AMD Radeon Pro 580X vs NVIDIA RTX A1000 Mobile Comparison

The NVIDIA RTX A1000 Mobile and AMD Radeon Pro 580X represent two very different generations of mobile graphics hardware. The RTX A1000 Mobile, built on the Ampere architecture from NVIDIA, targets professional mobile workloads with a compact, power-efficient design. The Radeon Pro 580X, an AMD GCN 4.0 part, was designed primarily for Apple’s Mac Pro ecosystem, emphasizing higher raw throughput and a larger memory pool. Head-to-head benchmark data from the database reveals a consistent performance gap, but the story is more nuanced when considering the full feature set and target platforms.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The two recorded head-to-head tests, both from Geekbench, show the NVIDIA RTX A1000 Mobile winning decisively. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX A1000 Mobile scores 48703, while the Radeon Pro 580X scores 36426. That is a 33.7% advantage for the NVIDIA part, a substantial margin that underscores the architectural efficiency differences between Ampere and GCN 4.0. The Radeon Pro 580X does have a higher peak FP32 throughput (5.530 TFLOPS versus 4.669 TFLOPS), yet it still falls far behind in this compute workload, suggesting that the RTX A1000 Mobile’s newer execution design and driver optimizations more than compensate for the raw FLOP deficit.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the margin narrows but remains firmly in NVIDIA’s favor. The RTX A1000 Mobile scores 46782, and the Radeon Pro 580X scores 40115, a 16.6% difference. Vulkan is a lower-level API, and the Radeon Pro 580X’s older GCN architecture can still push competitive numbers, especially with 2304 shading units versus 2048 on the NVIDIA chip. Yet the RTX A1000 Mobile’s dedicated RT cores and tensor cores, even if not directly stressed by this test, likely contribute to better overall scheduling and resource utilization.

The database shows the RTX A1000 Mobile wins 2 benchmarks out of 2 in this pairing. Its average benchmark score across all recorded tests is 47743, compared to 38706 for the Radeon Pro 580X. That places the RTX A1000 Mobile in the 85th percentile of all GPUs, while the Radeon Pro 580X sits at the 82nd percentile. The delta between their averages is 23.4% in favor of NVIDIA, which aligns with the OpenCL result more than the Vulkan result. For context, the RTX A1000 Mobile’s nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT (average score 48477, delta -1.5%) and the AMD Radeon RX 6550M (46702, delta 2.2%). The Radeon Pro 580X, meanwhile, sits practically even with the NVIDIA GeForce MX570 A (38691, delta 0%) and just 0.9% ahead of the GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile (38349). This indicates that the Radeon Pro 580X, despite being a workstation-class part, competes more with entry-level mobile GeForce parts than with NVIDIA’s professional lineup.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A1000 Mobile has an average benchmark score of 47743, while the AMD Radeon Pro 580X averages 38706. That is a 23.4% gap.

Q: How does the Radeon Pro 580X compare in OpenCL performance?

A: The Radeon Pro 580X scores 36426 in Geekbench OpenCL, which is 33.7% lower than the RTX A1000 Mobile’s 48703. Despite having a higher FP32 peak (5.530 TFLOPS), the older GCN architecture cannot match NVIDIA’s execution efficiency.

Q: What is the memory configuration difference?

A: The RTX A1000 Mobile has 4 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering 176.0 GB/s bandwidth. The Radeon Pro 580X has 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 218.9 GB/s bandwidth. The AMD part offers twice the capacity and 24.4% more bandwidth.

Q: Does the Radeon Pro 580X support ray tracing?

A: No. The Radeon Pro 580X has no RT cores listed in the database. The RTX A1000 Mobile includes 16 RT cores and 64 tensor cores, which are absent from the AMD part.

Q: What API levels do the two GPUs support?

A: The RTX A1000 Mobile supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4. The Radeon Pro 580X supports DirectX 12 (12_0) and Vulkan 1.3. NVIDIA’s part also lists OpenGL 4.6, matching AMD’s OpenGL 4.6.

Q: How does the Radeon Pro 580X’s nearest rival comparison look?

A: The Radeon Pro 580X is essentially tied with the NVIDIA GeForce MX570 A (delta 0%) and only 1.1% ahead of the GeForce MX570. It is 1% behind the AMD Radeon Pro 575X. This shows it belongs to a lower performance tier than the RTX A1000 Mobile.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear winner for general compute and modern API workloads: the NVIDIA RTX A1000 Mobile. It wins both head-to-head tests, has a 23.4% higher average score, and supports newer DirectX and Vulkan versions. For users running OpenCL-heavy professional applications or Vulkan-based workloads, the RTX A1000 Mobile offers a substantial performance advantage. The 33.7% OpenCL lead is especially significant because OpenCL remains a common compute interface across many DCC and scientific tools.

However, the Radeon Pro 580X is not without merit. Its 8 GB memory pool is double the RTX A1000 Mobile’s 4 GB, and its 218.9 GB/s bandwidth is 24.4% higher. For workloads that are memory-capacity-bound, such as large texture sets or data-parallel tasks that exceed 4 GB, the AMD part holds a practical edge. The Radeon Pro 580X also has a higher FP32 throughput (5.530 TFLOPS) and pixel rate (38.40 GPixel/s versus 36.48 GPixel/s), indicating that in purely rasterization-bound scenarios, it can keep pace or even surpass the NVIDIA chip, despite losing in the synthetic benchmarks recorded here.

