AMD Radeon Pro Vega II Duo vs NVIDIA A10G Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA A10G is the clear winner in the shared benchmark suite. Across the two head-to-head tests recorded in the database, the A10G takes both wins, leaving the AMD Radeon Pro Vega II Duo without a single victory. The A10G posts a 60.6% higher OpenCL score and a 46.9% higher Vulkan score than the Vega II Duo. That is not a narrow margin; it is a decisive sweep in compute-oriented workloads.

The AMD Radeon Pro Vega II Duo, however, does hold its own in one specific area: the Metal API. Its Geekbench Metal score of 122,522 is its strongest recorded result, and it is the only benchmark in its profile where it exceeds 100,000 points. This suggests the Vega II Duo is better suited for Apple-centric environments where Metal is the primary graphics and compute interface. The A10G has no Metal benchmark recorded, so the comparison cannot be extended there.

For raw compute throughput in OpenCL and Vulkan, the A10G is the superior part. Its OpenCL score of 158,063 versus 98,432 for the Vega II Duo indicates a substantial advantage in general-purpose GPU workloads. The Vulkan result follows the same pattern: 145,863 for the A10G against 99,296 for the Vega II Duo. If the workload is cross-platform or Linux/Windows-based, the A10G is the obvious choice from the data.

The Vega II Duo, by contrast, appears optimized for Apple's ecosystem, given its Metal score and its display outputs (1x HDMI 2.0b and 4x Thunderbolt), which are absent on the A10G. The A10G has no display outputs at all, meaning it is a compute-only accelerator. The Vega II Duo can drive displays, so it wins in any scenario requiring a visual output.

Architecture Differences

The NVIDIA A10G is built on the GA102 chip using Ampere architecture, fabricated on an 8 nm process at Samsung. It packs 28,300 million transistors on a 628 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 45.1 million per mm². The Vega II Duo uses the Vega 20 chip with GCN 5.1 architecture, manufactured on a 7 nm process at TSMC. It contains 13,230 million transistors on a 331 mm² die, for a density of 40.0 million per mm².

The A10G is a single GPU with 9,216 shading units, 288 texture mapping units, and 96 raster operations pipelines. It also includes 72 ray tracing cores and 288 tensor cores, which the Vega II Duo lacks entirely. The Vega II Duo has 4,096 shading units, 256 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. Its FP32 throughput is 14.09 TFLOPS, while the A10G reaches 31.52 TFLOPS. In FP16, the A10G delivers 31.52 TFLOPS at a 1:1 ratio, whereas the Vega II Duo achieves 28.18 TFLOPS at a 2:1 ratio.

Memory configurations differ significantly. The A10G uses 24 GB of GDDR6 on a 384-bit bus, providing 600.2 GB/s of bandwidth. The Vega II Duo uses 32 GB of HBM2 on a 4096-bit bus, offering 1.02 TB/s of bandwidth. The Vega II Duo has a wider memory bus and more capacity, but the A10G's GDDR6 operates at a higher effective clock speed: 12.5 Gbps versus 2 Gbps for the HBM2.

The A10G is a single-slot card with an 8-pin EPS power connector and a 150 W TDP, suggesting a 450 W power supply. The Vega II Duo is a quad-slot card with a 475 W TDP and a suggested 850 W power supply. The Vega II Duo uses an Apple MPX bus interface, while the A10G uses PCIe 4.0 x16.

API support differs as well. The A10G supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The Vega II Duo supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. The A10G is one API generation ahead in both DirectX and Vulkan.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The Geekbench OpenCL test shows the A10G at 158,063 points against the Vega II Duo's 98,432 points. That is a 60.6% advantage for the A10G. In absolute terms, the A10G scores nearly 60,000 points higher. This is the largest delta between the two cards in any shared test.

The Geekbench Vulkan test shows a similar but slightly smaller gap. The A10G scores 145,863 points, while the Vega II Duo scores 99,296 points. The A10G leads by 46.9%. Again, the A10G is ahead by over 46,000 points.

These two tests are the only direct head-to-head comparisons in the database. The A10G wins both, and the margins are substantial. The Vega II Duo's best performance comes in the Metal API, where it scores 122,522 points, but there is no A10G Metal result to compare against.

Looking at the broader context, the A10G's average benchmark score is 151,963, placing it in the 97th percentile of all GPUs. The Vega II Duo's average is 106,750, which puts it in the 94th percentile. The A10G's nearest rival in the database is the NVIDIA Tesla V100 PCIe 32 GB, which averages 150,305 points, a 1.1% difference. The A10G also edges out the AMD Instinct MI100, which averages 139,035 points, a 9.3% gap in favor of the A10G.

The Vega II Duo's nearest rival is the AMD Radeon Pro W6600X, which averages 107,342 points, a 0.6% difference. The Vega II Duo is also close to the AMD Radeon Pro Vega II (109,617 points, a 2.6% gap) and the AMD Radeon PRO W7900 (110,725 points, a 3.6% gap). Against the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000, which averages 101,872 points, the Vega II Duo leads by 4.8%.

The Verdict

The data points to a straightforward conclusion: the NVIDIA A10G is the stronger compute accelerator. It wins both shared benchmarks by wide margins, has a higher FP32 throughput (31.52 TFLOPS versus 14.09 TFLOPS), and includes ray tracing and tensor cores that the Vega II Duo does not have. Its average benchmark score is 45% higher than the Vega II Duo's. For any workload that relies on OpenCL or Vulkan, the A10G is the better choice.

The AMD Radeon Pro Vega II Duo is not without merit, but its strengths lie elsewhere. Its Metal score of 122,522 is its best result, and it has 32 GB of HBM2 memory with 1.02 TB/s of bandwidth, which exceeds the A10G's 24 GB and 600.2 GB/s. Its display outputs make it suitable for systems that need video output. The Vega II Duo also has a lower FP16-to-FP32 ratio advantage (2:1 versus 1:1), but the A10G's FP16 throughput is still higher in absolute terms.

For users on Apple platforms, particularly Mac Pro systems given the Apple MPX interface, the Vega II Duo is the only option with a recorded Metal score. For server or datacenter environments where compute density and modern API support matter, the A10G wins on every measured metric. The A10G is also far more power-efficient, with a 150 W TDP versus 475 W, though the Vega II Duo's higher power draw comes with a larger memory pool.

The verdict from the database is clear: the A10G is the superior GPU for raw compute, while the Vega II Duo serves a niche role in Apple-centric workflows with display output and higher memory bandwidth.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA A10G has an average benchmark score of 151,963, compared to 106,750 for the AMD Radeon Pro Vega II Duo.

Q: How does the A10G perform in OpenCL against the Vega II Duo?

A: The A10G scores 158,063 in Geekbench OpenCL, which is 60.6% higher than the Vega II Duo's 98,432.

Q: Does the Vega II Duo have any ray tracing or tensor cores?

A: No, the Vega II Duo has no ray tracing cores and no tensor cores. The A10G has 72 ray tracing cores and 288 tensor cores.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth difference between the two cards?

A: The Vega II Duo has 1.02 TB/s of bandwidth from 32 GB of HBM2 on a 4096-bit bus. The A10G has 600.2 GB/s from 24 GB of GDDR6 on a 384-bit bus.

Q: Which GPU supports the newer DirectX version?

A: The A10G supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the Vega II Duo supports DirectX 12 (12_1).

Q: What is the launch MSRP of the Vega II Duo?

A: The Vega II Duo has a launch MSRP of 4,399 USD. The A10G has no recorded launch MSRP.