AMD Radeon Pro 5300 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 5 GB Comparison

The Verdict

The recorded data presents a clear, though not overwhelming, victory for the AMD Radeon Pro 5300. Across the two shared benchmark tests, it wins both, making it the superior choice for pure compute performance. However, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 5 GB is not entirely outclassed; its losses are narrow enough that specific use cases might still favor it.

The AMD Radeon Pro 5300 leads by 16% in Geekbench OpenCL and by 5.3% in Geekbench Vulkan. This consistent advantage in both compute APIs suggests a more efficient architecture for general-purpose workloads. The data indicates that users prioritizing raw compute power, especially in OpenCL, should select the AMD Radeon Pro 5300.

Conversely, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 5 GB holds its own in the Vulkan test, where the performance gap narrows considerably. Its 5 GB memory capacity, which is 1 GB larger than the AMD card's 4 GB, could be a deciding factor for workloads that require larger datasets to reside in VRAM. The GTX 1060 5 GB also has a significantly higher pixel rate (68.36 GPixel/s) and texture rate (136.7 GTexel/s), which could translate to better performance in certain rasterization-heavy tasks.

Ultimately, the choice hinges on workload priorities. For compute-heavy tasks in OpenCL, the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 is the data-backed winner. For tasks that are sensitive to memory capacity or rely on pixel throughput, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 5 GB presents a compelling, albeit less powerful overall, alternative.

Architecture Differences

The two cards are built on fundamentally different architectures from different eras. The AMD Radeon Pro 5300 uses the RDNA 1.0 architecture, implemented on a 7 nm process at TSMC. It is built around the Navi 14 chip and belongs to the Radeon Pro Mac (Navi Series) generation. This modern node allows for a transistor density of 40.5M per mm², packing 6,400 million transistors onto a 158 mm² die.

In contrast, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 5 GB is based on the older Pascal architecture, fabricated on a 16 nm process, also at TSMC. Its GP106 chip contains 4,400 million transistors across a larger 200 mm² die, resulting in a much lower transistor density of 22.0M per mm². This generational leap in manufacturing technology is a primary driver of the AMD card's efficiency and performance advantages.

Both cards support the same DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4 APIs. Neither has dedicated ray tracing or tensor cores. The most striking difference lies in their FP16 capabilities. The AMD Radeon Pro 5300 delivers 8.448 TFLOPS of FP16 performance via a 2:1 ratio, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 5 GB offers a paltry 68.36 GFLOPS at a 1:64 ratio. This makes the AMD card vastly more capable for workloads leveraging half-precision arithmetic.

The memory subsystems also differ substantially. The AMD Radeon Pro 5300 uses 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, achieving a bandwidth of 224.0 GB/s. The NVIDIA card uses 5 GB of GDDR5 on a wider 160-bit bus, but this only results in 160.2 GB/s of bandwidth. The AMD card's newer memory technology gives it a 40% bandwidth advantage. Additionally, the AMD card is an IGP with no display outputs, while the NVIDIA card is a dual-slot card with a full array of display outputs and requires a 6-pin power connector, suggesting different intended deployment scenarios.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database records two direct benchmark comparisons between these cards. In Geekbench OpenCL, the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 scores 38,747 against the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 5 GB's 33,397. This represents a 16% advantage for the AMD card, which is its largest margin of victory. This suggests that the RDNA 1.0 architecture is significantly more efficient at handling OpenCL compute tasks, likely due to its newer design and higher memory bandwidth.

The Geekbench Vulkan test shows a closer contest. The AMD Radeon Pro 5300 scores 35,793, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 5 GB scores 33,991. Here, the AMD card wins by a narrower 5.3%. This smaller gap in Vulkan performance is notable. It implies that the Pascal architecture's Vulkan implementation is relatively strong, allowing the GTX 1060 5 GB to close much of the performance deficit seen in OpenCL.

Looking at the broader context, the AMD Radeon Pro 5300's average benchmark score of 40,870 places it firmly above its rival, and it sits in the 82nd percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti, which is 0.8% behind, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070, which is 1.2% behind. This indicates that the AMD card's performance is competitive with much more modern and expensive hardware. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 5 GB, with an average score of 33,694, sits in the 78th percentile, with its nearest rivals being the AMD Radeon RX 480, which is 0.9% behind, and the AMD Radeon HD 7950, which is 0.8% behind.