For a professional mobile workstation, the RTX A1000 Mobile is the stronger choice if software leverages DirectX 12 Ultimate features, ray tracing, or tensor-based acceleration. The Radeon Pro 580X, with its Apple MPX bus interface and 2x HDMI 2.0b outputs, is clearly designed for Mac Pro users who need higher VRAM capacity and are locked into AMD’s ecosystem. The benchmark data shows the RTX A1000 Mobile outperforms in compute, but the Radeon Pro 580X remains relevant for specific memory-heavy tasks.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ in nearly every core specification. The RTX A1000 Mobile uses 2048 shading units, 64 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. The Radeon Pro 580X has 2304 shading units, 144 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. That means the AMD part has 12.5% more shading units and 125% more TMUs, which explains its higher texture rate of 172.8 GTexel/s versus 72.96 GTexel/s for NVIDIA. The pixel rates are closer: 38.40 GPixel/s for AMD versus 36.48 GPixel/s for NVIDIA, a 5.3% difference.

Memory differs substantially. The RTX A1000 Mobile has 4 GB GDDR6, 128-bit bus, 176.0 GB/s bandwidth. The Radeon Pro 580X has 8 GB GDDR5, 256-bit bus, 218.9 GB/s bandwidth. Memory clock rates also differ: 1375 MHz (11 Gbps effective) for the RTX A1000 Mobile, and 1710 MHz (6.8 Gbps effective) for the Radeon Pro 580X. The effective data rate is higher on NVIDIA, but the wider bus gives AMD the bandwidth advantage.

TDP is a major differentiator. The RTX A1000 Mobile is rated at 60 W, while the Radeon Pro 580X is rated at 185 W. That is a 125 W difference, making the NVIDIA part far more suitable for thin-and-light mobile workstations. The RTX A1000 Mobile also uses PCIe 4.0 x8, whereas the Radeon Pro 580X uses an Apple MPX interface. Display outputs are listed as portable device dependent for NVIDIA, while AMD provides 2x HDMI 2.0b.

Architecture Differences

The RTX A1000 Mobile is built on the GA107 chip using the Ampere architecture, manufactured on Samsung’s 8 nm process. It contains 8,700 million transistors on a 200 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 43.5M per mm². The Radeon Pro 580X uses the Ellesmere chip with GCN 4.0 architecture, fabricated on GlobalFoundries’ 14 nm process. It has 5,700 million transistors on a 232 mm² die, with a density of 24.6M per mm². The NVIDIA chip is denser and newer, which explains its better performance per watt.

The RTX A1000 Mobile includes 16 RT cores and 64 tensor cores, features entirely absent from the Radeon Pro 580X. This means the NVIDIA part can accelerate ray tracing and AI-based workloads, while the AMD part relies solely on traditional shader compute. The FP16 performance is listed as 4.669 TFLOPS for NVIDIA and 5.530 TFLOPS for AMD, both at 1:1 ratio with FP32. The AMD part has higher raw FP16/FP32 throughput, but the NVIDIA chip’s tensor cores can deliver much higher effective throughput for matrix operations, though that metric is not directly recorded in the database.

API support also reflects the generational gap. The RTX A1000 Mobile supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4. The Radeon Pro 580X supports DirectX 12 (12_0) and Vulkan 1.3. Both support OpenGL 4.6. The newer API level on NVIDIA enables features like mesh shaders and variable rate shading, which are not available on the older AMD architecture.

The release dates differ significantly: the RTX A1000 Mobile was released on 2022-03-29, while the Radeon Pro 580X came out on 2019-03-17. Both are now end-of-life products. The RTX A1000 Mobile’s predecessor is listed as Quadro Turing-M, and its successor is Ada-MW. The Radeon Pro 580X has no listed predecessor or successor.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA RTX A1000 Mobile wins in compute-heavy benchmarks, as shown by its 33.7% lead in OpenCL and 16.6% lead in Vulkan. It also wins on power efficiency, with a 60 W TDP versus 185 W, making it suitable for battery-conscious mobile workstations. Its support for DirectX 12 Ultimate and Vulkan 1.4 means it is better positioned for modern game engines and compute APIs. The presence of RT cores and tensor cores gives it a clear advantage for ray-traced rendering and machine learning inference, even if those specific workloads are not in the recorded benchmarks.

The AMD Radeon Pro 580X wins on memory capacity and bandwidth. With 8 GB versus 4 GB, it can handle larger datasets without spilling to system memory. Its 218.9 GB/s bandwidth is 24.4% higher, which benefits streaming textures and high-resolution framebuffers. It also has a higher texture rate (172.8 GTexel/s) and slightly higher pixel rate (38.40 GPixel/s), suggesting it may outperform in pure rasterization tasks that are texture-bound. Its Apple MPX interface and 2x HDMI 2.0b outputs make it the natural choice for Mac Pro systems that require multi-display output.

In terms of raw compute throughput, the Radeon Pro 580X has higher FP32 (5.530 TFLOPS) and FP16 (5.530 TFLOPS) numbers, but the benchmark results indicate that this does not translate to real-world performance in OpenCL or Vulkan. The NVIDIA chip’s architecture is more efficient at executing these workloads, despite lower theoretical peak. For users who rely on OpenCL for GPU compute, the RTX A1000 Mobile is the clear winner based on the recorded data.

The Radeon Pro 580X’s nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce MX570 A (average score 38691, delta 0%) and the GeForce MX570 (38299, delta 1.1%). This places it in the same performance class as entry-level laptop GPUs, not workstation parts. The RTX A1000 Mobile, by contrast, sits near the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT (average 48477, delta -1.5%), a high-end desktop GPU. That comparison underscores the generational leap NVIDIA achieved with Ampere. For any workload that can leverage the newer API features or tensor/RT hardware, the RTX A1000 Mobile is the superior choice. For memory-bound legacy OpenGL applications on macOS, the Radeon Pro 580X retains a niche but real advantage.