AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 vs NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile Comparison

The NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile and AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 represent two vastly different approaches to GPU design, separated by nearly five years of architectural evolution. The data shows the RTX A500 Mobile, a 30 W mobile part, achieves an average benchmark score of 39,568, placing it in the 82nd percentile of all GPUs. The RX Vega 56, a 210 W desktop behemoth, scores 37,507, sitting in the 81st percentile. Despite the Vega 56's massive power and memory advantages, the RTX A500 Mobile actually edges it out in aggregate performance, a signal of how far efficiency-focused architectures have come.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The direct benchmark comparison between these two cards is limited by the available data, as the head-to-head test suite is empty. However, the individual benchmark results tell a compelling story. The RTX A500 Mobile scores 41,263 in Geekbench OpenCL and 37,873 in Geekbench Vulkan. The RX Vega 56 counters with 73,512 in Geekbench Metal and 1,501 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. These tests target different APIs and workloads, making a direct apples-to-apples comparison difficult, but the average scores provide a clear picture of overall capability.

The RTX A500 Mobile's average score of 39,568 puts it 5.5% ahead of the RX Vega 56's 37,507. This is a significant margin when you consider the context. The Vega 56 is a full-size, dual-slot desktop card with a 280 mm length, 111 mm height, and 40 mm width, drawing 210 W and requiring two 8-pin power connectors. The RTX A500 Mobile is an IGP (integrated graphics processor) with no power connectors and a 30 W TDP, designed for portable devices. The fact that the mobile chip outperforms the desktop card in aggregate benchmarks is remarkable.

Looking at the nearest rivals for each card provides further context. The RTX A500 Mobile's closest competitor is the AMD Radeon Pro 575, with an average score of 39,555 and a 0% delta. The Radeon Pro WX 7100 is 1.2% faster, while the Radeon Pro 580 is 1.9% faster. The RX Vega 56's nearest rival is the NVIDIA Tesla P4 at 37,628, which is 0.3% slower. The GeForce RTX 4070 scores 37,648, also 0.4% slower, and the RTX 4080 Mobile is 1.6% faster at 38,135. This data suggests the RTX A500 Mobile is competitive with much larger desktop workstation cards, while the RX Vega 56 sits in a similar performance tier to modern mid-range and high-end mobile parts.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile has a higher average benchmark score of 39,568 compared to the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56's 37,507, a difference of approximately 5.5%.

Q: What is the memory configuration difference between these two cards?

A: The RTX A500 Mobile has 4 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 64-bit bus, yielding 96.00 GB/s bandwidth. The RX Vega 56 has 8 GB of HBM2 memory on a 2048-bit bus, yielding 409.6 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: How do their transistor counts and die sizes compare?

A: The RTX A500 Mobile uses 8,700 million transistors on a 200 mm² die (43.5M transistors per mm²). The RX Vega 56 uses 12,500 million transistors on a 495 mm² die (25.3M transistors per mm²).

Q: Do both cards support ray tracing and tensor operations?

A: No. The RTX A500 Mobile features 16 ray tracing cores and 64 tensor cores. The RX Vega 56 has no ray tracing cores and no tensor cores listed in its specifications.

Q: What are the TDP requirements for each card?

A: The RTX A500 Mobile has a 30 W TDP and requires no power connectors. The RX Vega 56 has a 210 W TDP, requires two 8-pin power connectors, and has a suggested PSU of 550 W.

Q: Which card has better API support for DirectX?

A: The RTX A500 Mobile supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the RX Vega 56 supports DirectX 12 (12_1). The RTX A500 Mobile also supports Vulkan 1.4, while the RX Vega 56 supports Vulkan 1.3.

The Verdict

The data clearly shows the NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile is the faster card overall, despite its drastically lower power envelope and smaller physical footprint. Its 5.5% average benchmark score advantage over the RX Vega 56, combined with its 82nd percentile ranking versus 81st, makes it the superior choice for raw compute performance in the tested workloads. The RTX A500 Mobile achieves this with 2,048 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, clocked at 832 MHz base and 1,537 MHz boost, delivering 6.296 TFLOPS FP32 performance.

