AMD Radeon Pro 580 vs NVIDIA RTX A6000 Comparison

The data presents a stark generational and performance-class divide between the NVIDIA RTX A6000 and the AMD Radeon Pro 580. The RTX A6000, a workstation Ampere part from late 2020, is a 300 W dual-slot card designed for maximum compute throughput, while the Radeon Pro 580, a GCN 4.0 part from mid-2017, is an integrated graphics processor (IGP) targeting Apple Mac systems. Benchmark results show the NVIDIA card leading in every shared test, with the largest gap in OpenCL compute. The A6000’s average benchmark score of 44,075 places it in the 84th percentile of all GPUs, while the Radeon Pro 580’s 40,318 average places it in the 82nd percentile, a closer overall standing than the head-to-head deltas suggest, owing to the AMD card’s strong Metal performance.

The Verdict

The data indicates that the NVIDIA RTX A6000 is the definitive choice for compute-intensive workloads. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the A6000 scores 193,937 against the Radeon Pro 580’s 38,457, a 404.3% advantage. This is not a marginal lead; it is a categorical difference in raw throughput, driven by the A6000’s 10,752 shading units, 38.71 TFLOPS FP32 performance, and 768.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth. For professionals running GPU-accelerated rendering, simulation, or machine learning tasks, the data suggests the A6000 is in a different performance tier entirely.

The AMD Radeon Pro 580, however, is not without a purpose. Its role as an IGP with "Portable Device Dependent" display outputs and no power connectors points to a design for specific, likely mobile or all-in-one, Apple systems. Its 82nd percentile ranking, while lower than the A6000’s 84th, is not embarrassing given its age and form factor. The Radeon Pro 580 wins no head-to-head benchmarks, but its Geekbench Vulkan score of 43,285 is respectable, and its Metal score of 39,213 suggests it handles Apple’s graphics API adequately. The verdict is clear: choose the RTX A6000 for raw performance and compute capability; choose the Radeon Pro 580 only if the system integration demands an IGP with no external power and portable display dependency.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gulf between these two GPUs is immense. The NVIDIA RTX A6000 uses the GA102 chip on an 8 nm Samsung process, packing 28,300 million transistors into a 628 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 45.1M per mm². In contrast, the AMD Radeon Pro 580 uses the Ellesmere chip on a 14 nm GlobalFoundries process, with just 5,700 million transistors on a 232 mm² die, giving a density of 24.6M per mm². The A6000’s newer process allows for nearly five times the transistor count, which translates directly into its massive compute advantage.

Beyond the node, the feature sets diverge completely. The RTX A6000 is built on the Ampere architecture and includes 84 RT cores and 336 tensor cores, making it a hardware ray-tracing and AI-acceleration powerhouse. The Radeon Pro 580, based on GCN 4.0, lists null values for RT and tensor cores, meaning it lacks dedicated hardware for these tasks. The A6000 also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, while the Radeon Pro 580 is limited to DirectX 12 (12_0) and Vulkan 1.3. Memory technology differs as well: the A6000 uses 48 GB of GDDR6 on a 384-bit bus, while the Radeon Pro 580 uses 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus. The A6000’s bandwidth of 768.0 GB/s dwarfs the Radeon’s 217.0 GB/s, a 3.5x difference that heavily impacts large dataset handling.

The power and physical characteristics also tell a story of different design philosophies. The RTX A6000 is a 300 W dual-slot card requiring an 8-pin EPS connector and a 700 W suggested PSU, with dimensions of 267 mm in length. The Radeon Pro 580 is an IGP with a 185 W TDP, no power connectors, and no listed dimensions, confirming its soldered-on-board nature. The A6000 offers 4x DisplayPort 1.4a outputs, while the Radeon Pro 580’s outputs are "Portable Device Dependent," reinforcing its role in laptops or iMacs rather than standalone workstations.

Where Each One Wins

Based on the benchmark data, the NVIDIA RTX A6000 wins in all shared test categories. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 193,937 is over five times higher than the Radeon Pro 580’s 38,457, indicating dominance in general-purpose GPU compute. This makes the A6000 the obvious choice for OpenCL-heavy applications like scientific computing, video encoding, and complex 3D rendering. In Geekbench Vulkan, the A6000’s 164,462 score beats the Radeon’s 43,285 by 280%, showing a clear advantage in cross-platform graphics and compute workloads that leverage Vulkan’s low-level access.

The AMD Radeon Pro 580’s wins are not in head-to-head comparisons but in its specific niche. It has a Geekbench Metal score of 39,213, a test the A6000 does not have a recorded result for. This suggests the Radeon Pro 580 is optimized for Apple’s Metal API, making it the only sensible choice for Mac-specific applications that rely on Metal acceleration. Its Vulkan score of 43,285, while lower than the A6000’s, is still higher than its own OpenCL score, indicating that the GCN architecture performs relatively better in Vulkan than in OpenCL. The Radeon Pro 580’s 82nd percentile ranking versus the A6000’s 84th also shows that, despite losing every shared test, the AMD card is not a slouch in the broader GPU landscape—it sits close to the RTX A6000 in overall percentile, likely buoyed by its Metal performance and the fact that its average score includes a test the A6000 lacks.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has higher raw compute performance?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A6000. It delivers 38.71 TFLOPS FP32 performance versus the AMD Radeon Pro 580’s 5.530 TFLOPS, a 7x difference in theoretical peak throughput.

