AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Mobile Comparison

AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Mobile occupy opposite ends of the mobile GPU spectrum, separated by nearly seven years of architecture evolution. The benchmark data is unambiguous: the RTX 5060 Mobile dominates in every shared test, delivering roughly 4.3x the OpenCL performance and 4.4x the Vulkan performance of the older AMD part. While the Radeon Pro Vega 16 holds a slightly higher overall percentile rank (68th vs. 67th), that edge comes from a different benchmark pool and does not survive direct comparison. The RTX 5060 Mobile is the clear performance winner, but the Radeon Pro Vega 16 remains a functional, low-power IGP solution for legacy Mac-oriented workloads.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

In the two overlapping benchmark tests, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Mobile wins decisively. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 5060 Mobile scores 96,969 against the Radeon Pro Vega 16’s 18,268 — a delta of -81.2% from the AMD card’s perspective, meaning the NVIDIA part outperforms it by a factor of 5.3. The Vulkan result is similarly lopsided: RTX 5060 Mobile scores 96,451 versus 21,832, a -77.4% delta that still translates to a 4.4x advantage. These are not marginal wins; they reflect fundamental generational gaps in compute throughput and API efficiency.

The RTX 5060 Mobile’s raw compute advantage is also visible in its fp32 rating of 9.684 TFLOPS, which is nearly four times the Radeon Pro Vega 16’s 2.437 TFLOPS. Even the older card’s fp16 capability (4.874 TFLOPS at 2:1 ratio) falls far short of the NVIDIA card’s 9.684 TFLOPS at 1:1 ratio. In memory bandwidth, the RTX 5060 Mobile’s 384.0 GB/s edges out the Radeon’s 307.2 GB/s, but the real gap is in capacity: 8 GB of GDDR7 versus 4 GB of HBM2. The RTX 5060 Mobile also achieves higher pixel and texture rates (69.84 GPixel/s and 151.3 GTexel/s vs. 38.08 GPixel/s and 76.16 GTexel/s), confirming that the NVIDIA part wins on every measurable throughput metric.

There are no benchmark wins for the Radeon Pro Vega 16 in this head-to-head dataset — winsA is 0, winsB is 2. The AMD card’s only consolation is its percentile ranking (68th vs. 67th), which reflects its historical benchmark context, not a performance advantage over the newer part. When placed side-by-side in the same API workloads, the RTX 5060 Mobile is categorically faster.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different architectural eras. The Radeon Pro Vega 16 uses AMD’s GCN 5.0 architecture on a 14 nm process from GlobalFoundries, featuring the Vega 12 chip. The RTX 5060 Mobile uses NVIDIA’s Blackwell 2.0 architecture on a 5 nm TSMC process with the GB206 chip. This process shrink (14 nm to 5 nm) is a major factor in the RTX 5060 Mobile’s ability to pack 21,900 million transistors into a 181 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 121.0M per mm². The Radeon Pro Vega 16’s transistor count and die size are not listed, but its older node and lower specs make it clear that the NVIDIA part is far denser and more efficient.

Core configuration differs dramatically. The RTX 5060 Mobile has 3,328 shading units, 104 TMUs, and 48 ROPs, versus the Radeon Pro Vega 16’s 1,024 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The NVIDIA card also adds 26 RT cores and 104 tensor cores, neither of which exist on the AMD part. Memory subsystems are also distinct: the Radeon Pro Vega 16 uses a 1024-bit HBM2 bus (4 GB at 307.2 GB/s), while the RTX 5060 Mobile uses a 128-bit GDDR7 bus (8 GB at 384.0 GB/s). The AMD card’s wider bus is a legacy advantage for bandwidth-per-bit, but it does not compensate for the NVIDIA card’s newer memory type and higher absolute bandwidth.

API support shows NVIDIA’s newer feature set. The RTX 5060 Mobile supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, while the Radeon Pro Vega 16 only supports DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.3. Both support OpenGL 4.6. The RTX 5060 Mobile also uses PCIe 5.0 x16, while the Radeon Pro Vega 16 is limited to PCIe 3.0 x16. Power efficiency is notable: the RTX 5060 Mobile is rated at 45 W TDP with no power connectors, while the Radeon Pro Vega 16 is rated at 75 W. This means the NVIDIA card delivers over 4x the compute performance at 40% lower power draw.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in compute benchmarks?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Mobile wins both shared benchmarks by massive margins: 96,969 vs. 18,268 in OpenCL and 96,451 vs. 21,832 in Vulkan. That is roughly 5.3x and 4.4x the performance of the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16, respectively.

