AMD Radeon PRO W6800 vs AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition Comparison

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon PRO W6800 records an average benchmark score of 135,396, while the AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition scores 73,370. That is a lead of roughly 84.5% for the newer card.

Q: How large is the performance gap in the Geekbench Metal test?

A: The PRO W6800 scores 174,420 versus 72,061 for the Vega Frontier Edition, a delta of 142%. This is the largest single-test margin between the two cards.

Q: Does the Vega Frontier Edition win any benchmark comparison?

A: No. Across the three recorded tests (Metal, OpenCL, and Vulkan), the PRO W6800 wins all three. The head-to-head tally is 3 wins for the PRO W6800 and 0 for the Vega Frontier Edition.

Q: What architecture does each card use?

A: The PRO W6800 is built on RDNA 2.0 with the Navi 21 chip, while the Vega Frontier Edition uses GCN 5.0 with the Vega 10 chip. The process nodes differ as well: 7 nm for the PRO W6800 versus 14 nm for the Vega Frontier Edition.

Q: How do the memory configurations compare?

A: The PRO W6800 has 32 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus with 512.0 GB/s bandwidth. The Vega Frontier Edition has 16 GB of HBM2 on a 2048-bit bus with 483.8 GB/s bandwidth. The newer card doubles the capacity while offering slightly higher bandwidth.

Q: What is the percentile ranking for each GPU against all GPUs?

A: The PRO W6800 sits at the 96th percentile, while the Vega Frontier Edition sits at the 91st percentile. Both are high performers, but the PRO W6800 is clearly closer to the top of the database.

Architecture Differences

The two cards represent two distinct generations of AMD GPU design. The Radeon PRO W6800 uses the Navi 21 chip on RDNA 2.0 architecture, fabricated at 7 nm by TSMC. The Vega Frontier Edition relies on the Vega 10 chip on GCN 5.0 architecture, manufactured at 14 nm by GlobalFoundries. This node shrink allows the PRO W6800 to pack 26,800 million transistors into a 520 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 51.5 million per mm². The Vega Frontier Edition contains 12,500 million transistors on a 495 mm² die, for a density of 25.3 million per mm². The newer chip more than doubles the transistor count while using a similar die area.

Clock behavior differs substantially. The PRO W6800 has a base clock of 1575 MHz and a boost clock of 2322 MHz. The Vega Frontier Edition runs at a base of 1382 MHz and a boost of 1600 MHz. The PRO W6800 therefore operates at significantly higher frequencies across the board. Memory clocks also differ: the PRO W6800 runs at 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective), while the Vega Frontier Edition runs at 945 MHz (1890 Mbps effective).

Shader resources show an interesting split. The Vega Frontier Edition has more shading units (4096 versus 3840) and more texture mapping units (256 versus 240). However, the PRO W6800 has more ROPs (96 versus 64) and adds 60 ray tracing cores, a feature entirely absent from the Vega Frontier Edition. The PRO W6800 also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, while the Vega Frontier Edition is limited to DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.3. Both cards support OpenGL 4.6.

The memory subsystem reflects different design philosophies. The Vega Frontier Edition uses HBM2 with a massive 2048-bit bus, but only 16 GB of capacity. The PRO W6800 uses GDDR6 with a narrower 256-bit bus, yet achieves higher bandwidth (512.0 GB/s versus 483.8 GB/s) and doubles the capacity to 32 GB. The newer card also moves to PCIe 4.0 x16, whereas the Vega Frontier Edition uses PCIe 3.0 x16. Power requirements shift as well: the PRO W6800 has a TDP of 250 W with a suggested PSU of 600 W and one 6-pin plus one 8-pin connector. The Vega Frontier Edition draws 300 W, needs a 700 W PSU, and uses two 8-pin connectors.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The data shows a decisive victory for the Radeon PRO W6800 in every recorded test. The largest margin appears in Geekbench Metal, where the PRO W6800 scores 174,420 against 72,061 for the Vega Frontier Edition. That is a 142% advantage, meaning the newer card delivers more than double the Metal performance. This result aligns with the PRO W6800's higher clock speeds, larger memory capacity, and newer architecture.

In Geekbench OpenCL, the PRO W6800 scores 121,808 versus 76,111 for the Vega Frontier Edition, a 60% lead. This gap is substantial but smaller than the Metal margin. OpenCL workloads often scale with raw compute resources, and while the Vega Frontier Edition has more shading units, the PRO W6800's higher clocks and RDNA 2.0 efficiency overcome that deficit.

The Vulkan test shows the closest relative margin, though the result is still one-sided. The PRO W6800 posts 109,961, while the Vega Frontier Edition manages 71,937, giving the newer card a 52.9% advantage. Vulkan performance tends to reward architectural efficiency and driver optimization, and the data indicates the RDNA 2.0 design holds a clear edge over GCN 5.0 in this API.

