AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 vs AMD Radeon VII Comparison

The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 and AMD Radeon VII are two end-of-life AMD workstation-class graphics cards built on the Vega architecture, but they represent different generations of that design. The benchmark data shows a clear overall winner in the Radeon VII, which secures victories in all three head-to-head tests, yet the Pro Vega 64 holds a higher percentile ranking among all GPUs. This creates an interesting tension: the newer card wins every direct comparison, but the older card sits in a slightly higher overall percentile position, suggesting that the Pro Vega 64’s performance profile may be more consistent across a broader range of workloads. The Radeon VII’s average benchmark score of 66004 is actually lower than the Pro Vega 64’s 72379, which further complicates the narrative since the Radeon VII dominates in the specific tests where both were measured.

The Verdict

Based strictly on the head-to-head benchmark results, the AMD Radeon VII is the superior performer for anyone prioritizing raw compute throughput in the three tested workloads. It wins all three direct comparisons, with its most dominant showing in Geekbench OpenCL where it scores 91947 against the Pro Vega 64’s 71094, a substantial 22.7% advantage. The Radeon VII also leads by 19.2% in Geekbench Vulkan and by 7.8% in Geekbench Metal, making it the clear choice for applications that leverage these APIs. However, the Pro Vega 64’s higher percentile rank (91st versus 90th) and its higher average benchmark score (72379 versus 66004) suggest that it may perform more consistently across the entire spectrum of GPU workloads, not just the ones tested. The Pro Vega 64’s nearest rivals include the NVIDIA TITAN X Pascal with a delta of 0.4%, indicating it sits in a competitive performance tier, while the Radeon VII’s closest rival is the NVIDIA Tesla T4 at -1.1%, showing a similar level of competition. For users who specifically need the fastest possible performance in Metal, OpenCL, or Vulkan compute tasks, the Radeon VII is the definitive pick; for those who value consistent high performance across a wider array of applications, the Pro Vega 64’s higher percentile suggests it may be the safer bet.

Where Each One Wins

The Radeon VII wins decisively in every head-to-head benchmark category, but the magnitude of its victories varies significantly across tests. In Geekbench OpenCL, the Radeon VII achieves a 22.7% lead, which is its largest margin of victory and indicates a particular strength in general-purpose compute workloads that rely on OpenCL. The Geekbench Vulkan test shows a 19.2% advantage for the Radeon VII, demonstrating that its architecture also excels in modern graphics and compute APIs. The smallest win for the Radeon VII comes in Geekbench Metal, where it leads by only 7.8%, suggesting that the Pro Vega 64 is comparatively more competitive in Apple’s Metal API, which is relevant for macOS environments. The Pro Vega 64, while losing all three direct comparisons, still posts respectable scores that place it within 8% of the Radeon VII in Metal, showing that it remains a capable option for Metal-based workflows. Notably, the Pro Vega 64’s percentile rank of 91 versus the Radeon VII’s 90 indicates that the older card outperforms a slightly larger fraction of all GPUs in the database, even though it loses to its direct competitor. This implies that the Pro Vega 64 may have a more balanced performance profile across diverse workloads, while the Radeon VII’s strengths are more concentrated in the specific benchmarks tested.

Architecture Differences

The two cards represent two distinct steps in AMD’s Vega architecture evolution, with the Pro Vega 64 built on GCN 5.0 and the Radeon VII on GCN 5.1. The Pro Vega 64 uses the Vega 10 chip manufactured on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries, while the Radeon VII employs the Vega 20 chip fabricated on TSMC’s 7 nm node. This process shrink allows the Radeon VII to pack 13,230 million transistors into a 331 mm² die, achieving a transistor density of 40.0M per mm², compared to the Pro Vega 64’s 12,500 million transistors on a much larger 495 mm² die with a density of 25.3M per mm². Despite the smaller die, the Radeon VII has a higher transistor count, which contributes to its performance advantage. The Radeon VII also features a significantly wider memory bus at 4096 bits versus the Pro Vega 64’s 2048 bits, enabling a massive 1.02 TB/s memory bandwidth compared to 402.4 GB/s. Both cards offer 16 GB of HBM2 memory, but the Radeon VII’s memory runs at 1000 MHz (2 Gbps effective) versus the Pro Vega 64’s 786 MHz (1572 Mbps effective). Clock speeds also differ substantially: the Radeon VII boosts to 1750 MHz versus the Pro Vega 64’s 1350 MHz, with base clocks of 1400 MHz and 1250 MHz respectively. Interestingly, the Pro Vega 64 has more shading units (4096 versus 3840) and more texture mapping units (256 versus 240), yet the Radeon VII still achieves higher pixel and texture rates due to its higher clocks. The Radeon VII’s power delivery requires 2x 8-pin connectors and a 600 W suggested PSU, while the Pro Vega 64 is an integrated graphics processor (IGP) with no power connectors and a 250 W TDP, reflecting their different physical form factors.

FAQ

Q: Which card wins the most head-to-head benchmarks?

A: The AMD Radeon VII wins all three head-to-head benchmarks, securing victories in Geekbench Metal, OpenCL, and Vulkan tests, giving it a 3-0 record against the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64.

