AMD Radeon 780M vs AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT Comparison
AMD Radeon 780M
Radeon RX 5600 XT
PERFORMANCE BENCHMARKS
Analysis: AMD Radeon 780M vs AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT
FAQ
Q: Which GPU is faster in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test?
A: The AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT scores 1669 points, which is 247.7% higher than the AMD Radeon 780M's 480 points. This is the largest performance gap recorded in the head-to-head benchmark set.
Q: How do the two compare in Geekbench OpenCL performance?
A: The RX 5600 XT delivers 68,537 points versus 18,602 points for the 780M, a delta of 268.4% in favor of the discrete card. This is the widest margin of any shared benchmark between the two.
Q: What is the average benchmark score for each GPU?
A: The RX 5600 XT has an average benchmark score of 20,713, while the 780M averages 17,588. The RX 5600 XT also sits at the 66th percentile among all GPUs, compared to the 61st percentile for the 780M.
Q: Which GPU has a higher boost clock?
A: The 780M boosts up to 2900 MHz, while the RX 5600 XT boosts to 1560 MHz. However, the RX 5600 XT has a much higher base clock at 1130 MHz versus 800 MHz for the 780M.
Q: What are the nearest rivals for each GPU in the database?
A: The RX 5600 XT is closely matched with the AMD Radeon R9 M390X (0.2% difference), Intel Arc A750 (0.6%), Intel Arc B570 (0.8%), and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (0.9%). The 780M sits near the AMD Radeon Pro 560 (0.2%), NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 (-0.3%), AMD Radeon HD 7790 (-0.4%), and AMD Radeon Pro 460 (0.5%).
Q: Which GPU supports ray tracing?
A: The 780M includes 12 ray tracing cores and supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2). The RX 5600 XT has no ray tracing cores and lists DirectX 12 (12_1) support.
The Verdict
The data points to a clear split: the RX 5600 XT is the stronger performer across every shared benchmark, winning all three head-to-head tests. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad score is 247.7% higher, its Geekbench OpenCL result is 268.4% higher, and its Geekbench Vulkan score is 66.9% higher. For users prioritizing raw graphics throughput in traditional rendering workloads, the RX 5600 XT is the unambiguous choice.
The 780M, however, is a different class of product entirely. It is an integrated GPU (IGP) with a 15 W TDP, no power connectors, and system-shared memory. Its architecture is newer (RDNA 3.0 versus RDNA 1.0), it includes ray tracing hardware, and it supports DirectX 12 Ultimate. The 780M also holds a higher boost clock at 2900 MHz and a higher FP32 throughput at 8.909 TFLOPS versus 7.188 TFLOPS for the RX 5600 XT. But these architectural advantages do not translate into higher measured performance in the shared benchmarks. The RX 5600 XT remains ahead despite older technology.
Buyers should choose the RX 5600 XT if the goal is maximum frame rates and compute performance in a discrete card with dedicated GDDR6 memory. The 780M makes sense for systems where the GPU is integrated into the processor, power draw is minimal, and the user needs modern API features like ray tracing and DirectX 12 Ultimate without a separate card. The production status also matters: the RX 5600 XT is end-of-life, while the 780M is active and newer by roughly four years.
Head-to-Head Benchmarks
The three shared tests tell a consistent story. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, the RX 5600 XT scores 1669 compared to 480 for the 780M, a 247.7% advantage. This test stresses modern DX12 workloads and the discrete card's dedicated memory bandwidth of 288.0 GB/s appears to be a decisive factor.
Geekbench OpenCL shows the largest gap. The RX 5600 XT records 68,537 points, while the 780M posts 18,602. That is a 268.4% difference. OpenCL compute workloads benefit heavily from the RX 5600 XT's 2304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs, all far above the 780M's 768 shaders, 48 TMUs, and 32 ROPs.
Geekbench Vulkan narrows the gap somewhat but still favors the RX 5600 XT. The score is 56,218 versus 33,683, a 66.9% lead. Vulkan is generally more efficient on newer architectures, which helps the 780M close some distance, but the RX 5600 XT still wins by a substantial margin.