Specification Differences

The two cards diverge significantly in their core specifications. The AMD Radeon Pro 5300 has a base clock of 1000 MHz and a boost clock of 1650 MHz. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 5 GB has a higher base clock of 1506 MHz and a boost clock of 1709 MHz. Despite the GTX 1060 5 GB's higher clocks, the AMD card's newer architecture allows it to achieve comparable or better performance in compute tasks.

In terms of memory, the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 has 4 GB of GDDR6 with a bandwidth of 224.0 GB/s. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 5 GB has 5 GB of GDDR5 with a bandwidth of 160.2 GB/s. The AMD card's memory runs at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective), while the NVIDIA card's memory runs at 2002 MHz (8 Gbps effective). The AMD card's advantage in bandwidth is a direct result of the more efficient GDDR6 technology.

Both cards have 1280 shading units and 80 texture mapping units, but they differ in ROPs. The AMD Radeon Pro 5300 has 32 ROPs, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 5 GB has 40. This difference contributes to the NVIDIA card's higher pixel rate of 68.36 GPixel/s versus the AMD card's 52.80 GPixel/s. The texture rates are similar, with the NVIDIA card at 136.7 GTexel/s and the AMD card at 132.0 GTexel/s.

The power profiles are also distinct. The AMD Radeon Pro 5300 has a TDP of 85 W and requires no power connectors, with a suggested PSU of 250 W. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 5 GB has a TDP of 120 W and requires a single 6-pin power connector, with a suggested PSU of 300 W. The bus interfaces differ as well, with the AMD card using PCIe 4.0 x8 and the NVIDIA card using PCIe 3.0 x16. Finally, the NVIDIA card has a length of 250 mm (9.8 inches), while the AMD card's dimensions are not recorded, as it is an IGP.

FAQ

Q: Which card has better overall compute performance?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 5300 has a higher average benchmark score of 40,870 compared to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 5 GB's 33,694. It also wins both direct head-to-head benchmark comparisons.

Q: How much faster is the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 in OpenCL?

A: In Geekbench OpenCL, the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 scores 38,747, which is 16% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 5 GB's score of 33,397.

Q: Is the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 5 GB competitive in any benchmark?

A: Yes, in Geekbench Vulkan, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 5 GB scores 33,991, which is only 5.3% behind the AMD Radeon Pro 5300's score of 35,793. This is a much closer result than the OpenCL test.

Q: Which card has more memory bandwidth?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 5300 has a memory bandwidth of 224.0 GB/s, which is significantly higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 5 GB's 160.2 GB/s.

Q: Which card has a higher pixel fill rate?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 5 GB has a higher pixel rate of 68.36 GPixel/s, compared to the AMD Radeon Pro 5300's 52.80 GPixel/s.

Q: What is the difference in manufacturing process?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 5300 is built on a 7 nm process, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 5 GB uses a 16 nm process. This gives the AMD card a transistor density of 40.5M per mm² versus 22.0M per mm² for the NVIDIA card.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon Pro 5300 is the clear winner in compute-oriented workloads. Its 16% advantage in OpenCL performance makes it the superior choice for applications that rely heavily on this API, such as many scientific computing, data analysis, and professional rendering tasks. Its higher memory bandwidth of 224.0 GB/s also positions it well for memory-intensive compute workloads. The card's significantly higher FP32 throughput (4.224 TFLOPS) and FP16 throughput (8.448 TFLOPS) further cement its place for general-purpose compute, where half-precision is a boon.

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 5 GB, while losing in raw compute, has specific strengths. Its 5 GB of memory is 1 GB more than the AMD card's 4 GB, which can be critical for workloads with larger working sets that must fit in VRAM. Its higher pixel rate (68.36 GPixel/s) and texture rate (136.7 GTexel/s) suggest it may hold an advantage in traditional 3D rasterization, where fill rate is a bottleneck. The closer 5.3% margin in Vulkan also implies that it is a more viable option for Vulkan-based games and applications. Ultimately, the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 is for compute-centric professionals, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 5 GB is for those who need more memory or prioritize traditional graphics throughput.