AMD Radeon PRO V620 vs AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The recorded data splits these two AMD professional cards cleanly across benchmark categories, but the distribution is heavily one-sided.

The AMD Radeon PRO V620 wins both head-to-head tests in the database. In Geekbench OpenCL, it scores 128580 against the Vega Frontier Edition's 76111, a 68.9% advantage. In Geekbench Vulkan, the PRO V620 reaches 144364 while the Vega Frontier Edition manages 71937, a 100.7% lead. That Vulkan result is the single largest margin in the comparison, meaning the PRO V620 more than doubles the Vega Frontier Edition's compute throughput under that API.

The Vega Frontier Edition has no benchmark wins in the head-to-head set. However, it does have one unique data point: a Geekbench Metal score of 72061. The PRO V620 has no recorded Metal result, so for any workflow that relies on Apple's Metal API, the Vega Frontier Edition is the only one of the two with verified performance data. This is not a win in terms of score comparison, but it is a coverage advantage.

Looking at broader database percentiles, the PRO V620 sits at the 96th percentile of all GPUs, while the Vega Frontier Edition sits at the 91st. The average benchmark score for the PRO V620 is 136472; for the Vega Frontier Edition it is 73370. That is an 86% gap in aggregate compute performance as recorded by the database.

The nearest rivals for each card reinforce the generational divide. The PRO V620's closest competitors are the AMD Radeon Pro W6800X Duo at 135774 (0.5% behind), the AMD Radeon PRO W6800 at 135396 (0.8% behind), the NVIDIA A10M at 135230 (0.9% behind), and the NVIDIA RTX 4000 Ada Generation at 135218 (0.9% behind). The Vega Frontier Edition's nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 at 72379 (1.4% behind), the NVIDIA TITAN X Pascal at 72098 (1.8% behind), the AMD Radeon RX 6650M at 71768 (2.2% behind), and the AMD Radeon RX 6600 LE at 70829 (3.6% behind).

The use-case split is therefore straightforward. The PRO V620 is the compute leader in every shared test, with its Vulkan advantage being particularly pronounced. The Vega Frontier Edition's only distinct role is in Metal environments, where it has recorded performance data and the PRO V620 does not.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear preference for the AMD Radeon PRO V620 in any workload covered by both cards' benchmark suites.

For OpenCL compute tasks, the PRO V620 delivers 128580 points, which is 68.9% ahead of the Vega Frontier Edition's 76111. For Vulkan workloads, the PRO V620's 144364 is 100.7% ahead of the Vega Frontier Edition's 71937. The average benchmark score gap is 86% in favor of the PRO V620. If the workload is OpenCL or Vulkan based, the PRO V620 is the only rational choice from this pair.

The Vega Frontier Edition should only be selected when the application specifically requires Metal support. Its recorded Metal score of 72061 is the only benchmark data available for that API between the two cards. No comparison is possible because the PRO V620 has no Metal result in the database. For a Metal-only pipeline, the Vega Frontier Edition is the verified option, though its OpenCL and Vulkan numbers are far below the PRO V620.

The percentile ranking also favors the PRO V620. At the 96th percentile, it sits near the top of the entire GPU database. The Vega Frontier Edition at the 91st percentile is still strong, but noticeably lower. The nearest rival data confirms that the PRO V620 competes with modern workstation cards like the Radeon PRO W6800 and RTX 4000 Ada Generation, while the Vega Frontier Edition competes with older or lower-tier parts like the TITAN X Pascal and RX 6650M.

The Vega Frontier Edition does have a launch MSRP of 999 USD. The PRO V620 has no recorded launch MSRP. No further pricing discussion is possible from the data.

In summary: choose the PRO V620 for OpenCL and Vulkan compute, choose the Vega Frontier Edition only if Metal is mandatory.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database contains two direct comparisons between these cards, and the PRO V620 wins both.

Geekbench OpenCL: 128580 vs 76111 (PRO V620 wins by 68.9%)

The OpenCL test measures general-purpose GPU compute across a range of workloads. The PRO V620's score of 128580 is substantially higher than the Vega Frontier Edition's 76111. The 68.9% delta means the PRO V620 delivers roughly two-thirds more performance in this API. This aligns with the underlying hardware differences: the PRO V620 has 4608 shading units against 4096, 288 TMUs against 256, and 128 ROPs against 64. The PRO V620 also has a higher boost clock at 2200 MHz versus 1600 MHz.

