AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The benchmark data presents a fascinating split between these two very different GPUs. In the Geekbench Metal test, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 achieves a score of 17086, obliterating the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN’s 8218. That is a 107.9% advantage for the AMD part — more than double the score. Such a massive delta in a single API test suggests the Vega IGP’s architecture is exceptionally well optimized for Apple’s Metal API, likely benefiting from its GCN 5.0 design and modern feature set.

However, the tables turn completely in Geekbench OpenCL. Here, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN posts an impressive 24873, while the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 manages only 12525. That gives NVIDIA a 49.6% lead — a decisive victory that reflects the TITAN’s raw compute horsepower. With 2688 shading units and 4.709 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, the TITAN’s Kepler architecture was built for heavy parallel workloads, and OpenCL appears to be its native language.

The Vulkan test adds another twist. The AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 scores 13543, beating the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN’s 10027 by 35.1%. This is particularly notable because the TITAN was released years before Vulkan matured, and its driver support for the API is limited to version 1.2.175, whereas the AMD part supports Vulkan 1.3. The newer API implementation on the AMD side likely explains part of this gap.

Counting wins, AMD takes 2 out of 3 head-to-head benchmarks. But the average benchmark score tells a different story: 14385 for AMD versus 14373 for NVIDIA, a razor-thin 0.1% difference. In the nearestRivals data, the two GPUs are listed as each other’s closest competitors, with the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 showing a deltaPct of 0.1 over the TITAN. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 965M (14404) and the AMD Radeon Vega 11 (14352) round out a remarkably tight cluster — all four GPUs sit within 0.6% of each other on average.

What does this mean? The composite picture is one of near-parity, but the API-specific results reveal that each card has clear strengths and weaknesses. The AMD part excels in Metal and Vulkan, while the NVIDIA card dominates OpenCL. Users working primarily in one API would see very different performance characteristics.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 edges out the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN with an average benchmark score of 14385 versus 14373, a difference of just 0.1%. This is within the margin of noise, effectively making them equal on aggregate.

Q: How much faster is the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 in the Metal benchmark?

A: The AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 scores 17086 in Geekbench Metal, which is 107.9% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN’s 8218. This is the largest performance gap in any of the three tested APIs.

Q: What is the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN’s biggest advantage?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN wins decisively in Geekbench OpenCL, scoring 24873 against the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11’s 12525. This represents a 49.6% lead for the TITAN, its only head-to-head victory.

Q: How do these cards compare in Vulkan performance?

A: The AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 scores 13543 in Geekbench Vulkan, beating the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN’s 10027 by 35.1%. The AMD GPU supports Vulkan 1.3, while the NVIDIA card is limited to Vulkan 1.2.175.

Q: What percentile do both GPUs occupy among all GPUs?

A: Both the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN sit at the 56th percentile against all GPUs, indicating they are near the median of the overall performance distribution.

Q: Which GPU has more shading units?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN has 2688 shading units, while the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 has only 704. Despite this massive difference in shader count, the AMD part still manages to win two of three benchmarks.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 is the clear choice for workloads that rely on the Metal API. Its 107.9% advantage in Geekbench Metal is not just a marginal improvement — it is a categorical superiority. This suggests the Vega IGP is particularly well suited for macOS environments or any application that leverages Metal for graphics or compute. The 35.1% lead in Vulkan also positions it well for modern cross-platform games and applications that use Vulkan 1.3 features. For developers or users targeting these modern APIs, the AMD part is the obvious pick.

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN, on the other hand, is the undisputed king of OpenCL. Its 49.6% lead over the AMD part in Geekbench OpenCL demonstrates that its massive shader count and higher FP32 throughput (4.709 TFLOPS versus 1.971 TFLOPS) translate directly into compute-heavy performance. OpenCL remains widely used in scientific computing, video encoding, and certain professional applications, so the TITAN holds a significant edge in those domains. Its 6 GB of dedicated GDDR5 memory with 288.4 GB/s bandwidth also makes it more capable for large datasets that would overwhelm the AMD part’s system-shared memory.

