AMD Radeon Pro VII vs NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile Comparison

The NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile and AMD Radeon Pro VII represent two distinct approaches to professional graphics, separated by process node, memory technology, and architectural philosophy. The data shows a clear overall winner in the two shared benchmark tests, but the AMD card retains specific advantages in raw throughput metrics that matter for certain workloads. This analysis breaks down where each card excels, how their architectures differ, and what the benchmark numbers actually indicate for real-world use.

Where Each One Wins

The head-to-head benchmark data shows the NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile winning both shared tests, with a decisive 37.9% lead in Geekbench OpenCL and a solid 11.6% advantage in Geekbench Vulkan. This makes the NVIDIA card the straightforward choice for compute-heavy OpenCL workloads and for Vulkan-based rendering or compute tasks. The RTX A5500 Mobile’s average benchmark score of 113,944 places it in the 94th percentile of all GPUs, while the Radeon Pro VII’s average of 97,131 sits just one percentile lower at 93.

However, the Radeon Pro VII wins in areas not captured by the shared Geekbench tests. Its memory bandwidth of 1.02 TB/s is exactly double the RTX A5500 Mobile’s 512.0 GB/s, which gives AMD a theoretical advantage in memory-bandwidth-bound tasks such as large dataset processing or high-resolution texture streaming. The Radeon Pro VII also has a texture rate of 408.0 GTexel/s versus the NVIDIA card’s 348.0 GTexel/s, a 17.2% advantage that favors texel-heavy workloads like complex shading or post-processing filters. The AMD card’s FP16 throughput of 26.11 TFLOPS (2:1 ratio) exceeds the RTX A5500 Mobile’s FP16 of 22.27 TFLOPS (1:1), meaning AMD has a 17.2% edge in half-precision compute when the workload can use it.

Architecture Differences

The architectural split is fundamental. NVIDIA uses the GA103 chip on Samsung’s 8 nm process, built on the Ampere architecture. The die size is 496 mm² with 22,000 million transistors, yielding a transistor density of 44.4M per mm². AMD counters with the Vega 20 chip on TSMC’s 7 nm process, using the GCN 5.1 architecture. The AMD die is smaller at 331 mm² with 13,230 million transistors, resulting in a lower density of 40.0M per mm². The node advantage goes to AMD, but NVIDIA packs more transistors into a larger die.

The compute configurations diverge significantly. The RTX A5500 Mobile has 7,424 shading units, 232 TMUs, and 96 ROPs, plus 58 RT cores and 232 tensor cores. The Radeon Pro VII has 3,840 shading units, 240 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, with no dedicated RT or tensor cores. NVIDIA’s shading unit count is 93.3% higher, which explains its substantial FP32 advantage of 22.27 TFLOPS versus 13.06 TFLOPS. The RTX A5500 Mobile also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, while the Radeon Pro VII tops out at DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.3.

Memory architecture is where AMD makes its stand. The Radeon Pro VII uses 16 GB of HBM2 on a 4096-bit bus, delivering 1.02 TB/s bandwidth. The RTX A5500 Mobile uses 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, delivering half the bandwidth. Clock speeds also differ: AMD runs at 1400 MHz base and 1700 MHz boost, while NVIDIA runs at 975 MHz base and 1500 MHz boost. The power envelope favors NVIDIA at 165 W TDP versus AMD’s 250 W TDP, a 51.5% difference. The AMD card requires a 600 W suggested PSU and dual-slot cooling, while the RTX A5500 Mobile is a portable-device-dependent solution with no power connectors listed.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The Geekbench OpenCL test shows the RTX A5500 Mobile scoring 124,287 against the Radeon Pro VII’s 90,148, a delta of 37.9%. This is the largest performance gap in the data. The NVIDIA card’s higher shading unit count and FP32 throughput directly translate to OpenCL compute performance, which is heavily shader-bound. The 7,424 shading units versus 3,840 is a 93.3% advantage that more than compensates for AMD’s higher clock speeds.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the margin narrows considerably. The RTX A5500 Mobile scores 103,601 against the Radeon Pro VII’s 92,862, a delta of 11.6%. Vulkan workloads often benefit from memory bandwidth for buffer and texture access, which explains why AMD closes the gap despite having fewer shading units. The Radeon Pro VII’s 1.02 TB/s bandwidth helps it stay competitive in this API, but the NVIDIA card still wins due to its overall compute throughput and newer architecture.

