AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 vs AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE Comparison

The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 and the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE represent two distinct eras of GPU design, separated by nearly six years of architectural evolution. The data shows a decisive generational shift, with the newer RX 9070 GRE delivering nearly double the raw compute performance in the one directly comparable benchmark, while the older Pro Vega 48 maintains its position as a specialized, albeit dated, professional mobile solution.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only directly comparable benchmark between these two GPUs is the Geekbench OpenCL test. In this metric, the results are stark. The AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE scores 109,309 points, while the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 scores 53,757 points. This represents a deltaPct of -50.8% for the Pro Vega 48, meaning it delivers roughly half the performance of its newer counterpart. The RX 9070 GRE is a clear winner in this head-to-head comparison, demonstrating a massive generational leap in raw compute throughput for general-purpose workloads.

While the Pro Vega 48 has additional benchmark data points, including a Geekbench Metal score of 69,010 and a Vulkan score of 57,653, the RX 9070 GRE has a separate 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5,424. These different test suites cannot be directly compared, but they do contextualize each card’s strengths: the Pro Vega 48’s Metal score suggests strong performance in Apple’s ecosystem, while the RX 9070 GRE’s 3DMark result indicates modern DirectX 12 gaming capability. When looking at the average benchmark scores, the Pro Vega 48 averages 60,140 points across its suite, placing it in the 88th percentile of all GPUs. The RX 9070 GRE averages 57,367 points, placing it in the 87th percentile. Although the RX 9070 GRE wins the head-to-head OpenCL test decisively, the Pro Vega 48’s average score is slightly higher due to the mix of tests in which it participates, including its strong Metal showing.

The nearest rival data further highlights the performance positioning. The Pro Vega 48’s average score sits within 0.3% of both the Intel Arc Pro A60 (60,326) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 (60,347), which is a surprising parity with a flagship consumer card in these aggregated metrics. It is also 2.5% ahead of the AMD Radeon PRO V710 and 2.8% ahead of the NVIDIA P102-100. In contrast, the RX 9070 GRE’s average score is 0.7% below the Intel Arc A580 (57,756), 1.2% below the AMD Radeon RX 5600 OEM (58,085), and 1.8% below the AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT (58,392). This indicates that while the RX 9070 GRE is the newer part, its average benchmark profile places it in a competitive mid-range tier, whereas the Pro Vega 48’s profile, despite its age, clusters with higher-tier parts in its tested suite.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide between these two GPUs is immense. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 is built on the GCN 5.0 architecture using the Vega 10 chip, manufactured on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. In contrast, the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE utilizes the RDNA 4.0 architecture with the Navi 48 chip, fabricated on a 4 nm process at TSMC. This process shrink from 14 nm to 4 nm is foundational to the performance difference.

The chip compositions differ significantly. The Vega 10 chip packs 12,500 million transistors on a 495 mm² die, resulting in a transistor density of 25.3M per mm². The Navi 48 chip, while physically smaller at 357 mm², contains 53,900 million transistors, achieving a density of 151.0M per mm². This represents a massive increase in complexity and efficiency, allowing the RX 9070 GRE to pack more than four times the transistors into a smaller physical space.

Memory architecture also diverges completely. The Pro Vega 48 uses 8 GB of HBM2 memory on a 2048-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 402.4 GB/s. The RX 9070 GRE uses 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, achieving a slightly higher bandwidth of 432.0 GB/s. While the HBM2 solution on the Pro Vega 48 offers a wider bus, the newer GDDR6 implementation on the RX 9070 GRE provides more capacity and marginally higher bandwidth.

Compute capabilities show the generational leap clearly. Both cards have 3072 shading units and 192 TMUs, but the RX 9070 GRE has 96 ROPs compared to the Pro Vega 48’s 64. The clock speeds and resulting throughputs are dramatically different. The Pro Vega 48’s pixel rate is 76.80 GPixel/s and texture rate is 230.4 GTexel/s, while the RX 9070 GRE achieves 267.8 GPixel/s and 535.7 GTexel/s respectively. In terms of floating-point performance, the Pro Vega 48 delivers 7.373 TFLOPS FP32 and 14.75 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1 ratio), while the RX 9070 GRE delivers 34.28 TFLOPS for both FP32 and FP16 (1:1 ratio). The RX 9070 GRE also introduces 48 dedicated ray tracing cores, a feature entirely absent from the older GCN-based card.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has higher raw FP32 compute performance?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE has significantly higher FP32 performance at 34.28 TFLOPS, compared to the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48’s 7.373 TFLOPS. This represents a roughly 4.6x difference in raw shader throughput.

