AMD Radeon Pro 460 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark data splits cleanly between these two GPUs, with each card claiming a different API workload. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 wins two of the three recorded tests, while the AMD Radeon Pro 460 takes the remaining test by a substantial margin.

In Geekbench OpenCL, the GTX 780 scores 22,863 against the Radeon Pro 460's 15,284. That is a 49.6% advantage for NVIDIA, representing the largest single-test gap in either direction. The Vulkan result follows a similar pattern: the GTX 780 posts 24,514 versus 16,816 for AMD, a 45.8% lead. These two wins give the GTX 780 a clear edge in compute-oriented and cross-platform graphics workloads.

The AMD card's lone victory comes in Geekbench Metal, where it scores 20,426 against the GTX 780's 10,114. The delta is 50.5% in AMD's favor, which makes this the biggest absolute swing of any test. Metal is Apple's graphics API, and the Radeon Pro 460 is built for Mac systems, so its dominance here is consistent with its intended environment.

Looking at average scores across all recorded benchmarks, the GTX 780 sits at 19,164 while the Radeon Pro 460 averages 17,509. That places the GTX 780 about 9.4% higher overall, though the two cards occupy similar positions in the broader GPU landscape. The GTX 780 falls into the 64th percentile of all GPUs, while the Radeon Pro 460 lands at the 61st percentile. These are close rankings, but the NVIDIA card holds a slight edge in aggregate performance.

The nature of the wins matters for use-case planning. If a workload targets Metal, the Radeon Pro 460 is decisively better. If the workload uses OpenCL or Vulkan, the GTX 780 is the stronger choice, and by a wide margin. The recorded data does not show any test where the two cards are within a few percent of each other; every result is a blowout in one direction or the other.

The Verdict

The GTX 780 is the pick for users running OpenCL or Vulkan applications. Its 49.6% OpenCL lead and 45.8% Vulkan lead over the Radeon Pro 460 are too large to ignore. The card also has a higher average benchmark score (19,164 versus 17,509) and a slightly better percentile ranking (64th versus 61st). For general-purpose compute or Vulkan-based titles, the data points firmly to NVIDIA.

The Radeon Pro 460 is the pick for Metal-centric workflows. Its 50.5% advantage in the Metal test (20,426 versus 10,114) is the defining feature of this matchup. Anyone whose software stack relies on Apple's Metal API should choose the AMD card without hesitation, as the GTX 780's Metal score is less than half of what AMD delivers.

For mixed workloads, the GTX 780 has the better overall record. It wins two of three tests and holds a higher average score. The Radeon Pro 460's single win is impressive but narrow in scope: it only applies to Metal. The database shows no benchmark where the AMD card wins outside of Metal, so its utility is tied to that specific API.

The GTX 780 also matches up well against its nearest rivals. It sits within 0.1% of the NVIDIA TITAN Xp (19,177 versus 19,164), 0.4% above the Tesla K20m (19,089), 0.6% above the RTX 4050 Mobile (19,049), and 0.7% above the RX 6600 (19,036). These are all close calls, which suggests the GTX 780's recorded performance is representative of a mid-2010s high-end card.

The Radeon Pro 460's nearest rivals tell a similar story. It is 0.2% above the Tesla K40c (17,468), 0.2% below the Radeon Pro 560 (17,551), 0.5% below the Radeon 780M (17,588), and 0.7% below the RTX 4060 (17,639). The Pro 460 sits right in the middle of a cluster of comparable GPUs, which reinforces its position as a capable but not exceptional performer outside of Metal.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most striking result is the Metal benchmark. The Radeon Pro 460 scores 20,426, while the GTX 780 manages only 10,114. That is a 50.5% deficit for NVIDIA, and it is the only test where AMD comes out ahead. The margin is so large that it suggests a fundamental software advantage for AMD in Metal rather than a small hardware edge. The GTX 780 was released years before Metal became widespread, and its driver support for the API appears limited based on this score.

The OpenCL test flips the script entirely. The GTX 780 posts 22,863 against 15,284 for the Radeon Pro 460. That 49.6% lead is nearly identical in magnitude to AMD's Metal advantage, just in the opposite direction. OpenCL is a general-purpose compute API, and the GTX 780's much larger GPU (7,080 million transistors versus 3,000 million) gives it a substantial raw compute advantage. The GTX 780's FP32 throughput of 4.156 TFLOPS is more than double the Radeon Pro 460's 1.858 TFLOPS, which explains why OpenCL performance favors NVIDIA so heavily.

The Vulkan test is the third data point, and it also goes to NVIDIA. The GTX 780 scores 24,514 against 16,816 for the Radeon Pro 460, a 45.8% margin. Vulkan is a low-overhead graphics API, and the GTX 780's higher texture rate (173.2 GTexel/s versus 58.05 GTexel/s) and pixel rate (43.30 GPixel/s versus 14.51 GPixel/s) help it maintain a commanding lead. This is the GTX 780's best absolute score across all three tests, while the Radeon Pro 460's best score is in Metal.

Taken together, the head-to-head results show a GPU that is far ahead in compute-heavy APIs (GTX 780) and a GPU that is far ahead in Apple's proprietary API (Radeon Pro 460). There is no middle ground in this matchup. Each card wins its preferred environment by roughly half, and loses the other environments by roughly half.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780, with an average score of 19,164 across all recorded benchmarks, compared to 17,509 for the AMD Radeon Pro 460.

Q: Why does the Radeon Pro 460 win the Metal benchmark by such a large margin?

A: The Radeon Pro 460 scores 20,426 in Geekbench Metal, while the GTX 780 scores 10,114. That is a 50.5% advantage for AMD, and the card is designed for Mac systems where Metal is the primary graphics API.

