AMD Radeon Pro 575 vs AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Comparison

The AMD Radeon Pro 575 and AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 are two end-of-life graphics cards from the same manufacturer, but they serve fundamentally different purposes. The Pro 575 is a mobile workstation component built on the older GCN 4.0 architecture, while the RX Vega 56 is a desktop consumer card based on the newer GCN 5.0 design. The benchmark data reveals a significant performance gap, with the Vega 56 delivering a 59.1% higher average score in the only shared test, though the cards occupy nearly identical overall percentile rankings among all GPUs.

FAQ

Q: Which card has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 575 has an average benchmark score of 39,555, while the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 has an average score of 37,507. This places the Pro 575 ahead by approximately 5.5% in aggregate performance across all tests, despite the Vega 56 winning the direct head-to-head comparison.

Q: How do the two cards compare in the Geekbench Metal benchmark?

A: The AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 scores 73,512 in Geekbench Metal, which is 37.2% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro 575's score of 46,192. This represents the only direct head-to-head benchmark available between the two cards, and the Vega 56 wins decisively.

Q: What are the memory configurations of each card?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 575 features 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus with 217.0 GB/s bandwidth. The AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 offers 8 GB of HBM2 memory on a 2048-bit bus with 409.6 GB/s bandwidth, which is nearly double the bandwidth of the Pro 575.

Q: Which card has a higher transistor count and die size?

A: The AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 uses the Vega 10 chip with 12,500 million transistors on a 495 mm² die. The AMD Radeon Pro 575 uses the Ellesmere chip with just 5,700 million transistors on a 232 mm² die, meaning the Vega 56 packs more than twice the transistors into a die that is over twice the size.

Q: What are the thermal design power ratings for these cards?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 575 has a TDP of 150 W and uses an MXM module slot width with no power connectors, indicating it draws power through the motherboard. The AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 has a TDP of 210 W, requires a dual-slot form factor, and needs two 8-pin power connectors along with a suggested 550 W power supply.

Q: How do the nearest rivals compare for each card?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 575's closest rival is the NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile with a nearly identical average score (39,568 vs 39,555, a 0% delta). The AMD Radeon RX Vega 56's closest rival is the NVIDIA Tesla P4, which scores 37,628, just 0.3% higher than the Vega 56's 37,507.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide between these two cards is substantial, representing two distinct generations of AMD GPU design. The AMD Radeon Pro 575 is built on the GCN 4.0 architecture using the Ellesmere chip, manufactured on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. This chip contains 5,700 million transistors on a 232 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 24.6 million transistors per square millimeter. In contrast, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 employs the GCN 5.0 architecture with the Vega 10 chip, also on a 14 nm process from GlobalFoundries, but with 12,500 million transistors on a much larger 495 mm² die, achieving a slightly higher density of 25.3 million transistors per square millimeter.

The compute resources differ dramatically between the two architectures. The Pro 575 is equipped with 2,048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 32 raster output pipelines. The Vega 56 scales this up significantly with 3,584 shading units, 224 TMUs, and 64 ROPs — roughly 75% more shading units and TMUs, and exactly double the ROPs. This hardware advantage translates directly into throughput figures: the Pro 575 delivers 4.489 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 4.489 TFLOPS of FP16 performance at a 1:1 ratio, while the Vega 56 delivers 10.54 TFLOPS of FP32 and an impressive 21.09 TFLOPS of FP16 at a 2:1 ratio.

Memory architecture represents another fundamental divergence. The Pro 575 uses 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 217.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The Vega 56 uses 8 GB of HBM2 memory on a 2048-bit bus, delivering 409.6 GB/s of bandwidth — nearly twice the capacity and nearly double the bandwidth. The Vega 56's memory clock is listed at 800 MHz with 1600 Mbps effective speed, whereas the Pro 575's memory runs at 1695 MHz with 6.8 Gbps effective, illustrating the different trade-offs between wide HBM2 buses and faster GDDR5 clocks.

The feature sets also reflect their different generations. The Pro 575 supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. The Vega 56 supports DirectX 12 (12_1), representing a newer version of the API, along with the same OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.3 support. Both cards lack ray tracing and tensor cores, as neither architecture included these features. The production status for both is end-of-life, with the Pro 575 released on June 4, 2017, and the Vega 56 released on August 13, 2017, making them contemporaries from the same era.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct benchmark comparison available between these two cards is the Geekbench Metal test, and the results are unambiguous. The AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 scores 73,512, while the AMD Radeon Pro 575 scores 46,192. This represents a 37.2% advantage for the Vega 56, a massive gap that underscores the architectural and specification differences between the two products. The Vega 56's superior shading unit count, doubled ROPs, higher memory bandwidth, and faster pixel and texture rates all contribute to this dominant result.

Looking beyond the direct comparison, the aggregate benchmark scores from all tests paint a more nuanced picture. The Pro 575 achieves an average benchmark score of 39,555 across three tests (Geekbench Metal at 46,192, Geekbench OpenCL at 34,596, and Geekbench Vulkan at 37,878). The Vega 56's average score of 37,507 is derived from only two tests (3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 at 1,501 and Geekbench Metal at 73,512). The inclusion of the extremely low 3DMark score of 1,501 drags down the Vega 56's average, despite its commanding Metal victory.

