AMD Radeon Pro 555 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 Comparison

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 and AMD Radeon Pro 555 represent two very different eras of GPU design, yet their average benchmark scores place them in the same performance tier. The GTX 570, a 2010-era Fermi part, edges out the 2017-era Polaris chip in the sole common benchmark, but the Radeon Pro 555 offers a broader feature set and dramatically lower power consumption. The data shows a 54th percentile ranking for both cards, indicating they sit squarely in the mid-range of all GPUs, with the GTX 570 holding a slim 0.8% advantage in average score (13515 vs 13407).

The Verdict

The benchmark data paints a nuanced picture for potential users. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 is the pick for raw single-workload compute performance, as it wins the only head-to-head benchmark available. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 13515 beats the Radeon Pro 555's 11682 by a substantial 15.7%. This advantage is significant enough to matter for OpenCL-accelerated tasks, making the older card the better choice if that specific API is your primary workload.

The AMD Radeon Pro 555 is the more versatile option for modern applications. It supports DirectX 12 (12_0) compared to the GTX 570's DirectX 12 (11_0), and it also includes Vulkan 1.3 support, which the NVIDIA card completely lacks. The Pro 555 also delivers a 1:1 FP16 to FP32 ratio (1305.6 GFLOPS each), whereas the GTX 570 has no listed FP16 capability. For users running Vulkan titles or mixed-precision compute workloads, the AMD card is the clear winner despite its lower OpenCL score.

The power envelope is another decisive factor. The GTX 570 draws 219 W TDP and requires dual 6-pin power connectors and a 550 W power supply, while the Pro 555 sips just 75 W with no external power connectors. This makes the AMD card dramatically easier to integrate into a system, particularly a portable or low-power build. The GTX 570's dual-slot 267 mm length also presents physical installation challenges that the IGP-style Pro 555 avoids entirely.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct comparison available is the Geekbench OpenCL test, and it is a decisive victory for the NVIDIA card. The GTX 570 scores 13515 against the Pro 555's 11682, a 15.7% gap. This is not a marginal difference; it represents a clear performance tier separation in this specific workload. The GTX 570's advantage likely stems from its wider 320-bit memory bus and higher bandwidth of 152.0 GB/s, compared to the Pro 555's 128-bit bus and 81.60 GB/s. The NVIDIA card also has a higher texture rate (43.92 GTexel/s vs 40.80 GTexel/s) and pixel rate (21.96 GPixel/s vs 13.60 GPixel/s), though these metrics don't directly translate to OpenCL compute performance.

Interestingly, the Pro 555 shows its strength in other API-specific benchmarks not shared with the GTX 570. In Geekbench Metal, the AMD card scores 16236, which is 39% higher than its own OpenCL score and 20% higher than the GTX 570's OpenCL result. Its Vulkan score of 12303 also demonstrates respectable cross-API performance. These numbers suggest that the Pro 555's architecture is better optimized for modern, low-level APIs, even if its raw OpenCL performance lags. The near-rival data reinforces this: the GTX 570's closest competitor is the AMD Radeon HD 7770M (13536, -0.2%), while the Pro 555 sits close to the AMD Radeon HD 8950M (13376, 0.2%) and AMD Radeon RX 5500M (13356, 0.4%).

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs could not be more different in their underlying design philosophies. The GTX 570 uses NVIDIA's GF110 chip built on the Fermi 2.0 architecture, fabricated on a 40 nm process at TSMC. This is a massive die at 520 mm² with 3,000 million transistors, yielding a transistor density of only 5.8M per mm². The Pro 555, by contrast, uses AMD's Polaris 21 chip on the GCN 4.0 architecture, built on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. It packs the same 3,000 million transistors into a tiny 123 mm² die, achieving a 24.4M per mm² density — over four times the transistor density of the Fermi part.

The compute configurations differ significantly in structure. The GTX 570 fields 480 shading units, 60 TMUs, and 40 ROPs. The Pro 555 counters with 768 shading units, 48 TMUs, and only 16 ROPs. AMD's architecture relies on a larger number of simpler cores, while NVIDIA's Fermi uses fewer, more complex units. This explains the GTX 570's higher pixel rate (21.96 GPixel/s) despite having fewer shading units, as its 40 ROPs more than double the Pro 555's 16 ROPs. The texture rate is closer (43.92 vs 40.80 GTexel/s) because the GTX 570's 60 TMUs compensate for the Pro 555's 48 TMUs with higher clock speeds.

