AMD Radeon 520 Mobile DDR3

The AMD Radeon 520 Mobile DDR3 is an end-of-life mobile GPU built on the GCN 1.0 architecture. AMD is the manufacturer, and the chip is named Banks, placed within the Polaris Mobile (M500) generation. TSMC fabricated the silicon on a 28 nm process, with 690 million transistors packed into a 56 mm² die, which produces a transistor density of 12.3M / mm². The FACT PACK lists no series and no codename. Base and boost clocks are absent, but the memory clock is recorded as 1000 MHz, also expressed as 2 Gbps effective. The GPU was released on 2017-04-17 and is listed between Gem System and Navi Mobile in the database lineage. It uses a PCIe 3.0 x8 bus interface, and its display outputs are Portable Device Dependent. These details describe a small, low-power, mobile-oriented part with limited connectivity defined by the host system.

Benchmark Performance

The benchmark section of the FACT PACK is empty. No individual workload scores are provided, and the average benchmark score is 0. The only ranking data is the percentileVsAllGpus field, which places this GPU at the 50th percentile among all GPUs in the database. That position is a midpoint ranking, but it is not supported by any captured benchmark run. A percentile score of 50 with an average score of 0 should be treated as an unverified placement rather than a measured performance result.

The quantitative compute indicators come from the GPU’s fixed hardware units and peak rates. The GPU contains 320 shading units, 20 texture mapping units, and 8 ROPs. From these, the FACT PACK lists an FP32 compute rate of 659.2 GFLOPS, a texture fill rate of 20.60 GTexel/s, and a pixel fill rate of 8.240 GPixel/s. The pixel rate is tied to the 8 ROPs, and the texture rate is tied to the 20 TMUs. The FP32 figure represents the ceiling for general shader arithmetic, yet no workload data converts this ceiling into an observed frame rate.

Because the nearestRivals array is empty, there are no deltaPct values to report. This GPU cannot be described as being ahead of or behind any specific rival in the database. The 50th percentile is a broad database position, not a head-to-head comparison. The absence of benchmark scores means the Radeon 520 Mobile DDR3 is defined by theoretical limits only: 659.2 GFLOPS of FP32 compute, 20.60 GTexel/s of texture throughput, and 8.240 GPixel/s of pixel output. These are the only numerical performance anchors available.

Memory Subsystem

The memory subsystem is a defining constraint for the Radeon 520 Mobile DDR3. Video memory is 2 GB of DDR3 type. The bus width is 64 bit. The memory clock is 1000 MHz, which the FACT PACK also states as 2 Gbps effective. Combined, the 64-bit bus and the 2 Gbps effective data rate produce a memory bandwidth of 16.00 GB/s. This is a modest bandwidth figure, and the 64-bit bus is narrow compared to wider memory interfaces used in higher-end parts.

For high-resolution workloads, the 2 GB capacity places a hard limit on the amount of texture and geometry data that can reside in local video memory. The 16.00 GB/s bandwidth caps the rate at which data can be moved between the GPU and the frame buffer. High-resolution rendering tends to require both large frame buffers and high memory throughput, and this GPU is constrained on both fronts. The DDR3 type and the 64-bit bus reinforce the narrow data path. The pixel rate of 8.240 GPixel/s works within these memory limits, but the memory subsystem would likely become the bottleneck before the shading units are saturated. The FACT PACK includes no separate memory performance benchmarks, so these figures should be read as structural boundaries rather than measured workload results.

Power and Cooling

The power profile of the Radeon 520 Mobile DDR3 is defined by a 50 W TDP. The slot width is listed as IGP, meaning this is not a typical expansion card with a discrete slot bracket. The power connectors field is None, so the design requires no auxiliary PCIe power cables. The bus interface is PCIe 3.0 x8, and the display outputs are Portable Device Dependent. No suggested PSU is listed in the FACT PACK, so no external power supply recommendation is provided.

The physical dimensions fields for length, height, and width are all null. That absence is consistent with an IGP mobile part whose cooling is integrated into the host system rather than a standalone cooler. Cooling responsibility therefore falls to the host device’s thermal solution, which must handle the 50 W envelope. Because there are no auxiliary power connectors, the host must supply all required power through its own design. The 28 nm process and the 56 mm² die are the only physical production details available, and together with 690 million transistors they describe a compact chip. The data does not specify a cooler type, so no further thermal recommendation can be made.

How It Compares

The nearestRivals array for the AMD Radeon 520 Mobile DDR3 is empty. There are no rival names, scores, or deltaPct values in the FACT PACK. As a result, there is no direct numerical comparison to any other GPU. The comparison context is limited to the lineage fields: the predecessor is Gem System, and the successor is Navi Mobile. These entries provide a sequence but not a performance relationship. No deltas are supplied for either adjacent entry.

The release date of 2017-04-17 gives a temporal anchor. The production status is end-of-life, which may explain the absence of active comparisons. The 50th percentile placement is a general database position, not a rival comparison. Without nearest rivals, no statement about being faster or slower than a specific product can be made from the data. The only defensible comparison is positional: this GPU sits in the middle of the all-GPU distribution and between Gem System and Navi Mobile in its own database lineage.

Ray Tracing and Feature Set

The FACT PACK lists no RT cores and no tensor cores. Dedicated ray tracing hardware and tensor acceleration are therefore not part of the recorded specification. The feature set is defined instead by API support. The GPU supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. These APIs enable modern graphics workloads at the software level, but they do not indicate hardware ray tracing capability.

The architecture is GCN 1.0, and the generation is Polaris Mobile (M500). The chip name is Banks. The bus interface is PCIe 3.0 x8. The display outputs are Portable Device Dependent, meaning the GPU does not impose a fixed set of ports; the host portable device defines them. The lack of RT core and tensor core entries means the GPU is limited to conventional shader, texture, and pixel work. The recorded FP32 rate of 659.2 GFLOPS is the available compute resource for such workloads. The API list is the only software-facing feature set provided, and it does not bridge the missing hardware acceleration blocks.

Who Should Consider It

The Radeon 520 Mobile DDR3 is best suited for a lightweight mobile system that can tolerate a 2 GB memory frame and a 16.00 GB/s bandwidth ceiling. The 50 W TDP and IGP form factor point toward an integrated-style installation rather than a performance-oriented desktop build. The 50th percentile placement suggests mid-range standing in the database, but the average benchmark score of 0 means no measured workload confirms that ranking. Therefore, any recommendation must be grounded in the memory and power facts rather than in game benchmarks.

Users who need OpenGL 4.6 or Vulkan 1.2.170 support in a low-power mobile part will find the API list present. Users who need large frame buffers or high memory throughput will not be served by the 2 GB capacity and 64-bit bus. The PCIe 3.0 x8 interface is broad enough for this memory configuration, and the absence of power connectors means the host supplies all power. For workloads that fit within 2 GB and 16.00 GB/s, the 320 shading units and 659.2 GFLOPS provide a theoretical baseline. For anything more demanding, the memory subsystem becomes the limiting factor. The GPU is end-of-life, and the database records Navi Mobile as its successor, which is the only forward-looking comparison available in the FACT PACK.