Q: What is the largest performance gap between the two cards?

A: The largest gap is in Geekbench OpenCL, where the Radeon VII scores 91947 against the Pro Vega 64’s 71094, representing a 22.7% advantage for the Radeon VII.

Q: Does the Pro Vega 64 have any advantages over the Radeon VII?

A: Yes, the Pro Vega 64 has a higher percentile rank among all GPUs at 91% versus the Radeon VII’s 90%, and it also has a higher average benchmark score of 72379 compared to 66004 for the Radeon VII.

Q: How do the memory systems differ between the two cards?

A: The Radeon VII features a 4096-bit memory bus with 1.02 TB/s bandwidth, while the Pro Vega 64 has a 2048-bit bus with 402.4 GB/s bandwidth. Both have 16 GB of HBM2 memory, but the Radeon VII’s memory runs at 1000 MHz versus 786 MHz for the Pro Vega 64.

Q: What are the physical differences in power requirements?

A: The Radeon VII is a dual-slot card requiring 2x 8-pin power connectors and a 600 W suggested PSU, with a 295 W TDP, while the Pro Vega 64 is an integrated graphics processor with no power connectors and a 250 W TDP.

Q: Which card has a higher boost clock?

A: The Radeon VII has a boost clock of 1750 MHz, which is significantly higher than the Pro Vega 64’s boost clock of 1350 MHz, contributing to its performance advantages in compute workloads.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The Radeon VII’s most impressive victory comes in Geekbench OpenCL, where it posts a score of 91947 against the Pro Vega 64’s 71094. This 22.7% delta is the largest margin in any test and highlights the Radeon VII’s substantial advantage in OpenCL compute performance, which is likely driven by its higher clock speeds and wider memory bus. The 1.02 TB/s memory bandwidth of the Radeon VII versus 402.4 GB/s for the Pro Vega 64 is particularly impactful in memory-intensive compute workloads, allowing the Radeon VII to feed its 3840 shading units more efficiently. In Geekbench Vulkan, the Radeon VII again dominates with a score of 91788 versus 74174, a 19.2% lead. This test likely benefits from the Radeon VII’s higher texture rate of 420.0 GTexel/s compared to 345.6 GTexel/s for the Pro Vega 64, as well as its superior pixel rate of 112.0 GPixel/s versus 86.40 GPixel/s. The Geekbench Metal test shows the closest competition, with the Radeon VII scoring 77975 against the Pro Vega 64’s 71868, a 7.8% margin. This narrower gap suggests that the Pro Vega 64’s higher shading unit count (4096 versus 3840) helps it remain competitive in Metal workloads, partially offsetting the Radeon VII’s clock speed advantage. Interestingly, the Pro Vega 64’s average benchmark score of 72379 exceeds the Radeon VII’s 66004, which means that across a broader set of benchmarks not covered in the head-to-head, the Pro Vega 64 actually performs better on average. This discrepancy indicates that the Radeon VII’s advantages are specific to the Metal, OpenCL, and Vulkan tests, while the Pro Vega 64 may excel in other types of workloads that are included in the average score calculation.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ significantly in their core specifications, starting with the chip and process node. The Pro Vega 64 uses the Vega 10 chip on a 14 nm process from GlobalFoundries, while the Radeon VII uses the Vega 20 chip on a 7 nm process from TSMC. The Radeon VII has more transistors at 13,230 million versus 12,500 million, but a smaller die size at 331 mm² compared to 495 mm², resulting in a much higher transistor density of 40.0M per mm² versus 25.3M per mm². Clock speeds favor the Radeon VII, with a base clock of 1400 MHz and boost of 1750 MHz, compared to the Pro Vega 64’s 1250 MHz base and 1350 MHz boost. Memory configurations also differ, with the Radeon VII offering a 4096-bit bus and 1.02 TB/s bandwidth, while the Pro Vega 64 has a 2048-bit bus and 402.4 GB/s bandwidth, though both have 16 GB of HBM2 memory. The Radeon VII’s memory operates at 1000 MHz (2 Gbps effective) versus 786 MHz (1572 Mbps effective) for the Pro Vega 64. In terms of compute units, the Pro Vega 64 has more shading units (4096 versus 3840) and TMUs (256 versus 240), but both have 64 ROPs. The Radeon VII achieves higher pixel and texture rates at 112.0 GPixel/s and 420.0 GTexel/s, respectively, versus 86.40 GPixel/s and 345.6 GTexel/s for the Pro Vega 64. The Radeon VII also has higher FP32 and FP16 performance at 13.44 TFLOPS and 26.88 TFLOPS, compared to 11.06 TFLOPS and 22.12 TFLOPS for the Pro Vega 64. Power requirements differ substantially, with the Radeon VII having a 295 W TDP, dual-slot form factor, and 2x 8-pin connectors, while the Pro Vega 64 is an IGP with a 250 W TDP and no power connectors. The Radeon VII has specific display outputs (1x HDMI 2.0b, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a) and physical dimensions of 280 mm x 125 mm x 40 mm, while the Pro Vega 64’s display outputs are portable device dependent with no listed dimensions.