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AMD Radeon Pro 455

AMD Radeon Pro 455: A Professional Tool in the World of Graphics

April 2025

Introduction

The AMD Radeon Pro 455 is a professional graphics card released in 2016, yet it remains relevant for niche tasks even today. Despite being nearly a decade old, it continues to be a choice for users who value a balance of energy efficiency and stability in their workflows. In this article, we will explore who this card is suitable for in 2025 and how it compares to modern counterparts.

1. Architecture and Key Features

Polaris Architecture and 14nm Process Technology

The Radeon Pro 455 is built on the Polaris architecture (GCN 4.0) and manufactured using GlobalFoundries' 14nm process technology. This ensures moderate performance with low heat output. Key features include:

- AMD FidelityFX – A set of tools for visual enhancement (contrast adaptive sharpening, post-processing).

- Support for OpenCL 2.0 and Vulkan API – Relevant for professional applications and cross-platform development.

- DisplayPort 1.4 – Supports output of 4K@60Hz or 5K via MST.

Lack of Hardware Ray Tracing

Like all Polaris cards, the Pro 455 does not support ray tracing. For tasks that require RTX, a more modern solution will be necessary (such as the Radeon RX 7000 series or NVIDIA RTX 4000).

2. Memory: Modest, yet Sufficient for Basic Tasks

- Type and Amount: 2 GB GDDR5 with a 128-bit bus.

- Bandwidth: 80 GB/s.

- Impact on Performance: For editing 1080p video or working with low-complexity 3D models, the memory is adequate; however, 4K editing or heavy simulations may lead to bottlenecks. In gaming, the amount of VRAM limits texture settings (for example, in Cyberpunk 2077, Low/Medium settings will be necessary).

3. Gaming Performance: Modest Results

Example FPS (1080p, Medium Settings):

- CS:GO – 90-110 FPS.

- Dota 2 – 70-80 FPS.

- Red Dead Redemption 2 – 20-25 FPS (Low).

- Hogwarts Legacy (2023) – 15-20 FPS (Low).

Resolutions Above 1080p:

- 1440p: Only for less demanding projects (indie games, older AAA titles).

- 4K: Not recommended — frequent drops below 30 FPS even at minimum settings.

Ray Tracing: Not supported. The card is unsuitable for games featuring RTX (e.g., Alan Wake 2).

4. Professional Tasks: Primary Specialization

Video Editing:

- In Adobe Premiere Pro (with rendering via OpenCL), it handles 1080p/30fps editing well, but 4K or effects may cause lag.

3D Modeling:

- In Blender and AutoCAD, it maintains stability with simple scenes. For complex projects, it is better to use cards with 8+ GB of memory (e.g., Radeon Pro W6600).

Scientific Calculations:

- Support for OpenCL allows the GPU to be utilized in MATLAB or GROMACS, but performance lags behind modern Ryzen 8000 series APUs.

Comparison with CUDA:

NVIDIA Quadro (e.g., P1000) outperforms in tasks optimized for CUDA (e.g., Maya, TensorFlow), but the Pro 455 is suitable for budget workstations on macOS/Linux.

5. Power Consumption and Thermal Output

- TDP: 35W — one of the most energy-efficient professional cards.

- Cooling: Passive or with a compact fan. Noise levels are minimal.

- Case Recommendations: A compact case with basic ventilation (e.g., Fractal Design Node 304) is suitable.

6. Comparison with Competitors

AMD:

- Radeon Pro WX 3100 (4 GB GDDR5) – Slightly better performance, but priced at $200 compared to $150 for the Pro 455 (in the secondary market).

NVIDIA:

- Quadro P600 (2 GB GDDR5) – Similar specs, but better optimized for CUDA.

Intel:

- Intel Arc Pro A40 – More modern architecture, AV1 support, but drivers are less stable.

In 2025, the Pro 455 is a choice for those looking for a used card under $100 for basic tasks. Newer alternatives (e.g., Radeon Pro W6400) will cost $250+.

7. Practical Tips

- Power Supply: A 300W unit is sufficient (the card does not require additional power).

- Compatibility:

- macOS: Support in Mac Pro models from 2016 to 2019.

- Windows/Linux: Drivers available through AMD Pro Software (version 2024Q2 recommended).

- Drivers: Update only through official channels — third-party mods may disrupt stability.

8. Pros and Cons

Pros:

- Low power consumption.

- Quiet operation.

- Stable drivers for professional applications.

- Compatibility with macOS.

Cons:

- Weak gaming performance.

- Only 2 GB of VRAM.

- Outdated architecture without support for modern technologies (Ray Tracing, AI upscaling).

9. Final Conclusion: Who is the Radeon Pro 455 For?

This graphics card is suitable for:

1. Budget Workstations: 1080p editing, 2D graphics work, light 3D tasks.

2. macOS Users: For older Mac Pro models or Hackintoshes.

3. Compact Build Enthusiasts: Thanks to low TDP and small size.

Reasons Not to Buy:

- For gaming — even budget Radeon RX 6400 ($130) is 2-3 times faster.

