Apple M2 Max 38-Core GPU vs RTX A40

Primary details

GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.

Place in the rankingnot ratednot rated
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
ArchitectureAmpere (2020−2024)no data
GPU code nameGA102no data
Market segmentWorkstationLaptop
Release date5 October 2020 (4 years ago)17 January 2023 (1 year ago)

Detailed specifications

General parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores1075238
Core clock speed1305 MHzno data
Boost clock speed1755 MHzno data
Number of transistors28,300 millionno data
Manufacturing process technology8 nm5 nm
Power consumption (TDP)300 Watt53 Watt
Texture fill rate589.7no data
Floating-point processing power37.74 TFLOPSno data
ROPs112no data
TMUs336no data
Tensor Cores336no data
Ray Tracing Cores84no data

Form factor & compatibility

Information on compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop graphics cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility).

Laptop sizeno datamedium sized
InterfacePCIe 4.0 x16no data
Length267 mmno data
Width2-slotno data
Supplementary power connectors8-pin EPSno data

VRAM capacity and type

Parameters of VRAM installed: its type, size, bus, clock and resulting bandwidth. Integrated GPUs have no dedicated video RAM and use a shared part of system RAM.

Memory typeGDDR6LPDDR5-6400
Maximum RAM amount48 GBno data
Memory bus width384 Bitno data
Memory clock speed1812 MHzno data
Memory bandwidth695.8 GB/sno data
Shared memory-+

Connectivity and outputs

Types and number of video connectors present on the reviewed GPUs. As a rule, data in this section is precise only for desktop reference ones (so-called Founders Edition for NVIDIA chips). OEM manufacturers may change the number and type of output ports, while for notebook cards availability of certain video outputs ports depends on the laptop model rather than on the card itself.

Display Connectors3x DisplayPortno data

API compatibility

List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectX12 Ultimate (12_2)no data
Shader Model6.5no data
OpenGL4.6no data
OpenCL2.0no data
Vulkan1.2-
CUDA8.6-

Pros & cons summary


Recency 5 October 2020 17 January 2023
Chip lithography 8 nm 5 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 300 Watt 53 Watt

Apple M2 Max 38-Core GPU has an age advantage of 2 years, a 60% more advanced lithography process, and 466% lower power consumption.

We couldn't decide between RTX A40 and Apple M2 Max 38-Core GPU. We've got no test results to judge.

Be aware that RTX A40 is a workstation card while Apple M2 Max 38-Core GPU is a notebook one.


Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

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NVIDIA RTX A40
RTX A40
Apple M2 Max 38-Core GPU
M2 Max 38-Core GPU

Comparisons with similar GPUs

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Community ratings

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3.3 198 votes

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Questions & comments

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