AMD Radeon Pro Duo vs NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile Comparison

The NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile and AMD Radeon Pro Duo are both end-of-life workstation graphics solutions, but they serve completely different purposes based on the data. The RTX A500 Mobile is a 30 W integrated-class part built for efficiency and modern features, while the Radeon Pro Duo is a 350 W dual-slot monster from 2016 designed for raw compute throughput. Benchmark results give the RTX A500 Mobile a 15.1% lead in the single available head-to-head test (Geekbench OpenCL: 41263 vs 35860), placing it at the 82nd percentile versus the Radeon Pro Duo's 80th. The verdict is straightforward: pick the RTX A500 Mobile if you need current API support, ray tracing, and low power draw in a compact form factor; pick the Radeon Pro Duo only if you specifically require its massive memory bandwidth and higher raw texture/pixel rates and can tolerate its power and size demands. The data does not support the Radeon Pro Duo for most modern workloads, given its older architecture and lower benchmark scores.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile, with an average benchmark score of 39568, outperforms the AMD Radeon Pro Duo's 35860. This translates to a 15.1% delta in the Geekbench OpenCL test, where the RTX A500 Mobile scored 41263 versus the Radeon Pro Duo's 35860.

Q: How do their memory systems differ?

A: Both have 4 GB of memory, but the implementations are vastly different. The RTX A500 Mobile uses GDDR6 on a 64-bit bus with 96.00 GB/s bandwidth, while the Radeon Pro Duo uses HBM on a 4096-bit bus with 512.0 GB/s bandwidth. The Radeon Pro Duo has over five times the memory bandwidth.

Q: What are the architectural generations and process nodes?

A: The RTX A500 Mobile is based on NVIDIA's Ampere architecture on an 8 nm Samsung process with the GA107S chip. The Radeon Pro Duo uses AMD's GCN 3.0 architecture on a 28 nm TSMC process with the Capsaicin chip. The RTX A500 Mobile is from the Ampere-MW generation, while the Radeon Pro Duo is from the Radeon Pro GCN generation.

Q: Does the RTX A500 Mobile support ray tracing?

A: Yes. The RTX A500 Mobile has 16 dedicated ray tracing cores and 64 tensor cores, and supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2). The Radeon Pro Duo has no ray tracing cores and only supports DirectX 12 (12_0).

Q: What are the power and physical requirements?

A: The RTX A500 Mobile has a 30 W TDP, is an IGP (integrated graphics processor) with no power connectors, and is portable device dependent for display outputs. The Radeon Pro Duo has a 350 W TDP, is dual-slot, requires 3x 8-pin power connectors, and a suggested 750 W power supply. It measures 277 mm (10.9 inches) in length and 111 mm (4.4 inches) in height.

Q: Which GPU has a higher transistor density?

A: The RTX A500 Mobile has a transistor density of 43.5M per mm² (8,700 million transistors on a 200 mm² die). The Radeon Pro Duo has a density of 14.9M per mm² (8,900 million transistors on a 596 mm² die). The RTX A500 Mobile's density is nearly three times higher.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two GPUs is generational and fundamental. The RTX A500 Mobile uses NVIDIA's Ampere architecture, built on an 8 nm Samsung process with the GA107S chip. This is a modern design with 8,700 million transistors packed into a 200 mm² die, achieving a density of 43.5M transistors per mm². Ampere brings support for DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, along with 16 ray tracing cores and 64 tensor cores. The presence of tensor cores indicates AI-accelerated workloads are supported, a feature entirely absent from the older card.

In contrast, the AMD Radeon Pro Duo uses GCN 3.0 architecture on a much older 28 nm TSMC process, with the Capsaicin chip. It has 8,900 million transistors spread across a massive 596 mm² die, yielding a low density of 14.9M transistors per mm². This is a dual-GPU design (implied by the name and the 4096 shading units across two dies), but the architecture lacks ray tracing cores and tensor cores entirely. Its API support stops at DirectX 12 (12_0) and Vulkan 1.2.170, with OpenGL 4.6. The RTX A500 Mobile is from the Ampere-MW generation, succeeding Quadro Turing-M, while the Radeon Pro Duo is from the Radeon Pro GCN generation, succeeding FirePro GCN.

The process node difference is stark: 8 nm versus 28 nm. This explains the massive disparity in power efficiency and die size. The RTX A500 Mobile fits a similar transistor count into a third of the silicon area, which directly contributes to its 30 W TDP versus the Radeon Pro Duo's 350 W TDP. The Radeon Pro Duo's design is from an era before dedicated ray tracing hardware, and its GCN 3.0 architecture relies on raw compute throughput rather than specialized units.

