AMD Radeon Pro 575X vs NVIDIA T1000 Comparison

The AMD Radeon Pro 575X and NVIDIA T1000 are both end-of-life workstation graphics cards aimed at different segments, yet they land surprisingly close in overall performance. The AMD part, built on a larger 14 nm process, offers significantly higher raw compute and memory bandwidth, while the NVIDIA card, on a 12 nm node, counters with better efficiency and API support. Benchmark results are split, with each card taking one of the two available tests, making the choice heavily dependent on the specific application workload.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The head-to-head data presents a clear split decision, with each GPU winning one of the two benchmarks. In Geekbench OpenCL, the NVIDIA T1000 decisively outperforms the AMD Radeon Pro 575X, scoring 37,704 against the Radeon's 34,773. This represents a 7.8% advantage for the NVIDIA card, a substantial margin in compute workloads that leverage OpenCL. This result is notable because the AMD card holds a massive theoretical FP32 throughput advantage, yet the NVIDIA card's architecture and drivers extract higher real-world performance in this specific test.

The tables are turned in the Geekbench Vulkan test. Here, the AMD Radeon Pro 575X posts a score of 37,919, beating the NVIDIA T1000's 34,874 by 8.7%. This win is significant as it shows the AMD GCN 4.0 architecture is highly capable in Vulkan environments, which are often used in modern game engines and compute applications. The delta here is just slightly larger than the OpenCL gap, suggesting that the Radeon Pro 575X is the stronger choice for Vulkan-based workloads.

Looking at the broader benchmark landscape, the AMD card's average score across all tests is 39,116, placing it in the 82nd percentile of all GPUs. The NVIDIA T1000's average score is 36,289, which puts it in the 80th percentile. This data indicates that while the AMD card has a higher average and percentile ranking, the difference is not overwhelming. The AMD Radeon Pro 575X also sits close to rivals like the AMD Radeon Pro 580X, which scores 38,706 (a 1.1% difference), and the NVIDIA GeForce MX570 A at 38,691 (also 1.1%). The NVIDIA T1000, meanwhile, is nearly tied with the AMD Radeon RX 5300M, which scores 36,529 (a -0.7% delta), and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN X at 36,530 (also -0.7%). These rival comparisons show that both cards are competitive within their respective performance tiers.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide between these two GPUs is stark, stemming from different design philosophies and manufacturing processes. The AMD Radeon Pro 575X is built on the GCN 4.0 architecture using a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. Its chip, codenamed Ellesmere, is a large, complex die measuring 232 mm² and containing 5,700 million transistors, resulting in a transistor density of 24.6M / mm². In contrast, the NVIDIA T1000 employs the Turing architecture fabricated on a smaller 12 nm process at TSMC. Its TU117 chip is more compact at 200 mm², houses 4,700 million transistors, and has a slightly lower density of 23.5M / mm².

These architectural choices lead to massive differences in processing resources. The AMD card is equipped with 2,048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units (TMUs), and 32 raster operation pipelines (ROPs). It supports FP32 and FP16 compute at a 1:1 ratio, delivering 4.489 TFLOPS in both precisions. The NVIDIA T1000, by contrast, has a much leaner configuration with 896 shading units, 56 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. Its FP32 throughput is 2.500 TFLOPS, but it has a unique advantage with FP16 compute, achieving 5.000 TFLOPS at a 2:1 ratio. This means the NVIDIA card is significantly faster in half-precision workloads, which are common in AI inference and some scientific applications.

The feature sets also differ. The AMD Radeon Pro 575X supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. The NVIDIA T1000 offers a newer feature set with DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. Neither card features dedicated ray tracing or tensor cores, as those technologies were either not present in GCN 4.0 or reserved for higher-tier Turing parts. The NVIDIA T1000's predecessor is listed as Quadro Volta and its successor as Workstation Ampere, while the AMD card has no listed predecessor or successor.

