AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1630 Comparison

The Verdict

The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 is the clear performance leader in this comparison, winning both recorded head-to-head benchmarks by margins of 7.3% and 11.5%. The data shows the Vega 20 sits in the 73rd percentile of all GPUs, while the GeForce GTX 1630 lands in the 70th percentile, a modest but consistent gap. For users prioritizing raw compute throughput in OpenCL and Vulkan workloads, the Vega 20 is the definitive choice.

The GeForce GTX 1630 does have one practical advantage: its 75 W power draw is lower than the Vega 20's 100 W, and it requires no external power connectors. It also carries a suggested power supply rating of 250 W, which makes it a more flexible option for pre-built systems with limited power headroom. However, the benchmark scores do not favor it. The GTX 1630 averages 24277 across its two tests, which is 14.7% behind the Vega 20's average of 27839.

The verdict is straightforward: the Vega 20 wins on performance, while the GTX 1630 wins on compatibility and efficiency. The Vega 20 is an integrated graphics processor (IGP), meaning it is designed for portable devices with device-dependent display outputs. The GTX 1630 is a single-slot, standalone card measuring 145 mm in length, 69 mm in height, and 18 mm in width, with display outputs including DVI, HDMI 2.0, and DisplayPort 1.4a. Choose the Vega 20 if the workload lives inside a compatible Mac system and compute performance is the priority. Choose the GTX 1630 if the build requires a discrete card with minimal power requirements and standard display connectivity.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 wins both recorded benchmarks, which makes its dominance in compute-oriented tasks unambiguous. In Geekbench OpenCL, the Vega 20 scores 26679 against the GTX 1630's 24858, a 7.3% advantage. In Geekbench Vulkan, the gap widens to 11.5%, with the Vega 20 scoring 26410 and the GTX 1630 scoring 23695. These results indicate that the Vega 20 is consistently faster across both OpenCL and Vulkan APIs, with a larger margin in the Vulkan workload.

The GeForce GTX 1630 does not win any benchmark in the recorded data, but it wins on system integration metrics. Its 75 W TDP is 25 W lower than the Vega 20's 100 W, and it draws power from the PCIe slot alone, as indicated by its lack of power connectors. The GTX 1630 also lists a suggested power supply of 250 W, which is a useful reference for builders planning low-power systems. Its 12 nm process node from TSMC is smaller than the Vega 20's 14 nm node from GlobalFoundries, and its transistor density of 23.5 million per square millimeter is substantially higher, though the Vega 20 does not list a transistor count or die size for comparison.

In terms of production status, both cards are end-of-life, so neither offers a future upgrade path. The Vega 20 was released on 2018-11-13, while the GTX 1630 arrived on 2022-06-27, meaning the Vega 20 is the older product but still outperforms the newer one in the recorded tests. The GTX 1630's Turing architecture supports Vulkan 1.4, whereas the Vega 20's GCN 5.0 architecture supports Vulkan 1.3, but this does not translate into a benchmark win for the NVIDIA card.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from fundamentally different design philosophies. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 uses the Vega 12 chip built on GCN 5.0 architecture, fabricated on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1630 uses the TU117 chip built on Turing architecture, fabricated on a 12 nm process at TSMC. The process node difference is the most obvious distinction: 14 nm versus 12 nm, which gives the GTX 1630 a manufacturing advantage in density, though the Vega 20 does not report transistor count or die size for a direct comparison.

The Vega 20 features 1280 shading units, 80 texture mapping units, and 32 render output units. The GTX 1630 has 512 shading units, 32 texture mapping units, and 16 render output units. This means the Vega 20 has 2.5 times the shading units, 2.5 times the TMUs, and twice the ROPs. The compute throughput reflects this: the Vega 20 delivers 3.284 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 6.569 TFLOPS of FP16 performance at a 2:1 ratio, while the GTX 1630 delivers 1.828 TFLOPS FP32 and 3.656 TFLOPS FP16 at the same ratio. The Vega 20's FP32 output is 79.6% higher.

Memory architecture also diverges sharply. The Vega 20 uses 4 GB of HBM2 memory on a 1024-bit bus, yielding 189.4 GB/s of bandwidth. The GTX 1630 uses 4 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 64-bit bus, yielding 96.00 GB/s. The Vega 20's bandwidth advantage is substantial: 97.3% higher than the GTX 1630. Clock speeds tell a different story, with the GTX 1630 running at a base of 1740 MHz and a boost of 1785 MHz, while the Vega 20 runs at 815 MHz base and 1283 MHz boost. The NVIDIA card's higher clocks do not compensate for its narrower memory bus and fewer compute units.

Pixel and texture rates follow the expected pattern. The Vega 20 achieves 41.06 GPixel/s and 102.6 GTexel/s, while the GTX 1630 achieves 28.56 GPixel/s and 57.12 GTexel/s. The Vega 20 leads by 43.7% in pixel rate and 79.7% in texture rate. Both cards support DirectX 12 (12_1) and OpenGL 4.6, but the GTX 1630 supports Vulkan 1.4 against the Vega 20's Vulkan 1.3. Neither card has ray tracing cores or tensor cores, so those features are absent from both.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 has an average benchmark score of 27839, which is 14.7% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1630's average of 24277.

