AMD Radeon 8060S vs AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition Comparison

The Verdict

The data splits these two AMD parts into very different tools. The Radeon Vega Frontier Edition is a legacy workstation card that still holds its own in raw compute, while the Radeon 8060S is a modern integrated graphics solution that wins in the two recorded head-to-head tests. If you need a dedicated, end-of-life card with 16 GB of HBM2 and a 300 W power budget, the Vega Frontier Edition is the only choice here. If you want current-gen mobile performance with ray tracing support and far lower power draw, the 8060S is the obvious pick.

The benchmark results are clear: the 8060S beats the Vega Frontier Edition by 10.1% in Geekbench OpenCL and by 10.6% in Geekbench Vulkan. The Vega card does not win a single recorded head-to-head test. However, the Vega Frontier Edition sits at the 91st percentile among all GPUs, while the 8060S sits at the 87th percentile, so the Vega card remains competitive in the broader database. The 8060S has a much lower average benchmark score (55,757 vs 73,370), but that average is dragged down by its inclusion of a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 result, which is a different workload than the Geekbench tests. For buyers focused on the recorded cross-compatible tests, the 8060S is the faster part.

Architecture Differences

The Vega Frontier Edition uses the Vega 10 chip built on GlobalFoundries' 14 nm process. It is based on GCN 5.0 architecture and belongs to the Radeon Pro Vega generation. The die measures 495 mm² and packs 12,500 million transistors, giving a density of 25.3 million transistors per square millimeter. This is a large, power-hungry chip designed for professional compute workloads.

The Radeon 8060S uses the Strix Halo chip on TSMC's 4 nm node. It is based on RDNA 3.5 architecture and belongs to the Navi Mobile (RX 8000M) generation. The die is smaller at 308 mm², and while transistor count is listed as unknown, the 4 nm process allows for a much more efficient design. The 8060S has 2,560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs, but it adds 40 ray tracing cores, which the Vega card lacks entirely. The Vega Frontier Edition has more shading units (4,096) and more TMUs (256), but it has no RT cores.

Memory architecture is fundamentally different. The Vega card has 16 GB of dedicated HBM2 memory on a 2048-bit bus, delivering 483.8 GB/s of bandwidth. The 8060S uses system-shared memory, meaning its size, type, bus width, and bandwidth are all system dependent. The Vega card is a discrete, dual-slot card with two 8-pin power connectors and a 300 W TDP, while the 8060S is an integrated graphics processor (IGP) with no power connectors and a 55 W TDP.

API support also differs. The Vega Frontier Edition supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. The 8060S supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, meaning it has full support for the latest DirectX features including ray tracing.

FAQ

Q: Which card is faster in the recorded benchmarks?

A: The Radeon 8060S wins both head-to-head tests. It scores 84,626 in Geekbench OpenCL versus 76,111 for the Vega Frontier Edition, a 10.1% advantage. In Geekbench Vulkan, it scores 80,483 versus 71,937, a 10.6% advantage.

Q: Does the Vega Frontier Edition have ray tracing support?

A: No. The Vega Frontier Edition has no ray tracing cores listed in the data. The Radeon 8060S has 40 ray tracing cores and supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, which includes ray tracing features.

Q: Which card draws more power?

A: The Vega Frontier Edition has a 300 W TDP and requires two 8-pin power connectors plus a 700 W suggested PSU. The Radeon 8060S has a 55 W TDP, no power connectors, and no suggested PSU requirement, as it is an integrated part.

Q: Can the Radeon 8060S use the same memory as the Vega card?

A: No. The Vega Frontier Edition has 16 GB of dedicated HBM2 memory on a 2048-bit bus. The 8060S uses system-shared memory, so its memory performance depends entirely on the host system.

Q: Which card has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The Vega Frontier Edition has an average benchmark score of 73,370, which places it at the 91st percentile. The 8060S has an average score of 55,757, placing it at the 87th percentile, though this average includes a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 result that the Vega card cannot run.

Q: Are these cards from the same generation?

A: No. The Vega Frontier Edition was released on June 26, 2017, and belongs to the Radeon Pro Vega generation. The Radeon 8060S was released on January 5, 2025, and belongs to the Navi Mobile (RX 8000M) generation. The Vega card is end-of-life, while the 8060S is active in production.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every measured specification. The Vega Frontier Edition uses a 14 nm process from GlobalFoundries, while the 8060S uses a 4 nm process from TSMC. The Vega chip has a die size of 495 mm² and 12,500 million transistors, while the 8060S has a 308 mm² die with unknown transistor count. The Vega card has a transistor density of 25.3 million per mm²; the 8060S has no density listed.

