AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 vs NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q Comparison

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in Vulkan compute workloads?

A: The NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q scores 31,220 in Geekbench Vulkan, which is 18.2% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20's 26,410. This is the only head-to-head benchmark recorded in the database.

Q: How do these cards compare overall against all other GPUs?

A: The NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q sits at the 76th percentile among all GPUs, while the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 sits at the 73rd percentile. The NVIDIA card's average benchmark score is 31,220, versus 27,839 for the AMD card.

Q: What is the closest rival to each card according to the database?

A: The GRID M60-1Q's nearest rival is the NVIDIA Quadro M5000 with an average score of 31,206, a delta of 0%. The Radeon Pro Vega 20's nearest rival is the AMD Radeon RX 7800M at 27,883, a delta of -0.2%.

Q: Does the AMD card support half-precision floating point?

A: Yes, the Radeon Pro Vega 20 has a FP16 throughput of 6.569 TFLOPS with a 2:1 ratio relative to FP32. The NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q has no recorded FP16 specification in the database.

Q: What memory technologies do these two cards use?

A: The NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q uses 1 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus with 160.4 GB/s bandwidth. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 uses 4 GB of HBM2 on a 1024-bit bus with 189.4 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which card has a higher pixel fill rate?

A: The NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q has a pixel rate of 75.39 GPixel/s, nearly double the AMD card's 41.06 GPixel/s. Texture rate also favors NVIDIA: 150.8 GTexel/s versus 102.6 GTexel/s.

Architecture Differences

The NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q and AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 represent fundamentally different architectural philosophies from two competing manufacturers. The NVIDIA card is built on the Maxwell 2.0 architecture with the GM204 chip, fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC. The AMD card uses the GCN 5.0 architecture with the Vega 12 chip, built on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. This process node difference is notable: the AMD chip uses a smaller manufacturing process, yet the NVIDIA chip packs more transistors overall.

The GRID M60-1Q contains 5,200 million transistors on a 398 mm² die, resulting in a transistor density of 13.1 million per square millimeter. The Radeon Pro Vega 20 has no recorded transistor count, die size, or density in the database, making a direct comparison of integration density impossible. What can be observed is the raw compute configuration: NVIDIA fields 2,048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 64 raster operation units. AMD counters with 1,280 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The NVIDIA chip has more of every execution resource, which aligns with its higher FP32 throughput of 4.825 TFLOPS versus 3.284 TFLOPS for the AMD part.

Memory architecture differs profoundly. NVIDIA uses 1 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus with 160.4 GB/s bandwidth. AMD uses 4 GB of HBM2 on a 1024-bit bus with 189.4 GB/s bandwidth. The AMD card has four times the capacity and a wider memory interface, though the bandwidth advantage is more modest at roughly 18% higher. The Vega architecture's HBM2 implementation shows a different approach to memory design, prioritizing capacity and bandwidth efficiency over sheer bus simplicity.

The feature sets also diverge. The NVIDIA card supports Vulkan 1.4 and DirectX 12 (12_1), while the AMD card supports Vulkan 1.3 and the same DirectX 12 (12_1) feature level. Both support OpenGL 4.6. The AMD card uniquely provides FP16 compute at 6.569 TFLOPS with a 2:1 ratio, a capability absent from the NVIDIA specification. Neither card includes ray tracing cores or tensor cores, as both predate those dedicated hardware units.

Physical specifications highlight their different intended environments. The NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q is a dual-slot card, 267 mm (10.5 inches) long, requiring a single 8-pin power connector and a 550 W suggested power supply. It draws 225 W. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 is an integrated graphics processor (IGP) with no power connector listed, a 100 W TDP, and no dimensions recorded. The NVIDIA card has no display outputs, while the AMD card's display outputs are described as "Portable Device Dependent," reflecting the Vega 20's design for mobile Mac systems.

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark data shows a clear single-test picture, but the broader score distribution reveals different strengths. In the only direct head-to-head test, Geekbench Vulkan, the NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q wins decisively with 31,220 against 26,410, an 18.2% advantage. This suggests NVIDIA's Maxwell architecture maintains a meaningful compute advantage in Vulkan workloads specifically.

The Radeon Pro Vega 20 shows strength in other API tests, though these are not direct comparisons. Its Geekbench Metal score of 30,427 is notably strong, nearly matching the NVIDIA card's Vulkan score despite the AMD card's lower overall average. The OpenCL score of 26,679 further indicates respectable compute performance in heterogeneous workloads. These scores suggest the AMD card may perform relatively better in Apple-centric environments, consistent with its "Radeon Pro Mac" generation designation and IGP form factor.

The NVIDIA card's average benchmark score of 31,220 places it at the 76th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Quadro M5000 at 31,206 (0% delta), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER at 31,087 (0.4% ahead of NVIDIA), and the NVIDIA TITAN RTX at 31,676 (1.4% behind). The AMD card's 27,839 average places it at the 73rd percentile, with rivals including the AMD Radeon RX 7800M at 27,883 (0.2% behind) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti at 28,020 (0.6% behind). Notably, the Radeon Pro Vega 20 is 1% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, which scores 27,565.

