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

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data contains two direct comparisons between the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile, both in compute-oriented workloads. The results are lopsided. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the NVIDIA part scores 201,834 against the AMD’s 61,930, a delta of -69.3% from the perspective of the AMD card. That means the RTX 5090 Mobile delivers more than three times the raw compute throughput in this API. The Vulkan result tells a similar story: NVIDIA scores 198,405 versus AMD’s 66,004, a delta of -66.7%. The RTX 5090 Mobile wins both head-to-head tests, giving it a clean 2-0 sweep in the database’s direct comparison set.

What stands out is not just the margin, but the consistency. OpenCL and Vulkan stress different parts of the GPU stack, yet the NVIDIA card’s advantage remains in the same broad range, roughly 200% to 220% higher. This suggests a fundamental performance gap rather than a workload-specific quirk. The AMD part’s best showing in the head-to-head is its Geekbench Vulkan score, where it reaches 66,004, but even that is far behind the NVIDIA card’s lowest direct comparison result, which is 198,405 in the same test. The database’s average benchmark score for the AMD card is 63,693, while the NVIDIA card’s average is 45,152, a figure that includes several Passmark tests. This average is lower than the Geekbench results because the Passmark suite includes 2D and legacy DirectX tests that drag down the overall mean.

Looking at the percentile ranks, the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 sits at the 89th percentile among all GPUs in the database, while the RTX 5090 Mobile sits at the 84th percentile. This is a curious inversion given the head-to-head results. The explanation lies in the benchmark mix. The AMD card’s three recorded benchmarks are all Geekbench compute tests, which tend to favor its architecture. The NVIDIA card has ten recorded benchmarks, including Passmark DirectX 9, 10, 11, and 12 tests, plus 2D and compute tests. Those Passmark scores are low in absolute terms, with DirectX 12 at 138, DirectX 10 at 183, and DirectX 11 at 269. These legacy or synthetic workloads pull its average down. The data implies that the RTX 5090 Mobile is a specialist in modern compute APIs, but its overall percentile suffers from a broader test suite that includes older DX paths.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 wins in the category of consistency across its recorded tests. Its scores are tightly clustered: 61,930 in OpenCL, 66,004 in Vulkan, and 63,145 in Metal. The spread between its lowest and highest score is roughly 6.5%, which indicates stable performance regardless of the compute API. For users running Metal-based applications on macOS, this card has a recorded score of 63,145, and that is its only benchmark not matched directly against the NVIDIA part. The database shows no Metal result for the RTX 5090 Mobile, so in that specific API, the AMD card is the only one with data.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile wins in raw compute, memory bandwidth, and modern feature support. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 201,834 is 225% higher than the AMD card’s OpenCL score. Its Vulkan score of 198,405 is 200% higher. The NVIDIA card also holds a decisive advantage in the Passmark G3D test, scoring 30,034, which is a measure of general 3D graphics performance. The AMD card has no Passmark G3D result in the database, so this is not a direct head-to-head, but the NVIDIA card’s score in that test is far above its own average, indicating strong graphics capabilities beyond pure compute. The RTX 5090 Mobile also records a Passmark GPU compute score of 13,401, again with no AMD counterpart.

For users who prioritize compute density in modern APIs, the NVIDIA card is the clear choice. For users who need a known quantity across Metal, OpenCL, and Vulkan without dramatic swings, the AMD card offers a more uniform profile. The data suggests the AMD card is a mature, end-of-life product with stable drivers and predictable results, while the NVIDIA card is a newer, more powerful part that excels in specific workloads but shows weaker results in legacy DirectX tests. The Passmark DirectX 9 score of 324 and DirectX 12 score of 138 for the NVIDIA card are notably low, and these are the types of results that pull its average down. If a workload is built on DirectX 12, the RTX 5090 Mobile’s Passmark score of 138 is concerning, though this is a synthetic test and not a full game benchmark.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different architectural eras. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 uses the Vega 10 chip built on GCN 5.0 architecture, fabricated on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. It packs 12,500 million transistors on a 495 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 25.3 million per mm². The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile uses the GB203 chip on Blackwell 2.0 architecture, built on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It contains 45,600 million transistors on a 378 mm² die, yielding a density of 120.6 million per mm². The density difference is stark: the NVIDIA chip fits 3.6 times more transistors per square millimeter, and it does so on a smaller die. This is a generational leap in manufacturing efficiency.

Memory architecture diverges sharply. The AMD card has 8 GB of HBM2 on a 2048-bit bus, delivering 402.4 GB/s of bandwidth. The NVIDIA card has 24 GB of GDDR7 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 896.0 GB/s. Despite having one-eighth the bus width, the NVIDIA card achieves more than double the bandwidth. This is due to the GDDR7 memory clock running at 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective), while the AMD card’s HBM2 runs at 786 MHz (1572 Mbps effective). The NVIDIA card also has three times the memory capacity, which matters for large datasets or high-resolution textures.

Compute resources favor the NVIDIA card heavily. The RTX 5090 Mobile has 10,496 shading units, 328 TMUs, and 112 ROPs. The Radeon Pro Vega 56 has 3,584 shading units, 224 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. The NVIDIA card also has 82 RT cores and 328 tensor cores, while the AMD card has none of either. The FP32 throughput is 31.80 TFLOPS for NVIDIA versus 8.960 TFLOPS for AMD. The FP16 numbers are telling: NVIDIA runs at 31.80 TFLOPS with a 1:1 ratio, meaning full-rate FP16, while AMD runs at 17.92 TFLOPS with a 2:1 ratio, meaning half-rate FP16 relative to FP32. For workloads that use FP16, the NVIDIA card is not just faster in absolute terms, it is also more efficient in how it allocates its compute units.

