AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D Comparison

The GeForce RTX 5090 D and the Radeon Pro Vega 56 represent two vastly different eras of GPU design, separated by nearly a decade of architectural evolution. The data positions the RTX 5090 D as a dominant force in raw compute, while the Pro Vega 56 holds its ground in legacy API scenarios. This analysis compares their benchmark results, specifications, and architectural philosophies strictly from the provided data.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The head-to-head comparison is brief but decisive, featuring only two shared benchmark tests. In Geekbench OpenCL, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D scores 310,674 points against the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56’s 61,930 points. This translates to a delta of 401.7%, meaning the NVIDIA card delivers over five times the OpenCL compute performance. The margin is staggering and reflects the fundamental shift in compute throughput between a 2017-era GCN card and a 2025 Blackwell flagship.

The Vulkan results show an even wider gap. The RTX 5090 D posts 376,915 points, while the Pro Vega 56 manages 66,004 points, resulting in a 471% delta. Vulkan is a modern, low-overhead API, and the data suggests the RTX 5090 D’s architecture is far better optimized for it. The Pro Vega 56, with its older GCN 5.0 design, simply cannot keep pace in this workload.

Looking at the broader benchmark suite, the RTX 5090 D has an average benchmark score of 77,712 across ten tests, including 3DMark Steel Nomad (14,326), Passmark G3D (44,065), and Geekbench Vulkan (376,915). The Pro Vega 56’s average is 63,693, based on just three Geekbench tests. The RTX 5090 D sits at the 92nd percentile of all GPUs, while the Pro Vega 56 is at the 89th percentile. Despite the massive head-to-head deltas, the percentile difference is only three points, suggesting that relative to the entire GPU market, both are high performers, but the NVIDIA card is in a different performance class.

When comparing to their nearest rivals, the RTX 5090 D is 1.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT and 1.6% behind the RX 6850M XT. The Pro Vega 56 is 0.1% behind the RX 7600M and 0.8% behind the Radeon Pro WX 9100. These figures indicate that the Pro Vega 56’s average score is closely clustered with mid-range mobile and workstation GPUs, while the RTX 5090 D’s average aligns with high-end mobile parts, despite its desktop flagship status.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D wins both head-to-head benchmarks decisively. With wins of 401.7% and 471% in OpenCL and Vulkan respectively, there is no scenario in the provided data where the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 comes out ahead. The RTX 5090 D is the clear choice for any workload leveraging these modern compute APIs.

However, the analysis does not end with raw scores. The Pro Vega 56, being an end-of-life product released in August 2017, has a different purpose. Its average benchmark score of 63,693 places it near the RX 7600M, making it a capable part for its era. The RTX 5090 D, with a launch MSRP of 2,299 USD, is a current-generation flagship. The data suggests that users who need maximum OpenCL or Vulkan throughput should choose the RTX 5090 D without hesitation.

For those constrained to the Pro Vega 56’s ecosystem—perhaps in a legacy Mac environment, given its "Radeon Pro Mac" generation—the card remains functional. Its Geekbench Metal score of 63,145 shows it can handle Apple’s graphics API, though the RTX 5090 D has no Metal score in the data to compare. The verdict is straightforward: the RTX 5090 D is overwhelmingly faster in shared tests, but the Pro Vega 56 retains relevance only in specific legacy or Apple-centric contexts.

FAQ

Q: How much faster is the RTX 5090 D in Geekbench OpenCL compared to the Pro Vega 56?

A: The RTX 5090 D scores 310,674 versus the Pro Vega 56’s 61,930, a delta of 401.7%—meaning it is roughly five times faster.

Q: Does the Pro Vega 56 win any benchmark in the head-to-head comparison?

A: No. The data shows the RTX 5090 D wins both tests (Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan), with the Pro Vega 56 recording zero wins.

Q: What is the average benchmark score for each card?

A: The RTX 5090 D has an average score of 77,712, while the Pro Vega 56 averages 63,693. The RTX 5090 D is 22% higher on average.

Q: How do the cards compare in percentile ranking among all GPUs?

A: The RTX 5090 D is at the 92nd percentile, and the Pro Vega 56 is at the 89th percentile. Despite the large performance gap, both are above the 88th percentile.

Q: Which card has a higher Geekbench Vulkan score?