In terms of overall database standing, the RX 5600 XT's average benchmark score of 20,713 places it at the 66th percentile. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon R9 M390X, is only 0.2% behind, and the Intel Arc A750 and Arc B570 are within 0.6% and 0.8% respectively. The 780M's average of 17,588 puts it at the 61st percentile, with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 only 0.3% ahead and the AMD Radeon HD 7790 0.4% ahead. These percentile positions show that while the RX 5600 XT is the faster card, both sit in the middle of the GPU performance distribution.
Specification Differences
The RX 5600 XT uses the Navi 10 chip on a 7 nm process from TSMC, with 10,300 million transistors on a 251 mm² die. The 780M uses the Phoenix chip on a 4 nm process, also from TSMC, with 25,390 million transistors on a 178 mm² die. The 780M has a much higher transistor density at 142.6M per mm² versus 41.0M per mm² for the RX 5600 XT.
Memory configurations differ completely. The RX 5600 XT has 6 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus with 288.0 GB/s bandwidth. The 780M uses system-shared memory, with a system-dependent bus width and bandwidth. This is a fundamental difference in how each GPU accesses data.
Clock speeds also diverge. The RX 5600 XT runs at 1130 MHz base and 1560 MHz boost, with a game clock of 1375 MHz and memory at 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective). The 780M runs at 800 MHz base and 2900 MHz boost, with no game clock and no dedicated memory clock.
The RX 5600 XT has 2304 shading units, 144 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. The 780M has 768 shading units, 48 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. Pixel rate is 99.84 GPixel/s for the RX 5600 XT versus 92.80 GPixel/s for the 780M. Texture rate is 224.6 GTexel/s versus 139.2 GTexel/s.
FP32 performance favors the 780M at 8.909 TFLOPS, while the RX 5600 XT delivers 7.188 TFLOPS. FP16 performance is 14.38 TFLOPS (2:1) for the RX 5600 XT and 8.909 TFLOPS (1:1) for the 780M.
Power and physical requirements differ sharply. The RX 5600 XT has a 150 W TDP, is dual-slot, requires a single 8-pin power connector, and needs a 450 W suggested PSU. The 780M has a 15 W TDP, is an IGP, requires no power connectors, and has no suggested PSU. The RX 5600 XT uses a PCIe 4.0 x16 interface, while the 780M uses PCIe 4.0 x8. Display outputs are 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a on the RX 5600 XT, while the 780M is motherboard dependent.
Release timing also differs: the RX 5600 XT launched on 2020-01-20 with a 279 USD launch MSRP, while the 780M launched on 2024-01-30 with no listed MSRP. The RX 5600 XT's predecessor is Vega and its successor is Navi II. The 780M's predecessor is Navi II IGP and its successor is Navi III IGP.
Architecture Differences
The RX 5600 XT is built on RDNA 1.0, AMD's first-generation RDNA architecture. It belongs to the Navi (RX 5000) generation. The 780M uses RDNA 3.0 and is part of the Navi III IGP (Phoenix) generation. This is a two-generation architectural gap.
The process node shrinks from 7 nm to 4 nm, both at TSMC. Transistor count rises from 10,300 million to 25,390 million, while die size shrinks from 251 mm² to 178 mm². The 780M packs more than twice the transistors into a smaller area.
The 780M adds 12 ray tracing cores, a feature entirely absent from the RX 5600 XT. API support reflects this: the 780M supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the RX 5600 XT supports DirectX 12 (12_1). Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4.
FP16 processing differs significantly. The RX 5600 XT achieves 14.38 TFLOPS at a 2:1 ratio, meaning it halves the rate for FP16 compared to FP32. The 780M achieves 8.909 TFLOPS at a 1:1 ratio, meaning FP16 and FP32 run at the same rate. This reflects a different design philosophy for mixed-precision workloads.
The 780M's integrated nature shapes its entire architecture. It shares memory with the system, uses a narrower PCIe 4.0 x8 link, and has no dedicated display outputs. The RX 5600 XT is a traditional discrete card with its own GDDR6 memory, full x16 interface, and fixed display connectivity. The 780M's high boost clock of 2900 MHz and higher FP32 throughput show that RDNA 3.0 brings efficiency and clock improvements, but the RX 5600 XT's larger execution resources and dedicated memory bandwidth keep it ahead in measured performance.