AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 vs NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark data splits cleanly along workload lines. The NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile is the clear winner in every recorded test, but the two GPUs serve very different computing environments. The RTX A5500 Mobile dominates in OpenCL and Vulkan, two APIs that are heavily used in professional rendering, simulation, and cross-platform compute workloads. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 124287 versus the Radeon Pro Vega 56's 61930 represents a 100.7% advantage, effectively doubling the AMD card's output in that test. In Vulkan, the NVIDIA part scores 103601 against 66004, a 57% lead.

The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 has one unique strength in the database: it is the only GPU among the two with a Metal benchmark score. Its Geekbench Metal result of 63145 shows it can handle Apple's graphics API, which makes it relevant for macOS-based workflows. However, no head-to-head Metal comparison exists because the NVIDIA card does not have a recorded Metal benchmark, so the data cannot confirm whether the AMD part wins that API outright. The AMD card also holds a strong position in its own percentile ranking: 89th percentile versus the NVIDIA's 94th percentile, meaning both sit in the upper tier of all tested GPUs.

For users who need raw throughput in OpenCL or Vulkan, the RTX A5500 Mobile is the only choice from this pair. For those tied to Metal, the Radeon Pro Vega 56 is the only option that shows a recorded score, but its overall average benchmark score of 63693 is far below the NVIDIA's 113944. The data suggests the NVIDIA card wins on pure performance, while the AMD card wins on platform compatibility for Apple ecosystems.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different architectural generations and manufacturing approaches. The NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile uses the GA103 chip built on Ampere architecture, fabricated on an 8 nm process at Samsung. It packs 22,000 million transistors into a 496 mm² die, achieving a transistor density of 44.4 million per square millimeter. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 uses the Vega 10 chip based on GCN 5.0 architecture, built on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. It contains 12,500 million transistors on a 495 mm² die, with a density of 25.3 million per square millimeter. Despite similar die sizes, the NVIDIA chip crams nearly twice the transistors into the same area.

The memory subsystems diverge significantly. The RTX A5500 Mobile has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 512.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The Radeon Pro Vega 56 has 8 GB of HBM2 memory on a massive 2048-bit bus, but its bandwidth is only 402.4 GB/s. The NVIDIA card offers double the capacity and roughly 27% more bandwidth. Clock speeds also differ: the NVIDIA card runs at a base of 975 MHz and boosts to 1500 MHz, while the AMD card runs at 1138 MHz base and 1250 MHz boost. The NVIDIA part has a higher boost clock, though its base clock is lower.

Compute resources tell a similar story. The RTX A5500 Mobile has 7424 shading units, 232 texture mapping units, 96 raster output units, 58 ray tracing cores, and 232 tensor cores. The Radeon Pro Vega 56 has 3584 shading units, 224 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, with no ray tracing or tensor cores listed. The NVIDIA card's FP32 throughput is 22.27 TFLOPS, while the AMD card manages 8.960 TFLOPS. In FP16, the NVIDIA card delivers 22.27 TFLOPS at a 1:1 ratio, while the AMD card achieves 17.92 TFLOPS at a 2:1 ratio. The NVIDIA card also leads in pixel rate (144.0 GPixel/s versus 80.00 GPixel/s) and texture rate (348.0 GTexel/s versus 280.0 GTexel/s).

The interface and feature set also differ. The NVIDIA card uses PCIe 4.0 x16, while the AMD card uses PCIe 3.0 x16. The NVIDIA card supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The AMD card supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. The AMD card has specific display outputs (1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a), while the NVIDIA card's outputs are listed as portable device dependent. The AMD card is an integrated graphics processor (IGP) with a 210 W TDP, while the NVIDIA card is a mobile discrete GPU with a 165 W TDP. The NVIDIA card is newer, released in March 2022, versus August 2017 for the AMD card.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded head-to-head results are unambiguous. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX A5500 Mobile scores 124287, while the Radeon Pro Vega 56 scores 61930. The delta is 100.7%, meaning the NVIDIA card more than doubles the AMD card's performance in this API. This is the largest margin in any test between the two.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the NVIDIA card scores 103601, and the AMD card scores 66004. The delta is 57%, a substantial but smaller gap than OpenCL. Both tests favor the NVIDIA card, giving it 2 wins out of 2 possible head-to-head comparisons. The AMD card has 0 wins in head-to-head tests.

