AMD Radeon RX 570X vs AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 Comparison

AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 and AMD Radeon RX 570X are both end-of-life AMD graphics solutions, but they occupy completely different segments of the market. The Vega 11 is an integrated graphics processor (IGP) built into Picasso APUs, while the RX 570X is a dedicated dual-slot add-in board based on the Polaris 20 chip. The benchmark data shows a decisive performance gap between them, yet their overall percentile rankings are surprisingly close, which warrants a detailed look at what each part actually delivers.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only directly comparable benchmark in the data is Geekbench OpenCL, and the result is a landslide. The AMD Radeon RX 570X scores 38,939 points, while the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 manages 12,525 points. This represents a delta of -67.8% for the Vega 11, meaning the RX 570X is roughly three times faster in raw compute throughput. That is not a marginal difference; it is a generational chasm in execution resources.

However, the aggregate picture is more nuanced. The Vega 11 has an average benchmark score of 14,385 across its three recorded tests (Geekbench Metal, OpenCL, and Vulkan), while the RX 570X averages 13,871 across its two tests (Geekbench OpenCL and Passmark G2D/G3D). Interestingly, the Vega 11 actually holds a slight edge in average score — about 3.7% higher — but this is misleading because the test suites are not identical. The RX 570X’s Passmark G3D score of 1,923 and G2D score of 750 are not directly comparable to Geekbench’s compute-oriented workloads.

Looking at percentiles, the Vega 11 sits at the 56th percentile of all GPUs, while the RX 570X is at the 55th percentile. Despite the RX 570X’s massive OpenCL advantage, both parts land within one percentile point of each other in the overall distribution. This suggests that the Vega 11’s Vulkan and Metal results (13,543 and 17,086, respectively) are strong enough to keep its aggregate standing competitive, even though it loses the head-to-head compute test by a wide margin.

The nearest rivals for each card reinforce this split. The Vega 11’s closest competitor is the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN, with a delta of just 0.1%. The RX 570X’s nearest rival is the NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile, also at 0.4% delta. These are very different performance tiers, yet both sit in similar percentile ranges because the benchmark pool includes a wide variety of workloads.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap is stark. The Vega 11 uses the GCN 5.0 architecture on a 12 nm process node, manufactured by GlobalFoundries. The chip, codenamed Picasso, contains 4,940 million transistors on a 210 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 23.5 million per square millimeter. In contrast, the RX 570X uses the older GCN 4.0 architecture on a 14 nm node, also from GlobalFoundries. Its Polaris 20 die packs 5,700 million transistors into 232 mm², for a density of 24.6M/mm² — slightly higher despite the older node.

The compute resources tell the real story. The Vega 11 has 704 shading units, 44 texture mapping units, and only 8 ROPs. The RX 570X has 2,048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. That is roughly 2.9x more shaders, 2.9x more TMUs, and 4x more ROPs on the dedicated card. These are not incremental differences; they represent fundamentally different silicon budgets.

Clock speeds also diverge significantly. The Vega 11 runs at a base of 300 MHz with a boost of 1,400 MHz, which is a wide boost range typical of power-constrained IGPs. The RX 570X runs at a base of 1,168 MHz and boosts to 1,244 MHz — a much narrower range, but with a far higher floor. Memory is the other major divider: the Vega 11 uses system-shared memory with bandwidth described as "System Dependent," while the RX 570X has 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 224.0 GB/s of dedicated bandwidth. The RX 570X’s memory clock is 1,750 MHz (7 Gbps effective), which is fixed and independent of system RAM.

Pixel and texture rates reflect these differences. The Vega 11 outputs 11.20 GPixel/s and 61.60 GTexel/s, while the RX 570X manages 39.81 GPixel/s and 159.2 GTexel/s. In floating-point, the Vega 11 delivers 1.971 TFLOPS FP32, whereas the RX 570X hits 5.095 TFLOPS — more than 2.5x higher. The FP16 situation is also different: the Vega 11 offers 3.942 TFLOPS at a 2:1 ratio, while the RX 570X offers 5.095 TFLOPS at a 1:1 ratio, meaning it does not gain a throughput advantage in half-precision workloads.

Where Each One Wins

The RX 570X wins decisively in raw compute and memory bandwidth. Its 5.095 TFLOPS FP32 performance is more than enough for demanding gaming at 1080p with high settings, and its 224.0 GB/s bandwidth ensures that texture-heavy scenes do not stall. The 8 GB GDDR5 frame buffer also allows for larger textures and higher resolutions without spilling into system memory. The RX 570X’s 32 ROPs and 159.2 GTexel/s texture rate make it suitable for traditional rasterization workloads, and its 150 W TDP is reasonable for a card of this class.

