AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 vs AMD Radeon Pro W5700X Comparison

# Where Each One Wins

The benchmark data splits cleanly along API lines. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X takes the single Metal workload, while the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 dominates the other two compute interfaces. This is not a close overall contest — the Vega 56 wins two out of three head-to-head comparisons, and its average benchmark score of 63693 sits well above the W5700X's 54828 average.

Looking at the specific workloads, the W5700X's Metal score of 75427 is its strongest showing by a wide margin, outpacing its own OpenCL result (43810) by roughly 72% and its Vulkan result (45246) by about 67%. The Vega 56, by contrast, is far more consistent across APIs: its Metal score of 63145 is its lowest, yet it still beats the W5700X's OpenCL and Vulkan numbers by substantial margins. The Vega 56's OpenCL score of 61930 is 41% higher than the W5700X's OpenCL result, and its Vulkan score of 66004 is 46% higher than the W5700X's Vulkan result.

For users whose primary API is Metal — common in macOS-centric workflows — the W5700X is the clear choice, as its 19.5% Metal advantage over the Vega 56 is decisive. However, for OpenCL or Vulkan compute tasks, the Vega 56's leads of 29.3% and 31.4% respectively are even larger in absolute terms. The percentile rankings reflect this split: the Vega 56 sits at the 89th percentile among all GPUs, while the W5700X is at the 87th percentile, indicating the Vega 56 is the stronger overall performer in the broader GPU landscape.

# Architecture Differences

The two cards represent distinct architectural generations from AMD. The W5700X uses the Navi 10 chip built on RDNA 1.0, fabricated on TSMC's 7 nm process. The Vega 56 uses the Vega 10 chip on GCN 5.0, built on GlobalFoundries' 14 nm process. This process gap is significant: the W5700X packs 10,300 million transistors into a 251 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 41.0M per mm². The Vega 56 crams 12,500 million transistors into a much larger 495 mm² die, giving a density of just 25.3M per mm². The W5700X is therefore 62% denser in transistor packing, a direct consequence of the newer 7 nm node.

The memory subsystems are fundamentally different. The W5700X uses 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, achieving 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The Vega 56 uses 8 GB of HBM2 on a 2048-bit bus, delivering 402.4 GB/s. The W5700X has both more capacity (16 GB vs 8 GB) and higher bandwidth (448.0 vs 402.4 GB/s), despite the Vega 56's much wider bus. The W5700X's memory runs at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective), while the Vega 56's runs at 786 MHz (1572 Mbps effective) — the HBM2's wider interface compensates for its lower clock, but not fully.

Compute unit configurations differ too. The Vega 56 has more shading units (3584 vs 2560), more texture mapping units (224 vs 160), and the same number of render output units (64). Clock speeds flip the comparison: the W5700X boosts to 2040 MHz versus the Vega 56's 1250 MHz, a 63% higher boost clock. The W5700X's higher clocks drive its pixel rate to 130.6 GPixel/s versus 80.00 GPixel/s for the Vega 56, and its texture rate to 326.4 GTexel/s versus 280.0 GTexel/s. In raw FP32 throughput, the W5700X achieves 10.44 TFLOPS versus 8.960 TFLOPS for the Vega 56, a 16.5% advantage despite having fewer shaders — a signal of the RDNA 1.0 efficiency gains.

The cards also differ in form factor and connectivity. The W5700X is a quad-slot card using the Apple MPX bus interface, with display outputs of 1x HDMI 2.0b and 4x Thunderbolt. The Vega 56 is an IGP (integrated graphics processor) using PCIe 3.0 x16, with 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a outputs. The W5700X lists a suggested PSU of 550 W and a TDP of 205 W; the Vega 56 has a TDP of 210 W but no suggested PSU listed and no power connectors. API support differs in Vulkan version: the W5700X supports Vulkan 1.4, while the Vega 56 is limited to Vulkan 1.3. Both support DirectX 12 (12_1) and OpenGL 4.6.

# Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The Metal benchmark is the W5700X's territory. Its score of 75427 beats the Vega 56's 63145 by 19.5%. This is the only head-to-head win for the W5700X, and it is a substantial one. In the context of the W5700X's nearest rivals, this Metal result helps push its average score to 54828, which is 1.1% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 (54247) and 1.1% ahead of the RTX 4080 SUPER (54209), but 1.6% behind the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (55698) and 1.7% behind the AMD Radeon 8060S (55757). The W5700X's Metal strength does not translate to overall dominance, as its OpenCL and Vulkan scores drag the average down considerably.

The OpenCL benchmark flips the result decisively. The Vega 56 scores 61930, which is 29.3% higher than the W5700X's 43810. This is the largest percentage gap in either direction across all three tests. The Vega 56's OpenCL performance is strong enough that its average score of 63693 places it 0.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 7600M (63775 is actually slightly higher, so the delta is -0.1% meaning the Vega is marginally behind), 0.2% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT LP (63830), 0.2% ahead of the NVIDIA CMP 30HX (63842), and 0.8% behind the AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100 (64212). The Vega 56's nearest rivals are all within 1% of its average score, indicating a tightly contested performance tier.