Interpreting these scores in context: the NVIDIA card's average benchmark score of 113944 places it near the NVIDIA Tesla V100 SXM2 16 GB (114395, only 0.4% higher) and the NVIDIA RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation (117088, 2.7% higher). It also sits above the AMD Radeon PRO W7900 (110725, 2.9% higher for the NVIDIA card) and the NVIDIA GB10 (117393, 2.9% higher). The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56's average score of 63693 places it near the AMD Radeon RX 7600M (63775, 0.1% higher), the AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT LP (63830, 0.2% higher), the NVIDIA CMP 30HX (63842, 0.2% higher), and the AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100 (64212, 0.8% higher). The delta percentages for the AMD card's rivals are all under 1%, indicating a tightly clustered performance tier, while the NVIDIA card's rivals span a slightly wider range.

The practical takeaway from the data: in any OpenCL or Vulkan workload, the RTX A5500 Mobile is decisively faster. The Vulkan gap of 57% is significant, but the OpenCL gap of 100.7% is transformative for compute-heavy tasks. The AMD card's Metal score of 63145 is its only bright spot, but without a comparable NVIDIA Metal result, it cannot be used to declare a victory.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in OpenCL?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile scores 124287 in Geekbench OpenCL, which is 100.7% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56's score of 61930.

Q: Does the AMD card win any head-to-head benchmark?

A: No. In the two recorded head-to-head tests (OpenCL and Vulkan), the NVIDIA card wins both. The AMD card has zero head-to-head wins.

Q: What is the memory capacity difference?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory with 512.0 GB/s bandwidth. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 has 8 GB of HBM2 memory with 402.4 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Does the AMD card support ray tracing?

A: No. The database lists no ray tracing cores for the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56. The NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile has 58 ray tracing cores and 232 tensor cores.

Q: Which GPU has better Vulkan performance?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile scores 103601 in Geekbench Vulkan, which is 57% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56's score of 66004.

Q: How do their overall percentile rankings compare?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile sits in the 94th percentile of all GPUs, while the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 sits in the 89th percentile. Their average benchmark scores are 113944 and 63693, respectively.

The Verdict

The data directs different users toward different cards. For anyone running OpenCL or Vulkan workloads, the NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile is the definitive choice. Its 100.7% OpenCL lead and 57% Vulkan lead over the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 are not marginal differences; they represent a generational gap in compute capability. The NVIDIA card also offers more memory (16 GB versus 8 GB), higher bandwidth (512.0 GB/s versus 402.4 GB/s), and double the FP32 throughput (22.27 TFLOPS versus 8.960 TFLOPS). It supports newer APIs, including DirectX 12 Ultimate and Vulkan 1.4, and includes ray tracing and tensor cores that the AMD card lacks entirely.

The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 has a narrower but real niche. Its Geekbench Metal score of 63145 is the only Metal benchmark recorded for either GPU, making it the only candidate for macOS-specific professional workflows. Its 89th percentile ranking still places it well above most GPUs, and its nearest rivals (RX 7600M, RX 9060 XT LP, CMP 30HX, Pro WX 9100) all sit within 1% of its average score, showing it is competitive within its own generation. The AMD card's HBM2 memory with a 2048-bit bus is an interesting architectural choice, but the lower clock speeds and older process node limit its practical performance.

The verdict is straightforward: the NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile is the superior computing device by every measured metric in the head-to-head tests. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 is only preferable in scenarios where Metal support is mandatory and OpenCL/Vulkan performance is secondary. For any general-purpose professional workload, the database shows a clear, data-backed winner in the NVIDIA card. Its 94th percentile ranking and average score of 113944 place it in a different class from the AMD card's 89th percentile and 63693 average. The RTX A5500 Mobile is the card to select for performance, while the Radeon Pro Vega 56 remains a viable option only for Apple-centric environments.