Geekbench Vulkan: 144364 vs 71937 (PRO V620 wins by 100.7%)

The Vulkan test shows an even larger gap. The PRO V620 scores 144364, while the Vega Frontier Edition scores 71937. The 100.7% delta means the PRO V620 is more than twice as fast. This is the single biggest margin in the entire comparison. Vulkan is often used for compute and graphics workloads that benefit from modern architecture features, and the PRO V620's RDNA 2.0 design with 72 ray tracing cores and DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2) likely explains part of this advantage. The Vega Frontier Edition uses the older GCN 5.0 architecture without ray tracing cores and only supports DirectX 12 (12_1).

The average benchmark score, which combines all recorded tests, shows 136472 for the PRO V620 and 73370 for the Vega Frontier Edition. That 86% gap is consistent with the individual OpenCL and Vulkan results.

There are no head-to-head results where the Vega Frontier Edition wins. The Metal score of 72061 exists only for the Vega Frontier Edition, so it cannot be compared directly.

The database also shows that the PRO V620's Vulkan score of 144364 is higher than its OpenCL score of 128580, a 12.3% internal difference. The Vega Frontier Edition shows the reverse pattern: its OpenCL score of 76111 is higher than its Vulkan score of 71937, a 5.8% difference. This suggests the PRO V620's architecture is particularly well optimized for Vulkan, while the Vega Frontier Edition remains more balanced but slower in both.

FAQ

Q: Which card has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon PRO V620 has an average benchmark score of 136472, while the AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition has an average of 73370. That is an 86% difference in favor of the PRO V620.

Q: Is there any benchmark where the Vega Frontier Edition wins?

A: In the head-to-head benchmark set, the Vega Frontier Edition wins zero tests. The PRO V620 wins both Geekbench OpenCL and Geekbench Vulkan. The Vega Frontier Edition does have a Geekbench Metal score of 72061, but the PRO V620 has no Metal score recorded, so no direct comparison exists.

Q: How large is the Vulkan performance gap?

A: The PRO V620 scores 144364 in Geekbench Vulkan, while the Vega Frontier Edition scores 71937. The PRO V620 leads by 100.7%, meaning it is more than twice as fast in this specific test.

Q: What are the nearest rivals for each card?

A: The PRO V620's nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon Pro W6800X Duo (135774, 0.5% behind), AMD Radeon PRO W6800 (135396, 0.8% behind), NVIDIA A10M (135230, 0.9% behind), and NVIDIA RTX 4000 Ada Generation (135218, 0.9% behind). The Vega Frontier Edition's nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 (72379, 1.4% behind), NVIDIA TITAN X Pascal (72098, 1.8% behind), AMD Radeon RX 6650M (71768, 2.2% behind), and AMD Radeon RX 6600 LE (70829, 3.6% behind).

Q: Does the Vega Frontier Edition support Metal?

A: Yes, the database shows a Geekbench Metal score of 72061 for the Vega Frontier Edition. The PRO V620 has no Metal benchmark recorded.

Q: Which card has the higher percentile ranking?

A: The PRO V620 is at the 96th percentile of all GPUs, while the Vega Frontier Edition is at the 91st percentile.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from different eras of AMD GPU design.

The AMD Radeon PRO V620 uses the Navi 21 chip built on RDNA 2.0 architecture. It is manufactured on a 7 nm process at TSMC. The chip contains 26,800 million transistors on a 520 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 51.5 million per mm². The architecture supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. It includes 72 ray tracing cores, which the Vega Frontier Edition lacks entirely.

The AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition uses the Vega 10 chip built on GCN 5.0 architecture. It is manufactured on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. The chip contains 12,500 million transistors on a 495 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 25.3 million per mm². The architecture supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. It has no ray tracing cores.

The transistor count difference is substantial: 26,800 million versus 12,500 million. The PRO V620 has more than double the transistors despite a similar die size (520 mm² versus 495 mm²). This is directly attributable to the denser 7 nm process versus 14 nm.

