AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X vs Intel Arc A550M Comparison

The Verdict

The recorded data presents a clear hierarchy between these two end-of-life mobile graphics solutions. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X is the outright performance leader in the single benchmark where both parts appear, while the Intel Arc A550M occupies a distinctly lower performance tier despite being a much more recent design.

For users prioritizing raw compute throughput in OpenCL workloads, the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X is the unambiguous choice. Its average benchmark score of 80,959 places it in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs tracked in the database, and it outperforms the Intel Arc A550M by 57.3% in the shared Geekbench OpenCL test. The AMD part also sits within 1.3% of the AMD Radeon PRO W6600, a professional workstation card, and actually edges out the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 by 1.4% in average score. This is a GPU that, despite its 2019 release, still competes with modern flagship hardware in compute-oriented tests.

The Intel Arc A550M, by contrast, delivers a much more modest average benchmark score of 49,737, which places it in the 86th percentile. Its closest rivals in the database are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti (0.4% faster on average) and the AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 (0.5% faster), meaning the Intel part is effectively performance-equivalent to those two products in average terms. However, the Intel chip trails the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT by 2.4% and leads the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT by 2.6%. The A550M is a mid-pack performer, not a leader.

The verdict for system integrators and users is straightforward: if the workload demands maximum FP32 compute, memory bandwidth, or OpenCL throughput, the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X wins decisively. If the system requires a lower-power solution with modern API support (DirectX 12 Ultimate, Vulkan 1.4) and ray tracing capability, the Intel Arc A550M is the more feature-forward choice, but it comes with a significant performance penalty. There is no scenario in the recorded data where the Intel part outperforms the AMD part in raw compute.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs represent fundamentally different design philosophies separated by several years of architectural evolution.

The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X is built on the Vega 10 chip using the GCN 5.0 architecture, manufactured on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. The chip contains 12,500 million transistors on a 495 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 25.3 million transistors per square millimeter. This is a large, power-hungry chip designed for maximum compute throughput. The Vega 10 die is 89 mm² larger than the Intel chip, yet packs far fewer transistors, a direct consequence of the older and less dense manufacturing process.

The Intel Arc A550M uses the DG2-512 chip based on the Xe-HPG architecture, built on a 6 nm process at TSMC. Intel packs 21,700 million transistors into a 406 mm² die, achieving a transistor density of 53.4 million per square millimeter. This is more than double the density of the AMD chip, reflecting the newer process node and more compact design. Despite having 9,200 million more transistors, the Intel die is physically smaller.

The architectural differences extend to feature support. The AMD part supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. The Intel part supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, meaning it is API-superior in both DirectX and Vulkan. The Intel chip also includes 16 dedicated ray tracing cores, a feature entirely absent from the AMD Vega architecture. Neither GPU has tensor cores listed in the database.

These are not merely different versions of similar hardware; they are different generations of GPU design. The AMD chip is a late-GCN-era compute monster, while the Intel chip is a modern gaming-oriented design with hardware ray tracing and newer API support.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database contains only one head-to-head benchmark result between these two GPUs, but it is decisive. In Geekbench OpenCL, the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X scores 78,467, while the Intel Arc A550M scores 49,894. The AMD part wins by 57.3%, a massive margin that dwarfs any of the small percentage differences seen among the nearest rivals of either card.

To contextualize this result: the AMD part's nearest rivals are separated by margins of 1.3% to 2%, and the Intel part's nearest rivals are separated by margins of 0.4% to 2.6%. The 57.3% gap between these two GPUs is an order of magnitude larger than the typical competitive spread within their respective performance tiers.

The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X also recorded a Geekbench Metal score of 83,450, which is higher than its OpenCL result. This suggests the Vega architecture performs particularly well in Apple's Metal API, consistent with its placement in the "Radeon Pro Mac" generation. The Intel Arc A550M recorded a Geekbench Vulkan score of 49,580, which is slightly lower than its OpenCL score of 49,894. The Intel part performs roughly equally across both APIs, while the AMD part shows a 6.4% advantage in Metal over its own OpenCL result.

In terms of wins, the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X wins the only head-to-head test, and the Intel Arc A550M wins none. The overall benchmark average tells the same story: 80,959 for AMD versus 49,737 for Intel, a 62.8% advantage for the AMD part in aggregate.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ across nearly every major specification category. The most striking difference is in memory configuration. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X uses 16 GB of HBM2 on a 2048-bit bus, delivering 512.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The Intel Arc A550M uses 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, delivering 224.0 GB/s. The AMD part has twice the memory capacity, 16 times the bus width, and 2.3 times the memory bandwidth.

Compute resources also favor AMD substantially. The Vega 64X has 4,096 shading units, 256 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs. The Arc A550M has 2,048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. AMD has exactly double the shader and texture resources, while ROP counts are equal.

Clock speeds tell a different story. The Intel part has a base clock of 900 MHz and a boost clock of 2,050 MHz, while the AMD part has a base clock of 1,250 MHz and a boost clock of 1,468 MHz. Intel's boost clock is 39.6% higher, but this does not overcome AMD's resource advantage.

The resulting throughput figures are lopsided. The AMD part delivers 12.03 TFLOPS FP32 and 24.05 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1), while the Intel part delivers 8.397 TFLOPS FP32 and 16.79 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1). AMD leads by 43.3% in FP32 and 43.2% in FP16. The pixel rate favors Intel at 131.2 GPixel/s versus AMD's 93.95 GPixel/s, a 39.6% advantage for Intel. The texture rate favors AMD at 375.8 GTexel/s versus Intel's 262.4 GTexel/s, a 43.2% advantage for AMD.

Power consumption is dramatically different. The AMD part is rated at 250 W TDP, while the Intel part is rated at 60 W TDP. The Intel chip draws 76% less power. The AMD part uses no power connectors (integrated into the Mac platform), and the Intel part's power connector configuration is not specified in the database.

The bus interface also differs: AMD uses PCIe 3.0 x16, while Intel uses PCIe 4.0 x16. Both are listed with "IGP" slot width, meaning they are integrated into portable devices. Both support OpenGL 4.6. The AMD part is listed as end-of-life with a release date of 2019-03-18, while the Intel part is also end-of-life but has no recorded release date.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has higher raw compute performance in FP32?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X delivers 12.03 TFLOPS FP32, which is 43.3% higher than the Intel Arc A550M's 8.397 TFLOPS. The AMD part also leads in FP16 with 24.05 TFLOPS versus 16.79 TFLOPS.

Q: Does the Intel Arc A550M support ray tracing?

A: Yes. The Intel Arc A550M includes 16 dedicated ray tracing cores. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X has no ray tracing cores listed in the database.

Q: Which GPU has more memory bandwidth?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X has 512.0 GB/s of bandwidth from 16 GB of HBM2 on a 2048-bit bus. The Intel Arc A550M has 224.0 GB/s from 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus. AMD leads by 2.3 times.

Q: How do the two GPUs compare in the shared OpenCL benchmark?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X scores 78,467 in Geekbench OpenCL, while the Intel Arc A550M scores 49,894. AMD wins by 57.3%, and this is the only head-to-head benchmark recorded for both parts.

Q: What is the TDP difference between the two GPUs?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X is rated at 250 W TDP, while the Intel Arc A550M is rated at 60 W TDP. The Intel part draws 76% less power.

Q: Which GPU supports newer graphics APIs?

A: The Intel Arc A550M supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X supports DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.3. Both support OpenGL 4.6.