The percentile rankings show how close these cards are in the broader GPU landscape. The Pro 575 sits at the 82nd percentile among all GPUs, while the Vega 56 sits at the 81st percentile — essentially tied in overall standing. However, their nearest rivals tell different stories. The Pro 575's nearest competitors include the AMD Radeon Pro 575X (1.1% behind), the AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 (1.3% ahead), and the AMD Radeon Pro 580 (1.9% ahead), all within a tight 3% performance band. The Vega 56's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Tesla P4 (0.3% ahead), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 (0.4% ahead), and the AMD Radeon PRO W6400 (0.9% behind), clustering within a similarly narrow range.

The performance characteristics of each card align with their intended use cases. The Pro 575's balanced scores across Metal, OpenCL, and Vulkan suggest consistent performance across different compute APIs, making it suitable for varied workstation workloads. The Vega 56's exceptional Metal score of 73,512, combined with its relatively weak 3DMark result, indicates a card that excels in specific compute scenarios but may not deliver uniformly across all benchmark suites.

Specification Differences

The physical and electrical specifications of these two cards diverge significantly. The AMD Radeon Pro 575 is designed as an MXM module, which is a compact form factor intended for laptops and mobile workstations. It has no power connectors, drawing all its power through the MXM interface, and its display outputs are listed as "Portable Device Dependent," meaning they vary based on the host system. The AMD Radeon RX Vega 56, by contrast, is a full desktop card with a dual-slot design, dimensions of 280 mm in length, 111 mm in height, and 40 mm in width. It requires two 8-pin power connectors and a suggested 550 W power supply, and it provides standard desktop display outputs including 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a.

Clock speeds present another clear distinction, though the data is incomplete for the Pro 575. The Pro 575 has no listed base or boost clock, only a memory clock of 1695 MHz with 6.8 Gbps effective speed. The Vega 56 has a base clock of 1156 MHz and a boost clock of 1471 MHz, with a memory clock of 800 MHz and 1600 Mbps effective speed. The Pro 575's pixel rate is 35.07 GPixel/s and texture rate is 140.3 GTexel/s, while the Vega 56 achieves 94.14 GPixel/s and 329.5 GTexel/s respectively — roughly 2.7x higher pixel throughput and 2.3x higher texture throughput.

Memory specifications also differ substantially. The Pro 575 offers 4 GB of GDDR5 memory with a 256-bit bus width and 217.0 GB/s bandwidth. The Vega 56 doubles the capacity to 8 GB and uses HBM2 memory with a 2048-bit bus width, delivering 409.6 GB/s of bandwidth. The Vega 56's memory bandwidth advantage is nearly 89% higher than the Pro 575's, which is critical for memory-intensive workloads such as high-resolution textures and large compute datasets.

The power envelopes reflect their different form factors and performance targets. The Pro 575 has a TDP of 150 W, which is reasonable for a mobile MXM module. The Vega 56 has a TDP of 210 W, representing a 40% increase in power draw for significantly higher performance. The Vega 56 also has a launch MSRP of 399 USD, while the Pro 575 has no listed launch MSRP. Both cards use the same PCIe 3.0 x16 bus interface and share the same 14 nm process node and GlobalFoundries foundry.

The Verdict

The data makes it clear that the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 is the superior performer in raw compute and graphics workloads, as evidenced by its 37.2% lead over the AMD Radeon Pro 575 in Geekbench Metal. With more than double the shading units (3,584 vs 2,048), double the ROPs (64 vs 32), double the memory capacity (8 GB vs 4 GB), and nearly double the memory bandwidth (409.6 GB/s vs 217.0 GB/s), the Vega 56 is architecturally dominant across every measurable specification. Its FP32 throughput of 10.54 TFLOPS is more than double the Pro 575's 4.489 TFLOPS, and its FP16 performance of 21.09 TFLOPS is nearly five times higher.

However, the choice between these cards is not simply about performance. The AMD Radeon Pro 575 occupies the 82nd percentile among all GPUs, one point higher than the Vega 56's 81st percentile, and its average benchmark score of 39,555 is actually higher than the Vega 56's 37,507. This discrepancy arises because the Pro 575 has consistent scores across Metal, OpenCL, and Vulkan tests, while the Vega 56's average is pulled down by its 3DMark Steel Nomad score of just 1,501. The Pro 575 also offers a dramatically lower 150 W TDP versus 210 W, and its MXM form factor makes it suitable for mobile workstations where space and power are constrained.

For users building or upgrading a desktop system and prioritizing maximum compute performance, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 is the clear choice based on its dominant head-to-head result and superior specifications. Its 8 GB of HBM2 memory and 409.6 GB/s bandwidth provide substantial headroom for memory-intensive applications, and its 399 USD launch MSRP positioned it as a competitive desktop option. For users with a mobile workstation or those who require the compact MXM form factor, the AMD Radeon Pro 575 is the only viable option among these two, and its consistent multi-API performance makes it a capable choice for its intended use case. The data ultimately shows that these cards serve different markets, and the right selection depends entirely on the form factor and power constraints of the target system.