AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 vs NVIDIA RTX 5880 Ada Generation Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded database contains a single common benchmark between these two workstation-class accelerators: Geekbench OpenCL. In this test, the NVIDIA RTX 5880 Ada Generation scores 326,898, while the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 scores 61,930. That places the NVIDIA part 81.1% ahead, a decisive margin. The delta is so large that the AMD card does not come within a factor of five of the NVIDIA result.

The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 does carry its own individual benchmark results in the database. It records a Geekbench Metal score of 63,145 and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 66,004. Its average benchmark score across all recorded tests is 63,693. The NVIDIA RTX 5880 Ada Generation, by contrast, has a broader benchmark footprint, including Passmark DirectX 10 at 167, DirectX 11 at 228, DirectX 12 at 70, DirectX 9 at 335, G2D at 777, G3D at 25,096, and GPU compute at 14,208. Its average benchmark score is 45,972, which is lower than the AMD part's average, but this is heavily influenced by the low Passmark legacy API scores.

Looking at percentile placement, the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 sits at the 89th percentile among all GPUs in the database. The NVIDIA RTX 5880 Ada Generation sits at the 85th percentile. Despite the NVIDIA card being far ahead in the single common benchmark, the AMD card holds a higher overall percentile ranking. This is because the AMD card's benchmark suite consists entirely of modern compute-oriented tests (Metal, OpenCL, Vulkan), while the NVIDIA card's suite includes older DirectX 9, 10, and 11 workloads where its architecture does not scale as well.

The nearest rivals in the database for the AMD card underscore its positioning. The AMD Radeon RX 7600M averages 63,775, only 0.1% above the Pro Vega 56. The AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT LP averages 63,830, 0.2% higher. The NVIDIA CMP 30HX averages 63,842, also 0.2% higher. The AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100 averages 64,212, 0.8% higher. These are all extremely tight margins, indicating the Pro Vega 56 is firmly placed in a dense cluster of mid-range performers.

For the NVIDIA RTX 5880 Ada Generation, the nearest rivals tell a different story. The NVIDIA RTX A2000 averages 46,043, 0.2% above the 5880 Ada. The Intel Arc A730M averages 45,592, 0.8% below. The AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT averages 45,384, 1.3% below. The AMD Radeon RX 5600M averages 46,601, 1.4% above. These deltas are again small, but the absolute average scores are far lower than the AMD card's rivals. The 5880 Ada's average is dragged down by its legacy API results, not by weak modern compute performance.

The head-to-head OpenCL result is the only direct comparison available. It shows a complete rout in raw compute throughput. The 81.1% delta means the NVIDIA card delivers more than five times the OpenCL performance of the AMD card. No other common test exists in the database, so conclusions about gaming, rendering, or other API-specific workloads must be drawn from the individual benchmark suites and architectural data.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from fundamentally different design eras. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 uses the Vega 10 chip, built on GCN 5.0 architecture, fabricated by GlobalFoundries on a 14 nm process. The NVIDIA RTX 5880 Ada Generation uses the AD102 chip, built on Ada Lovelace architecture, fabricated by TSMC on a 5 nm process. The node difference alone explains a substantial portion of the performance gap.

Transistor counts differ massively. The AMD chip contains 12,500 million transistors on a 495 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 25.3 million per mm². The NVIDIA chip contains 76,300 million transistors on a 609 mm² die, yielding 125.3 million per mm². The NVIDIA chip packs roughly six times the transistor count into a die that is only about 23% larger. This is a direct consequence of the 5 nm process versus 14 nm.

The compute configuration is equally divergent. The AMD card has 3,584 shading units, 224 texture mapping units, and 64 raster operation units. The NVIDIA card has 14,080 shading units, 440 TMUs, and 176 ROPs. The NVIDIA card also carries 110 ray tracing cores and 440 tensor cores, while the AMD card has no dedicated ray tracing cores or tensor cores at all. The AMD card supports DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.1, while the NVIDIA card supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

Clock behavior differs as well. The AMD card has a base clock of 1,138 MHz base and 1,125 MHz boost. The NVIDIA card has a base clock of 975 MHz and a boost clock of 2,460 MHz. The boost clock difference is nearly double, which, combined with the massive shading unit advantage, explains the raw throughput numbers. The AMD card produces 80.00 GPixel/s pixel rate and 280.0 GTexel/s texture rate. The NVIDIA card produces 433.0 GPixel/s and 1,082.4 GTexel/s. FP32 performance is 8.96 TFLOPS for the AMD card; the NVIDIA card reaches 69.27 TFLOPS. FP16 performance for the AMD card is 17.92 TFLOPS (2:1), while the NVIDIA card achieves 69.27 TFLOPS (1:1).