A: The RTX 5090 D scores 376,915, which is 471% higher than the Pro Vega 56’s 66,004.

Q: Is the Pro Vega 56 still in production?

A: No. The production status is listed as "End-of-life," whereas the RTX 5090 D is listed as "Active."

Specification Differences

The specification gap between the two cards is enormous. The RTX 5090 D has 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, yielding 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. The Pro Vega 56 has 8 GB of HBM2 on a 2048-bit bus, providing 402.4 GB/s. The NVIDIA card has 21,760 shading units, 680 TMUs, and 176 ROPs, versus the AMD card’s 3,584 shading units, 224 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. The RTX 5090 D also features 170 RT cores and 680 tensor cores, while the Pro Vega 56 has none.

Clock speeds differ significantly: the RTX 5090 D runs at 2017 MHz base and 2407 MHz boost, compared to 1138 MHz base and 1250 MHz boost on the Pro Vega 56. Memory clocks are 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective) versus 786 MHz (1572 Mbps effective). The RTX 5090 D has a TDP of 575 W with a 1x 16-pin connector and a suggested PSU of 950 W; the Pro Vega 56 draws 210 W with no power connectors, being an IGP. The bus interface is PCIe 5.0 x16 on NVIDIA, PCIe 3.0 x16 on AMD. Display outputs are 1x HDMI 2.1b and 3x DisplayPort 2.1b versus 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a. The RTX 5090 D is dual-slot measuring 304 mm in length; the Pro Vega 56 has no listed dimensions.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide is generational. The RTX 5090 D uses the GB202 chip on TSMC’s 5 nm process, with 92,200 million transistors on a 750 mm² die, giving a density of 122.9M transistors per mm². The Pro Vega 56 uses the Vega 10 chip on GlobalFoundries’ 14 nm process, with 12,500 million transistors on a 495 mm² die, for a density of 25.3M per mm². The NVIDIA card’s architecture is Blackwell 2.0, supporting DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The AMD card uses GCN 5.0, supporting DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3.

The RTX 5090 D has dedicated RT and tensor cores, enabling hardware ray tracing and AI acceleration—features entirely absent on the Pro Vega 56. Pixel rate is 423.6 GPixel/s versus 80.00 GPixel/s, and texture rate is 1,636.8 GTexel/s versus 280.0 GTexel/s. FP32 compute is 104.8 TFLOPS on NVIDIA versus 8.960 TFLOPS on AMD. FP16 is 104.8 TFLOPS (1:1) on the RTX 5090 D, while the Pro Vega 56 achieves 17.92 TFLOPS (2:1), meaning the AMD card’s FP16 is half-rate compared to FP32.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 5090 D wins in every metric where both are tested. Its 401.7% OpenCL lead and 471% Vulkan lead make it the definitive choice for compute-heavy applications like GPU rendering, scientific simulation, and machine learning inference. The presence of tensor cores suggests strong AI workload performance, and the 32 GB GDDR7 memory with 1.79 TB/s bandwidth is suited for large datasets. The 170 RT cores indicate superior ray-traced rendering capabilities, though no ray-tracing benchmark is in the data.

The Pro Vega 56’s only unique advantage is its Geekbench Metal score of 63,145. Since the RTX 5090 D has no Metal benchmark in the data, the AMD card is the only option for macOS-specific workloads. Its 210 W TDP and lack of power connectors imply it is designed for integrated or low-power systems, making it suitable for compact builds where the 575 W RTX 5090 D would be impractical. The HBM2 memory, while lower capacity, offers a 2048-bit bus, which historically aids in bandwidth-sensitive tasks, though the 402.4 GB/s figure is far below the NVIDIA card.

In terms of ecosystem, the Pro Vega 56’s DirectX 12 (12_1) support is a generation behind the RTX 5090 D’s 12 Ultimate, meaning newer games with advanced DX12 features may not run optimally on the AMD card. The RTX 5090 D’s PCIe 5.0 interface doubles the bandwidth of the Pro Vega 56’s PCIe 3.0, reducing data transfer bottlenecks. The Pro Vega 56’s production status is end-of-life, so it offers no upgrade path, while the RTX 5090 D is active with a successor listed as GeForce 60. For any user prioritizing modern performance, the RTX 5090 D is the only logical choice; the Pro Vega 56 remains a niche part for legacy Apple systems or low-power builds.