AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition vs NVIDIA PG506-232 Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The recorded benchmark data splits these two cards into completely different performance tiers. The NVIDIA PG506-232 wins the only direct head-to-head comparison available, and it wins decisively. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the PG506-232 scores 225,124 against 76,111 for the AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition, a delta of 195.8 percent. That is not a marginal advantage; it is a three-fold performance gap in a compute-oriented workload.

The AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition does not win any benchmark in the database's head-to-head set. Its strengths lie elsewhere, specifically in its broader API support and display output capabilities, which the PG506-232 lacks entirely. The Vega Frontier Edition supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3, while the PG506-232 lists no API support at all. It also offers 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a outputs, whereas the PG506-232 has no display outputs. For a workstation or server card, the AMD part can drive monitors directly; the NVIDIA part cannot.

The percentile rankings reinforce this split. The PG506-232 sits at the 99th percentile of all GPUs in the database, while the Vega Frontier Edition sits at the 91st. That is a meaningful gap in overall standing, and it matches the raw score difference. The PG506-232's average benchmark score is 225,124, and its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA A100 PCIe 80 GB at 207,124 (8.7 percent behind) and the NVIDIA RTX 6000D at 195,964 (14.9 percent behind). The Vega Frontier Edition's average is 73,370, with nearest rivals like the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 at 72,379 (1.4 percent behind) and the NVIDIA TITAN X Pascal at 72,098 (1.8 percent behind). Those rival groups are roughly three times apart in score, which tells the same story as the direct comparison.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from different foundries, different process nodes, and different design philosophies. The NVIDIA PG506-232 uses the GA100 chip on TSMC's 7 nm process, with 54,200 million transistors packed into an 826 mm² die. That yields a transistor density of 65.6 million per square millimeter. The AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition uses the Vega 10 chip on GlobalFoundries' 14 nm process, with 12,500 million transistors on a 495 mm² die, for a density of 25.3 million per square millimeter. The NVIDIA chip is more than four times as dense, which explains how it delivers far higher performance despite a lower thermal envelope.

The memory subsystems differ sharply. The PG506-232 has 24 GB of HBM2 on a 3072-bit bus, delivering 933.1 GB/s of bandwidth. The Vega Frontier Edition has 16 GB of HBM2 on a 2048-bit bus, delivering 483.8 GB/s. That is nearly double the bandwidth on the NVIDIA side, and 50 percent more capacity. Clock speeds tell a different story: the AMD card runs at a 1382 MHz base and 1600 MHz boost, while the NVIDIA card runs at 930 MHz base and 1440 MHz boost. The AMD card clocks higher, but the NVIDIA card's architecture and memory bandwidth more than compensate.

Compute resources are asymmetric. The AMD card has 4096 shading units, 256 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. The NVIDIA card has 3584 shading units, 224 TMUs, and 96 ROPs. AMD has more shaders and TMUs, but NVIDIA has more ROPs. NVIDIA also includes 224 tensor cores, while AMD has none. Neither card has ray tracing cores. The FP32 throughput favors AMD: 13.11 TFLOPS versus 10.32 TFLOPS. The FP16 throughput heavily favors AMD as well: 26.21 TFLOPS at a 2:1 ratio versus 10.32 TFLOPS at a 1:1 ratio. On paper, the AMD card looks competitive in raw shader math. The benchmark data, however, shows the NVIDIA card winning the OpenCL test by a wide margin, which suggests that memory bandwidth and tensor core acceleration matter more in the actual workload.

Power and connectivity also diverge. The PG506-232 has a 165 W TDP with a single 8-pin EPS connector and a suggested 450 W PSU. The Vega Frontier Edition has a 300 W TDP with dual 8-pin connectors and a suggested 700 W PSU. The NVIDIA card draws nearly half the power. The PG506-232 uses PCIe 4.0 x16, while the AMD card uses PCIe 3.0 x16. The NVIDIA card is dual-slot at 267 mm length and 112 mm height; the AMD card is also dual-slot at 267 mm length and 111 mm height. They are physically similar, but the NVIDIA card needs far less power.

FAQ

Q: Which card is faster in the database's benchmark results?

A: The NVIDIA PG506-232. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, it scores 225,124 against 76,111 for the AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition, a 195.8 percent advantage.

Q: Does the AMD card have any performance wins?

A: No. In the head-to-head benchmark set, the AMD card records zero wins. The NVIDIA card wins the single available test.

Q: Can either card output video to a display?

A: Only the AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition. It has 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a outputs. The NVIDIA PG506-232 has no display outputs.

Q: Which card supports more graphics APIs?

A: The AMD card. It supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. The NVIDIA card lists no DirectX, OpenGL, or Vulkan support in the database.

Q: How do the memory configurations compare?

A: The NVIDIA card has 24 GB of HBM2 on a 3072-bit bus with 933.1 GB/s bandwidth. The AMD card has 16 GB of HBM2 on a 2048-bit bus with 483.8 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: What are the power requirements for each card?

