AMD Radeon Pro 570X vs AMD Radeon RX 470 Comparison

# AMD Radeon Pro 570X vs AMD Radeon RX 470

The AMD Radeon Pro 570X and AMD Radeon RX 470 are two distinct graphics cards built on the same fundamental architecture, but they target different segments of the market. The Pro 570X is a professional mobile workstation part with an end-of-life status, while the RX 470 is a consumer desktop card with a longer retail presence. Both are AMD designs using the Ellesmere chip, and both rely on the GCN 4.0 architecture. The chips are manufactured on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries, giving both cards a strong transistor density of 24.6 million transistors per square millimeter.

The benchmark data shows the RX 470 as the faster part in every recorded test. The database's head-to-head comparisons reveal consistent wins for the RX 470 across three different benchmark suites, with margins ranging from about 4% to nearly 28%. The most significant gap appears in the Vulkan test, where the RX 470 leads by a substantial 27.6% margin. The OpenCL test shows a narrower but still decisive 17.8% advantage for the RX 470. The Metal test shows a 3.9% lead for the RX 470. This pattern indicates that the RX 470's advantage grows under compute-heavy workloads, which is likely tied to its higher shading unit count and texture throughput.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database records three head-to-head benchmark comparisons between these two cards. The RX 470 wins all three. The largest win is in the Geekbench Vulkan test, where the RX 470 scores 39,884 against the Pro 570's 28,859, a 27.6% advantage. This large delta suggests that the RX 470 handles Vulkan's compute and geometry loads more efficiently, likely due to its higher boost clock and greater shading unit count.

In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the RX 470 scores 33,568 versus 27,604 for the Pro 570, a 17.8% lead. This test is heavily compute-bound, and the RX 470's higher FP32 throughput (4.940 TFLOPS versus 3.960 TFLOPS) explains much of this delta. The RX 470 also has a faster memory clock (1650 MHz versus 1695 MHz effective) and a wider memory bus (256-bit in both cases), giving it a bandwidth advantage of 211.2 GB/s versus 217.0 GB/s.

The smallest delta is in the Geekbench Metal test: the RX 470 scores 41,690 against the Pro 570's 40,066, a 3.9% lead. Metal is a graphics API where geometry and memory-bound workloads are common, so the closer scores here show that both cards are capable in this area, and the RX 470's higher core clock (1206 MHz boost versus 1105 MHz) is the main differentiator.

The Pro 570 does not win any head-to-head test. The data shows a consistent, uniform advantage for the RX 470. The average benchmark score across all tests in the database is 32,176 for the Pro 570 versus 28,996 for the RX 470, a 10.0% difference in favor of the RX 470. The RX 470 also sits at the 76th percentile among all GPUs in the database, while the Pro 570 sits at the 74th percentile.

FAQ

Q: Is the AMD Radeon Pro 570X a good card for compute workloads?

A: The data shows the Pro 570X is a capable compute card, but it trails the RX 470 in every recorded test. Its FP32 throughput of 3.960 TFLOPS and FP16 at the same rate (1:1) are respectable, but the RX 470's 4.940 TFLOPS is clearly higher. The Pro 570X also has fewer shading units (1,792 versus 2,048) and a lower texture rate (123.8 GTexel/s versus 154.4 GTexel/s). For pure compute, the data favors the RX 470.

Q: Does the AMD Radeon Pro 570X support modern API features?

A: Yes. Both cards report DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3 support. The Pro 570X reports these same API levels, so API feature parity is not a differentiator between the two cards.

Q: Which card has better memory bandwidth?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 470 has a higher memory bandwidth at 211.2 GB/s versus 217.0 GB/s for the Pro 570X. Both use 4 GB of memory, but the RX 470 uses GDDR5 while the Pro 570X uses GDDR5 as well. The RX 470's bus width is 256-bit, and the Pro 570X is also 256-bit.

Q: How do their clock speeds compare?

A: The RX 470 has a base clock of 926 MHz and a boost clock of 1206 MHz. The Pro 570X has a base clock of 1000 MHz and a boost of 1105 MHz. The RX 470 also runs its memory at 1650 MHz effective, while the Pro 570X runs at 1695 MHz effective.

Q: Are they the same physical size?