Q: How do the two cards compare in Vulkan performance?

A: The GTX 780 leads by 45.8%, scoring 24,514 versus 16,816 for the Radeon Pro 460 in the Geekbench Vulkan test.

Q: What is the transistor density difference between the two GPUs?

A: The Radeon Pro 460 has a transistor density of 24.4M per mm², while the GTX 780 has 12.6M per mm². The AMD card is built on a 14 nm process, whereas the GTX 780 uses 28 nm.

Q: Which GPU has more shading units?

A: The GTX 780 has 2,304 shading units, while the Radeon Pro 460 has 1,024. The GTX 780 also has 192 texture mapping units and 48 ROPs, compared to 64 TMUs and 16 ROPs for the AMD card.

Q: How does memory bandwidth differ between the two?

A: The GTX 780 offers 288.4 GB/s of bandwidth from a 384-bit bus with 3 GB of GDDR5, while the Radeon Pro 460 provides 81.28 GB/s from a 128-bit bus with 4 GB of GDDR5. The NVIDIA card has more than triple the memory bandwidth.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different architectural generations and are built on different manufacturing processes. The GTX 780 uses the GK110 chip with NVIDIA's Kepler architecture, fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC. It packs 7,080 million transistors into a 561 mm² die, giving it a transistor density of 12.6 million per mm². The Radeon Pro 460 uses the Baffin chip with AMD's GCN 4.0 architecture, built on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. It contains 3,000 million transistors on a 123 mm² die, which works out to 24.4 million per mm². The AMD chip is much smaller but far denser, reflecting the newer manufacturing node.

The compute resources differ substantially. The GTX 780 has 2,304 shading units, 192 TMUs, and 48 ROPs. The Radeon Pro 460 has 1,024 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. In raw throughput, the GTX 780 delivers 4.156 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and a texture rate of 173.2 GTexel/s, while the Radeon Pro 460 delivers 1.858 TFLOPS of FP32 and 58.05 GTexel/s. The Radeon Pro 460 does offer FP16 at 1.858 TFLOPS with a 1:1 ratio, a feature the GTX 780 does not list.

Memory subsystems also diverge. The GTX 780 uses a 384-bit bus with 3 GB of GDDR5 and achieves 288.4 GB/s of bandwidth. The Radeon Pro 460 uses a 128-bit bus with 4 GB of GDDR5 and reaches 81.28 GB/s. The GTX 780 has more than three times the memory bandwidth, though the Radeon Pro 460 has a larger frame buffer.

Both cards support DirectX 12, but at different feature levels. The GTX 780 supports DirectX 12 (11_0), while the Radeon Pro 460 supports DirectX 12 (12_0). OpenGL support is identical at 4.6 for both. Vulkan support differs: the GTX 780 supports Vulkan 1.2.175, while the Radeon Pro 460 supports Vulkan 1.3.

The GTX 780 is a dual-slot card with 1x 6-pin and 1x 8-pin power connectors, a 250 W TDP, and a suggested 600 W PSU. The Radeon Pro 460 is an IGP (integrated graphics processor) with no power connectors and a 35 W TDP. The GTX 780 measures 267 mm in length, 111 mm in height, and 38 mm in width. The Radeon Pro 460 has no recorded dimensions, as it is designed for portable devices.

Specification Differences

The GTX 780 and Radeon Pro 460 differ in nearly every major specification field. The GTX 780 uses the GK110 chip with Kepler architecture, while the Radeon Pro 460 uses Baffin with GCN 4.0. The GTX 780 is built on 28 nm at TSMC; the Radeon Pro 460 is built on 14 nm at GlobalFoundries. Transistor counts are 7,080 million versus 3,000 million, and die sizes are 561 mm² versus 123 mm².

Clock speeds are similar on paper. The GTX 780 has a base clock of 863 MHz and a boost clock of 902 MHz. The Radeon Pro 460 has a base clock of 850 MHz and a boost clock of 907 MHz. Memory clocks differ more: the GTX 780 runs at 1502 MHz with 6 Gbps effective, while the Radeon Pro 460 runs at 1270 MHz with 5.1 Gbps effective.

Memory capacity and bandwidth favor different cards. The GTX 780 has 3 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus with 288.4 GB/s. The Radeon Pro 460 has 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus with 81.28 GB/s. The GTX 780 wins on bandwidth; the Radeon Pro 460 wins on capacity.

Shader resources are lopsided. The GTX 780 has 2,304 shading units, 192 TMUs, and 48 ROPs. The Radeon Pro 460 has 1,024 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. Pixel rate is 43.30 GPixel/s for NVIDIA versus 14.51 GPixel/s for AMD. Texture rate is 173.2 GTexel/s versus 58.05 GTexel/s. FP32 is 4.156 TFLOPS versus 1.858 TFLOPS.

Power and physical specifications are completely different. The GTX 780 has a 250 W TDP, is dual-slot, requires 1x 6-pin and 1x 8-pin connectors, and suggests a 600 W PSU. The Radeon Pro 460 has a 35 W TDP, is an IGP, requires no power connectors, and has no suggested PSU. Bus interfaces also differ: the GTX 780 uses PCIe 3.0 x16, while the Radeon Pro 460 uses PCIe 3.0 x8.

Display outputs are another point of divergence. The GTX 780 offers 2x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 1x DisplayPort 1.2. The Radeon Pro 460's outputs are portable device dependent. The GTX 780 was released on 2013-05-22, while the Radeon Pro 460 was released on 2016-10-29. Both are end-of-life products. The GTX 780 has a launch MSRP of 649 USD; the Radeon Pro 460 has no recorded launch MSRP.