Q: Does the Radeon Pro Vega 16 have any performance advantage?

A: No direct benchmark wins exist for the AMD card in the head-to-head data. Its only positive metric is a 68th percentile ranking versus the RTX 5060 Mobile’s 67th, which comes from separate benchmark pools and does not indicate superiority in any shared test.

Q: How do memory configurations compare?

A: The Radeon Pro Vega 16 has 4 GB of HBM2 on a 1024-bit bus with 307.2 GB/s bandwidth. The RTX 5060 Mobile has 8 GB of GDDR7 on a 128-bit bus with 384.0 GB/s bandwidth. The NVIDIA card offers double the capacity and 25% higher bandwidth.

Q: Are there ray tracing or tensor core capabilities?

A: Only the RTX 5060 Mobile includes these features, with 26 RT cores and 104 tensor cores. The Radeon Pro Vega 16 has no RT or tensor core equivalents, reflecting its GCN 5.0 architecture from 2018.

Q: Which GPU is more power-efficient?

A: The RTX 5060 Mobile has a 45 W TDP versus the Radeon Pro Vega 16’s 75 W TDP. Despite lower power draw, the NVIDIA card delivers significantly higher performance across all metrics.

Q: What API levels does each support?

A: The RTX 5060 Mobile supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, while the Radeon Pro Vega 16 only reaches DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.3. Both support OpenGL 4.6.

The Verdict

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Mobile is the superior GPU by every measurable benchmark in this comparison. It outperforms the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16 by 81.2% in OpenCL and 77.4% in Vulkan, which corresponds to over 4x raw performance. It also offers double the memory capacity, higher bandwidth, more shading units, and dedicated RT and tensor cores. The RTX 5060 Mobile achieves this while drawing 30 W less power (45 W vs. 75 W TDP). The Radeon Pro Vega 16’s sole advantage is its 68th percentile ranking, but that is a statistical artifact of different benchmark suites, not a sign of competitive performance. For any modern workload, the RTX 5060 Mobile is the clear choice. The Radeon Pro Vega 16 remains a functional part for legacy systems, but the data shows it is outclassed in every direct comparison.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Mobile |

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

| Architecture | GCN 5.0 | Blackwell 2.0 |

| Process Node | 14 nm | 5 nm |

| Transistors | Not listed | 21,900 million |

| Die Size | Not listed | 181 mm² |

| Base Clock | 815 MHz | 952 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1190 MHz | 1455 MHz |

| Memory Size | 4 GB | 8 GB |

| Memory Type | HBM2 | GDDR7 |

| Memory Bus Width | 1024 bit | 128 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 307.2 GB/s | 384.0 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 1024 | 3328 |

| TMUs | 64 | 104 |

| ROPs | 32 | 48 |

| RT Cores | None | 26 |

| Tensor Cores | None | 104 |

| FP32 Performance | 2.437 TFLOPS | 9.684 TFLOPS |

| FP16 Performance | 4.874 TFLOPS (2:1) | 9.684 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| Pixel Rate | 38.08 GPixel/s | 69.84 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 76.16 GTexel/s | 151.3 GTexel/s |

| TDP | 75 W | 45 W |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | PCIe 5.0 x16 |

| DirectX Support | 12 (12_1) | 12 Ultimate (12_2) |

| Vulkan Support | 1.3 | 1.4 |

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Mobile wins in every performance category: OpenCL and Vulkan compute, raw fp32 throughput, pixel and texture fill rates, memory capacity, and memory bandwidth. It also wins on efficiency, delivering more than 4x the performance at 40% lower power draw. The RTX 5060 Mobile is the clear pick for gaming, ray tracing, AI workloads (thanks to tensor cores), and any modern DirectX 12 Ultimate or Vulkan 1.4 application. Its 8 GB memory capacity and 384.0 GB/s bandwidth make it suitable for higher resolution textures and larger datasets.

The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16 has no benchmark wins in this comparison. Its only theoretical advantages are a wider 1024-bit memory bus (which yields lower absolute bandwidth) and a higher percentile rank (68th vs. 67th) that does not reflect direct performance. It is best suited for legacy systems that require its specific HBM2 configuration or GCN 5.0 feature set, such as older Mac-oriented workloads. For users constrained to that platform, the Radeon Pro Vega 16 is a functional IGP, but the data shows it cannot compete with the RTX 5060 Mobile on any benchmark where both are measured.