AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 Mobile

AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 Mobile

AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 Mobile: Compact Graphics for Basic Tasks and Casual Gaming

April 2025


Introduction

In an era where even budget laptops strive to deliver decent performance, the integrated AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 Mobile graphics remains a relevant solution for those seeking a balance between price and capabilities. Despite the emergence of newer APU (Accelerated Processing Unit) series from AMD, such as the Ryzen 8000 series, Vega 11 continues to be utilized in affordable ultrabooks and compact devices. In this article, we will explore who might benefit from this graphics card in 2025 and what tasks it is capable of handling.


Architecture and Key Features

Vega Architecture: A Legacy of the Past

The RX Vega 11 Mobile is built on the Vega architecture, which debuted in 2017. By 2025, it is manufactured using an improved 7nm process node (originally 14nm), which has allowed for reduced power consumption and improved thermal output. The graphics are integrated into Ryzen 5 processors of the 3000 to 5000 series, which are still found in budget laptops priced from $500.

Key Features:

- Radeon FidelityFX — a set of tools for image enhancement (contrast sharpening, upscaling).

- FreeSync — support for adaptive synchronization for smooth gaming experiences.

- Lack of Hardware Ray Tracing — ray tracing is possible only through software APIs (DirectX 12 Ultimate), but with low performance.


Memory: Dependency on System RAM

Type and Amount:

Vega 11 does not have dedicated video memory—it uses the laptop's RAM (up to 2GB of dynamically allocated VRAM). A configuration with dual-channel DDR4-3200 MHz or LPDDR5-5500 MHz is recommended to increase bandwidth.

Bandwidth:

- With DDR4-3200: up to 51.2 GB/s (in dual-channel mode).

- With LPDDR5-5500: up to 88 GB/s.

The faster the RAM, the higher the FPS in games. For example, switching from single-channel DDR4-2400 to dual-channel DDR4-3200 can yield up to a 30% increase in performance in projects like Fortnite.


Gaming Performance: Modest Capabilities

Vega 11 Mobile is suitable for less demanding games and older titles. Here are FPS metrics at 1080p (settings—low/medium):

- CS:GO — 90–110 FPS.

- Valorant — 70–90 FPS.

- GTA V — 45–55 FPS.

- Cyberpunk 2077 — 20–25 FPS (with FSR 2.0 in "Performance" mode).

Supported Resolutions:

- 1080p — optimal for most games.

- 1440p and 4K — only suitable for less demanding strategies or indie projects (e.g. Stardew Valley).

Ray Tracing:

There is no hardware ray tracing available. Software implementation (through DirectX 12) reduces FPS by 2-3 times, making it impractical.


Professional Tasks: Basic Level

Vega 11 can handle light workloads:

- Video Editing: Editing videos in 1080p using DaVinci Resolve or Premiere Pro (with hardware acceleration enabled). Rendering complex projects will take a long time.

- 3D Modeling: Work in Blender is possible, but for complex scenes, a discrete GPU is preferred.

- Scientific Calculations: Support for OpenCL allows the graphics to be used in machine learning or physics simulations, but performance is limited.

Tip: For professional tasks, choose laptops with discrete GPUs (e.g., NVIDIA RTX 3050 Mobile).


Power Consumption and Thermal Output

- TDP of the processor with Vega 11: 15–25 W (depending on the CPU model).

- Thermal Output: Moderate. Laptops with passive cooling may overheat under prolonged loads.

Recommendations:

- Choose devices with at least one fan and copper heat pipes.

- Avoid ultra-thin cases less than 15mm thick for gaming as they do not provide sufficient cooling.


Comparison with Competitors

1. Intel Iris Xe (in Core i5-1235U):

- Better optimized for creative tasks.

- Comparable in gaming but requires DDR5.

- Laptop prices: starting from $600.

2. NVIDIA GeForce MX550:

- 15–20% faster in games.

- Supports DLSS, but is pricier (laptops from $700).

3. AMD Radeon 780M (in Ryzen 7 8840U):

- Newer, 50% more performance.

- Laptops from $800.

Conclusion: Vega 11 lags behind modern alternatives but excels in affordability.


Practical Tips

1. RAM: Minimum of 16 GB DDR4-3200 in dual-channel.

2. Drivers: Update through AMD Adrenalin—optimizations for new games are still being released.

3. Game Settings: Use FSR 2.0/3.0 to increase FPS.

4. Power Supply: A standard 65W adapter is sufficient.


Pros and Cons

Pros:

- Low laptop prices (from $500).

- Energy efficiency.

- Support for modern APIs (DirectX 12, Vulkan).

Cons:

- Weak performance in AAA games.

- Dependency on RAM speed.

- No hardware ray tracing.


Final Conclusion: Who is Vega 11 Mobile For?

This graphics solution is suitable for those who:

- Seek an affordable laptop for study, office work, and light gaming.

- Don't want to pay a premium for discrete GPUs.

- Value battery life—systems with Vega 11 often run 6–8 hours on battery.

If your tasks are limited to web surfing, document work, and occasional gaming sessions in CS:GO or Minecraft, then Vega 11 Mobile will be a reliable companion. However, for serious gaming or professional work, consider devices with GPUs like the RTX 4050 or Radeon 780M.


Prices are current as of April 2025. The stated cost refers to new devices.

Basic

Label Name
AMD
Platform
Integrated
Launch Date
October 2019
Model Name
Radeon RX Vega 11 Mobile
Generation
Picasso
Base Clock
300MHz
Boost Clock
1400MHz
Bus Interface
IGP
Transistors
4,940 million
Compute Units
11
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.
44
Foundry
GlobalFoundries
Process Size
14 nm
Architecture
GCN 5.0

Memory Specifications

Memory Size
System Shared
Memory Type
System Shared
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.
System Shared
Memory Clock
SystemShared
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.
System Dependent

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.
11.20 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.
61.60 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.
3.942 TFLOPS
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.
123.2 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.
2.01 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.
704
TDP
15W
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_1)
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.
8

Benchmarks

FP32 (float)
Score
2.01 TFLOPS
3DMark Time Spy
Score
1222

Compared to Other GPU

FP32 (float) / TFLOPS
2.148 +6.9%
2.064 +2.7%
1.976 -1.7%
1.932 -3.9%
3DMark Time Spy
5182 +324.1%
3906 +219.6%
2755 +125.5%
1769 +44.8%