AMD Radeon Pro 555 vs NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q Comparison

FAQ

Q: How do the average benchmark scores of the AMD Radeon Pro 555 and NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q compare?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 555 has an average benchmark score of 13,407, while the NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q has an average score of 11,088. Despite the NVIDIA card’s vastly larger specifications, the AMD card holds a 17.3% higher average score in the recorded data.

Q: What are the percentile rankings for each GPU relative to all GPUs in the database?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 555 sits at the 54th percentile, meaning it outperforms 54% of all recorded GPUs. The NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q sits at the 50th percentile, placing it exactly at the median of the database.

Q: Which benchmarks were run on each card?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 555 was tested with Geekbench Metal (16,236), Geekbench OpenCL (11,682), and Geekbench Vulkan (12,303). The NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q was tested only with 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 (11,088).

Q: How does the NVIDIA card compare to its nearest rivals in the database?

A: The RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q scores identically to the NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000D Blackwell Max-Q (0% delta), is 0.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 550, 0.4% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER, and 1.2% behind the AMD FirePro W4300.

Q: What are the memory capacities and types of the two cards?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 555 has 2 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus, yielding 81.60 GB/s bandwidth. The NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q has 96 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, yielding 1.79 TB/s bandwidth.

Q: What are the production statuses of these GPUs?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 555 is marked as End-of-life, with a release date of June 4, 2017. The NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q is Active, with a release date of March 17, 2025.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gulf between these two GPUs is immense. The AMD Radeon Pro 555 uses the Polaris 21 chip, built on GCN 4.0 architecture, fabricated on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. It contains 3,000 million transistors on a 123 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 24.4 million per mm². The NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q uses the GB202 chip, built on Blackwell 2.0 architecture, fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It contains 92,200 million transistors on a 750 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 122.9 million per mm². The NVIDIA chip is roughly 30 times larger in transistor count and over 6 times larger in die area.

The AMD card has 768 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 16 raster output units. It has no dedicated ray tracing cores or tensor cores. The NVIDIA card has 24,064 shading units, 752 texture mapping units, and 192 raster output units. It also includes 188 ray tracing cores and 752 tensor cores, features entirely absent from the AMD part. This indicates the Blackwell GPU is designed for workloads that leverage hardware-accelerated ray tracing and AI inference, while the Polaris GPU is a simpler graphics-only design.

The clock speeds also differ drastically. The AMD card has no base or boost clock listed, but its memory runs at 1275 MHz with 5.1 Gbps effective. The NVIDIA card has a base clock of 1035 MHz and a boost clock of 2280 MHz, with memory at 1750 MHz and 28 Gbps effective. The NVIDIA card’s boost clock is over twice its base clock, suggesting aggressive power management and thermal headroom in the Max-Q configuration.

Where Each One Wins

Based on the recorded benchmarks, the AMD Radeon Pro 555 wins decisively in the three Geekbench tests. Its Metal score of 16,236, OpenCL score of 11,682, and Vulkan score of 12,303 all exceed the NVIDIA card’s single 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 11,088. The AMD card’s average score is 2,319 points higher, and it ranks 4 percentile points higher in the overall database.

The NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q wins in every specification category that matters for modern professional workloads. It has 96 GB of GDDR7 memory versus 2 GB of GDDR5, a 512-bit bus versus 128-bit, and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth versus 81.60 GB/s. Its shading unit count is over 31 times higher, and its FP32 compute of 109.7 TFLOPS dwarfs the AMD card’s 1,305.6 GFLOPS. The NVIDIA card also supports PCIe 5.0 x16, while the AMD card uses PCIe 3.0 x8.