A: The NVIDIA PG506-232 has a 165 W TDP and a suggested 450 W PSU. The AMD Vega Frontier Edition has a 300 W TDP and a suggested 700 W PSU.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every major specification. The process node is 7 nm for NVIDIA versus 14 nm for AMD. The transistor count is 54,200 million versus 12,500 million. The die size is 826 mm² versus 495 mm². Transistor density is 65.6M per mm² versus 25.3M per mm².

Clock speeds: NVIDIA base 930 MHz, boost 1440 MHz; AMD base 1382 MHz, boost 1600 MHz. Memory clocks: NVIDIA 1215 MHz (2.4 Gbps effective); AMD 945 MHz (1890 Mbps effective). Memory size: 24 GB versus 16 GB. Memory bus width: 3072 bit versus 2048 bit. Memory bandwidth: 933.1 GB/s versus 483.8 GB/s.

Compute units: NVIDIA has 3584 shading units, 224 TMUs, 96 ROPs, and 224 tensor cores. AMD has 4096 shading units, 256 TMUs, 64 ROPs, and no tensor cores. Neither has RT cores. Pixel rate: NVIDIA 138.2 GPixel/s versus AMD 102.4 GPixel/s. Texture rate: NVIDIA 322.6 GTexel/s versus AMD 409.6 GTexel/s. FP32: NVIDIA 10.32 TFLOPS versus AMD 13.11 TFLOPS. FP16: NVIDIA 10.32 TFLOPS (1:1) versus AMD 26.21 TFLOPS (2:1).

Power and interface: NVIDIA TDP 165 W, 8-pin EPS, suggested 450 W PSU, PCIe 4.0 x16. AMD TDP 300 W, 2x 8-pin, suggested 700 W PSU, PCIe 3.0 x16. Display outputs: none on NVIDIA; 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a on AMD. API support: none listed for NVIDIA; DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3 for AMD. Dimensions are nearly identical: both 267 mm long, NVIDIA 112 mm high versus AMD 111 mm high. Release dates differ: NVIDIA April 2021, AMD June 2017. The AMD card has a launch MSRP of 999 USD. The NVIDIA card has no launch MSRP listed.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database contains one head-to-head benchmark between these two cards: Geekbench OpenCL. The NVIDIA PG506-232 scores 225,124, and the AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition scores 76,111. The delta is 195.8 percent in favor of NVIDIA. That is the largest single-test gap in the comparison, and it is the only test available.

To put that score in context, look at the nearest rivals for each card. The PG506-232 is 2.4 percent ahead of the AMD Radeon PRO W7900D, which scores 219,827. It is 8.7 percent ahead of the NVIDIA A100 PCIe 80 GB at 207,124. It is 14.9 percent ahead of the NVIDIA RTX 6000D at 195,964. The only rival that beats it is the NVIDIA L20 at 251,147, which is 10.4 percent ahead. The PG506-232 sits comfortably in the upper tier of the database, at the 99th percentile.

The Vega Frontier Edition, by contrast, sits near the 91st percentile. Its closest rivals are the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 at 72,379 (1.4 percent behind), the NVIDIA TITAN X Pascal at 72,098 (1.8 percent behind), the AMD Radeon RX 6650M at 71,768 (2.2 percent behind), and the AMD Radeon RX 6600 LE at 70,829 (3.6 percent behind). Those are all within a few percent of each other, which indicates a tightly clustered performance tier. The Vega Frontier Edition is at the top of that cluster, but the entire cluster is roughly three times below the PG506-232's score.

The benchmark result is consistent with the memory and compute differences. The PG506-232 has 933.1 GB/s of bandwidth versus 483.8 GB/s on the AMD card. It also has tensor cores, which the AMD card lacks. Even though the AMD card has higher FP32 and FP16 throughput on paper, the OpenCL workload clearly favors the NVIDIA architecture. The result also aligns with the percentile gap: 99th versus 91st.

The Verdict

The data supports a clear split. The NVIDIA PG506-232 is the compute performance winner by a massive margin. In the only head-to-head benchmark, it beats the AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition by 195.8 percent. Its average benchmark score is 225,124, placing it at the 99th percentile of all GPUs. It also uses less power: 165 W versus 300 W, with a suggested PSU of 450 W versus 700 W. For any workload measured by Geekbench OpenCL, the NVIDIA card is the obvious choice.

The AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition wins on features that matter outside raw compute. It has display outputs, 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, so it can be used in a workstation with direct monitor connections. It supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3, which makes it usable in a wider range of software environments. It also has a launch MSRP of 999 USD, whereas the NVIDIA card has no listed launch price. Its higher FP32 throughput, 13.11 TFLOPS versus 10.32 TFLOPS, and much higher FP16 throughput, 26.21 TFLOPS versus 10.32 TFLOPS, may benefit specific compute tasks that are not captured by the OpenCL benchmark.

Who should pick which? The PG506-232 is for compute-focused deployments where raw OpenCL performance, memory bandwidth, and power efficiency are the priorities. It is a server-class accelerator with no display outputs, designed for headless operation. The Vega Frontier Edition is for users who need a dual-purpose card: compute capability plus direct display output and broad API support. It is an older part, released in June 2017 versus April 2021 for the NVIDIA card, and it draws nearly double the power. The benchmark data is unambiguous: for speed, choose NVIDIA. For flexibility, choose AMD.