The RDNA 2.0 architecture also brings a newer instruction set and scheduling model compared to GCN 5.0. The PRO V620's Vulkan score of 144364 versus its OpenCL score of 128580 suggests the newer architecture extracts more performance from Vulkan's explicit control model. The Vega Frontier Edition's scores are closer together (76111 OpenCL, 71937 Vulkan), indicating a more uniform but lower overall performance profile.

The memory architecture also differs at the fundamental level. The PRO V620 uses GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, while the Vega Frontier Edition uses HBM2 on a 2048-bit bus. These represent two different approaches to memory bandwidth, detailed further in the specification section.

Specification Differences

The following specifications differ between the two cards:

Process node: The PRO V620 uses 7 nm at TSMC; the Vega Frontier Edition uses 14 nm at GlobalFoundries.

Transistors: The PRO V620 has 26,800 million; the Vega Frontier Edition has 12,500 million.

Die size: The PRO V620 is 520 mm²; the Vega Frontier Edition is 495 mm².

Transistor density: The PRO V620 has 51.5 million per mm²; the Vega Frontier Edition has 25.3 million per mm².

Base clock: The PRO V620 runs at 1825 MHz; the Vega Frontier Edition runs at 1382 MHz.

Boost clock: The PRO V620 runs at 2200 MHz; the Vega Frontier Edition runs at 1600 MHz.

Memory speed: The PRO V620 has 2000 MHz with 16 Gbps effective; the Vega Frontier Edition has 945 MHz with 1890 Mbps effective.

Memory size: The PRO V620 has 32 GB of GDDR6; the Vega Frontier Edition has 16 GB of HBM2.

Memory bus width: The PRO V620 has a 256-bit bus; the Vega Frontier Edition has a 2048-bit bus.

Memory bandwidth: The PRO V620 delivers 512.0 GB/s; the Vega Frontier Edition delivers 483.8 GB/s.

Shading units: The PRO V620 has 4608; the Vega Frontier Edition has 4096.

Texture mapping units: The PRO V620 has 288; the Vega Frontier Edition has 256.

Render output units: The PRO V620 has 128; the Vega Frontier Edition has 64.

Ray tracing cores: The PRO V620 has 72; the Vega Frontier Edition has none.

Pixel rate: The PRO V620 achieves 281.6 GPixel/s; the Vega Frontier Edition achieves 102.4 GPixel/s.

Texture rate: The PRO V620 achieves 633.6 GTexel/s; the Vega Frontier Edition achieves 409.6 GTexel/s.

FP32 performance: The PRO V620 delivers 20.28 TFLOPS; the Vega Frontier Edition delivers 13.11 TFLOPS.

FP16 performance: The PRO V620 delivers 40.55 TFLOPS (2:1); the Vega Frontier Edition delivers 26.21 TFLOPS (2:1).

Bus interface: The PRO V620 uses PCIe 4.0 x16; the Vega Frontier Edition uses PCIe 3.0 x16.

Display outputs: The PRO V620 has no outputs; the Vega Frontier Edition has 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a.

Dimensions: The PRO V620 is 267 mm long, 120 mm high, and 50 mm wide; the Vega Frontier Edition is 267 mm long and 111 mm high, with no width recorded.

DirectX support: The PRO V620 supports 12 Ultimate (12_2); the Vega Frontier Edition supports 12 (12_1).

Vulkan support: The PRO V620 supports 1.4; the Vega Frontier Edition supports 1.3.

Release date: The PRO V620 was released on 2021-11-03; the Vega Frontier Edition on 2017-06-26.

Predecessor: The PRO V620's predecessor is the Radeon Pro Vega; the Vega Frontier Edition's predecessor is the Radeon Pro Polaris. The Vega Frontier Edition's successor is the Radeon Pro Navi, which is the generation the PRO V620 belongs to.

Power and physical requirements are identical: Both are dual-slot, use 2x 8-pin power connectors, have a 300 W TDP, and suggest a 700 W PSU. The PRO V620 has no launch MSRP recorded; the Vega Frontier Edition has a launch MSRP of 999 USD.