NVIDIA RTX A4000

NVIDIA’s RTX A4000 is a professional workstation GPU built on the Ampere architecture, utilizing the GA104 chip fabricated on Samsung’s 8 nm process. With 17,400 million transistors on a 392 mm² die, this single-slot card targets professionals needing a blend of compute and graphics performance. It sits in the 71st percentile of all GPUs, and its average benchmark score of 26,714 places it in a competitive mid-range tier. The card is now end-of-life, having been succeeded by the Workstation Ada generation, but its benchmark data remains relevant for comparing legacy performance.

Benchmark Performance

The RTX A4000 delivers a robust average benchmark score of 26,714, placing it just ahead of several AMD rivals. In the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, it scores 2,604 points, which is a moderate result reflecting its workstation-oriented design. Compute workloads are a clear strength: the Geekbench OpenCL score of 121,988 and Vulkan score of 111,712 indicate strong parallel processing capabilities, while the Passmark GPU Compute score of 9,760 reinforces this trend. These numbers suggest the card handles compute-heavy tasks with far more ease than pure rasterization workloads, a typical trait for the Quadro lineage.

In synthetic graphics tests, the Passmark G3D score of 19,459 is the most comprehensive metric, while G2D scores 1,024. DirectX API performance varies considerably: DirectX 9 scores 240, DirectX 10 drops to 126, DirectX 11 improves to 158, and DirectX 12 falls to 72. This pattern shows the A4000 is not optimized for legacy or even mainstream gaming APIs, as its strength lies in professional OpenGL and compute contexts rather than consumer DirectX paths.

Comparing to its nearest rivals, the RTX A4000 is 1.2% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT 50th Anniversary, which scores 26,403. It also edges out the AMD Radeon 860M by 1.2%, with that part scoring 26,401. The gap widens to 2.3% over the AMD Radeon R9 M290X, which achieves 26,126. However, the picture inverts against the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile, which scores 27,435 and leads the A4000 by 2.6%. These deltas are narrow, indicating that the A4000 is performance-adjacent to these mainstream and mobile parts, despite being a distinct workstation product.

The FP32 throughput of 19.17 TFLOPS, matched by FP16 at 19.17 TFLOPS (1:1 ratio), is a key specification. This symmetric FP16/FP32 performance is unusual for consumer cards and benefits scientific and AI workloads that utilize mixed precision. The texture rate of 299.5 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 149.8 GPixel/s are respectable for a 140 W card, allowing it to handle multi-viewport professional scenes without choking.

Ray Tracing and Feature Set

The RTX A4000 includes dedicated ray tracing hardware in the form of 48 RT cores, paired with 192 tensor cores. These are Ampere-generation units, providing hardware-accelerated ray tracing and AI-accelerated features like DLSS and denoising. The API support is comprehensive for DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), which includes features like DirectX Raytracing, mesh shaders, and variable rate shading. OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4 support are also present, making it compatible with a wide range of professional applications that rely on these APIs.

The tensor cores deliver 192 units for AI inference tasks, which is double the RT core count. This configuration suggests the card is tailored for neural network training and inference in workstation environments. The memory subsystem is substantial: 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus provides 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This capacity allows for large datasets and high-resolution textures to reside entirely in VRAM, which is critical for rendering complex scenes or running AI models without spilling to system memory. The 1:1 FP16 ratio further enhances its appeal for machine learning workloads that leverage tensor operations.

Display connectivity is limited to 4x DisplayPort 1.4a outputs, which supports multi-monitor setups at high resolutions. There is no mention of HDMI output, indicating a professional focus where DisplayPort is the standard. The PCIe 4.0 x16 interface ensures sufficient bandwidth for data transfer, though the card’s performance profile does not appear to be bandwidth-limited in the benchmark data.

Power and Cooling

The RTX A4000 has a TDP of 140 W, which is modest for the performance level. This low power draw is enabled by the 8 nm process and the workstation binning of the GA104 chip. The suggested PSU is just 300 W, making it accessible for compact workstations and upgrade paths in existing systems with modest power supplies. The card requires a single 6-pin power connector, which is a low-power configuration that simplifies installation.

Thermal management is handled by a single-slot cooling solution, as indicated by the slot width. The card’s physical dimensions are 241 mm in length and 112 mm in height, making it a compact option that fits in most chassis. The single-slot design is a notable advantage for multi-GPU setups or dense workstation builds where space is at a premium. The low TDP also means that cooling requirements are less stringent, though professional users should ensure adequate case airflow for sustained loads.

Memory clock runs at 1750 MHz with 14 Gbps effective speed, which is a conservative clock for GDDR6. This conservative tuning likely contributes to the low power draw and thermals, allowing the card to maintain stable boost clocks of 1560 MHz without throttling. The base clock is 735 MHz, a wide margin from boost, indicating that the card aggressively boosts under load within its power budget.

How It Compares

Against the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT 50th Anniversary, the RTX A4000 holds a 1.2% average score lead. This is a slim margin, but the A4000 achieves it with half the TDP (140 W vs. the RX 5700 XT’s typical higher draw) and in a single-slot form factor. The AMD card is a consumer gaming part, so the A4000’s workstation features like 16 GB VRAM and symmetric FP16 make it the better choice for professional tasks, despite the near-parity in raw benchmarks.

The AMD Radeon 860M is an integrated GPU, and the A4000 leads it by 1.2% in average score. This is a surprising result given the 860M’s integration into mobile APUs, but the A4000’s dedicated memory bandwidth and compute cores give it an edge. For users comparing a discrete workstation card to a modern iGPU, the A4000 offers far more VRAM and professional driver support, making it a superior option for serious workloads.

The AMD Radeon R9 M290X is an older mobile GPU, and the A4000 beats it by 2.3%. This delta is larger than the others, reflecting the generational gap in architecture and features. The A4000 offers modern API support (DirectX 12 Ultimate vs. older versions) and ray tracing, which the R9 M290X lacks entirely. The performance margin is modest, but the feature set difference is substantial.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile is the only rival that beats the A4000, leading by 2.6%. This is a newer, more power-efficient architecture, and the mobile form factor still outperforms the older workstation card. However, the RTX 4070 Mobile is a laptop part with likely lower sustained performance and less VRAM (typically 8 GB). The A4000’s 16 GB VRAM and single-slot desktop design give it advantages in capacity and multi-GPU scalability that the mobile chip cannot match.

Who Should Consider It

The RTX A4000 is best suited for professionals running compute-heavy applications that leverage OpenCL or Vulkan, as evidenced by its high Geekbench scores. The 16 GB VRAM makes it ideal for large 3D scenes, scientific simulations, and AI model training where memory capacity is more critical than raw rasterization speed. Users working at 1440p or 4K resolutions in professional software will find the 448.0 GB/s bandwidth sufficient for texture streaming and viewport manipulation.

For users who prioritize gaming or consumer DirectX performance, the benchmark data shows weak results (e.g., Passmark DirectX 12 score of 72), indicating this is not a suitable card for that purpose. The 71st percentile ranking places it in the upper-mid range, but the DirectX scores suggest it is heavily optimized for professional APIs instead. Workstation users running CAD, DCC, or scientific computing suites that support OpenGL 4.6 or Vulkan 1.4 will benefit most from this card.

The low 140 W TDP and 300 W PSU recommendation make it an excellent choice for small form factor workstations or upgrades to pre-built systems with limited power headroom. The single-slot design and compact dimensions allow for dense configurations, such as multiple cards in a single chassis for rendering farms or AI inference clusters. Given its end-of-life status, it is best considered for used or refurbished markets where the feature set remains competitive against newer integrated or mobile solutions.