Q: How do the two cards compare in memory bandwidth?

A: The Vega 20 delivers 189.4 GB/s using HBM2 memory on a 1024-bit bus, while the GTX 1630 delivers 96.00 GB/s using GDDR6 memory on a 64-bit bus. The Vega 20's bandwidth is 97.3% higher.

Q: What are the power requirements for each card?

A: The Vega 20 has a TDP of 100 W and is listed as an integrated graphics processor, while the GTX 1630 has a TDP of 75 W, draws power without external connectors, and has a suggested power supply of 250 W.

Q: Which card supports a newer Vulkan version?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1630 supports Vulkan 1.4, while the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 supports Vulkan 1.3. Both support DirectX 12 (12_1) and OpenGL 4.6.

Q: Does the GTX 1630 win any recorded benchmark?

A: No. The head-to-head data shows the Vega 20 winning both tests: Geekbench OpenCL at 26679 versus 24858, and Geekbench Vulkan at 26410 versus 23695.

Q: What is the release date difference between the two?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 was released on 2018-11-13, and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1630 was released on 2022-06-27. Both are marked as end-of-life products.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded head-to-head data contains two benchmark comparisons, and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 wins both. In Geekbench OpenCL, the Vega 20 scores 26679 against the GTX 1630's 24858, a delta of 7.3% in favor of AMD. This is the smaller of the two margins, but it is still a clear victory. The OpenCL test exercises general-purpose compute, and the Vega 20's higher shading unit count and memory bandwidth give it a structural advantage that clock speed alone cannot overcome.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the margin expands significantly. The Vega 20 scores 26410, while the GTX 1630 scores 23695, yielding an 11.5% advantage for the AMD card. Vulkan workloads tend to stress driver efficiency and memory subsystem performance, and the Vega 20's 189.4 GB/s of bandwidth versus 96.00 GB/s likely explains the larger gap. The GTX 1630's higher base clock of 1740 MHz versus 815 MHz does not translate into a win, as the Vega 20's boost clock of 1283 MHz still delivers more aggregate throughput.

Looking at the average scores, the Vega 20's average of 27839 places it just 0.2% behind the AMD Radeon RX 7800M and 0.5% behind the AMD Radeon Pro W5500X, while it sits 1% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090. The GTX 1630's average of 24277 places it 0.2% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti and 0.4% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER, while it trails the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT by 0.7% and sits 0.9% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6800S. These rival comparisons show that the Vega 20 competes with much higher-tier hardware, while the GTX 1630 sits in a lower performance bracket.

The win count is 2 for the Vega 20 and 0 for the GTX 1630. There is no benchmark in the database where the GTX 1630 outperforms the Vega 20. This is a decisive result, and the margin in Vulkan is particularly notable because it suggests that the Vega 20's advantage grows in lower-level API scenarios where memory latency and bandwidth matter more.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every major specification category. The most fundamental difference is the form factor: the Vega 20 is an integrated graphics processor with display outputs marked as portable device dependent, while the GTX 1630 is a single-slot discrete card with specific display outputs including 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0, and 1x DisplayPort 1.4a. The GTX 1630 measures 145 mm in length, 69 mm in height, and 18 mm in width, while the Vega 20 lists no physical dimensions.

Process technology separates them: the Vega 20 uses a 14 nm node from GlobalFoundries, while the GTX 1630 uses a 12 nm node from TSMC. The GTX 1630 reports 4,700 million transistors on a 200 mm² die, giving a density of 23.5 million transistors per square millimeter. The Vega 20 lists no transistor count or die size.

Clock speeds favor the GTX 1630: it runs at 1740 MHz base and 1785 MHz boost, against the Vega 20's 815 MHz base and 1283 MHz boost. Memory clocks also differ, with the GTX 1630 running at 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective) and the Vega 20 running at 740 MHz (1480 Mbps effective). However, the Vega 20's HBM2 memory on a 1024-bit bus delivers 189.4 GB/s, while the GTX 1630's GDDR6 on a 64-bit bus delivers 96.00 GB/s.

Compute resources are heavily lopsided: the Vega 20 has 1280 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, while the GTX 1630 has 512 shading units, 32 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. The Vega 20 achieves 3.284 TFLOPS FP32 and 6.569 TFLOPS FP16, while the GTX 1630 achieves 1.828 TFLOPS FP32 and 3.656 TFLOPS FP16. Pixel rate is 41.06 GPixel/s versus 28.56 GPixel/s, and texture rate is 102.6 GTexel/s versus 57.12 GTexel/s.

Power and physical integration differ as well: the Vega 20 has a TDP of 100 W and no power connectors listed, while the GTX 1630 has a TDP of 75 W, no power connectors, and a suggested PSU of 250 W. Both use PCIe 3.0 x16 interfaces. API support is identical for DirectX 12 (12_1) and OpenGL 4.6, but the GTX 1630 supports Vulkan 1.4 against the Vega 20's Vulkan 1.3. Finally, the GTX 1630 lists a predecessor of GeForce 10 and a successor of GeForce 20, while the Vega 20 lists neither.