AMD Radeon PRO W7700 vs AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon PRO W7700 takes the win in every shared benchmark category. In OpenCL workloads, the W7700 scores 108,245 against the Vega Frontier Edition's 76,111, a 42.2% advantage. In Vulkan, the gap widens dramatically: 129,706 versus 71,937, which is an 80.3% lead. The Vega Frontier Edition has one additional benchmark result in the database, a Metal score of 72,061, but the W7700 has no Metal result recorded, so no direct comparison exists for that API.

The W7700's average benchmark score of 118,976 places it in the 95th percentile of all GPUs in the database. Its closest rivals are the NVIDIA GB10 at 117,393 (1.3% behind), the NVIDIA RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation at 117,088 (1.6% behind), the NVIDIA Tesla V100 SXM2 16 GB at 114,395 (4% behind), and the NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile at 113,944 (4.4% behind). This puts the W7700 at the top of its immediate competitive cluster.

The Vega Frontier Edition's average score of 73,370 puts it in the 91st percentile. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 at 72,379 (1.4% behind), the NVIDIA TITAN X Pascal at 72,098 (1.8% behind), the AMD Radeon RX 6650M at 71,768 (2.2% behind), and the AMD Radeon RX 6600 LE at 70,829 (3.6% behind). The Vega card is competitive within its own tier, but that tier sits far below the W7700's performance class.

For practical use-case planning, the data points one way: the W7700 is the stronger card in every measured cross-platform workload. The Vega Frontier Edition remains relevant only for legacy Metal-specific workflows, where its recorded Metal score of 72,061 stands alone in the database without a W7700 counterpart to compare against.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from different architectural generations and different foundries. The W7700 uses the Navi 32 chip built on RDNA 3.0 architecture, with the codename Wheat Nas, and is manufactured on a 5 nm process at TSMC. The Vega Frontier Edition uses the Vega 10 chip on GCN 5.0 architecture and is manufactured on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. The node shrink is substantial: 5 nm versus 14 nm.

Transistor counts reflect the generational difference. The W7700 packs 28,100 million transistors on a 346 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 81.2 million per mm². The Vega Frontier Edition has 12,500 million transistors on a larger 495 mm² die, with a density of 25.3 million per mm². The W7700 crams more than twice the transistors into a smaller physical package.

Core configurations differ in interesting ways. The Vega Frontier Edition has more shading units (4,096 versus 3,072) and more texture mapping units (256 versus 192). However, the W7700 has more render output units (96 versus 64) and includes 48 ray tracing cores, while the Vega card has no ray tracing cores at all. The W7700 also has no tensor cores listed, and neither card has tensor cores in the database.

Clock speeds favor the W7700 heavily. Its base clock is 1900 MHz with a boost of 2600 MHz, versus the Vega card's 1382 MHz base and 1600 MHz boost. The memory clocks also differ: the W7700 runs at 2250 MHz with 18 Gbps effective speed, while the Vega card runs at 945 MHz with 1890 Mbps effective speed.

Memory architecture takes a different approach. The W7700 uses 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus with 576.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The Vega Frontier Edition uses 16 GB of HBM2 on a 2048-bit bus with 483.8 GB/s of bandwidth. Both have the same capacity, but the W7700 achieves higher bandwidth despite the narrower bus.

Power and connectivity also separate the two. The W7700 has a 190 W TDP, requires a single 8-pin power connector, and suggests a 450 W power supply. The Vega Frontier Edition has a 300 W TDP, requires two 8-pin connectors, and suggests a 700 W power supply. The W7700 uses PCIe 4.0 x16; the Vega card uses PCIe 3.0 x16. Display outputs are 4x DisplayPort 2.1 on the W7700 versus 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a on the Vega card.

API support favors the newer card. The W7700 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The Vega Frontier Edition supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The OpenCL result is the first recorded head-to-head comparison. The W7700 scores 108,245, while the Vega Frontier Edition scores 76,111. That is a 42.2% advantage for the W7700. In practical terms, the W7700 delivers nearly one and a half times the OpenCL throughput of the Vega card. This matters for compute-heavy tasks like rendering, simulation, and data processing that rely on OpenCL acceleration.

The Vulkan result is even more lopsided. The W7700 posts 129,706 against the Vega card's 71,937, an 80.3% delta. This near-doubling of Vulkan performance reflects not just the raw compute advantage but also the architectural improvements in RDNA 3.0. The Vega Frontier Edition's GCN 5.0 architecture, with its older scheduling and lack of dedicated ray tracing hardware, simply cannot keep pace in modern Vulkan workloads.

The Vega Frontier Edition's Metal score of 72,061 is its only benchmark where the W7700 has no recorded result. This means for macOS or Metal-specific environments, the database offers no direct W7700 comparison. However, the gap in the shared tests is so large that extrapolation would suggest the W7700 would likely lead there too, but the data does not confirm this.

