AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 vs NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile Comparison

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile records an average benchmark score of 113,944, while the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 scores 72,379. The NVIDIA part sits in the 94th percentile of all GPUs, compared to the 91st percentile for the AMD part.

Q: How do the two compare in OpenCL performance?

A: In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile scores 124,287 versus 71,094 for the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64. That is a 74.8% advantage for the NVIDIA GPU, the largest margin recorded in the head-to-head data.

Q: What are the memory specifications for each card?

A: Both cards have 16 GB of memory. The NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile uses GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus with 512.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 uses HBM2 on a 2048-bit bus with 402.4 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which GPU has a higher boost clock?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 has a boost clock of 1350 MHz, which is lower than the NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile's boost clock of 1500 MHz. The AMD card does have a higher base clock at 1250 MHz versus 975 MHz for the NVIDIA.

Q: What is the transistor count and process node for each?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile packs 22,000 million transistors on an 8 nm Samsung process with a die size of 496 mm². The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 has 12,500 million transistors on a 14 nm GlobalFoundries process with a die size of 495 mm².

Q: Which GPU supports ray tracing and tensor cores?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile includes 58 ray tracing cores and 232 tensor cores. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 has no ray tracing cores and no tensor cores listed in the database.

Where Each One Wins

The head-to-head benchmark data records two tests, and the NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile wins both. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 does not secure a single victory in the shared tests. However, the AMD card has a third benchmark result in the database, Geekbench Metal, where it scores 71,868. That Metal score is not directly comparable to the NVIDIA part because the NVIDIA GPU has no Metal result recorded.

For compute workloads using OpenCL, the NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile is clearly dominant. The 74.8% delta in OpenCL is substantial and indicates that the Ampere architecture, with its 7,424 shading units and 22.27 TFLOPS FP32 throughput, handles general-purpose compute far more efficiently than the older GCN 5.0 design in the AMD Vega 10 chip, which manages 11.06 TFLOPS FP32.

For graphics workloads using Vulkan, the NVIDIA part again leads, but the margin narrows to 39.7%. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64's Vulkan score of 74,174 is respectable, yet it still trails the NVIDIA score of 103,601 by a wide margin. The AMD card's higher texture rate (345.6 GTexel/s) nearly matches the NVIDIA part's 348.0 GTexel/s, but the NVIDIA GPU's pixel rate of 144.0 GPixel/s versus 86.40 GPixel/s gives it a clear edge in rasterization-heavy scenarios.

In terms of memory bandwidth, the NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile has the advantage at 512.0 GB/s versus 402.4 GB/s for the AMD card. The AMD GPU's HBM2 memory operates on a much wider 2048-bit bus, but the higher effective speed of the NVIDIA GDDR6 memory (16 Gbps effective) compensates for its narrower 256-bit interface.

Architecture Differences

The NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile is built on the Ampere architecture using the GA103 chip, fabricated on an 8 nm Samsung process. It packs 22,000 million transistors into a 496 mm² die, resulting in a transistor density of 44.4 million transistors per mm². The architecture supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), Vulkan 1.4, and OpenGL 4.6. It includes dedicated ray tracing cores (58) and tensor cores (232), which enable hardware-accelerated ray tracing and AI-based features. The FP16 throughput matches FP32 at 22.27 TFLOPS, indicating a 1:1 ratio.

The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 uses the GCN 5.0 architecture with the Vega 10 chip, fabricated on a 14 nm GlobalFoundries process. It contains 12,500 million transistors on a 495 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 25.3 million transistors per mm². The architecture supports DirectX 12 (12_1), Vulkan 1.3, and OpenGL 4.6. It has no ray tracing cores and no tensor cores. The FP16 throughput is 22.12 TFLOPS, which comes from a 2:1 ratio relative to its 11.06 TFLOPS FP32 performance, meaning FP16 operations are processed at twice the rate of FP32.

The process node difference is significant: 8 nm versus 14 nm. The newer Samsung process allows the NVIDIA chip to fit nearly twice the transistor count (22,000 million versus 12,500 million) into essentially the same die area (496 mm² versus 495 mm²). The transistor density gap, 44.4M per mm² versus 25.3M per mm², reflects this generational leap.

The AMD card's memory subsystem uses HBM2 on a 2048-bit bus, which is an older high-bandwidth memory design. The NVIDIA card uses GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, a more conventional approach but with higher effective speed. Both achieve high bandwidth, but the NVIDIA part's 512.0 GB/s exceeds the AMD part's 402.4 GB/s.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ in nearly every key specification category. The NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile has 7,424 shading units, 232 TMUs, and 96 ROPs. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 has 4,096 shading units, 256 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. The NVIDIA part has significantly more shading units (81% more) and ROPs (50% more), while the AMD part has slightly more TMUs (10% more).

Clock speeds differ notably. The NVIDIA GPU has a base clock of 975 MHz and a boost clock of 1500 MHz. The AMD GPU has a base clock of 1250 MHz and a boost clock of 1350 MHz. The AMD card starts higher but boosts lower, giving the NVIDIA card a higher peak frequency.