The AMD card wins on power efficiency in the recorded data, with a TDP of 75 W versus 300 W for the NVIDIA card. It is also an integrated form factor (IGP) with no power connectors, whereas the NVIDIA card is a dual-slot design requiring a 16-pin connector and a 700 W suggested PSU. For legacy API support, both cards support OpenGL 4.6, but the AMD card supports Vulkan 1.3 while the NVIDIA card supports Vulkan 1.4.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ in nearly every measurable specification. The AMD Radeon Pro 555 has a 14 nm process node from GlobalFoundries, while the NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q uses a 5 nm process from TSMC. Transistor count is 3,000 million versus 92,200 million, and die size is 123 mm² versus 750 mm². Transistor density is 24.4M per mm² versus 122.9M per mm².

Memory specifications are radically different: 2 GB GDDR5 versus 96 GB GDDR7, 128-bit versus 512-bit bus, and 81.60 GB/s versus 1.79 TB/s bandwidth. The shading units are 768 versus 24,064, TMUs are 48 versus 752, and ROPs are 16 versus 192. The NVIDIA card has 188 RT cores and 752 tensor cores, while the AMD card has none.

Pixel rate is 13.60 GPixel/s versus 437.8 GPixel/s, and texture rate is 40.80 GTexel/s versus 1,714.6 GTexel/s. FP32 compute is 1,305.6 GFLOPS versus 109.7 TFLOPS. The TDP is 75 W versus 300 W, and the form factor is IGP versus dual-slot. The bus interface is PCIe 3.0 x8 versus PCIe 5.0 x16. Display outputs are portable-device dependent versus 4x DisplayPort 2.1b. The AMD card supports DirectX 12 (12_0), while the NVIDIA card supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2).

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

There are no direct head-to-head benchmark results in the database. Instead, the comparison relies on each card’s individual test scores. The AMD Radeon Pro 555’s best result is its Geekbench Metal score of 16,236, which is 46.4% higher than the NVIDIA card’s 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 11,088. The AMD card’s Geekbench Vulkan score of 12,303 is 11.0% higher than the NVIDIA card’s score, and its Geekbench OpenCL score of 11,682 is 5.4% higher.

The NVIDIA card’s single benchmark score of 11,088 places it 0.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 550 and 0.4% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER in the database’s nearest rival list. However, it trails the AMD FirePro W4300 by 1.2%. The AMD Radeon Pro 555’s nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon HD 8950M (0.2% ahead), the AMD Radeon RX 5500M (0.4% ahead), the AMD FirePro M6100 (0.4% ahead), and the NVIDIA P106-090 (0.5% behind). These narrow deltas suggest the AMD card is tightly clustered with mid-range mobile GPUs, while the NVIDIA card is clustered with older professional and low-end desktop parts in the benchmark database.

The Verdict

The database presents a peculiar paradox. The NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q is technically superior in almost every hardware metric: 96 GB of GDDR7, 109.7 TFLOPS FP32, 188 RT cores, and a 5 nm process. Yet its only recorded benchmark score, 11,088 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, is lower than all three Geekbench scores of the AMD Radeon Pro 555. The AMD card’s average score of 13,407 versus 11,088 means the older, smaller, and far less capable GPU wins in the database’s performance ranking.

The AMD Radeon Pro 555 is the pick for anyone relying on Geekbench Metal, OpenCL, or Vulkan workloads, as it outperforms the NVIDIA card by margins from 5.4% to 46.4% in those specific tests. Its lower TDP of 75 W and integrated form factor also make it suitable for systems with minimal power delivery. The NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q is the pick for professional workloads that need massive memory capacity, ray tracing hardware, tensor cores, and modern API support like DirectX 12 Ultimate and Vulkan 1.4. Its 96 GB memory and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth are unmatched by the AMD card’s 2 GB and 81.60 GB/s.

The data suggests that benchmark scores do not always align with hardware specifications. The NVIDIA card’s single test may not capture its full capabilities, or the test itself may favor the AMD architecture. Users should choose based on their specific workload: the AMD card for recorded Geekbench performance, the NVIDIA card for memory capacity and modern feature support. The production status also matters: the AMD card is end-of-life, while the NVIDIA card is active and current.