Looking at the rivals data for context, the RTX A5500 Mobile sits near the NVIDIA Tesla V100 SXM2 16 GB, which has an average score of 114,395 and a delta of -0.4%. It also trails the NVIDIA RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation (117,088, -2.7%) and the NVIDIA GB10 (117,393, -2.9%), while leading the AMD Radeon PRO W7900 (110,725, 2.9%). The Radeon Pro VII, by contrast, is nearly tied with the AMD Radeon RX 7900M (97,487, -0.4%), ahead of the AMD Radeon Instinct MI60 (92,466, 5%) and the NVIDIA RTX A4500 (91,671, 6%), but behind the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000 (101,872, -4.7%). This places both cards in a similar competitive tier, with the NVIDIA card holding a meaningful edge within that tier.

FAQ

Q: Which card is faster in OpenCL compute?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile wins decisively, scoring 124,287 versus 90,148 in Geekbench OpenCL, a 37.9% advantage. This aligns with its higher FP32 throughput of 22.27 TFLOPS versus 13.06 TFLOPS.

Q: Does the AMD card have any performance advantage?

A: Yes, in memory bandwidth and texture rate. The Radeon Pro VII delivers 1.02 TB/s bandwidth versus 512.0 GB/s on NVIDIA, and 408.0 GTexel/s versus 348.0 GTexel/s. Its FP16 throughput of 26.11 TFLOPS also exceeds NVIDIA’s 22.27 TFLOPS.

Q: How do they compare in Vulkan performance?

A: The RTX A5500 Mobile wins Geekbench Vulkan with 103,601 versus 92,862, an 11.6% margin. The gap is smaller than in OpenCL, likely due to AMD’s bandwidth advantage partially offsetting its lower shader count.

Q: Which card has better API support?

A: NVIDIA supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, while AMD supports DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.3. Both support OpenGL 4.6. NVIDIA’s newer API versions enable features like hardware ray tracing via its 58 RT cores.

Q: What about thermal and power requirements?

A: The RTX A5500 Mobile has a 165 W TDP with no power connectors, designed for portable devices. The Radeon Pro VII has a 250 W TDP, requires a 600 W suggested PSU, and uses dual-slot cooling with 1x 6-pin and 1x 8-pin connectors.

Q: Are these cards still in production?

A: No, both are end-of-life. The RTX A5500 Mobile was released on 2022-03-21, succeeding Quadro Turing-M and preceding Ada-MW. The Radeon Pro VII was released on 2020-05-12, succeeding Radeon Pro Polaris and preceding Radeon Pro Navi.

Specification Differences

| Specification | NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile | AMD Radeon Pro VII |

|---|---|---|

| Architecture | Ampere | GCN 5.1 |

| Process Node | 8 nm (Samsung) | 7 nm (TSMC) |

| Transistors | 22,000 million | 13,230 million |

| Die Size | 496 mm² | 331 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 44.4M / mm² | 40.0M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 975 MHz | 1400 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1500 MHz | 1700 MHz |

| Memory Type | GDDR6 | HBM2 |

| Memory Bus Width | 256 bit | 4096 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 512.0 GB/s | 1.02 TB/s |

| Shading Units | 7424 | 3840 |

| TMUs | 232 | 240 |

| ROPs | 96 | 64 |

| RT Cores | 58 | None |

| Tensor Cores | 232 | None |

| Pixel Rate | 144.0 GPixel/s | 108.8 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 348.0 GTexel/s | 408.0 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 22.27 TFLOPS | 13.06 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 22.27 TFLOPS (1:1) | 26.11 TFLOPS (2:1) |

| TDP | 165 W | 250 W |

| Slot Width | Not specified | Dual-slot |

| Power Connectors | None | 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin |

| Suggested PSU | Not specified | 600 W |

| DirectX | 12 Ultimate (12_2) | 12 (12_1) |

| Vulkan | 1.4 | 1.3 |

| Display Outputs | Portable Device Dependent | 6x mini-DisplayPort 1.4a |

| Dimensions | Not specified | 305 mm × 111 mm |

| Release Date | 2022-03-21 | 2020-05-12 |

| Launch MSRP | Not specified | 1,899 USD |