- For complex 3D rendering or machine learning — more memory and modern architectures are required.

Price in 2025: New units are virtually non-existent, but on the secondary market, the card can be found for $50-80.

Conclusion:

The AMD Radeon Pro 455 is an example of a "workhorse" that, despite its age, finds its niche. It won't impress in gaming or heavy projects, but it will serve as a reliable assistant for basic professional tasks.

Basic

Label Name

AMD

Platform

Mobile

Launch Date

October 2016

Model Name

Radeon Pro 455

Generation

Radeon Pro Mac

Bus Interface

PCIe 3.0 x8

Transistors

3,000 million

Compute Units

TMUs

Texture Mapping Units (TMUs) serve as components of the GPU, which are capable of rotating, scaling, and distorting binary images, and then placing them as textures onto any plane of a given 3D model. This process is called texture mapping.

Foundry

GlobalFoundries

Process Size

14 nm

Architecture

GCN 4.0

Memory Specifications

Memory Size

2GB

Memory Type

GDDR5

Memory Bus

The memory bus width refers to the number of bits of data that the video memory can transfer within a single clock cycle. The larger the bus width, the greater the amount of data that can be transmitted instantaneously, making it one of the crucial parameters of video memory. The memory bandwidth is calculated as: Memory Bandwidth = Memory Frequency x Memory Bus Width / 8. Therefore, when the memory frequencies are similar, the memory bus width will determine the size of the memory bandwidth.

128bit

Memory Clock

1270MHz

Bandwidth

Memory bandwidth refers to the data transfer rate between the graphics chip and the video memory. It is measured in bytes per second, and the formula to calculate it is: memory bandwidth = working frequency × memory bus width / 8 bits.

81.28 GB/s

Theoretical Performance

Pixel Rate

Pixel fill rate refers to the number of pixels a graphics processing unit (GPU) can render per second, measured in MPixels/s (million pixels per second) or GPixels/s (billion pixels per second). It is the most commonly used metric to evaluate the pixel processing performance of a graphics card.

13.68 GPixel/s

Texture Rate

Texture fill rate refers to the number of texture map elements (texels) that a GPU can map to pixels in a single second.

41.04 GTexel/s

FP16 (half)

An important metric for measuring GPU performance is floating-point computing capability. Half-precision floating-point numbers (16-bit) are used for applications like machine learning, where lower precision is acceptable. Single-precision floating-point numbers (32-bit) are used for common multimedia and graphics processing tasks, while double-precision floating-point numbers (64-bit) are required for scientific computing that demands a wide numeric range and high accuracy.

1313 GFLOPS

FP64 (double)

An important metric for measuring GPU performance is floating-point computing capability. Double-precision floating-point numbers (64-bit) are required for scientific computing that demands a wide numeric range and high accuracy, while single-precision floating-point numbers (32-bit) are used for common multimedia and graphics processing tasks. Half-precision floating-point numbers (16-bit) are used for applications like machine learning, where lower precision is acceptable.

82.08 GFLOPS

FP32 (float)

An important metric for measuring GPU performance is floating-point computing capability. Single-precision floating-point numbers (32-bit) are used for common multimedia and graphics processing tasks, while double-precision floating-point numbers (64-bit) are required for scientific computing that demands a wide numeric range and high accuracy. Half-precision floating-point numbers (16-bit) are used for applications like machine learning, where lower precision is acceptable.

1.339 TFLOPS

Miscellaneous

Shading Units

The most fundamental processing unit is the Streaming Processor (SP), where specific instructions and tasks are executed. GPUs perform parallel computing, which means multiple SPs work simultaneously to process tasks.

768

L1 Cache

16 KB (per CU)

L2 Cache

1024KB

TDP

35W

Vulkan Version

Vulkan is a cross-platform graphics and compute API by Khronos Group, offering high performance and low CPU overhead. It lets developers control the GPU directly, reduces rendering overhead, and supports multi-threading and multi-core processors.

1.2

OpenCL Version

2.1

OpenGL

4.6

DirectX

12 (12_0)

Power Connectors

None

Shader Model

6.4

ROPs

The Raster Operations Pipeline (ROPs) is primarily responsible for handling lighting and reflection calculations in games, as well as managing effects like anti-aliasing (AA), high resolution, smoke, and fire. The more demanding the anti-aliasing and lighting effects in a game, the higher the performance requirements for the ROPs; otherwise, it may result in a sharp drop in frame rate.

Benchmarks

FP32 (float)

Score

1.339 TFLOPS

OpenCL

Score

11291

Compared to Other GPU

FP32 (float) / TFLOPS

Radeon RX 550X 640SP

1.398 +4.4%

Radeon HD 7720 OEM

1.371 +2.4%

Radeon Pro 455

1.339

GeForce GTX 480

1.318 -1.6%

Radeon HD 6970M Mac Edition

1.28 -4.4%

OpenCL

Radeon RX 6700S

62821 +456.4%

Radeon Pro 5300

38843 +244%

Radeon R9 M290X

21442 +89.9%

Radeon Pro 455

11291

Radeon HD 5750

884 -92.2%