AMD Radeon Pro 575 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN X Comparison

The AMD Radeon Pro 575 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN X represent two very different approaches to high-end graphics, separated by both time and design philosophy. Benchmark data shows a clear split: AMD wins decisively in Metal workloads, while NVIDIA dominates in OpenCL and Vulkan. The Radeon Pro 575 is a modern, power-efficient mobile-class part, whereas the GTX TITAN X is a larger, older desktop flagship. Their average benchmark scores are close, with the AMD card at 39,555 and the NVIDIA card at 36,530, but the distribution of wins across APIs tells a more nuanced story.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most striking result in the head-to-head comparison is the Geekbench Metal test, where the AMD Radeon Pro 575 achieves a score of 46,192 against the GTX TITAN X's 18,723. That is a delta of 146.7% in favor of AMD, making this the single largest margin in the matchup. This outcome is not surprising given the Radeon Pro 575's GCN 4.0 architecture, which was designed with compute-heavy workloads in mind, and its strong showing in Apple's Metal API. The GTX TITAN X, built on Maxwell 2.0, clearly lags in this specific API, a factor that may be tied to driver maturity or architectural differences in how each GPU handles Metal's shading language.

The tables turn dramatically in OpenCL, where the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN X posts a score of 41,471 compared to the Radeon Pro 575's 34,596. This gives NVIDIA a 16.6% advantage, reversing the previous result. The GTX TITAN X's higher raw compute resources, including 3,072 shading units and 6.691 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, likely contribute to this win. The AMD card, with 2,048 shading units and 4.489 TFLOPS, falls behind in this more general-purpose compute benchmark.

Vulkan tells a similar story to OpenCL, with NVIDIA extending its lead. The GTX TITAN X scores 49,397, while the Radeon Pro 575 manages 37,878, resulting in a 23.3% delta in NVIDIA's favor. This is the largest win for NVIDIA across the three tests. Interestingly, the GTX TITAN X's Vulkan support is listed as version 1.4, whereas the Radeon Pro 575 supports Vulkan 1.3, which may hint at better driver optimization for newer Vulkan features on the NVIDIA side.

Overall, the head-to-head record is 2-1 in favor of NVIDIA, but the magnitude of AMD's Metal victory is so large that it nearly offsets NVIDIA's two wins in terms of average score. The Radeon Pro 575's average benchmark score sits at 39,555, which is 8.3% higher than the GTX TITAN X's 36,530. This means that despite losing two of three direct comparisons, the AMD card has a higher overall average across all tested workloads, largely due to its exceptional Metal performance.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 575 has an average benchmark score of 39,555, which is higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN X's 36,530. This places the AMD card in the 82nd percentile of all GPUs, while the NVIDIA card sits in the 80th percentile.

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

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 575 is the clear winner in Metal, scoring 46,192 against the GTX TITAN X's 18,723. This represents a 146.7% advantage for AMD, making it the most lopsided result in the entire comparison.

Q: What is the margin of NVIDIA's win in OpenCL?

A: In Geekbench OpenCL, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN X scores 41,471, while the AMD Radeon Pro 575 scores 34,596. This gives NVIDIA a 16.6% lead in this particular test.

Q: Does the GTX TITAN X have a higher pixel rate than the Radeon Pro 575?

A: Yes, the GTX TITAN X offers a pixel rate of 104.5 GPixel/s, which is substantially higher than the Radeon Pro 575's 35.07 GPixel/s. This is due to the NVIDIA card having 96 ROPs compared to AMD's 32 ROPs.

Q: Which card was released earlier?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN X was released on March 16, 2015, while the AMD Radeon Pro 575 followed on June 4, 2017. Both are now end-of-life products.

Q: What is the difference in memory capacity between the two?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN X has 12 GB of GDDR5 memory, while the AMD Radeon Pro 575 has 4 GB of GDDR5. The NVIDIA card also has a wider 384-bit memory bus, providing 336.6 GB/s of bandwidth versus AMD's 217.0 GB/s.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon Pro 575 is the definitive choice for Metal-based workloads. Its 146.7% lead in Geekbench Metal is not just a marginal win; it is a dominant performance that suggests the card is far better optimized for Apple's graphics API. This makes it the preferred option for macOS environments, creative applications, or any workflow that leverages Metal for rendering or compute. The Radeon Pro 575 also holds the overall average score advantage, meaning that for users who mix APIs, the AMD card tends to deliver more consistent performance across the board.

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN X wins in both OpenCL and Vulkan, making it the better option for general-purpose compute and cross-platform graphics. Its 16.6% OpenCL lead and 23.3% Vulkan lead indicate that it has superior raw compute throughput in these APIs, likely due to its higher shading unit count and larger memory subsystem. The GTX TITAN X also offers a much larger 12 GB frame buffer, which is critical for high-resolution textures, large datasets, or multi-monitor setups. For users working in Linux or Windows environments where Vulkan and OpenCL are common, the NVIDIA card is the stronger performer.