Q: How do the memory configurations differ?

A: The Pro Vega 48 uses 8 GB of HBM2 memory with a 2048-bit bus and 402.4 GB/s bandwidth. The RX 9070 GRE uses 12 GB of GDDR6 memory with a 192-bit bus and 432.0 GB/s bandwidth. The newer card offers more capacity and higher bandwidth despite a narrower bus.

Q: Does the RX 9070 GRE support hardware ray tracing?

A: Yes, the RX 9070 GRE includes 48 dedicated ray tracing cores as part of its RDNA 4.0 architecture. The Pro Vega 48, based on GCN 5.0, has no RT cores.

Q: What are the interface and connectivity differences?

A: The Pro Vega 48 uses a PCIe 3.0 x16 interface and has display outputs listed as "Portable Device Dependent" since it is an integrated graphics processor (IGP). The RX 9070 GRE uses a PCIe 5.0 x16 interface and offers 1x HDMI 2.1b and 3x DisplayPort 2.1a outputs.

Q: What is the production status of each card?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 is listed as End-of-life, released on 2019-03-18. The AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE is listed as Active, released on 2025-05-07.

Q: Which card has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The Pro Vega 48 has a higher average benchmark score of 60,140, compared to the RX 9070 GRE’s 57,367. However, this is based on different test suites; the RX 9070 GRE wins the shared OpenCL test by a wide margin.

Specification Differences

The following table outlines the key specification differences between the two GPUs, based solely on the provided data.

| Specification | AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 | AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE |

|:--- |:--- |:--- |

| Architecture | GCN 5.0 | RDNA 4.0 |

| Chip | Vega 10 | Navi 48 |

| Process Node | 14 nm | 4 nm |

| Foundry | GlobalFoundries | TSMC |

| Transistors | 12,500 million | 53,900 million |

| Die Size | 495 mm² | 357 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 25.3M / mm² | 151.0M / mm² |

| Base Clock | None | 1420 MHz |

| Boost Clock | None | 2790 MHz |

| Game Clock | None | 2220 MHz |

| Memory Size | 8 GB | 12 GB |

| Memory Type | HBM2 | GDDR6 |

| Memory Bus Width | 2048 bit | 192 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 402.4 GB/s | 432.0 GB/s |

| ROPs | 64 | 96 |

| RT Cores | None | 48 |

| Pixel Rate | 76.80 GPixel/s | 267.8 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 230.4 GTexel/s | 535.7 GTexel/s |

| FP32 Performance | 7.373 TFLOPS | 34.28 TFLOPS |

| FP16 Performance | 14.75 TFLOPS (2:1) | 34.28 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | None | 220 W |

| Slot Width | IGP | Dual-slot |

| Power Connectors | None | 2x 8-pin |

| Suggested PSU | None | 550 W |

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

| Display Outputs | Portable Device Dependent | 1x HDMI 2.1b, 3x DisplayPort 2.1a |

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

| Vulkan Support | 1.3 | 1.4 |

| Production Status | End-of-life | Active |

| Release Date | 2019-03-18 | 2025-05-07 |

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE is the decisive winner in raw computational throughput. Its 34.28 TFLOPS FP32 performance is a massive leap over the Pro Vega 48’s 7.373 TFLOPS, and it also holds advantages in pixel rate, texture rate, memory capacity, and memory bandwidth. It is the clear choice for modern, compute-heavy workloads and DirectX 12 Ultimate gaming, supported by its 48 ray tracing cores, PCIe 5.0 interface, and superior Vulkan 1.4 API support. Its 12 GB of VRAM also provides more headroom for large assets compared to the 8 GB on the older card.

The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48, despite being end-of-life, holds its own in specific contexts. Its status as an integrated graphics processor (IGP) with "Portable Device Dependent" display outputs indicates it was designed for professional mobile workstations, where a discrete card is not an option. Its higher average benchmark score (60,140 vs 57,367) and higher percentile ranking (88th vs 87th) suggest that in its tested suite, which includes Metal and Vulkan, it performs admirably against its contemporaries. The Pro Vega 48’s nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, proof of its professional-grade compute capabilities in those specific test scenarios, despite its age. It is the winner for legacy professional applications that rely on GCN-optimized code or require the specific characteristics of HBM2 memory in a mobile form factor.