AMD Radeon Pro 555X vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 Comparison

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 and the AMD Radeon Pro 555X represent two very different answers to the same problem: delivering mainstream GPU performance from fundamentally different design philosophies. The database records a split decision across three Geekbench workloads, with the GTX 770 taking two wins and the Radeon Pro 555X taking one, and the margins in each case are large enough that the choice between them depends heavily on which API matters for a given workload. What follows is a step-by-step walkthrough of the recorded data.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database contains three direct comparisons, and each one is lopsided rather than close.

In Geekbench Metal, the Radeon Pro 555X scores 14479 against 9369 for the GTX 770. That is a 35.3 percent advantage for the AMD part, and it is the single biggest gap in the head-to-head set. Metal is Apple's graphics API, and the result aligns with the 555X's origin as a Radeon Pro Mac part from the 500X Series. The GTX 770's Kepler architecture simply does not translate its raw specifications into competitive Metal throughput in this test.

Geekbench OpenCL flips the result. Here the GTX 770 records 15707 versus 12628 for the 555X, a 24.4 percent win for NVIDIA. OpenCL is a vendor-neutral compute API, and this is where the GTX 770's much larger resource counts, 1536 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 32 render outputs, translate into a measurable lead.

Geekbench Vulkan is the most decisive result of the three. The GTX 770 scores 19166 against 12855 for the Radeon Pro 555X, a 49.1 percent margin. Vulkan performance is almost exactly double the workload throughput in NVIDIA's favor, and it is the strongest single argument for the GTX 770 in the entire dataset.

Aggregating the three tests, the GTX 770 carries an average benchmark score of 14747 against 13321 for the 555X. Context matters here. The GTX 770 sits at the 57th percentile of all GPUs in the database, and its average lands within a fraction of a percent of the AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT (14692, a 0.4 percent gap), with the NVIDIA Quadro M2000 (14532) close behind. The Radeon Pro 555X sits at the 54th percentile, and its average is nearly identical to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 (13300, 0.2 percent apart), with the AMD FirePro M6100, the AMD Radeon RX 5500M, and the AMD Radeon HD 8950M all clustered within half a percent of it. Both cards occupy the same broad performance neighborhood, but the GTX 770 holds the higher aggregate position.

Where Each One Wins

The split is clean and API-driven.

The Radeon Pro 555X wins where Metal is the interface. Its 14479 Metal score is the highest single number it posts in any test, and the 35.3 percent victory over the GTX 770 means any workflow running through Metal on Apple hardware should favor it decisively. This is consistent with its identity as a Mac-focused integrated professional part: an IGP-form-factor chip with no power connectors, drawing 75 W, and relying on portable-device-dependent display outputs.

The GTX 770 wins everywhere else. Its OpenCL lead of 24.4 percent covers general-purpose compute, and its 49.1 percent Vulkan lead covers modern explicit-API graphics work. For cross-platform compute via OpenCL and for Vulkan-targeted workloads, the recorded data points unambiguously to the GTX 770. Its theoretical throughput backs this up: 3.333 TFLOPS of FP32 against 1393.2 GFLOPS from the 555X, a texture rate of 138.9 GTexel/s against 43.54 GTexel/s, and a pixel rate of 34.72 GPixel/s against 14.51 GPixel/s. The raw rendering hardware advantage sits with NVIDIA by a wide margin.

There is one important caveat on compute features: the Radeon Pro 555X lists FP16 throughput at 1393.2 GFLOPS, matching its FP32 rate at a 1:1 ratio. The GTX 770 has no FP16 figure recorded at all, so the 555X is the only one of the two with documented half-precision capability in the database.

Architecture Differences

These chips come from different eras and different design targets, and the silicon data shows it clearly.

The GTX 770 uses the GK104 die on NVIDIA's Kepler architecture, part of the GeForce 700 generation, released on 2013-05-29. It is built on TSMC's 28 nm process, packs 3540 million transistors onto a 294 mm² die, and runs at a base clock of 1046 MHz with a 1085 MHz boost. Memory is 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus at 7 Gbps effective, producing 224.4 GB/s of bandwidth.

The Radeon Pro 555X uses the Polaris 21 die on AMD's GCN 4.0 architecture, released on 2018-07-15 as part of the Radeon Pro Mac 500X Series. GlobalFoundries manufactures it on a 14 nm process, and it fits 3000 million transistors into just 123 mm². Its transistor density of 24.4M per mm² is double the 12.0M per mm² of the GK104 die. Memory is 4 GB of GDDR5 on a narrower 128-bit bus at 5.9 Gbps effective, yielding 94.08 GB/s of bandwidth, well under half the GTX 770's figure, though the capacity is double at 4 GB versus 2 GB.

Feature support also favors the newer chip in one specific way. The 555X reports DirectX 12 at feature level 12_0 and Vulkan 1.3, while the GTX 770 reports DirectX 12 at feature level 11_0 and Vulkan 1.2.175. Both support OpenGL 4.6. Neither card has ray tracing cores or tensor cores.

