AMD Radeon Vega 10 Mobile vs NVIDIA GeForce GT 1010 Comparison

The data places the NVIDIA GeForce GT 1010 and AMD Radeon Vega 10 Mobile in the same performance tier, with a single benchmark showing a 3.4% gap. The GT 1010 scores 6698 points in Geekbench OpenCL, while the Vega 10 Mobile scores 6476 points, making the NVIDIA card the winner of the head-to-head comparison. Both GPUs sit near the 37th-38th percentile of all GPUs, indicating they are entry-level parts, but the GT 1010’s victory is narrow, and the context of each card’s design goals matters more than the raw delta.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct benchmark available, Geekbench OpenCL, shows a decisive but narrow win for the NVIDIA GeForce GT 1010. It scores 6698, beating the AMD Radeon Vega 10 Mobile’s 6476 by 3.4%. This is a modest margin, but it places the GT 1010 ahead of its closest rival, the AMD Radeon R7 M370, which scores 6764 and trails the GT 1010 by -1%. The GT 1010 also outperforms the AMD Radeon R7 M460 (6612, 1.3% behind) and the AMD Radeon HD 7730M (6581, 1.8% behind). Meanwhile, the Vega 10 Mobile’s closest rival is the NVIDIA Quadro M5000M at 6481, which is 0.1% behind the AMD chip, showing that the Vega 10 Mobile is essentially tied with that professional-grade GPU. The Vega 10 Mobile also edges out the NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M (6493, -0.3%) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670M (6513, -0.6%), but it falls behind the NVIDIA RTX PRO 5000 72 GB Blackwell, which scores 6407 and is 1.1% behind the AMD part.

The 3.4% delta between the two cards is the entire story of their performance difference. In practical terms, this means the GT 1010 is the faster GPU in raw compute, but the margin is small enough that it would not create a dramatic difference in real-world workloads. The GT 1010’s victory is consistent with its higher base clock of 1228 MHz and boost clock of 1468 MHz, compared to the Vega 10 Mobile’s 300 MHz base and 1301 MHz boost. However, the Vega 10 Mobile compensates with more shading units: 640 versus the GT 1010’s 256. This architectural contrast explains why the gap is so tight, as the AMD chip’s extra compute units partially offset its lower clock speeds.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA GeForce GT 1010 wins the only benchmark test, so it holds the advantage in the single measured dimension of OpenCL compute. Its score of 6698 places it in the 38th percentile of all GPUs, which is a higher percentile than the Vega 10 Mobile’s 37th percentile. This suggests that the GT 1010 is marginally better positioned among all GPUs, and its nearest rivals are all AMD discrete mobile parts, indicating it competes with a specific class of mid-range laptop GPUs. The GT 1010 also has a dedicated memory interface with 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 64-bit bus, providing 48.06 GB/s of bandwidth, which is a fixed, dedicated resource. In contrast, the Vega 10 Mobile relies on system shared memory, making its bandwidth "System Dependent," which means its performance can vary based on the host system’s memory configuration.

The AMD Radeon Vega 10 Mobile does not win any benchmark, but it has structural advantages that the GT 1010 lacks. It offers 640 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and a texture rate of 52.04 GTexel/s, which is more than double the GT 1010’s 23.49 GTexel/s. Its FP32 performance is 1.665 TFLOPS, again more than double the GT 1010’s 751.6 GFLOPS. Additionally, the Vega 10 Mobile supports FP16 at 3.331 TFLOPS, while the GT 1010 has no FP16 data. These raw compute figures suggest that in workloads that can leverage the extra shaders and texture units, the Vega 10 Mobile could outperform the GT 1010, even though the OpenCL benchmark does not reflect that. The Vega 10 Mobile also has a lower TDP of 10 W, making it a more power-efficient part, though the GT 1010’s 30 W TDP is still low for a discrete GPU.

The Verdict

From the data, the NVIDIA GeForce GT 1010 is the better-performing GPU in the measured benchmark, and it should be the choice for users who prioritize raw OpenCL compute. Its 3.4% lead over the Vega 10 Mobile is slight, but it also has a higher percentile ranking (38th vs 37th) and a dedicated memory subsystem that guarantees a fixed bandwidth of 48.06 GB/s. The GT 1010’s closest rivals are all AMD Radeon mobile GPUs, and it beats each of them by 1.3% to 1.8%, which shows it is a solid entry-level discrete option.

