AMD Radeon Pro 555 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The benchmark data presents a decisive picture in favor of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080. Across all three recorded head-to-head tests, the GTX 1080 secures a clean sweep, with no wins recorded for the AMD Radeon Pro 555.

In the Geekbench Metal test, the GTX 1080 scores 23,824 against the Radeon Pro 555's 16,236. This translates to a 31.9% advantage for the NVIDIA card. The gap widens substantially in the OpenCL workload, where the GTX 1080 posts 51,204 versus 11,682 for the AMD part, a massive 77.2% delta. The Vulkan benchmark tells a similar story: the GTX 1080 reaches 30,398 while the Radeon Pro 555 manages 12,303, putting the NVIDIA card 59.5% ahead.

The average benchmark score across all recorded tests for the Radeon Pro 555 is 13,407, placing it in the 54th percentile of all GPUs in the database. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon HD 8950M at 13,376 (0.2% behind), the AMD Radeon RX 5500M at 13,356 (0.4% behind), and the AMD FirePro M6100 at 13,354 (0.4% behind). The NVIDIA P106-090 sits slightly above at 13,470, a 0.5% lead. These figures indicate that the Radeon Pro 555 is positioned in the mid-range tier of the database's rankings, competitive with other mobile-oriented or older discrete parts.

The GTX 1080's average benchmark score is 11,960, which places it in the 51st percentile. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960A at 11,998 (0.3% ahead of the 1080), the AMD Radeon RX 6500 XT at 11,842 (1% behind), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 at 11,680 (2.4% behind), and the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT at 11,627 (2.9% behind). It is notable that the GTX 1080's average score is lower than the Radeon Pro 555's average, despite winning every direct head-to-head test. This is explained by the GTX 1080's inclusion of several legacy Passmark tests in its benchmark suite, which drag down its aggregate average.

The GTX 1080's individual test results show its versatility. In Passmark G3D, it scores 15,586, and in GPU Compute it reaches 7,614. Its Geekbench Vulkan score of 30,398 is particularly strong. The Radeon Pro 555's best result is its Geekbench Metal score of 16,236, which is its highest across all tests. The data suggests that while the Radeon Pro 555 is a capable performer within its class, the GTX 1080 operates in a different performance bracket entirely, particularly in compute-heavy and cross-platform API workloads.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs represent fundamentally different design philosophies and process technologies. The AMD Radeon Pro 555 is built on the Polaris 21 chip, utilizing the GCN 4.0 architecture on a 14 nm process node from GlobalFoundries. It packs 3,000 million transistors into a 123 mm² die, resulting in a transistor density of 24.4 million per square millimeter. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080, by contrast, uses the GP104 chip with the Pascal architecture, fabricated by TSMC on a 16 nm process. It contains 7,200 million transistors across a much larger 314 mm² die, with a transistor density of 22.9 million per square millimeter.

The compute resources differ dramatically. The Radeon Pro 555 features 768 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 16 raster operations pipelines. The GTX 1080 fields 2,560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. This 3.3x difference in shading units and 3.3x difference in TMUs helps explain the performance gap seen in the benchmark results. The pixel rate for the Radeon Pro 555 is 13.60 GPixel/s, while the GTX 1080 achieves 110.9 GPixel/s. Texture rates are similarly lopsided: 40.80 GTexel/s versus 277.3 GTexel/s.

Memory configurations also diverge sharply. The Radeon Pro 555 has 2 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus, yielding 81.60 GB/s of bandwidth. The GTX 1080 carries 8 GB of GDDR5X memory on a 256-bit bus, quadrupling the capacity and delivering 320.3 GB/s. Memory clocks are recorded at 1275 MHz (5.1 Gbps effective) for the AMD part and 1251 MHz (10 Gbps effective) for the NVIDIA part. The faster effective memory speed and wider bus give the GTX 1080 nearly four times the memory bandwidth.

Floating-point performance shows a similar disparity. The Radeon Pro 555 delivers 1,305.6 GFLOPS in FP32, while the GTX 1080 reaches 8.873 TFLOPS. In FP16, the AMD part maintains a 1:1 ratio at 1,305.6 GFLOPS, whereas the GTX 1080 operates at a 1:64 ratio, producing just 138.6 GFLOPS. The AMD architecture's full-rate FP16 is a notable design choice, but it does not compensate for the raw FP32 advantage held by the NVIDIA card.

