AMD Radeon Pro 555 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 Comparison

The AMD Radeon Pro 555 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 represent two distinct eras of GPU design, separated by seven years of architectural evolution. Benchmark data shows a decisive, if narrow, victory for the older NVIDIA card in the single available head-to-head comparison, yet the AMD part delivers this performance at a fraction of the power envelope and with modern feature support. The GeForce GTX 480 holds a 53rd percentile rank among all GPUs, while the Radeon Pro 555 sits just above at the 54th percentile, indicating they occupy nearly identical performance tiers despite their generational gap. The average benchmark scores reinforce this proximity, with the AMD card posting 13,407 points against NVIDIA's 13,300, a difference of less than one percent.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct benchmark comparison available is Geekbench OpenCL, and the results favor the older NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480. In this test, the GTX 480 scores 13,300 points against the Radeon Pro 555's 11,682 points, producing a delta of -12.2% for the AMD part. This is a substantial margin, placing the NVIDIA card clearly ahead in raw OpenCL compute performance. The GTX 480 achieves this with 480 shading units operating at a 924 MHz memory clock, while the Radeon Pro 555 counters with 768 shading units and a faster 1275 MHz memory clock. Despite having 60% more shading units, the AMD card falls behind, suggesting that the Fermi architecture's raw throughput advantages in this workload outweigh the Polaris part's architectural efficiencies.

The remaining benchmark results further contextualize this gap. The Radeon Pro 555 shows stronger performance in other API tests, scoring 16,236 in Geekbench Metal and 12,303 in Geekbench Vulkan. While no direct NVIDIA equivalents exist in the data for these tests, the AMD card's OpenCL score represents its weakest showing across its three available benchmarks. The GTX 480's single benchmark result of 13,300 positions it favorably against the AMD card's nearest rivals, including the AMD Radeon RX 5500M (13,356) and AMD FirePro M6100 (13,354), both of which edge out the GTX 480 by roughly 0.4%. The NVIDIA card also trails the AMD Radeon HD 8950M (13,376) by 0.6%, but leads the NVIDIA P106-090 (13,470) by a 1.3% margin when compared via the Radeon Pro 555's rival list.

In terms of average score, the Radeon Pro 555's 13,407 average narrowly surpasses the GTX 480's 13,300, a 0.8% advantage. However, this aggregate figure masks the fact that the GTX 480 wins the only identical test both cards share. The head-to-head delta of -12.2% is the most reliable indicator of direct performance, and it clearly favors the NVIDIA product. The AMD card's percentile ranking of 54 versus NVIDIA's 53 suggests that, across a broader benchmark suite, the two would likely trade blows, but the available data gives the GTX 480 the edge in direct comparison.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 claims victory in the OpenCL compute workload, the sole benchmark where both cards appear. This result indicates that for applications leveraging OpenCL for general-purpose GPU computing, the older Fermi architecture remains competitive. The GTX 480's 384-bit memory bus and 177.4 GB/s bandwidth provide a significant advantage over the Radeon Pro 555's 128-bit bus and 81.60 GB/s bandwidth, which likely contributes to its OpenCL lead. The NVIDIA card's 48 ROPs also double the AMD part's 16 ROPs, aiding in memory-intensive operations.

The AMD Radeon Pro 555 wins in every other measurable category. Its Geekbench Metal score of 16,236 is its strongest result, indicating excellent performance in Apple's Metal API, a workload category where the GTX 480 has no comparable data. The Vulkan score of 12,303 further demonstrates the AMD card's modern API support, a capability entirely absent from the GTX 480, which lists no Vulkan support in its specifications. For users running contemporary graphics APIs, the Radeon Pro 555 is the only viable option between the two.

The AMD card also wins decisively on efficiency. With a 75 W TDP against the GTX 480's 250 W, the Radeon Pro 555 delivers comparable average performance at one-third the power draw. The AMD part requires no power connectors and is an IGP (integrated graphics processor) slot design, while the GTX 480 demands a dual-slot cooler, 1x 6-pin plus 1x 8-pin power connectors, and a 600 W suggested power supply. In mobile or compact system contexts, the Radeon Pro 555's portable-device-dependent display outputs and lack of external power requirements make it the clear winner for integration flexibility.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide between these two GPUs is stark. The AMD Radeon Pro 555 employs the Polaris 21 chip built on GCN 4.0 architecture, fabricated on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. This modern node packs 3,000 million transistors into a compact 123 mm² die, achieving a transistor density of 24.4 million per square millimeter. The GCN 4.0 architecture natively supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3, providing full access to contemporary graphics features. In contrast, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 uses the GF100 chip based on the Fermi architecture, built on a 40 nm process at TSMC. This older node integrates 3,100 million transistors across a massive 529 mm² die, yielding a density of just 5.9 million transistors per square millimeter—less than a quarter of the AMD part's density.