The clock speeds are closer than one might expect. The AMD card has a base clock of 1138 MHz and a boost of 1250 MHz. The NVIDIA card has a base of 990 MHz and a boost of 1515 MHz. Despite the lower base clock, the NVIDIA card’s higher boost clock, combined with its massive shader count, produces the large performance gap. The pixel rate is 169.7 GPixel/s for NVIDIA versus 80.00 GPixel/s for AMD. The texture rate is 496.9 GTexel/s versus 280.0 GTexel/s. These are secondary metrics, but they confirm that the NVIDIA card is not just a compute monster, it also has more fill-rate headroom.

Power and interface differences are notable. The AMD card has a TDP of 210 W, while the NVIDIA card has a TDP of 95 W. This is a striking inversion: the slower card consumes more than double the power. Both are listed as IGP slot width with no power connectors, which suggests they are designed for integrated or soldered applications, but the NVIDIA card achieves far higher performance within a much lower power envelope. The bus interface also differs: AMD uses PCIe 3.0 x16, NVIDIA uses PCIe 5.0 x16. The display outputs are 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a for AMD, while NVIDIA’s are listed as portable device dependent. API support shows NVIDIA with DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, while AMD has DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.3. Both support OpenGL 4.6.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear split. For users running modern compute workloads in OpenCL or Vulkan, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile is the superior product by a wide margin. Its scores are roughly triple the AMD card’s in both direct comparisons. It also offers more memory, more bandwidth, more shading units, and RT and tensor cores that the AMD card lacks entirely. The NVIDIA card is also far more power-efficient, with a TDP of 95 W versus 210 W. If the task is AI inference, ray tracing, or heavy compute in a portable device, the RTX 5090 Mobile is the only rational choice from this data.

However, the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 is not without a niche. It holds the 89th percentile rank versus the NVIDIA card’s 84th, driven by its consistently high Geekbench scores. It has a Metal score of 63,145, which the NVIDIA card cannot match in the database. For macOS environments where Metal is the primary API, the AMD card is the only one with verified results. Its memory bandwidth of 402.4 GB/s, while lower than the NVIDIA card’s, is still substantial and could be sufficient for many professional workloads. Its 8 GB of HBM2 is less than the NVIDIA card’s 24 GB, but for older software stacks or legacy pipelines, the AMD card’s stability and end-of-life maturity may be preferable. The AMD card also wins on transistor count per die area, but that is a manufacturing metric, not a performance one.

The verdict from the database is that the NVIDIA card wins on raw performance and efficiency, while the AMD card wins on benchmark consistency and API coverage in Metal. Neither is a universal winner. The choice depends on the software environment. If the target is portable computing with modern APIs, pick NVIDIA. If the target is a fixed system with Metal-based workloads and the AMD card is already present, the data shows it remains a capable performer, but its 14 nm process and 2017 release date mean it cannot compete with the 5 nm Blackwell chip. The RTX 5090 Mobile is the future-facing part, and the AMD card is the legacy workhorse.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 has an average benchmark score of 63,693, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile has an average of 45,152. However, the NVIDIA card’s average is pulled down by several low Passmark scores, including 138 in DirectX 12 and 183 in DirectX 10.

Q: How much faster is the RTX 5090 Mobile in OpenCL?

A: The RTX 5090 Mobile scores 201,834 in Geekbench OpenCL, compared to the AMD card’s 61,930. This is a delta of -69.3% from the AMD card’s perspective, meaning the NVIDIA card is roughly 225% faster.

Q: Does the AMD card have any benchmark where it wins?

A: In the head-to-head tests, the AMD card wins none. It has a Geekbench Metal score of 63,145, but the NVIDIA card has no recorded Metal benchmark, so there is no direct comparison in that API.

Q: What are the memory differences between the two cards?

A: The AMD card has 8 GB of HBM2 on a 2048-bit bus with 402.4 GB/s bandwidth. The NVIDIA card has 24 GB of GDDR7 on a 256-bit bus with 896.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which card has more shading units?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile has 10,496 shading units, while the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 has 3,584. The NVIDIA card also has 328 TMUs and 112 ROPs, versus 224 TMUs and 64 ROPs for AMD.

Q: What is the power consumption difference?

A: The AMD card has a TDP of 210 W, while the NVIDIA card has a TDP of 95 W. The NVIDIA card delivers higher performance while consuming less than half the power.

Specification Differences

| Field | AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile |

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

| Architecture | GCN 5.0 | Blackwell 2.0 |

| Process Node | 14 nm | 5 nm |

| Foundry | GlobalFoundries | TSMC |

| Transistors | 12,500 million | 45,600 million |

| Die Size | 495 mm² | 378 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 25.3M / mm² | 120.6M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1138 MHz | 990 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1250 MHz | 1515 MHz |

| Memory Size | 8 GB | 24 GB |

| Memory Type | HBM2 | GDDR7 |

| Memory Bus Width | 2048 bit | 256 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 402.4 GB/s | 896.0 GB/s |

| Memory Clock | 786 MHz, 1572 Mbps effective | 1750 MHz, 28 Gbps effective |

| Shading Units | 3584 | 10496 |

| TMUs | 224 | 328 |

| ROPs | 64 | 112 |

| RT Cores | None | 82 |

| Tensor Cores | None | 328 |

| Pixel Rate | 80.00 GPixel/s | 169.7 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 280.0 GTexel/s | 496.9 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 8.960 TFLOPS | 31.80 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 17.92 TFLOPS (2:1) | 31.80 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 210 W | 95 W |

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

| Display Outputs | 1x HDMI 2.0b, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a | Portable Device Dependent |

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

| Vulkan | 1.3 | 1.4 |

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

| Release Date | 2017-08-13 | 2025-03-26 |

| Predecessor | None | GeForce 40 Mobile |