AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 vs NVIDIA CMP 70HX Comparison

The Verdict

The data separates these two cards clearly by purpose. The AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 is a conventional graphics card with display outputs, built for gaming and general compute, and it holds a higher average benchmark score. The NVIDIA CMP 70HX is a mining-focused card with no display outputs, a limited PCIe interface, and a lower overall score.

If you need a card that can drive a monitor, the Vega 56 is the only choice here, as the CMP 70HX has no outputs at all. If you are assembling a dedicated compute or mining rig where display output is irrelevant, the CMP 70HX offers competitive raw throughput in specific workloads, but its average score trails by about 23%. The recorded data shows the Vega 56 in the 81st percentile of all GPUs, while the CMP 70HX sits in the 75th percentile. For most practical builds, the Vega 56 is the safer pick due to its broader compatibility and higher average performance.

FAQ

Q: Which card has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 scores 37,507 on average, while the NVIDIA CMP 70HX scores 30,476. That is a difference of roughly 23% in favor of the Vega 56.

Q: Can the NVIDIA CMP 70HX be used for normal gaming with a monitor?

A: No. The CMP 70HX has no display outputs, so it cannot connect to a monitor. The Vega 56 offers 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a outputs.

Q: How do the two cards compare to their nearest rivals in the database?

A: The Vega 56 is nearly tied with the NVIDIA Tesla P4 (0.3% lower) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 (0.4% lower). The CMP 70HX is exactly level with the NVIDIA Tesla M60 (0% delta) and 0.1% above the AMD Radeon RX 6700.

Q: Which card has more shading units?

A: The NVIDIA CMP 70HX has 3,840 shading units, while the AMD Vega 56 has 3,584. However, the Vega 56 still achieves a higher average benchmark score.

Q: What memory types do these cards use?

A: The Vega 56 uses 8 GB of HBM2 on a 2048-bit bus, while the CMP 70HX uses 8 GB of GDDR6X on a 256-bit bus. The CMP 70HX has higher memory bandwidth at 608.3 GB/s versus 409.6 GB/s.

Q: Which card supports newer graphics APIs?

A: The NVIDIA CMP 70HX supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4. The AMD Vega 56 supports DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.3. Both support OpenGL 4.6.

Architecture Differences

The AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 is built on the Vega 10 chip using the GCN 5.0 architecture, fabricated on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. It packs 12,500 million transistors on a 495 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 25.3 million per mm². This is an older design from the Vega generation, released in August 2017, and it is now end-of-life.

The NVIDIA CMP 70HX uses the GA104 chip with the Ampere architecture, manufactured on an 8 nm process at Samsung. It contains 17,400 million transistors on a smaller 392 mm² die, resulting in a much higher density of 44.4 million per mm². The CMP 70HX belongs to NVIDIA's mining GPU generation and is also end-of-life.

The architectural split is significant. The Vega 56 relies on GCN 5.0, an architecture designed for general graphics and compute with a focus on raw shader throughput. The CMP 70HX brings Ampere features including 30 ray tracing cores and 120 tensor cores, which the Vega 56 lacks entirely. The CMP 70HX also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate and Vulkan 1.4, while the Vega 56 is limited to DirectX 12_1 and Vulkan 1.3. However, the CMP 70HX has no display outputs, reflecting its mining-focused design, whereas the Vega 56 has a full set of video outputs.

The memory architecture differs fundamentally. The Vega 56 uses HBM2 with a 2048-bit bus, which provides high bandwidth in a compact package. The CMP 70HX uses GDDR6X on a 256-bit bus, achieving even higher bandwidth. The CMP 70HX also operates with a PCIe 1.0 x4 interface, which severely limits host communication compared to the Vega 56's PCIe 3.0 x16 connection. This makes the CMP 70HX unsuitable for traditional gaming workloads that require frequent data transfer with the CPU.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every major specification. The Vega 56 has a base clock of 1156 MHz and a boost clock of 1471 MHz, while the CMP 70HX runs at 1365 MHz base and 1395 MHz boost. The Vega 56 has more texture mapping units at 224 versus 120, but both have 64 raster operation units. The CMP 70HX has more shading units at 3,840 versus 3,584, plus dedicated ray tracing and tensor cores.