The wins break down by workload type. For pure Vulkan compute, NVIDIA wins outright. For Metal and OpenCL, the AMD card has recorded scores that indicate competitive compute capability, though no direct comparison exists in the database. The NVIDIA card wins the only head-to-head test, giving it one win in the database versus zero for AMD.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every specification category recorded in the database. The NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q uses a 28 nm process at TSMC, while the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 uses a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. Transistor count stands at 5,200 million for NVIDIA, with no recorded value for AMD. Die size is 398 mm² for NVIDIA, with no recorded value for AMD.

Clock speeds differ substantially. The NVIDIA card has a base clock of 557 MHz and a boost clock of 1,178 MHz. The AMD card runs higher at 815 MHz base and 1,283 MHz boost. Memory clocks also differ: NVIDIA uses 1,253 MHz with 5 Gbps effective, while AMD uses 740 MHz with 1,480 Mbps effective. The AMD card's lower memory clock is offset by its wider 1024-bit HBM2 interface.

Memory configuration shows the largest capacity gap: 1 GB for NVIDIA versus 4 GB for AMD. The bus widths are 256-bit and 1024-bit respectively. Bandwidth is 160.4 GB/s for NVIDIA and 189.4 GB/s for AMD, a modest advantage for the AMD card despite the massive bus width difference.

Compute resources differ as noted: 2,048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 64 ROPs for NVIDIA versus 1,280 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 32 ROPs for AMD. The pixel rate is 75.39 GPixel/s versus 41.06 GPixel/s, and texture rate is 150.8 GTexel/s versus 102.6 GTexel/s. FP32 throughput is 4.825 TFLOPS versus 3.284 TFLOPS. The AMD card uniquely has FP16 throughput of 6.569 TFLOPS.

Power and physical specifications diverge sharply. The NVIDIA card draws 225 W, is dual-slot, requires one 8-pin connector, and suggests a 550 W power supply. The AMD card draws 100 W, is an IGP with no power connector, and has no suggested PSU. The NVIDIA card measures 267 mm (10.5 inches) in length; AMD has no recorded dimensions. Display outputs: NVIDIA has none, AMD is portable-device dependent.

Release dates differ by over three years. The NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q launched on August 29, 2015. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 launched on November 13, 2018. Both are end-of-life products. Neither has a recorded launch MSRP.

The Verdict

The data indicates a clear performance hierarchy, but the appropriate choice depends heavily on the target platform and workload. The NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q wins the only recorded head-to-head benchmark, delivering 18.2% higher Vulkan performance than the Radeon Pro Vega 20. Its raw compute resources are substantially greater: more shading units, more TMUs, more ROPs, and higher FP32 throughput. The 76th percentile ranking versus 73rd also favors NVIDIA.

However, the AMD card is not without justification. Its 4 GB of HBM2 memory is four times the NVIDIA card's capacity, which matters for workloads that exceed 1 GB of working set. Its FP16 capability is unique in this comparison. Its Metal score of 30,427 is strong, and its 100 W TDP is less than half the NVIDIA card's 225 W, making it viable for integrated mobile systems. The "Portable Device Dependent" display output designation confirms its role in laptops.

For a server or workstation environment where Vulkan compute is the priority and power is not a constraint, the NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q is the data-supported choice. For a portable Mac system requiring 4 GB memory capacity and lower power draw, the Radeon Pro Vega 20 is the only viable option given its IGP form factor. The database records one win for NVIDIA and zero for AMD, but the AMD card's additional benchmark scores in Metal and OpenCL show it is not without compute capability.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database contains a single head-to-head comparison between these two cards: Geekbench Vulkan. The NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q scores 31,220, while the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 scores 26,410. This gives NVIDIA an 18.2% advantage in this test. The result is consistent with the NVIDIA card's higher FP32 throughput and larger execution resource counts.

Looking at the nearest rival data provides additional context. The NVIDIA card's closest competitor, the Quadro M5000, scores 31,206, which is effectively identical. The RTX 4070 Ti SUPER scores 31,087, putting it just 0.4% behind the GRID M60-1Q. The RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell and TITAN RTX score 31,532 and 31,676 respectively, placing them 1% and 1.4% ahead.

For the AMD card, the nearest rival is the RX 7800M at 27,883, which is 0.2% behind the Vega 20. The Pro W5500X scores 27,973, 0.5% behind. The GTX 980 Ti scores 28,020, 0.6% behind. Interestingly, the Vega 20 is 1% ahead of the RTX 3090, which scores 27,565. This positions the AMD card in a competitive cluster despite its lower absolute scores.

The largest absolute gap in the head-to-head data is the 4,810-point difference between the two cards in Vulkan, translating to the 18.2% delta. The NVIDIA card's additional benchmark results are limited to Vulkan only, while the AMD card's additional results in Metal (30,427) and OpenCL (26,679) suggest the AMD card may be competitive in those APIs, though no direct comparison exists. The recorded data shows NVIDIA winning the only shared test, with the AMD card's strengths lying in memory capacity, FP16 compute, and lower power consumption.