For general mixed-use scenarios, the average benchmark scores are nearly identical — 14385 versus 14373 — meaning either GPU would deliver similar composite performance. The choice ultimately hinges on the specific API workload. If the target application uses Metal or Vulkan, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 wins. If it uses OpenCL, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN takes the crown.

Specification Differences

The most striking difference is in memory configuration. The AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 uses system-shared memory with a system-dependent bandwidth, whereas the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN comes with 6 GB of dedicated GDDR5 memory on a 384-bit bus, delivering 288.4 GB/s of bandwidth. This gives the TITAN a massive advantage in memory-intensive workloads.

Shading units tell a similar story: the TITAN has 2688 shading units, 224 texture mapping units, and 48 raster operations pipelines, compared to the AMD part’s 704 shading units, 44 TMUs, and 8 ROPs. The TITAN’s pixel rate is 49.06 GPixel/s versus 11.20 GPixel/s for the AMD IGP, and its texture rate is 196.2 GTexel/s versus 61.60 GTexel/s. FP32 performance also heavily favors NVIDIA: 4.709 TFLOPS against 1.971 TFLOPS.

Clock speeds differ in direction. The AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 has a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost of 1400 MHz, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN runs at 836 MHz base and 876 MHz boost. The AMD part relies on a much higher boost clock to compensate for its lower shader count.

Power consumption is another major divergence. The AMD IGP draws just 15 W TDP, while the TITAN consumes 250 W and requires a 600 W suggested PSU with 1x 6-pin and 1x 8-pin power connectors. The AMD part is an IGP with no power connectors, while the TITAN is a dual-slot card measuring 267 mm in length.

Architecture Differences

The AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 is built on GCN 5.0 architecture using a 12 nm process from GlobalFoundries. It has 4,940 million transistors on a 210 mm² die, giving it a transistor density of 23.5M per mm². The chip is codenamed Picasso and represents the Vega IGP generation. It supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3, and offers FP16 performance at 3.942 TFLOPS (2:1 ratio).

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN uses the Kepler architecture on a 28 nm process from TSMC. It packs 7,080 million transistors onto a much larger 561 mm² die, but with a lower transistor density of 12.6M per mm². The GK110 chip is part of the GeForce 700 generation. It supports DirectX 12 (11_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.175, and notably has no FP16 support listed.

The AMD part’s 12 nm node is more modern than NVIDIA’s 28 nm, which explains the higher transistor density despite having fewer total transistors. The Vega architecture’s support for newer API versions (Vulkan 1.3 and DirectX 12_1 versus 11_0) gives it a software feature advantage, even though the TITAN has far more raw hardware resources. The AMD IGP is an integrated part with the display outputs being motherboard dependent, while the TITAN is a discrete card with 2x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 1x DisplayPort 1.2 outputs.

The Verdict

The data paints a clear picture of two GPUs that are statistically tied on average but polar opposites in API-specific performance. The AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 wins the Metal benchmark by 107.9% and the Vulkan benchmark by 35.1%, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN wins OpenCL by 49.6%. With the AMD part taking 2 wins out of 3 head-to-head tests, it holds a slight edge in benchmark count.

For users working in Metal-based environments — particularly macOS-centric workflows — the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 is the only rational choice. Its 17086 Metal score dwarfs the TITAN’s 8218, and its Vulkan 1.3 support makes it future-proof for modern applications. The fact that it achieves this while consuming only 15 W TDP, compared to the TITAN’s 250 W, is remarkable.

However, for OpenCL-heavy compute tasks, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN remains the superior option. Its 24873 OpenCL score demonstrates that raw shader count and memory bandwidth still matter. The 6 GB of GDDR5 memory with 288.4 GB/s bandwidth is a significant advantage for large datasets. The TITAN’s 4.709 TFLOPS FP32 performance is more than double the AMD part’s 1.971 TFLOPS, which explains its OpenCL dominance.

The verdict depends entirely on the intended workload. If modern APIs (Metal, Vulkan) are the priority, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 is the winner. If OpenCL compute is the primary use case, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN is the clear choice. For general-purpose use where the API mix is unknown, the 0.1% average score difference means users would be hard-pressed to notice any real-world distinction. The AMD part’s 56th percentile ranking matches the TITAN’s exactly, reinforcing the notion of near-parity overall.