Specification Differences

| Specification | NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile | AMD Radeon Pro Duo |

|---|---|---|

| Process Node | 8 nm | 28 nm |

| Foundry | Samsung | TSMC |

| Die Size | 200 mm² | 596 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 43.5M / mm² | 14.9M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 832 MHz | Not specified |

| Boost Clock | 1537 MHz | Not specified |

| Memory Type | GDDR6 | HBM |

| Memory Bus Width | 64 bit | 4096 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 96.00 GB/s | 512.0 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 2048 | 4096 |

| TMUs | 64 | 256 |

| ROPs | 32 | 64 |

| RT Cores | 16 | None |

| Tensor Cores | 64 | None |

| Pixel Rate | 49.18 GPixel/s | 64.00 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 98.37 GTexel/s | 256.0 GTexel/s |

| FP32 Performance | 6.296 TFLOPS | 8.192 TFLOPS |

| FP16 Performance | 6.296 TFLOPS (1:1) | 8.192 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 30 W | 350 W |

| Slot Width | IGP | Dual-slot |

| Power Connectors | None | 3x 8-pin |

| Suggested PSU | Not specified | 750 W |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 4.0 x8 | PCIe 3.0 x16 |

| Display Outputs | Portable Device Dependent | 1x HDMI 1.4a, 3x DisplayPort 1.2 |

| DirectX Support | 12 Ultimate (12_2) | 12 (12_0) |

| Vulkan Support | 1.4 | 1.2.170 |

| Dimensions | Not specified | 277 mm x 111 mm |

| Release Date | 2022-03-21 | 2016-04-25 |

| Predecessor | Quadro Turing-M | FirePro GCN |

| Successor | Ada-MW | Radeon Pro Polaris |

| Launch MSRP | Not specified | 1,499 USD |

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct benchmark comparison available is Geekbench OpenCL, and the results show a decisive win for the NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile. It scored 41263 against the Radeon Pro Duo's 35860, a delta of 15.1%. This is notable because the Radeon Pro Duo has significantly higher theoretical specifications: 4096 shading units versus 2048, 256 TMUs versus 64, 64 ROPs versus 32, and 8.192 TFLOPS FP32 versus 6.296 TFLOPS. The Radeon Pro Duo also has vastly superior memory bandwidth at 512.0 GB/s versus 96.00 GB/s.

Despite these raw advantages, the Radeon Pro Duo loses by a wide margin. This suggests that the RTX A500 Mobile's newer architecture is far more efficient at executing modern OpenCL workloads. The 8 nm process, higher clocks (832 MHz base and 1537 MHz boost versus unspecified clocks for the Radeon Pro Duo), and specialized tensor cores likely contribute to this efficiency. The Radeon Pro Duo's 28 nm process and GCN 3.0 architecture are simply outdated for contemporary compute tasks.

The RTX A500 Mobile's nearest rivals in the data are AMD Radeon Pro 575 (39555, 0% delta), AMD Radeon Pro 575X (39116, 1.2% delta), AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 (40063, -1.2% delta), and AMD Radeon Pro 580 (40318, -1.9% delta). This places it in a competitive mid-range workstation segment. The Radeon Pro Duo's nearest rivals are NVIDIA Quadro GV100 (35520, 1% delta), NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Mobile (35435, 1.2% delta), NVIDIA T1000 (36289, -1.2% delta), and AMD Radeon RX 5300M (36529, -1.8% delta). Its position in this group shows it is competitive with older and lower-tier modern parts, but not with the RTX A500 Mobile.

The win count is 1-0 in favor of the RTX A500 Mobile, with no tests where the Radeon Pro Duo comes out ahead. The percentile rankings confirm the story: the RTX A500 Mobile sits at the 82nd percentile of all GPUs, while the Radeon Pro Duo sits at the 80th. This 2-percentile gap may seem small, but the head-to-head delta of 15.1% shows a clear performance separation.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile wins in every measured benchmark category. It leads in Geekbench OpenCL with 41263 versus 35860, a 15.1% advantage. It also wins on architectural features: it supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) versus the Radeon Pro Duo's DirectX 12 (12_0), and Vulkan 1.4 versus 1.2.170. This means modern games and applications that use ray tracing or DirectX 12 Ultimate features will run only on the RTX A500 Mobile. Its 16 ray tracing cores and 64 tensor cores provide hardware acceleration that the Radeon Pro Duo simply cannot offer.

The RTX A500 Mobile also wins decisively on power efficiency. Its 30 W TDP is a fraction of the Radeon Pro Duo's 350 W, and it requires no power connectors and no external power supply recommendation. It is an IGP, meaning it can be integrated into a portable device, whereas the Radeon Pro Duo is a dual-slot card that is 277 mm long and 111 mm tall, requiring 3x 8-pin connectors and a 750 W power supply. For mobile workstations or compact builds, the RTX A500 Mobile is the only viable choice between these two.

The AMD Radeon Pro Duo wins in raw theoretical specifications. It has higher FP32 performance (8.192 TFLOPS vs 6.296 TFLOPS), more shading units (4096 vs 2048), higher pixel rate (64.00 GPixel/s vs 49.18 GPixel/s), and a much higher texture rate (256.0 GTexel/s vs 98.37 GTexel/s). Its memory bandwidth of 512.0 GB/s is over five times the RTX A500 Mobile's 96.00 GB/s. For workloads that are heavily bandwidth-bound or that can leverage the dual-GPU design's massive parallel compute, the Radeon Pro Duo could theoretically excel. However, the benchmark data does not support this advantage in practice, as it lost the OpenCL test by 15.1%.

The Radeon Pro Duo also has a longer physical footprint and more display outputs (1x HDMI 1.4a and 3x DisplayPort 1.2 versus portable device dependent outputs). This makes it suitable for fixed desktop workstations with multiple monitors, but the RTX A500 Mobile's display outputs depend entirely on the host device. In summary, the RTX A500 Mobile is the better choice for modern workloads, efficiency, and compact systems. The Radeon Pro Duo is only preferable if you have a specific legacy application that can exploit its dual-GPU architecture or extreme memory bandwidth, and you are willing to accept its age, size, and power requirements.