Q: How do they compare in memory capacity and bandwidth?

A: The RTX A6000 has 48 GB of GDDR6 memory with 768.0 GB/s bandwidth on a 384-bit bus. The Radeon Pro 580 has 8 GB of GDDR5 with 217.0 GB/s bandwidth on a 256-bit bus. The A6000 offers six times the capacity and over three times the bandwidth.

Q: Does the Radeon Pro 580 support ray tracing?

A: No. The FACT PACK lists null values for RT cores and tensor cores on the Radeon Pro 580. The RTX A6000, in contrast, has 84 RT cores and 336 tensor cores, providing dedicated hardware for ray tracing and AI workloads.

Q: What is the performance gap in OpenCL?

A: The RTX A6000 scores 193,937 in Geekbench OpenCL, while the Radeon Pro 580 scores 38,457. This gives the NVIDIA card a 404.3% advantage, meaning it is roughly five times faster in this compute test.

Q: Are there any benchmarks where the Radeon Pro 580 wins?

A: In the head-to-head data, the Radeon Pro 580 wins zero tests. However, it has a Geekbench Metal score of 39,213, a test not listed for the RTX A6000, indicating its strength in Apple’s Metal API.

Q: What are the power requirements for each card?

A: The RTX A6000 has a 300 W TDP, requires an 8-pin EPS power connector, and suggests a 700 W PSU. The Radeon Pro 580 has a 185 W TDP and no power connectors, as it is an IGP.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The Geekbench OpenCL test provides the most dramatic illustration of the performance disparity. The NVIDIA RTX A6000 scores 193,937, while the AMD Radeon Pro 580 scores 38,457. This 404.3% delta means the A6000 is over five times faster in OpenCL compute. To put this in perspective, the A6000’s score alone is nearly equal to the combined scores of the Radeon Pro 580’s OpenCL and Vulkan results (38,457 + 43,285 = 81,742), which still falls short of the NVIDIA card by over 112,000 points. This level of dominance suggests that any OpenCL-based application—whether it’s fluid dynamics simulation, medical imaging processing, or financial modeling—will see a transformative performance boost on the A6000.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the gap narrows but remains decisive. The RTX A6000 posts 164,462, against the Radeon Pro 580’s 43,285, a 280% lead. This indicates that while Vulkan is a strength for the GCN architecture relative to its own OpenCL performance, it is still nowhere near the Ampere card’s capability. The A6000’s Vulkan score is nearly four times higher, and this advantage would be felt in modern game engines, real-time 3D visualization, and Vulkan-based compute tasks. Interestingly, the Radeon Pro 580’s Vulkan score of 43,285 is higher than its OpenCL score of 38,457, suggesting the GCN 4.0 architecture handles Vulkan’s driver overhead better than OpenCL’s. However, this relative improvement does nothing to close the absolute gap with the A6000.

Looking at the broader benchmark landscape, the RTX A6000’s average benchmark score is 44,075, which places it 0.9% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile and 1.8% ahead of the NVIDIA Quadro M6000. The Radeon Pro 580’s average of 40,318 puts it 0.1% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 and 0.6% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100. These nearest rival comparisons show that both cards sit in similar percentile territory (84th vs 82nd), but the A6000’s head-to-head victories are so lopsided that the average scores are pulled up by tests the Radeon Pro 580 doesn’t participate in, like the Passmark suite where the A6000 scores 22,577 in G3D and 14,110 in GPU compute.

Specification Differences

The specification sheet highlights fundamental differences in every major category. The process node differs: the RTX A6000 uses 8 nm Samsung, while the Radeon Pro 580 uses 14 nm GlobalFoundries. Transistor counts are 28,300 million versus 5,700 million, and die sizes are 628 mm² versus 232 mm². The A6000’s base clock is 1410 MHz with a boost of 1800 MHz, while the Radeon Pro 580 runs at 1100 MHz base and 1200 MHz boost. Memory clocks also differ: the A6000 runs at 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective), while the Radeon Pro 580 runs at 1695 MHz (6.8 Gbps effective).

The compute resources are starkly different. The RTX A6000 has 10,752 shading units, 336 TMUs, and 112 ROPs, while the Radeon Pro 580 has 2,304 shading units, 144 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The A6000 also has 84 RT cores and 336 tensor cores, while the Radeon Pro 580 has none. Pixel rate is 201.6 GPixel/s for the A6000 versus 38.40 GPixel/s for the Radeon, and texture rate is 604.8 GTexel/s versus 172.8 GTexel/s. FP32 performance is 38.71 TFLOPS versus 5.530 TFLOPS, and FP16 is also 38.71 TFLOPS (1:1) versus 5.530 TFLOPS (1:1). The TDP difference is 300 W versus 185 W, and the bus interface is PCIe 4.0 x16 versus PCIe 3.0 x16. The A6000 is dual-slot with an 8-pin EPS connector, while the Radeon Pro 580 is an IGP with no connectors. Display outputs are 4x DisplayPort 1.4a versus "Portable Device Dependent." Finally, the RTX A6000 has a launch MSRP of 4,649 USD, while the Radeon Pro 580 has no listed launch MSRP.