The AMD Radeon Vega 10 Mobile, however, is an integrated GPU with a 10 W TDP, designed for portability and power efficiency rather than maximum performance. Its 640 shading units and 1.665 TFLOPS of FP32 compute are far higher than the GT 1010’s specifications, but the OpenCL benchmark does not reflect this advantage, likely due to the system shared memory bottleneck. For users who need a GPU for basic tasks in a thin-and-light laptop, the Vega 10 Mobile is a capable choice, but for anyone who can install a discrete GPU, the GT 1010 is the faster option. The data is clear: the GT 1010 wins the head-to-head, and the Vega 10 Mobile is a compromise for power-constrained systems.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher Geekbench OpenCL score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GT 1010 scores 6698, which is 3.4% higher than the AMD Radeon Vega 10 Mobile’s 6476.

Q: How does the Vega 10 Mobile compare to its closest rival?

A: The Vega 10 Mobile’s closest rival is the NVIDIA Quadro M5000M, which scores 6481 and is 0.1% behind the AMD chip.

Q: What is the transistor density of each chip?

A: The GT 1010 has a transistor density of 24.3M / mm², while the Vega 10 Mobile has a density of 23.5M / mm².

Q: Does the Vega 10 Mobile support FP16 compute?

A: Yes, the Vega 10 Mobile supports FP16 at 3.331 TFLOPS with a 2:1 ratio, while the GT 1010 has no FP16 data.

Q: What is the memory configuration of the GT 1010?

A: The GT 1010 has 2 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 64-bit bus, providing 48.06 GB/s of bandwidth.

Q: Which GPU has a lower TDP?

A: The AMD Radeon Vega 10 Mobile has a TDP of 10 W, compared to the NVIDIA GeForce GT 1010’s 30 W.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different architectural generations. The NVIDIA GeForce GT 1010 uses the Pascal architecture, built on the GP108 chip, and is part of the GeForce 10 generation. It is manufactured on a 14 nm process at Samsung, with 1,800 million transistors on a 74 mm² die. The AMD Radeon Vega 10 Mobile uses the GCN 5.0 architecture, based on the Raven-M chip, and is part of the Vega IGP generation (Raven Ridge-M). It is also built on a 14 nm process, but at GlobalFoundries, with 4,940 million transistors on a much larger 210 mm² die. Despite the larger die, the transistor density is similar: 24.3M / mm² for the GT 1010 versus 23.5M / mm² for the Vega 10 Mobile.

The core configurations differ significantly. The GT 1010 has 256 shading units, 16 TMUs, and 8 ROPs, while the Vega 10 Mobile has 640 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 8 ROPs. This gives the Vega 10 Mobile a texture rate of 52.04 GTexel/s, more than double the GT 1010’s 23.49 GTexel/s. The pixel rates are closer, with the GT 1010 at 11.74 GPixel/s and the Vega 10 Mobile at 10.41 GPixel/s. The FP32 compute is also heavily in favor of the AMD part: 1.665 TFLOPS versus 751.6 GFLOPS. The Vega 10 Mobile also supports FP16, while the GT 1010 does not. Both GPUs support DirectX 12 (12_1) and OpenGL 4.6, but the GT 1010 supports Vulkan 1.4, while the Vega 10 Mobile supports Vulkan 1.3.

Specification Differences

The most fundamental difference is their form factor and role. The GT 1010 is a discrete, single-slot GPU with a 147 mm length, while the Vega 10 Mobile is an IGP (integrated graphics processor) with no dimensions listed, designed to be part of a mobile processor. The GT 1010 uses a PCIe 3.0 x4 bus interface, while the Vega 10 Mobile uses an IGP interface. The memory systems are completely different: the GT 1010 has 2 GB of dedicated GDDR5 on a 64-bit bus with 48.06 GB/s bandwidth, while the Vega 10 Mobile uses system shared memory with a bus width and bandwidth that are "System Dependent."

Power requirements also differ. The GT 1010 has a TDP of 30 W and a suggested PSU of 200 W, while the Vega 10 Mobile has a TDP of 10 W and no suggested PSU. The GT 1010 has display outputs of 1x DVI and 1x mini-HDMI 2.0, while the Vega 10 Mobile’s display outputs are "Portable Device Dependent." The clock speeds are notably different: the GT 1010 runs at a base of 1228 MHz and boosts to 1468 MHz, while the Vega 10 Mobile has a base of 300 MHz and boosts to 1301 MHz. The GT 1010 has a memory clock of 1502 MHz (6 Gbps effective), while the Vega 10 Mobile has no dedicated memory clock. Finally, the release dates differ: the GT 1010 was released on 2021-01-12, while the Vega 10 Mobile was released on 2019-01-07. Both are end-of-life products, with the GT 1010 succeeding the GeForce 900 series and preceding the GeForce 20 series, while the Vega 10 Mobile succeeds GCN 3.0 IGP and precedes Navi II IGP.