A: No. The RX 470 is a dual-slot card with dimensions of 240 mm x 95 mm x 35 mm (9.4 x 3.7 x 1.4 inches). The Pro 570X has no recorded dimensions in the database, but it is listed as a portable device dependent display output.

Where Each One Wins

The RX 470 wins all three recorded head-to-head benchmark tests. Its largest win is in the Vulkan test, where it leads by 27.6%. This is likely because Vulkan is a low-level API that exposes raw compute and memory throughput, where the RX 470's higher shading unit count (2,048 versus 1,792) and higher texture rate (154.4 GTexel/s versus 123.8 GTexel/s) are decisive.

The RX 470 also wins the OpenCL and Metal tests. The OpenCL test shows a 17.8% lead, the Metal test a 3.9% lead. The Metal test is the closest result, suggesting that the Pro 570X is not far behind when the workload is more balanced between geometry and shading.

The Pro 570X does have one advantage: its production status is end-of-life, while the RX 470 is a general release part. However, the RX 470's predecessor is the Pirate Islands generation, and its successor is Polaris. The Pro 570X's predecessor is the Radeon Pro Mac line (500X Series), and its successor is the Radeon Pro 500X series.

Specification Differences

The two cards share a great deal in common. Both are AMD, both use the Ellesmere chip, both are built on the GCN 4.0 architecture, and both are manufactured on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. They each integrate 5,700 million transistors on a 232 mm² die.

The key differences are clock and core config. The RX 470 has a base clock of 926 MHz and a boost of 1206 MHz. The Pro 570X has a base of 1000 MHz and a boost of 1105 MHz. The RX 470 has 2,048 shading units, the Pro 570X has 1,792. The RX 470's pixel rate is 38.59 GPixel/s, the Pro 570X's is 35.36 GPixel/s. Texture rate is 154.4 GTexel/s for the RX 470, versus 123.8 GTex/s for the Pro 570X.

Both cards offer 4 GB of memory, but the RX 470 uses GDDR5 and the Pro 570X uses GDDR5. The memory bus is 256-bit for both. The RX 470's memory clock is 1650 MHz (6.6 Gbps effective), while the Pro 570X memory is 1695 MHz. Bandwidth is 211.2 GB/s for the RX 470, 217.0 GB/s for the Pro 570X.

The RX 470 uses one 6-pin power connector and has a suggested 300 W power supply. The Pro 570X has no power connectors recorded and its slot width is IGP. The RX 470 has a PCIe 3.0 x16 interface, while the Pro 570X also uses PCIe 3.0 x16. Display outputs on the RX 470 are 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a. The Pro 570X lists portable device dependent output.

Architecture Differences

The architectural story is identical on both cards: Ellesmere, GCN 4.0, 14 nm GlobalFoundries process. The transistor count, die size, and transistor density all match exactly at 5,700 million, 232 mm², and 24.6 million transistors per mm². Both cards use the same architecture.

The differences are all in execution resources. The RX 470 has 2,048 shading units and 128 texture mapping units, while the Pro 570X has 1,792 shading units and 112 TMUs. Both have 32 ROPs. The RX 470 has 112 TMUs, the Pro 570X has 128 TMUs. The RX 470's texture fill rate is 154.4 GTexel/s, versus 123.8 GTex/s for the Pro 570X.

The Verdict

The data points one way. The AMD Radeon RX 470 is the faster card in every recorded head-to-head comparison, with margins from 3.9% to 27.6%. The Pro 570X is a lower-clocked, lower-shading-unit version of the same chip, and the benchmark results reflect that. The RX 470's advantage is largest in Vulkan, a test that exercises its higher shading throughput and its higher FP32 rate (4.940 TFLOPS versus 3.960 TFLOPS). The Pro 570X still holds its own in the Metal test, trailing by only 3.9%, which suggests it is a solid performer for professional-grade workloads.

For a user who needs the absolute best performance in the database's recorded tests, the RX 470 is the clear choice. It wins every head-to-head and sits at the 76th percentile of all GPUs versus the Pro 570X's 74th percentile. The Pro 570X is a lower-power, lower-specified variant, and its end-of-life status means it is a mature product, but the RX 470 offers more raw performance where it matters most. If the workload is compute-heavy, the RX 470 is the pick. If the workload is mixed or geometry-bound, the Pro 570X is closer, but it still trails in the recorded data.