Memory subsystems also diverge sharply. The GTX 570 uses 1280 MB of GDDR5 on a 320-bit bus, achieving 152.0 GB/s bandwidth. The Pro 555 has 2 GB of GDDR5 but on a much narrower 128-bit bus, delivering only 81.60 GB/s. The GTX 570's memory clock is listed at 950 MHz (3.8 Gbps effective), while the Pro 555 runs at 1275 MHz (5.1 Gbps effective) — but the bus width difference overwhelms the clock advantage. The Pro 555's higher effective memory speed partially compensates, but the GTX 570 still holds a 86% bandwidth advantage.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has better OpenCL performance?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 wins decisively in the Geekbench OpenCL benchmark, scoring 13515 compared to the AMD Radeon Pro 555's 11682, a 15.7% advantage.

Q: Does the AMD Radeon Pro 555 support modern APIs that the GTX 570 lacks?

A: Yes. The Pro 555 supports DirectX 12 (12_0) and Vulkan 1.3, while the GTX 570 only reaches DirectX 12 (11_0) and has no Vulkan support listed. Both cards support OpenGL 4.6.

Q: How do the power requirements compare?

A: The GTX 570 has a 219 W TDP and requires 2x 6-pin power connectors plus a 550 W power supply. The Pro 555 has a 75 W TDP and uses no external power connectors, making it far easier to power.

Q: Which card has higher memory bandwidth?

A: The GTX 570 achieves 152.0 GB/s across a 320-bit bus with 1280 MB of GDDR5. The Pro 555 manages only 81.60 GB/s over a 128-bit bus, though it has a larger 2 GB capacity and faster effective memory clock (5.1 Gbps vs 3.8 Gbps).

Q: What are the physical size differences?

A: The GTX 570 is a dual-slot card measuring 267 mm (10.5 inches) in length. The Pro 555 is an IGP (integrated graphics processor) with no listed dimensions, designed for portable devices and low-profile integration.

Q: How do their compute capabilities compare in FP32 and FP16?

A: The GTX 570 delivers 1,405.4 GFLOPS FP32 with no listed FP16 support. The Pro 555 provides 1,305.6 GFLOPS FP32 and an equal 1,305.6 GFLOPS FP16 with a 1:1 ratio, making it better suited for mixed-precision workloads.

Where Each One Wins

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 wins in raw OpenCL throughput. Its 15.7% lead in the Geekbench OpenCL score is the single most important benchmark delta between these cards. The GTX 570 also excels in pixel processing, with a 21.96 GPixel/s rate that is 61% higher than the Pro 555's 13.60 GPixel/s, making it better suited for fill-rate-limited scenarios. Its superior memory bandwidth (152.0 GB/s vs 81.60 GB/s) further supports bandwidth-hungry workloads. The GTX 570's higher texture rate (43.92 vs 40.80 GTexel/s) adds another win, though a narrow one. For users locked into OpenCL-based applications, the GTX 570 is the clear choice.

AMD Radeon Pro 555 wins in API compatibility and efficiency. Its Vulkan 1.3 and DirectX 12 (12_0) support are absent from the GTX 570's feature set, making it the only viable option for modern gaming or compute workloads using those APIs. The Pro 555's Metal score of 16236 demonstrates exceptional performance in Apple's proprietary API, a metric the GTX 570 cannot even attempt. The 1:1 FP16 capability (1305.6 GFLOPS) opens up workloads in machine learning and media processing that the GTX 570 cannot handle. The 75 W TDP versus 219 W represents a 66% power reduction, which is transformative for mobile or compact systems. The Pro 555 also offers double the memory capacity (2 GB vs 1280 MB), which helps with larger datasets despite the bandwidth penalty.

The data indicates a workload-dependent split. The GTX 570 is a specialized compute tool with a narrow but effective skillset. The Pro 555 is a general-purpose modern GPU that trades peak OpenCL performance for versatility, efficiency, and future-proofing. The near-rival data confirms this: the GTX 570's closest peers are older mid-range parts like the AMD Radeon HD 7770M, while the Pro 555 competes with newer mobile GPUs like the AMD Radeon RX 5500M. In a vacuum, the GTX 570 wins the only direct benchmark, but the Pro 555's additional capabilities and drastically lower power footprint make it the more broadly useful card for contemporary systems.