Memory configurations: both have 16 GB, but the NVIDIA card uses GDDR6 at 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective) on a 256-bit bus, while the AMD card uses HBM2 at 786 MHz (1572 Mbps effective) on a 2048-bit bus. Bandwidth favors NVIDIA at 512.0 GB/s versus 402.4 GB/s.

Compute throughput: the NVIDIA card delivers 22.27 TFLOPS FP32 and 22.27 TFLOPS FP16. The AMD card delivers 11.06 TFLOPS FP32 and 22.12 TFLOPS FP16. The NVIDIA card has exactly double the FP32 throughput, while FP16 is nearly identical.

Pixel and texture rates: the NVIDIA card achieves 144.0 GPixel/s and 348.0 GTexel/s. The AMD card achieves 86.40 GPixel/s and 345.6 GTexel/s. The NVIDIA card leads in pixel fill rate by 67%, while texture rates are nearly equal.

Power consumption: the NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile has a TDP of 165 W. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 has a TDP of 250 W, which is 85 W higher. Both are listed as having no power connectors and are portable device dependent for display outputs.

Bus interface: the NVIDIA card uses PCIe 4.0 x16, while the AMD card uses PCIe 3.0 x16. The slot width for the AMD card is listed as IGP (integrated graphics processor), while the NVIDIA card has no slot width listed.

Release timing: the NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile was released on 2022-03-21, while the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 was released on 2017-06-26. Both are marked as end-of-life production status.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database records two shared benchmark tests between these GPUs: Geekbench OpenCL and Geekbench Vulkan. The NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile wins both.

Geekbench OpenCL: The NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile scores 124,287. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 scores 71,094. The delta is 74.8% in favor of NVIDIA. This is the largest performance gap in the head-to-head data. The NVIDIA card's FP32 throughput of 22.27 TFLOPS, more than double the AMD card's 11.06 TFLOPS, explains much of this advantage. The OpenCL test stresses raw compute throughput, where the Ampere architecture's higher shading unit count (7,424 versus 4,096) and higher boost clock (1500 MHz versus 1350 MHz) provide a decisive edge.

Geekbench Vulkan: The NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile scores 103,601. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 scores 74,174. The delta is 39.7% in favor of NVIDIA. While still a clear win, the margin narrows compared to OpenCL. The Vulkan test exercises graphics and compute paths more evenly, and the AMD card's competitive texture rate (345.6 GTexel/s versus 348.0 GTexel/s) helps it stay closer. However, the NVIDIA card's superior pixel rate (144.0 GPixel/s versus 86.40 GPixel/s) and its modern feature set, including DirectX 12 Ultimate support, contribute to the win.

The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 also has a Geekbench Metal score of 71,868, which is its strongest single benchmark result. However, since the NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile has no Metal benchmark recorded, this cannot be used for a direct comparison. The AMD card's average benchmark score of 72,379 is pulled up slightly by this Metal result.

Looking at the nearest rivals for context: the NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile's average score of 113,944 places it 2.9% ahead of the AMD Radeon PRO W7900 (110,725) and 2.7% behind the NVIDIA RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation (117,088). The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64's average score of 72,379 places it 0.4% ahead of the NVIDIA TITAN X Pascal (72,098) and 2.2% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6600 LE (70,829). These rival comparisons show that the NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile competes in a much higher performance tier than the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear hierarchy: the NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile outperforms the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 in every shared benchmark. The average benchmark score difference is 41,565 points (113,944 versus 72,379), which places the NVIDIA card in the 94th percentile and the AMD card in the 91st percentile.

For users prioritizing OpenCL compute, the choice is unambiguous. The NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile delivers 74.8% higher performance, a margin that will be felt in any compute-heavy workload. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64, despite having a higher base clock and more texture units, cannot overcome its lower shading unit count, lower boost clock, and older architecture.

For Vulkan-based graphics workloads, the NVIDIA card still wins by 39.7%. The AMD card's Vulkan score of 74,174 is respectable and close to its OpenCL score, but it remains firmly behind the NVIDIA card's 103,601.

The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 does have one unique data point: a Metal benchmark score of 71,868. Users working exclusively in Metal environments may find this relevant, but since the NVIDIA card has no comparable Metal score, this cannot be used to justify choosing the AMD card over the NVIDIA card.

The specification comparison reinforces the benchmark results. The NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile has more shading units, more ROPs, higher boost clock, higher memory bandwidth, double the FP32 throughput, and support for ray tracing and tensor cores. It also runs at 165 W versus 250 W for the AMD card. The AMD card's advantages are limited to more TMUs (256 versus 232) and a higher base clock (1250 MHz versus 975 MHz), neither of which translates into a benchmark win.

The verdict is straightforward: the NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile is the superior GPU across all measured dimensions. It wins both head-to-head tests, has a higher average score, and sits in a higher performance percentile. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64, released in 2017, represents an older generation that cannot keep pace with the 2022-era Ampere architecture, despite both cards being end-of-life products. Users who need maximum compute and graphics performance from these two options should select the NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile, while those with a specific requirement for Metal-based workflows should note the AMD card's recorded Metal capability.