The Vega 11 wins in efficiency and integration. Its 15 W TDP is a fraction of the RX 570X’s 150 W, making it suitable for thin-and-light laptops or compact desktops where power and space are at a premium. It has no power connectors and requires no additional PSU headroom, whereas the RX 570X needs a 1x 6-pin connector and a 450 W suggested PSU. The Vega 11 is also a zero-footprint solution — it is an IGP with no slot width, whereas the RX 570X is a 241 mm dual-slot card. For systems where a discrete GPU is not an option, the Vega 11’s Vulkan score of 13,543 and Metal score of 17,086 show that it can handle light gaming and compute tasks adequately.

In terms of API support, the Vega 11 supports DirectX 12 (12_1), while the RX 570X supports DirectX 12 (12_0). Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.3. The Vega 11’s 12_1 feature level is technically newer, but this is unlikely to matter in practice for most workloads.

FAQ

Q: Which card has higher raw compute performance?

A: The RX 570X is far ahead, with 5.095 TFLOPS FP32 versus the Vega 11’s 1.971 TFLOPS. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RX 570X scores 38,939 versus 12,525, a 67.8% advantage.

Q: How do their overall benchmark averages compare?

A: The Vega 11 averages 14,385 across three tests, while the RX 570X averages 13,871 across two tests. The Vega 11 is slightly higher, but the test sets are not identical, so this is not a direct comparison.

Q: What are the memory configurations?

A: The Vega 11 uses system-shared memory with system-dependent bandwidth. The RX 570X has 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus with 224.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which GPU is more power-efficient?

A: The Vega 11 has a 15 W TDP and requires no power connectors. The RX 570X has a 150 W TDP and requires a 1x 6-pin connector plus a 450 W suggested PSU.

Q: Are they in the same performance percentile?

A: Yes, nearly so. The Vega 11 is at the 56th percentile of all GPUs, and the RX 570X is at the 55th percentile, despite their large compute gap.

Q: Do they support the same APIs?

A: Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.3. The Vega 11 supports DirectX 12 (12_1), while the RX 570X supports DirectX 12 (12_0).

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ across nearly every measurable specification. The process node is 12 nm for the Vega 11 versus 14 nm for the RX 570X. Transistor counts are 4,940 million versus 5,700 million. Die sizes are 210 mm² versus 232 mm². Shading units are 704 versus 2,048. TMUs are 44 versus 128. ROPs are 8 versus 32. Pixel rates are 11.20 GPixel/s versus 39.81 GPixel/s. Texture rates are 61.60 GTexel/s versus 159.2 GTexel/s. FP32 performance is 1.971 TFLOPS versus 5.095 TFLOPS. FP16 performance is 3.942 TFLOPS (2:1) versus 5.095 TFLOPS (1:1). TDP is 15 W versus 150 W. The Vega 11 has no slot width and no power connectors, while the RX 570X is dual-slot with a 1x 6-pin connector. Bus interfaces are IGP versus PCIe 3.0 x16. Display outputs are motherboard-dependent versus 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0b, and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a. The RX 570X is 241 mm long; the Vega 11 has no listed dimensions.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear split by use case. If the requirement is maximum performance in compute-heavy or gaming workloads, the RX 570X is the only choice. Its 5.095 TFLOPS, 224.0 GB/s bandwidth, and 8 GB GDDR5 make it a legitimate dedicated GPU for 1080p gaming and content creation. It also has a wider display output configuration, including three DisplayPort 1.4a outputs, which supports multi-monitor setups. The RX 570X’s 55th percentile ranking, while not stellar, reflects solid mid-range performance.

If the requirement is minimal power draw, zero physical footprint, and integration into an existing system, the Vega 11 is the appropriate pick. Its 15 W TDP is 10x lower than the RX 570X, and it requires no auxiliary power or PCIe slot. The Vega 11’s 56th percentile ranking is actually one point higher than the RX 570X, driven by strong Vulkan and Metal scores that suggest it handles modern API workloads better than its raw specs imply. For an IGP, the Vega 11 is remarkably capable, but it cannot match the dedicated card in sustained, heavy workloads. The benchmark data shows the RX 570X as the performance winner by a wide margin, but the Vega 11 as the efficiency and integration winner. Choose based on whether the system can accommodate a 150 W, dual-slot card — if it can, the RX 570X is the obvious choice; if not, the Vega 11 is a competent fallback.