Power and physical characteristics diverge sharply. The GTX 770 is a dual-slot discrete card with a 230 W TDP, requiring one 6-pin and one 8-pin connector and a suggested 550 W power supply, measuring 267 mm long, 111 mm tall, and 38 mm wide. The 555X is an IGP-class part with a 75 W TDP and no power connectors at all. Bus interfaces also differ: PCIe 3.0 x16 for the GTX 770 versus PCIe 3.0 x8 for the 555X. Display outputs are fixed on the NVIDIA card (two DVI, one HDMI 1.4a, one DisplayPort 1.2) and portable-device-dependent on the AMD part. Both are end-of-life products. The GTX 770 had a launch MSRP of 399 USD; no comparable figure is recorded for the 555X, which shipped as an integrated component rather than a retail card.

The Verdict

The data supports a clear, condition-based recommendation.

Choose the GTX 770 if the workload runs on OpenCL or Vulkan. It wins OpenCL by 24.4 percent and Vulkan by 49.1 percent, and its theoretical specifications (3.333 TFLOPS FP32, 224.4 GB/s of memory bandwidth, double the shading units, TMUs, and ROPs) confirm the benchmark results are grounded in genuine hardware capability. It also carries the higher average score, 14747 versus 13321, and the higher database percentile, 57 versus 54.

Choose the Radeon Pro 555X if the workload runs on Metal. Its 35.3 percent win there is the largest margin in the entire comparison, and no other recorded test favors the GTX 770 by as much in the Apple ecosystem context where the 555X operates. It is also the only option of the two with documented FP16 compute, a newer DirectX feature level, a newer Vulkan version, twice the VRAM, and a 75 W power envelope that requires no external connectors.

Neither card is a modern purchase proposition: both are end-of-life. The practical takeaway from the database is that the GTX 770 is the stronger general compute and Vulkan graphics part on paper and in measurement, while the 555X is the only sensible choice inside a Metal-based environment, and its efficiency and integration come as part of that package.

FAQ

Q: Which card wins the most benchmark tests? A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 wins two of three recorded tests (Geekbench OpenCL and Geekbench Vulkan), while the AMD Radeon Pro 555X wins one (Geekbench Metal).

Q: How large is the GTX 770's Vulkan advantage? A: The GTX 770 scores 19166 in Geekbench Vulkan against 12855 for the Radeon Pro 555X, a 49.1 percent lead and the biggest NVIDIA-side margin in the dataset.

Q: Does the Radeon Pro 555X win any test? A: Yes. It scores 14479 in Geekbench Metal versus 9369 for the GTX 770, a 35.3 percent victory, which is the single largest gap in either direction.

Q: How do their average scores compare? A: The GTX 770 averages 14747 (57th percentile against all GPUs in the database) versus 13321 for the 555X (54th percentile).

Q: Which card has more memory? A: The Radeon Pro 555X has 4 GB of GDDR5, double the 2 GB on the GTX 770, though its 94.08 GB/s bandwidth is far below the GTX 770's 224.4 GB/s.

Q: Which GPU is more power efficient on paper? A: The Radeon Pro 555X, with a 75 W TDP and no power connectors, versus a 230 W TDP and a 6-pin plus 8-pin connector requirement for the GTX 770.

Specification Differences

| Field | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 | AMD Radeon Pro 555X |

|---|---|---|

| Manufacturer | NVIDIA | AMD |

| Chip | GK104 | Polaris 21 |

| Architecture | Kepler | GCN 4.0 |

| Generation | GeForce 700 | Radeon Pro Mac (500X Series) |

| Process Node | 28 nm | 14 nm |

| Foundry | TSMC | GlobalFoundries |

| Transistors | 3,540 million | 3,000 million |

| Die Size | 294 mm² | 123 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 12.0M / mm² | 24.4M / mm² |

| Base / Boost Clock | 1046 MHz / 1085 MHz | Not recorded |

| Memory Size | 2 GB | 4 GB |

| Bus Width | 256 bit | 128 bit |

| Memory Speed | 1753 MHz (7 Gbps effective) | 1470 MHz (5.9 Gbps effective) |

| Bandwidth | 224.4 GB/s | 94.08 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 1536 | 768 |

| TMUs | 128 | 48 |

| ROPs | 32 | 16 |

| FP32 | 3.333 TFLOPS | 1,393.2 GFLOPS |

| FP16 | Not recorded | 1,393.2 GFLOPS (1:1) |

| Pixel Rate | 34.72 GPixel/s | 14.51 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 138.9 GTexel/s | 43.54 GTexel/s |

| TDP | 230 W | 75 W |

| Slot Width | Dual-slot | IGP |

| Power Connectors | 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin | None |

| Suggested PSU | 550 W | Not recorded |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | PCIe 3.0 x8 |

| Display Outputs | 2x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, 1x DisplayPort 1.2 | Portable Device Dependent |

| DirectX | 12 (11_0) | 12 (12_0) |

| Vulkan | 1.2.175 | 1.3 |

| Dimensions | 267 x 111 x 38 mm | Not recorded |

| Release Date | 2013-05-29 | 2018-07-15 |

| Launch MSRP | 399 USD | Not recorded |

| Predecessor / Successor | GeForce 600 / GeForce 900 | Not recorded |