Power and physical characteristics reflect their intended use cases. The Radeon Pro 555 has a TDP of 75 W and is an integrated graphics processor with no power connectors, designed for portable devices. The GTX 1080 has a TDP of 180 W, requires a single 8-pin power connector, and is a dual-slot card measuring 267 mm in length. The suggested PSU for the GTX 1080 is 450 W. The AMD card uses a PCIe 3.0 x8 interface, while the NVIDIA card uses the full x16 interface. API support shows the GTX 1080 supporting DirectX 12 (12_1) versus 12 (12_0) for the Radeon Pro 555, with both supporting OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.3 for AMD and 1.4 for NVIDIA.

The Verdict

The data points to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 as the dominant performer in every recorded head-to-head test. The 77.2% lead in OpenCL, 59.5% lead in Vulkan, and 31.9% lead in Metal are unambiguous. The GTX 1080 also offers substantially more memory (8 GB versus 2 GB), higher memory bandwidth (320.3 GB/s versus 81.60 GB/s), and significantly higher compute throughput (8.873 TFLOPS FP32 versus 1,305.6 GFLOPS).

The AMD Radeon Pro 555, however, is not without its merits within its own context. Its 75 W TDP and integrated form factor make it suitable for compact, power-constrained portable systems. Its average benchmark score of 13,407 is actually higher than the GTX 1080's 11,960, and it sits in the 54th percentile versus the GTX 1080's 51st percentile. This is a statistical quirk driven by the GTX 1080's inclusion of lower-scoring legacy tests, but it does indicate that the Radeon Pro 555 is well-regarded within its performance class.

For users prioritizing raw performance in compute, gaming, or professional workloads, the GTX 1080 is the clear choice based on the head-to-head results. For users constrained by power budgets, physical space, or integrated graphics requirements, the Radeon Pro 555 offers a reasonable baseline, though the data shows it will trail the GTX 1080 by significant margins in most modern workloads. The GTX 1080's successor is the GeForce 20 series, and its predecessor is the GeForce 900 series, positioning it as a high-end part of its generation. The Radeon Pro 555's generation is the Radeon Pro Mac (500 Series), and it is now end-of-life, as is the GTX 1080.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every specification category. The process node is 14 nm for AMD versus 16 nm for NVIDIA, with different foundries (GlobalFoundries versus TSMC). Transistor count is 3,000 million versus 7,200 million, and die size is 123 mm² versus 314 mm². The GTX 1080 has a base clock of 1607 MHz and boost clock of 1733 MHz, while the Radeon Pro 555 has no recorded base or boost clocks. Memory size is 2 GB versus 8 GB, type is GDDR5 versus GDDR5X, bus width is 128-bit versus 256-bit, and bandwidth is 81.60 GB/s versus 320.3 GB/s. Shading units are 768 versus 2,560, TMUs are 48 versus 160, and ROPs are 16 versus 64. Pixel rate is 13.60 GPixel/s versus 110.9 GPixel/s, texture rate is 40.80 GTexel/s versus 277.3 GTexel/s. FP32 is 1,305.6 GFLOPS versus 8.873 TFLOPS, and FP16 is 1,305.6 GFLOPS versus 138.6 GFLOPS. TDP is 75 W versus 180 W. Slot width is IGP versus dual-slot, power connectors are none versus 1x 8-pin, and the suggested PSU is absent for AMD versus 450 W for NVIDIA. Bus interface is PCIe 3.0 x8 versus x16. Display outputs are portable device dependent versus 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0, and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a. The GTX 1080 has dimensions of 267 mm length, 112 mm height, and 40 mm width, while the Radeon Pro 555 has no recorded dimensions. Release dates are 2017-06-04 for AMD and 2016-05-26 for NVIDIA. The GTX 1080 has a recorded launch MSRP of 599 USD.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins the Geekbench Metal test?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 wins with a score of 23,824 against the AMD Radeon Pro 555's 16,236, a 31.9% advantage.

Q: How large is the performance gap in OpenCL?

A: The GTX 1080 scores 51,204 in OpenCL versus 11,682 for the Radeon Pro 555, representing a 77.2% lead for NVIDIA.

Q: What is the average benchmark score for each card?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 555 has an average benchmark score of 13,407, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 has an average of 11,960.

Q: How much memory does each GPU have?

A: The Radeon Pro 555 has 2 GB of GDDR5 memory, while the GTX 1080 has 8 GB of GDDR5X memory.

Q: What are the TDP values for these cards?

A: The Radeon Pro 555 has a TDP of 75 W, and the GTX 1080 has a TDP of 180 W.

Q: Which card has a higher transistor density?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 555 has a transistor density of 24.4 million per square millimeter, higher than the GTX 1080's 22.9 million per square millimeter, despite the GTX 1080 having more total transistors.