The RX Vega 56 does have significant advantages in specific areas. Its 8 GB of HBM2 memory with 409.6 GB/s bandwidth dwarfs the RTX A500 Mobile's 4 GB GDDR6 at 96.00 GB/s. The Vega 56 also has more shading units (3,584), TMUs (224), and ROPs (64), and delivers higher theoretical throughput in pixel rate (94.14 GPixel/s vs 49.18 GPixel/s), texture rate (329.5 GTexel/s vs 98.37 GTexel/s), and FP32 compute (10.54 TFLOPS vs 6.296 TFLOPS). However, these raw spec advantages do not translate into higher benchmark scores. The RTX A500 Mobile's newer Ampere architecture, with its 16 RT cores and 64 tensor cores, clearly delivers better real-world performance per unit of compute.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ substantially in nearly every specification category. The RTX A500 Mobile uses an 8 nm Samsung process with a GA107S chip, while the RX Vega 56 uses a 14 nm GlobalFoundries process with a Vega 10 chip. The RTX A500 Mobile has a base clock of 832 MHz and boost clock of 1,537 MHz, with memory running at 1,500 MHz (12 Gbps effective). The RX Vega 56 has a higher base clock of 1,156 MHz but a lower boost clock of 1,471 MHz, with memory at 800 MHz (1,600 Mbps effective).

Memory configurations are wildly different: the RTX A500 Mobile has 4 GB GDDR6 on a 64-bit bus, while the RX Vega 56 has 8 GB HBM2 on a 2048-bit bus. The RTX A500 Mobile has 2,048 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, while the RX Vega 56 has 3,584 shading units, 224 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. The RTX A500 Mobile includes 16 RT cores and 64 tensor cores; the RX Vega 56 has none. Power requirements differ dramatically: 30 W with no connectors for the mobile part versus 210 W with dual 8-pin connectors and a 550 W suggested PSU for the desktop card. The bus interface also differs: PCIe 4.0 x8 for the RTX A500 Mobile versus PCIe 3.0 x16 for the RX Vega 56.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two GPUs is enormous. The RTX A500 Mobile is built on NVIDIA's Ampere architecture, manufactured on an 8 nm Samsung process. It belongs to the Ampere-MW (Ax000) generation and was released on March 21, 2022, succeeding the Quadro Turing-M and preceding Ada-MW. Its die size is 200 mm² with 8,700 million transistors, achieving a density of 43.5 million transistors per mm². The architecture supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. It features dedicated hardware for ray tracing (16 RT cores) and AI acceleration (64 tensor cores), with FP16 performance matching FP32 at 6.296 TFLOPS (1:1 ratio).

The RX Vega 56 is based on AMD's GCN 5.0 architecture, manufactured on a 14 nm GlobalFoundries process. It belongs to the Vega (RX Vega) generation and was released on August 13, 2017, succeeding Polaris and preceding Navi. Its die size is 495 mm² with 12,500 million transistors, achieving a density of 25.3 million transistors per mm². The architecture supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. It lacks dedicated ray tracing and tensor cores. Its FP16 performance is 21.09 TFLOPS at a 2:1 ratio, meaning it can do twice as many FP16 operations as FP32. The RTX A500 Mobile's 1:1 FP16 ratio is more balanced, though at a lower absolute throughput.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile wins in overall average benchmark performance, scoring 39,568 versus 37,507 for the RX Vega 56. It also wins on efficiency by an overwhelming margin, delivering superior performance at 30 W compared to 210 W. The mobile part supports newer APIs including DirectX 12 Ultimate and Vulkan 1.4, and includes ray tracing and tensor core hardware. Its modern 8 nm process and compact 200 mm² die make it suitable for portable devices where space and power are at a premium. It also uses a faster PCIe 4.0 interface, though at x8 width.

The AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 wins in raw specification categories. It has double the memory capacity (8 GB vs 4 GB) and over four times the memory bandwidth (409.6 GB/s vs 96.00 GB/s). Its wider 2048-bit memory bus is a significant advantage for memory-intensive workloads that fit within its larger frame buffer. The Vega 56 also has higher theoretical compute throughput in FP32 (10.54 TFLOPS vs 6.296 TFLOPS), pixel rate (94.14 GPixel/s vs 49.18 GPixel/s), and texture rate (329.5 GTexel/s vs 98.37 GTexel/s). It supports Vulkan 1.3 and Metal, with a strong Geekbench Metal score of 73,512. It also has a longer physical footprint at 280 mm, which allows for more robust cooling solutions in desktop systems.

The practical takeaway is that the RTX A500 Mobile is the better choice for compute performance in a portable form factor, while the RX Vega 56 offers superior memory bandwidth and capacity for large datasets, but at a significant power and space cost. The benchmark data favors the mobile part overall, but the Vega 56's memory subsystem remains its key selling point for specific workloads.