The use-case split is therefore clear: AMD wins where Metal is the primary API, while NVIDIA wins in more traditional compute and gaming-oriented APIs. The Radeon Pro 575's smaller 4 GB memory capacity and lower pixel rate of 35.07 GPixel/s make it less suitable for high-resolution rasterization, whereas the GTX TITAN X's 104.5 GPixel/s pixel rate and 209.1 GTexel/s texture rate give it a decisive edge in fill-rate-bound scenarios.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ substantially across nearly every major specification. The AMD Radeon Pro 575 is built on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN X uses a 28 nm process at TSMC. This process advantage allows AMD to pack 5,700 million transistors into a 232 mm² die, achieving a transistor density of 24.6M per mm². In contrast, the GTX TITAN X has 8,000 million transistors on a much larger 601 mm² die, resulting in a lower density of 13.3M per mm².

Memory configurations are also vastly different. The Radeon Pro 575 has 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 217.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GTX TITAN X features 12 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus, with 336.6 GB/s of bandwidth. The NVIDIA card's memory clock is 1753 MHz (7 Gbps effective), while the AMD card runs at 1695 MHz (6.8 Gbps effective). The GTX TITAN X also has a base clock of 1000 MHz and a boost clock of 1089 MHz, whereas the Radeon Pro 575's clock speeds are not listed.

Compute resources differ markedly: the Radeon Pro 575 has 2,048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, while the GTX TITAN X has 3,072 shading units, 192 TMUs, and 96 ROPs. This translates to a significant difference in fill rates, with the NVIDIA card achieving 104.5 GPixel/s and 209.1 GTexel/s versus AMD's 35.07 GPixel/s and 140.3 GTexel/s. FP32 performance also favors NVIDIA at 6.691 TFLOPS compared to AMD's 4.489 TFLOPS. The Radeon Pro 575 supports FP16 at a 1:1 ratio, while the GTX TITAN X has no listed FP16 capability.

Power and physical characteristics are equally divergent. The Radeon Pro 575 has a TDP of 150 W and uses an MXM module form factor with no power connectors, making it a mobile-class solution. The GTX TITAN X has a 250 W TDP, is a dual-slot card, and requires both a 6-pin and an 8-pin power connector, with a suggested PSU of 600 W. The NVIDIA card measures 267 mm in length, 111 mm in height, and 38 mm in width. Display outputs also differ: the GTX TITAN X offers 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0, and 3x DisplayPort 1.2, while the Radeon Pro 575's outputs are listed as "Portable Device Dependent." The Radeon Pro 575 has a launch MSRP of 999 USD, though no such figure is provided for the GTX TITAN X.

Architecture Differences

The architectural split between these two GPUs is fundamental. The AMD Radeon Pro 575 is based on the Ellesmere chip and uses the GCN 4.0 architecture, part of the Radeon Pro Mac (500 Series) generation. GCN 4.0 is a mature design known for its compute efficiency and strong async compute capabilities, which likely explains its excellent Metal performance. The card is fabricated on a 14 nm process, which is a significant advancement over the older 28 nm node used by NVIDIA.

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN X is built on the GM200 chip and uses the Maxwell 2.0 architecture, belonging to the GeForce 900 generation. Maxwell 2.0 was a major architectural overhaul for NVIDIA, focusing on improved power efficiency and higher clock speeds, but it lacks some of the newer compute features found in GCN 4.0. The GTX TITAN X's predecessor is the GeForce 700 series, and its successor is the GeForce 10 series, placing it at the tail end of a generation that prioritized rasterization performance over compute versatility.

In terms of API support, both cards support DirectX 12, but the GTX TITAN X supports version 12_1, while the Radeon Pro 575 supports 12_0. Both have OpenGL 4.6, but the GTX TITAN X supports Vulkan 1.4, whereas the Radeon Pro 575 supports Vulkan 1.3. This difference in Vulkan version may explain the NVIDIA card's stronger Vulkan benchmark results, as newer API versions often include optimizations for specific hardware. The Radeon Pro 575 also has no listed RT or tensor cores, which is expected for a GPU of this era, and the same applies to the GTX TITAN X.

The transistor count and die size differences are telling. AMD achieves 5,700 million transistors on a 232 mm² die, while NVIDIA uses 8,000 million transistors on a 601 mm² die. This makes the AMD chip significantly denser, which is a direct result of the 14 nm manufacturing process. The GTX TITAN X's larger die and higher power draw of 250 W versus 150 W reflect its older process and more power-hungry design. These architectural choices have a direct impact on performance characteristics: the Radeon Pro 575 excels in compute-heavy, API-specific workloads like Metal, while the GTX TITAN X leverages its larger memory bus and higher core counts to dominate in OpenCL and Vulkan.