The average benchmark scores tell the same story. The W7700 averages 118,976 across its two recorded tests. The Vega Frontier Edition averages 73,370 across its three recorded tests. The delta between the averages is substantial, and the W7700 also sits higher in the overall percentile ranking: 95th versus 91st.

FAQ

Q: Which card has better OpenCL performance?

A: The AMD Radeon PRO W7700 scores 108,245 in Geekbench OpenCL, while the AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition scores 76,111. The W7700 leads by 42.2%.

Q: How do the cards compare in Vulkan workloads?

A: The W7700 scores 129,706 in Geekbench Vulkan versus 71,937 for the Vega Frontier Edition. That is an 80.3% advantage for the W7700.

Q: Does the Vega Frontier Edition have any benchmark where it wins?

A: No. In the two shared benchmarks, OpenCL and Vulkan, the W7700 wins both. The Vega card has a Metal score of 72,061, but the W7700 has no Metal result in the database, so no win can be claimed there.

Q: What are the memory configurations of both cards?

A: Both have 16 GB of memory. The W7700 uses GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus with 576.0 GB/s bandwidth. The Vega Frontier Edition uses HBM2 on a 2048-bit bus with 483.8 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which card has ray tracing support?

A: Only the AMD Radeon PRO W7700 has ray tracing cores, with 48 of them. The Vega Frontier Edition has no ray tracing cores listed in the database.

Q: How do the power requirements compare?

A: The W7700 has a 190 W TDP with a single 8-pin connector and a suggested 450 W power supply. The Vega Frontier Edition has a 300 W TDP with two 8-pin connectors and a suggested 700 W power supply.

The Verdict

The data supports a clear choice for most buyers: the AMD Radeon PRO W7700 is the superior card in every measured cross-platform benchmark. It leads by 42.2% in OpenCL and 80.3% in Vulkan. It achieves a higher average benchmark score (118,976 versus 73,370) and sits in a higher percentile of all GPUs (95th versus 91st). It does so while consuming less power (190 W versus 300 W), requiring a smaller power supply (450 W versus 700 W), and using a single 8-pin connector instead of two.

The Vega Frontier Edition's only unique strength in the database is its Metal benchmark result of 72,061. For anyone working in Metal-only environments, this card at least has a recorded data point, while the W7700 has none. But for OpenCL and Vulkan, which cover a broad range of professional and compute workloads, the W7700 dominates.

The W7700 also brings modern features that the Vega card lacks: ray tracing cores, DirectX 12 Ultimate support, Vulkan 1.4, PCIe 4.0, and DisplayPort 2.1 outputs. The Vega Frontier Edition is end-of-life, while the W7700 is a current generation product. The Vega card's 14 nm process and GCN architecture are from an older era, and the benchmark results reflect that age.

Pick the W7700 for current-generation compute, modern API support, and efficiency. Pick the Vega Frontier Edition only if you specifically need a Metal benchmark result and cannot use the W7700 in your environment. The overall data does not favor the older card in any shared workload.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon PRO W7700 | AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition |

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

| Chip | Navi 32 | Vega 10 |

| Architecture | RDNA 3.0 | GCN 5.0 |

| Process Node | 5 nm (TSMC) | 14 nm (GlobalFoundries) |

| Transistors | 28,100 million | 12,500 million |

| Die Size | 346 mm² | 495 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 81.2M / mm² | 25.3M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1900 MHz | 1382 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 2600 MHz | 1600 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 2250 MHz, 18 Gbps effective | 945 MHz, 1890 Mbps effective |

| Memory Type | GDDR6 | HBM2 |

| Memory Bus Width | 256 bit | 2048 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 576.0 GB/s | 483.8 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 3072 | 4096 |

| TMUs | 192 | 256 |

| ROPs | 96 | 64 |

| Ray Tracing Cores | 48 | None |

| Pixel Rate | 249.6 GPixel/s | 102.4 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 499.2 GTexel/s | 409.6 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 31.95 TFLOPS | 13.11 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 63.90 TFLOPS (2:1) | 26.21 TFLOPS (2:1) |

| TDP | 190 W | 300 W |

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

| Suggested PSU | 450 W | 700 W |

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

| Display Outputs | 4x DisplayPort 2.1 | 1x HDMI 2.0b, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a |

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

| Vulkan | 1.4 | 1.3 |

| Length | 241 mm (9.5 inches) | 267 mm (10.5 inches) |

| Height | 111 mm (4.4 inches) | 111 mm (4.4 inches) |

| Production Status | Not listed | End-of-life |

| Release Date | 2023-11-12 | 2017-06-26 |

| Predecessor | Radeon Pro Vega | Radeon Pro Polaris |

| Successor | None listed | Radeon Pro Navi |

| Launch MSRP | 999 USD | 999 USD |