Memory configurations are different in type and bandwidth. The Vega 56 uses 8 GB HBM2 at 800 MHz with 1600 Mbps effective, delivering 409.6 GB/s across a 2048-bit bus. The CMP 70HX uses 8 GB GDDR6X at 1188 MHz with 19 Gbps effective, delivering 608.3 GB/s across a 256-bit bus. The pixel rates are close: 94.14 GPixel/s for the Vega 56 versus 89.28 GPixel/s for the CMP 70HX. The texture rates diverge more sharply, with the Vega 56 at 329.5 GTexel/s versus 167.4 GTexel/s for the CMP 70HX.

The FP32 compute figures are nearly identical: 10.54 TFLOPS for the Vega 56 and 10.71 TFLOPS for the CMP 70HX. However, FP16 performance differs dramatically. The Vega 56 achieves 21.09 TFLOPS with a 2:1 ratio, while the CMP 70HX is locked at 10.71 TFLOPS with a 1:1 ratio. The CMP 70HX has a lower suggested PSU at 200 W, but the Vega 56 lists a 550 W recommended power supply. The Vega 56 uses dual 8-pin power connectors, while the CMP 70HX uses a single 12-pin connector. The Vega 56 is longer at 280 mm versus 267 mm for the CMP 70HX, but both are dual-slot cards.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database includes separate benchmark entries for each card, though no direct head-to-head tests are recorded. The Vega 56 has scores of 1,501 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 and 73,512 in Geekbench Metal. The CMP 70HX has scores of 25,135 in Geekbench OpenCL and 35,817 in Geekbench Vulkan.

These tests are not directly comparable across different APIs, but the average benchmark scores provide the clearest comparison. The Vega 56 averages 37,507, which places it 23% ahead of the CMP 70HX's 30,476 average. The Vega 56's nearest rival, the NVIDIA Tesla P4, scores 37,628, a 0.3% gap, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 scores 37,648, a 0.4% gap. The CMP 70HX sits exactly level with the NVIDIA Tesla M60 at 30,490, and 0.1% above the AMD Radeon RX 6700.

In terms of raw compute, the FP32 figures are nearly identical, with the CMP 70HX just 1.6% higher. However, the Vega 56 doubles its FP16 throughput to 21.09 TFLOPS, which could benefit workloads that utilize half-precision arithmetic. The CMP 70HX's texture rate is half that of the Vega 56, which likely contributes to its lower overall score in graphics-intensive benchmarks.

The CMP 70HX does have a significant advantage in memory bandwidth, with 608.3 GB/s versus 409.6 GB/s, a 48% difference. This could help in memory-bound compute tasks. However, the PCIe 1.0 x4 interface on the CMP 70HX is a major bottleneck for any workload that requires frequent data transfers, which is not reflected in raw compute scores but would show up in real-world usage.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 wins in overall average performance, holding a 23% lead in the database's aggregate scoring. It also wins decisively in texture throughput, with 329.5 GTexel/s versus 167.4 GTexel/s for the CMP 70HX. The Vega 56 offers double the FP16 compute at 21.09 TFLOPS, which is valuable for compute workloads that can use half precision. It also has full display outputs, PCIe 3.0 x16 connectivity, and a standard power connector setup, making it a drop-in replacement for a typical gaming or workstation PC.

The NVIDIA CMP 70HX wins in memory bandwidth, delivering 608.3 GB/s versus 409.6 GB/s, a 48% advantage. It also has slightly higher FP32 compute at 10.71 TFLOPS versus 10.54 TFLOPS. The card includes ray tracing and tensor cores, which the Vega 56 lacks, and it supports newer APIs including DirectX 12 Ultimate and Vulkan 1.4. Its smaller physical footprint at 267 mm versus 280 mm could fit in tighter cases, and its lower suggested PSU of 200 W indicates a lighter power draw, though the Vega 56 lists 210 W as its TDP.

For a general-purpose build where you need to see output on a screen, the Vega 56 is the only viable option. For a dedicated compute or mining setup where display output is unnecessary and high memory bandwidth matters more than host connectivity, the CMP 70HX has specific advantages. The data shows the Vega 56 as the stronger all-around card, but the CMP 70HX excels in narrow, memory-intensive scenarios.