 2.3%. The MI25 is an older accelerator, so this comparison highlights the A3000’s modern architecture efficiency. The A3000 delivers similar compute in a package that uses far less power, making it a superior choice for edge inference.

AMD Radeon RX 6650M: The A3000 trails by 3.0%, the only negative delta in the group. The RX 6650M is a gaming-focused mobile GPU, and its higher average score reflects stronger rasterization. The A3000 compensates with its professional driver support and tensor cores, but for pure gaming, the RX 6650M is the better performer.