Across all three tests, the PRO W6800 wins with an average benchmark score of 135,396, nearly double the Vega Frontier Edition's 73,370. The nearest rivals for the PRO W6800 include the NVIDIA A10M (135,230, within 0.1%), the NVIDIA RTX 4000 Ada Generation (135,218, within 0.1%), the AMD Radeon Pro W6800X Duo (135,774, 0.3% higher), and the AMD Radeon PRO V620 (136,472, 0.8% higher). This places the PRO W6800 in a tight cluster of professional cards, all within 1% of each other. For the Vega Frontier Edition, the nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 (72,379, 1.4% lower), the NVIDIA TITAN X Pascal (72,098, 1.8% lower), the AMD Radeon RX 6650M (71,768, 2.2% lower), and the AMD Radeon RX 6600 LE (70,829, 3.6% lower). The Vega Frontier Edition leads these cards by modest margins, but the gap to the PRO W6800 is far larger.

The Verdict

The benchmark data makes the outcome unambiguous: the AMD Radeon PRO W6800 outperforms the AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition in every measured category. The average score advantage of roughly 84.5% is not a marginal improvement but a generational leap. The PRO W6800 wins 3 out of 3 head-to-head tests, with deltas ranging from 52.9% to 142%. No recorded workload favors the older card.

The Vega Frontier Edition still holds relevance in the database as a capable professional GPU, ranking at the 91st percentile with an average score of 73,370. Its nearest rivals, such as the Radeon Pro Vega 64 and TITAN X Pascal, sit within a few percentage points. However, the PRO W6800 operates in a different performance tier entirely, sitting at the 96th percentile and trading blows with cards like the NVIDIA A10M and RTX 4000 Ada Generation, all within 1% of each other.

Users choosing between these two cards should consider the PRO W6800 for any workload where raw compute, memory capacity, or modern API support matters. The Vega Frontier Edition makes sense only as a legacy option where its specific HBM2 memory layout or older driver stack is required. The data gives no performance-based reason to prefer the Vega Frontier Edition.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon PRO W6800 | AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition |

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

| Architecture | RDNA 2.0 | GCN 5.0 |

| Chip | Navi 21 | Vega 10 |

| Process Node | 7 nm | 14 nm |

| Foundry | TSMC | GlobalFoundries |

| Transistors | 26,800 million | 12,500 million |

| Die Size | 520 mm² | 495 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 51.5M / mm² | 25.3M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1575 MHz | 1382 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 2322 MHz | 1600 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective) | 945 MHz (1890 Mbps effective) |

| Memory Size | 32 GB | 16 GB |

| Memory Type | GDDR6 | HBM2 |

| Memory Bus Width | 256 bit | 2048 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 512.0 GB/s | 483.8 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 3840 | 4096 |

| TMUs | 240 | 256 |

| ROPs | 96 | 64 |

| RT Cores | 60 | None |

| Pixel Rate | 222.9 GPixel/s | 102.4 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 557.3 GTexel/s | 409.6 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 17.83 TFLOPS | 13.11 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 35.67 TFLOPS (2:1) | 26.21 TFLOPS (2:1) |

| TDP | 250 W | 300 W |

| Power Connectors | 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin | 2x 8-pin |

| Suggested PSU | 600 W | 700 W |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 4.0 x16 | PCIe 3.0 x16 |

| Display Outputs | 6x mini-DisplayPort 1.4a | 1x HDMI 2.0b, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a |

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

| Vulkan | 1.4 | 1.3 |

| Release Date | 2021-06-07 | 2017-06-26 |

| Launch MSRP | 2,249 USD | 999 USD |

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon PRO W6800 wins in every benchmark category recorded. Its Geekbench Metal score of 174,420 is the standout result, suggesting strong performance in Apple-ecosystem and Metal-accelerated applications. The OpenCL score of 121,808 indicates robust general-purpose compute performance, useful for rendering, simulation, and scientific workloads. The Vulkan score of 109,961, while the smallest relative win at 52.9%, still demonstrates a commanding lead in cross-platform graphics APIs.

The PRO W6800 also wins on memory capacity with 32 GB versus 16 GB, doubling the available framebuffer for large datasets, high-resolution textures, and multi-application workflows. Its 60 ray tracing cores provide hardware acceleration for ray-traced rendering, a feature the Vega Frontier Edition lacks entirely. The newer card also supports PCIe 4.0, offering double the bus bandwidth of the Vega Frontier Edition's PCIe 3.0 interface. Higher pixel rate (222.9 GPixel/s versus 102.4 GPixel/s) and texture rate (557.3 GTexel/s versus 409.6 GTexel/s) further reinforce its dominance in fill-rate-bound scenarios.

The AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition does not record a single benchmark win. Its advantages are structural rather than performance-based. It uses HBM2 memory with a 2048-bit bus, which offers a different memory architecture that may be relevant in specific legacy workloads. It has more shading units (4096 versus 3840) and more TMUs (256 versus 240), though these do not translate into superior measured performance. Its lower TDP of 250 W versus 300 W means it consumes less power, and its launch MSRP of 999 USD reflects its original positioning as a more accessible professional card.

For any user prioritizing measured performance, modern API support, or memory capacity, the PRO W6800 is the clear choice. The Vega Frontier Edition remains a functional professional GPU, but the recorded data shows it is outclassed by a wide margin in every test. The verdict is straightforward: the PRO W6800 wins decisively on performance, while the Vega Frontier Edition retains only architectural distinctions that do not yield benchmark advantages.