FAQ

**Q: Which card has more memory?

A: The NVIDIA RTX 5880 Ada Generation has 48 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 384 bit bus with 864.0 GB/s bandwidth. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 has 8 GB of HBM2 memory on a 2048 bit bus with 402.4 GB/s bandwidth.

**Q: Do both cards support ray tracing?

A: No. The NVIDIA RTX 5880 Ada Generation includes 110 dedicated ray tracing cores and 440 tensor cores. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 has no ray tracing cores and no tensor cores listed in the database.

**Q: What is the performance difference in OpenCL?

A: In the single direct head-to-head benchmark, Geekbench OpenCL, the NVIDIA RTX 5880 Ada Generation scores 326,898 versus 61,930 for the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56. The NVIDIA card is 81.1% ahead.

**Q: Which card has a higher overall percentile among all GPUs?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 sits at the 89th percentile, while the NVIDIA RTX 5880 Ada Generation sits at the 85th percentile. This reflects the different benchmark suites recorded for each card.

**Q: What are the production statuses?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 is listed as end-of-life. The NVIDIA RTX 5880 Ada Generation is listed as active.

**Q: Which card has higher pixel and texture rates?

A: The NVIDIA RTX 5880 Ada Generation has a pixel rate of 433.0 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 1,082.4 GTexel/s. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 has 80.00 GPixel/s and 280.0 GTexel/s.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 | NVIDIA RTX 5880 Ada Generation |

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

| Chip | Vega 10 | AD102 |

| Architecture | GCN 5.0 | Ada Lovelace |

| Process node | 14 nm (GlobalFoundries) | 5 nm (TSMC) |

| Transistors | 12,500 million | 12,500 million |

| Die size | 495 mm² | 609 mm² |

| Transistor density | 25.2M / mm² | 125.3M / mm² |

| Base clock | 1,138 MHz | 975 MHz |

| Memory clock | 1,125 MHz / 15.72 Gbps effective | 2,250 MHz / 18 Gbps effective |

| Memory size | 8 GB HBM2 | 48 GB GDDR6 |

| Memory bus | 2048 bit | 384 bit |

| Bandwidth | 402.4 GB/s | 864.0 GB/s |

| Shading units | 3,584 | 14,080 |

| TMUs | 224 | 440 |

| ROPs | 64 | 176 |

| RT cores | None | 110 |

| Tensor cores | None | 440 |

| Pixel rate | 80.00 GPixel/s | 433.0 GPixel/s |

| Texture rate | 280.0 GTexel/s | 1,082.4 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 8.960 TFLOPS | 69.27 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 17.92 TFLOPS (2:1) | 69.27 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 210 W | 285 W |

| Slot width | IGP | Dual-slot |

| Power connectors | None | 1x 16-pin |

| Bus interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | PCIe 4.0 x16 |

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

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

| Vulkan support | 2.0 | 2.0 |

| Release date | 2017-08-13 | 2024-01-04 |

| Production status | End-of-life | Active |

| Predecessor | None | Workstation Ampere |

| Successor | None | Blackwell PRO W |

| Length | None | 267 mm / 10.5 inches |

| Height | None | 112 mm / 4.4 inches |

The Verdict

The data points to a clear conclusion for compute-heavy workloads. The NVIDIA RTX 5880 Ada Generation is 81.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 in the only direct benchmark, Geekbench OpenCL. It has six times the transistor count, a much newer process node, 48 GB of memory versus 8 GB, and nearly double the memory bandwidth. It also brings dedicated ray tracing and tensor cores, which the AMD card lacks entirely. For any modern workstation task that leverages OpenCL, ray tracing, or tensor operations, the NVIDIA card is the only viable choice in this comparison.

The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 is not without merit in the database. Its 89th percentile ranking among all GPUs, driven by strong Metal and Vulkan scores, suggests it remains competitive in Apple ecosystem workloads and modern compute APIs. Its nearest rivals are all within 1% of its average score, so it sits in a stable mid-range tier. But that tier is far below the NVIDIA card's raw compute ceiling. The NVIDIA card's 85th percentile is lower only because its recorded benchmark suite includes legacy DirectX 9, 10, and 11 tests where it scores poorly; in the modern OpenCL test, it is in a different class entirely.

For a user prioritizing modern compute performance, VRAM capacity, ray tracing capability, tensor acceleration, and future-proofing, the NVIDIA RTX 5880 Ada Generation is the data-backed selection. The AMD card's age, end-of-life status, smaller memory pool, and complete lack of specialized cores make it unsuitable for any workload that demands raw throughput. The single head-to-head result is unambiguous, and architectural analysis reinforces it. There is no scenario where the recorded data supports picking the AMD card for performance parity or superiority.