The Vulkan benchmark shows a similar pattern to OpenCL. The Vega 56 scores 66004, beating the W5700X's 45246 by 31.4%. This is the largest raw score difference in the head-to-head: 20758 points separate the two cards in Vulkan, versus 18120 points in OpenCL and 12282 points in Metal. The Vega 56's Vulkan result is its highest of the three tests, suggesting the GCN 5.0 architecture handles this API particularly well. The W5700X's Vulkan score is its lowest, indicating a weakness in this workload despite the newer architecture.

# FAQ

Q: Which card has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 has an average benchmark score of 63693, which is 16.1% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X's average of 54828.

Q: Does the W5700X win any benchmark against the Vega 56?

A: Yes. The W5700X wins the geekbench_metal test with a score of 75427 versus the Vega 56's 63145, a 19.5% advantage.

Q: What is the largest performance gap in the head-to-head results?

A: The Vulkan benchmark shows the largest gap, with the Vega 56 scoring 66004 versus the W5700X's 45246, a 31.4% difference in favor of the Vega 56.

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

A: The W5700X has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth. The Vega 56 has 8 GB of HBM2 on a 2048-bit bus with 402.4 GB/s bandwidth. The W5700X leads in both capacity and bandwidth.

Q: Which card has a higher boost clock?

A: The W5700X boosts to 2040 MHz, while the Vega 56 boosts to 1250 MHz. The W5700X's boost clock is 63% higher.

Q: Are both cards still in production?

A: No. Both the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 are listed as end-of-life products.

# The Verdict

The data supports a clear split decision. For Metal-based workflows, the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X is the superior card, delivering a 19.5% performance advantage over the Vega 56 in the geekbench_metal test. Its higher boost clock (2040 MHz vs 1250 MHz), larger memory capacity (16 GB vs 8 GB), and higher memory bandwidth (448.0 GB/s vs 402.4 GB/s) all favor the W5700X for graphics-intensive tasks that leverage the Metal API. Its RDNA 1.0 architecture on 7 nm also gives it a 16.5% lead in FP32 throughput (10.44 TFLOPS vs 8.960 TFLOPS) and a 63% higher pixel rate (130.6 GPixel/s vs 80.00 GPixel/s).

However, the Vega 56 wins the overall comparison based on the benchmark data. It wins two of the three head-to-head tests, with decisive 29.3% and 31.4% leads in OpenCL and Vulkan respectively. Its average benchmark score of 63693 is 16.1% higher than the W5700X's 54828, and its 89th percentile ranking versus the W5700X's 87th percentile confirms its stronger standing among all GPUs. The Vega 56's consistent performance across all three APIs — its lowest score (63145 in Metal) is still higher than the W5700X's OpenCL and Vulkan results — makes it the more versatile choice for mixed workloads.

For users who prioritize Metal performance specifically, the W5700X is the right pick. For anyone running OpenCL or Vulkan compute tasks, or who needs a card that performs well across all APIs, the Vega 56 is the better option based on the benchmark data. The W5700X's launch MSRP is 999 USD.

# Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon Pro W5700X | AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 |

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

| Chip | Navi 10 | Vega 10 |

| Architecture | RDNA 1.0 | GCN 5.0 |

| Process Node | 7 nm (TSMC) | 14 nm (GlobalFoundries) |

| Transistors | 10,300 million | 12,500 million |

| Die Size | 251 mm² | 495 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 41.0M / mm² | 25.3M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1243 MHz | 1138 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 2040 MHz | 1250 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) | 786 MHz (1572 Mbps effective) |

| Memory Size | 16 GB GDDR6 | 8 GB HBM2 |

| Memory Bus Width | 256 bit | 2048 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 448.0 GB/s | 402.4 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 2560 | 3584 |

| TMUs | 160 | 224 |

| ROPs | 64 | 64 |

| Pixel Rate | 130.6 GPixel/s | 80.00 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 326.4 GTexel/s | 280.0 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 10.44 TFLOPS | 8.960 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 20.89 TFLOPS (2:1) | 17.92 TFLOPS (2:1) |

| TDP | 205 W | 210 W |

| Slot Width | Quad-slot | IGP |

| Power Connectors | Not specified | None |

| Suggested PSU | 550 W | Not specified |

| Bus Interface | Apple MPX | PCIe 3.0 x16 |

| Display Outputs | 1x HDMI 2.0b, 4x Thunderbolt | 1x HDMI 2.0b, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a |

| Vulkan Version | 1.4 | 1.3 |

| Release Date | 2019-12-10 | 2017-08-13 |

| Launch MSRP | 999 USD | Not specified |