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark victories point to specific use-case advantages. The NVIDIA T1000's win in Geekbench OpenCL suggests it is the better option for general-purpose GPU computing tasks that rely on OpenCL, such as certain physics simulations, video encoding filters, or database acceleration. Its higher FP16 throughput also makes it a more compelling choice for workloads that can leverage mixed-precision computing, offering 5.000 TFLOPS versus the AMD's 4.489 TFLOPS in that specific area. Furthermore, its support for Vulkan 1.4 and DirectX 12_1 provides better forward compatibility with newer software APIs.

The AMD Radeon Pro 575X, on the other hand, is the clear winner in Vulkan-based applications, as demonstrated by its 8.7% lead in that benchmark. This makes it the stronger candidate for Vulkan-centric game engines, rendering software, or compute frameworks that prioritize this API. Its raw computational power is also substantially higher, with 4.489 TFLOPS FP32 performance compared to the NVIDIA's 2.500 TFLOPS. This suggests the AMD card will excel in pure FP32 compute tasks where the software does not rely on NVIDIA-specific optimizations. Additionally, its 217.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth is significantly higher than the T1000's 160.0 GB/s, which is a critical advantage for memory-intensive workloads like high-resolution texture processing or large dataset manipulation.

The data also reveals differences in their competitive positioning. The AMD card's nearest rival, the AMD Radeon Pro 580X, is just 1.1% ahead, indicating that the 575X is at the top of its immediate performance class. The NVIDIA T1000, with its nearest rival being the Quadro GV100 at a 2.2% difference, shows it is also competing well against much more powerful cards in its tier.

Specification Differences

The specification sheets for these two cards diverge on nearly every major component. The process node differs, with AMD using a 14 nm process and NVIDIA using a 12 nm process. The chip sizes are distinct, with the AMD Ellesmere die at 232 mm² and the NVIDIA TU117 at 200 mm². Transistor counts are 5,700 million for AMD and 4,700 million for NVIDIA. The memory subsystems are completely different: the Radeon Pro 575X uses 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, yielding 217.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the T1000 uses 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, resulting in 160.0 GB/s. The AMD card has a higher memory clock at 1695 MHz (effective 6.8 Gbps), while the NVIDIA card runs at 1250 MHz (effective 10 Gbps).

Core configurations are also disparate. The AMD card has 2,048 shading units and 128 TMUs, while the NVIDIA card has 896 shading units and 56 TMUs; both have 32 ROPs. The clock speeds are only listed for the NVIDIA T1000, with a base of 1065 MHz and boost of 1395 MHz, while the AMD card's clocks are not specified. Power consumption differs significantly, with the AMD Radeon Pro 575X rated at 150 W TDP and the NVIDIA T1000 rated at just 50 W TDP. The AMD card is listed as an integrated graphics processor (IGP) with no power connectors, while the NVIDIA T1000 is a Single-slot card with no power connectors and a suggested PSU of 250 W. The NVIDIA card has a fixed physical size of 156 mm in length and 69 mm in height, while the AMD card's dimensions are listed as portable device dependent. Display outputs differ, with the AMD card being portable device dependent and the NVIDIA card featuring 4x mini-DisplayPort 1.4a.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 575X has a higher average benchmark score of 39,116, compared to the NVIDIA T1000's 36,289.

Q: How do the two cards compare in the Geekbench Vulkan test?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 575X wins the Vulkan test with a score of 37,919, which is 8.7% higher than the NVIDIA T1000's score of 34,874.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth difference between the two cards?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 575X offers significantly higher memory bandwidth at 217.0 GB/s using a 256-bit bus, while the NVIDIA T1000 provides 160.0 GB/s via a 128-bit bus.

Q: Does the NVIDIA T1000 have a higher FP16 performance than the AMD card?

A: Yes, the NVIDIA T1000 achieves 5.000 TFLOPS FP16 performance, while the AMD Radeon Pro 575X delivers 4.489 TFLOPS in FP16.

Q: What are the TDP ratings for both graphics cards?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 575X has a TDP of 150 W, whereas the NVIDIA T1000 is much more power-efficient with a TDP of just 50 W.

Q: Which card supports a newer version of the Vulkan API?

A: The NVIDIA T1000 supports Vulkan 1.4, while the AMD Radeon Pro 575X supports Vulkan 1.3.