Clock speeds differ substantially. The Vega Frontier Edition has a base clock of 1382 MHz and a boost clock of 1600 MHz, with memory running at 945 MHz (1890 Mbps effective). The 8060S has a lower base clock of 1295 MHz but a much higher boost clock of 2900 MHz, and its memory clock is listed as system shared.

Compute resources are split differently. The Vega card has 4,096 shading units, 256 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. The 8060S has 2,560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, but adds 40 ray tracing cores. The Vega card has no RT cores. Pixel rate favors the 8060S at 185.6 GPixel/s versus 102.4 GPixel/s for Vega. Texture rate also favors the 8060S at 464.0 GTexel/s versus 409.6 GTexel/s. FP32 performance favors the 8060S at 14.85 TFLOPS versus 13.11 TFLOPS for Vega. FP16 performance is a major difference: the Vega card offers 26.21 TFLOPS (2:1 ratio), while the 8060S matches its FP32 at 14.85 TFLOPS (1:1 ratio).

Memory is the biggest split. The Vega card has 16 GB of HBM2 on a 2048-bit bus with 483.8 GB/s bandwidth. The 8060S has system-shared memory with system-dependent bandwidth. The Vega card is a dual-slot, 267 mm long card with two 8-pin connectors and a 300 W TDP. The 8060S is an IGP with no dimensions, no connectors, and a 55 W TDP. The Vega card uses PCIe 3.0 x16, while the 8060S uses PCIe 5.0 x16. Display outputs also differ: the Vega card has 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, while the 8060S is portable-device dependent.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database records two head-to-head tests, and the Radeon 8060S wins both. In Geekbench OpenCL, the 8060S scores 84,626 against 76,111 for the Vega Frontier Edition. That is a 10.1% advantage for the 8060S, which is a solid margin in a compute-heavy workload. The Vega card is not far behind, but it loses clearly.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the 8060S scores 80,483 against 71,937 for the Vega Frontier Edition. That is a 10.6% advantage, slightly larger than the OpenCL gap. The Vulkan test benefits from the 8060S's newer architecture and higher boost clock, which reaches 2900 MHz versus 1600 MHz for the Vega card.

The Vega Frontier Edition has no recorded wins in the head-to-head data. Its only counterargument is its average benchmark score of 73,370, which is higher than the 8060S's 55,757. However, that average includes a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score for the 8060S (2,162) which is not directly comparable to Geekbench scores. In any test the Vega card can actually run against the 8060S, it loses by roughly 10%.

Looking at nearest rivals helps contextualize each card. The Vega Frontier Edition's average score of 73,370 places it 1.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64, 1.8% ahead of the NVIDIA TITAN X Pascal, 2.2% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6650M, and 3.6% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6600 LE. The 8060S's average score of 55,757 places it 0.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB, 0.6% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080, 1.7% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X, and 2.8% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080. This shows that the Vega card competes with high-end desktop parts from 2017, while the 8060S trades blows with modern desktop and mobile GPUs despite being an integrated solution.

Where Each One Wins

The Radeon 8060S wins in every recorded benchmark against the Vega Frontier Edition. It is faster in both Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan, with margins of 10.1% and 10.6% respectively. It also has a much higher boost clock (2900 MHz vs 1600 MHz), higher pixel rate (185.6 vs 102.4 GPixel/s), higher texture rate (464.0 vs 409.6 GTexel/s), and higher FP32 throughput (14.85 vs 13.11 TFLOPS). It adds 40 ray tracing cores, supports DirectX 12 Ultimate and Vulkan 1.4, and does all of this at 55 W versus 300 W. The 8060S is the clear winner for modern gaming workloads, ray tracing, and any system where power efficiency matters. Its system-shared memory is a limitation, but the performance data shows it does not hurt in the recorded tests.

The Vega Frontier Edition wins in areas that are not directly benchmarked in the head-to-head data. It has 16 GB of dedicated HBM2 memory with 483.8 GB/s of bandwidth, which is far more predictable than system-shared memory. It has more shading units (4,096 vs 2,560) and more TMUs (256 vs 160), which could benefit certain compute workloads that scale with those resources. Its FP16 performance is much higher at 26.21 TFLOPS (2:1) versus 14.85 TFLOPS (1:1) for the 8060S, making it the better choice for workloads that leverage FP16 throughput. It also has a higher average benchmark score (73,370 vs 55,757) and a higher percentile ranking (91st vs 87th), indicating that it remains a strong performer in the broader database.

For a builder with a desktop workstation that needs a dedicated card with ample VRAM and professional-grade compute features, the Vega Frontier Edition is the practical pick. For a laptop or compact system where power draw and modern feature support matter more, the 8060S is the only sensible option. The data does not support choosing the Vega card for raw speed in the recorded tests, but its memory capacity and FP16 capabilities give it a niche that the 8060S cannot fill.