The transistor counts are nearly identical—3,000 million versus 3,100 million—but the physical implementation could not be more different. The Radeon Pro 555 fits its transistors into less than a quarter of the silicon area, demonstrating the massive lithographic advancement between 2010 and 2017. The Fermi architecture supports DirectX 12 (11_0), a partial implementation that lacks the full feature set of the 12_0 profile, and offers no Vulkan support. Both cards support OpenGL 4.6, but the AMD part's API surface is strictly more capable.

The memory subsystem reflects the same generational split. The Radeon Pro 555 uses 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus, delivering 81.60 GB/s bandwidth. The GTX 480 uses 1536 MB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus, delivering 177.4 GB/s—more than double the bandwidth. The NVIDIA card's wider bus compensates for its slower 924 MHz memory clock versus the AMD card's 1275 MHz. The Radeon Pro 555's 768 shading units, 48 TMUs, and 16 ROPs contrast with the GTX 480's 480 shading units, 60 TMUs, and 48 ROPs. The AMD card favors shader throughput, while the NVIDIA card emphasizes texture and pixel processing, with its 42.06 GTexel/s texture rate slightly edging the AMD card's 40.80 GTexel/s.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every specification field. The Radeon Pro 555 is manufactured by AMD using the Polaris 21 chip on GlobalFoundries' 14 nm process, while the GTX 480 is NVIDIA's GF100 on TSMC's 40 nm process. The AMD part has a 3,000 million transistor count on a 123 mm² die (24.4M/mm²), versus the NVIDIA card's 3,100 million transistors on a 529 mm² die (5.9M/mm²). Memory configurations diverge: the Radeon Pro 555 offers 2 GB GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus with 81.60 GB/s bandwidth and a 1275 MHz memory clock (5.1 Gbps effective), while the GTX 480 provides 1536 MB GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus with 177.4 GB/s bandwidth and a 924 MHz memory clock (3.7 Gbps effective).

Compute resources differ significantly: the AMD card has 768 shading units, 48 TMUs, and 16 ROPs, producing 13.60 GPixel/s pixel rate and 40.80 GTexel/s texture rate, with 1,305.6 GFLOPS FP32 and matching 1,305.6 GFLOPS FP16 (1:1). The GTX 480 has 480 shading units, 60 TMUs, and 48 ROPs, yielding 21.03 GPixel/s and 42.06 GTexel/s, with 1,345.0 GFLOPS FP32 and no FP16 capability. Power and physical specifications contrast sharply: the Radeon Pro 555 draws 75 W, is IGP slot width, has no power connectors, and uses PCIe 3.0 x8; the GTX 480 draws 250 W, is dual-slot, requires 1x 6-pin plus 1x 8-pin power, needs a 600 W PSU, and uses PCIe 2.0 x16, measuring 267 mm (10.5 inches) in length. Display outputs also differ: the AMD card is portable-device dependent, while the NVIDIA card offers 2x DVI and 1x mini-HDMI 1.3a. The GTX 480 has a launch MSRP of 499 USD; the Radeon Pro 555 has no listed launch MSRP.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins in the direct OpenCL benchmark comparison?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 wins the Geekbench OpenCL test with a score of 13,300 against the AMD Radeon Pro 555's 11,682, a margin of 12.2% in NVIDIA's favor.

Q: How do their average benchmark scores compare?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 555 has a higher average benchmark score of 13,407, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 averages 13,300, giving the AMD part a 0.8% advantage across all available tests.

Q: What are the power consumption differences?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 555 draws 75 W with no power connectors required, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 draws 250 W and requires 1x 6-pin plus 1x 8-pin power connectors, along with a 600 W suggested power supply.

Q: Does the NVIDIA card support modern graphics APIs?

A: The GTX 480 supports DirectX 12 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.6 but has no Vulkan support. The AMD Radeon Pro 555 supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3, making it the more modern API option.

Q: How do the memory bandwidth figures differ?

A: The NVIDIA GTX 480 offers 177.4 GB/s bandwidth via a 384-bit bus, while the AMD Radeon Pro 555 provides 81.60 GB/s via a 128-bit bus, meaning the NVIDIA card has more than double the memory bandwidth.

Q: What are the ROP and TMU counts for each card?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 555 has 48 TMUs and 16 ROPs, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 has 60 TMUs and 48 ROPs, giving the NVIDIA card a 3x advantage in ROP count and a 25% advantage in TMU count.