AMD Radeon 8050S vs AMD Radeon RX 7800M Comparison

The AMD Radeon RX 7800M and AMD Radeon 8050S are both active mobile GPUs from AMD, but they occupy opposite ends of the performance-per-watt spectrum. The 7800M is a 180W RDNA 3.0 part with dedicated 12GB GDDR6, while the 8050S is a 55W RDNA 3.5 part with system-shared memory. Despite their average benchmark scores being nearly identical — 62360 for the 7800M versus 62108 for the 8050S, a 0.4% gap — the 7800M dominates the only direct compute comparison by a massive margin, and the two GPUs are built on fundamentally different architectures and power budgets.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only shared benchmark result is Geekbench OpenCL, and it is a blowout. The RX 7800M scores 121647, while the 8050S manages 65818 — a delta of 84.8% in favor of the 7800M. That is not a marginal edge; it is a near-doubling of compute throughput. The 8050S does have a Geekbench Vulkan score of 58398, but no Vulkan result is listed for the 7800M, so no direct comparison exists. In aggregate, the average scores are almost identical: the 7800M sits at 62360, the 8050S at 62108, with the 7800M leading by 0.4%. This tells a nuanced story: in a single compute-heavy workload, the 7800M is far ahead, but across a broader mix of tests (including the 8050S's Vulkan result), the two are essentially peers. The nearest-rival data reinforces this. The 7800M is 1.4% above the RX 6850M XT and 1.9% above the Pro W5700X, while the 8050S is 1% above the RX 6850M XT and 1.5% above the Pro W5700X. The 7800M also has a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3073, but no equivalent is listed for the 8050S, so that test cannot be compared. The headline is clear: in the one shared test, the 7800M is decisively faster; in overall average, they are within rounding error.

Where Each One Wins

The RX 7800M wins on raw compute and memory bandwidth. Its FP32 throughput is 35.87 TFLOPS versus 11.47 TFLOPS for the 8050S — a 3.1x difference. It also has 432.0 GB/s of dedicated GDDR6 bandwidth on a 192-bit bus, while the 8050S relies on system-shared memory whose bandwidth is system-dependent. Pixel rate is 224.2 GPixel/s versus 179.2 GPixel/s, and texture rate is 560.4 GTexel/s versus 358.4 GTexel/s. The 7800M packs 3840 shading units, 240 TMUs, 96 ROPs, and 60 RT cores, compared to 2048 shading units, 128 TMUs, 64 ROPs, and 32 RT cores on the 8050S. For any workload that scales with shader count, texture throughput, or memory bandwidth — OpenCL compute, rendering, or high-resolution gaming with heavy textures — the 7800M is the clear choice. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 3073, while not directly comparable, suggests strong DX12 performance.

The 8050S wins on efficiency and clock speed. Its TDP is 55W versus 180W — a 125W difference. It boosts to 2800 MHz versus 2335 MHz for the 7800M, and it is built on a newer 4nm process with RDNA 3.5, whereas the 7800M uses 5nm RDNA 3.0. The 8050S also has a PCIe 5.0 x16 interface, while the 7800M is limited to PCIe 4.0 x16. For thin-and-light laptops where power draw and thermals are paramount, the 8050S is the more sensible option, despite lower absolute performance. Its Geekbench Vulkan score of 58398 shows it can handle modern graphics APIs, though without a 7800M Vulkan result, a direct comparison is impossible. The 8050S also has no dedicated memory, which simplifies system design but means its bandwidth depends entirely on the host system's memory configuration.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs diverge at nearly every architectural level. The RX 7800M uses the Navi 32 chip on RDNA 3.0, fabricated on a 5nm TSMC process. It contains 28,100 million transistors on a 346 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 81.2M/mm². The 8050S uses the Strix Halo chip on RDNA 3.5, on a 4nm TSMC process, with a 308 mm² die; no transistor count or density is listed. The 7800M has exactly double the shading units (3840 vs 2048), TMUs (240 vs 128), and RT cores (60 vs 32), and 1.5x the ROPs (96 vs 64). Base clocks are identical at 1295 MHz, but the 8050S boosts to 2800 MHz versus 2335 MHz, and the 7800M additionally lists a game clock of 2145 MHz (the 8050S has no game clock). Memory is the biggest differentiator: the 7800M has 12GB GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus with 432.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the 8050S uses system-shared memory with system-dependent bandwidth. The 7800M's TDP is 180W, the 8050S's is 55W. Both are IGP slot width, have no power connectors, and share the same API support: DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The 7800M was released on 2024-09-10; the 8050S on 2025-01-05. These are not incremental differences — they represent two completely different design philosophies.

The Verdict

From the data, the RX 7800M is the performance leader. It wins the only head-to-head benchmark by 84.8%, has over three times the FP32 throughput, more than twice the texture rate, and dedicated memory with 432.0 GB/s bandwidth. Its average score is 0.4% higher than the 8050S, but that gap is negligible compared to the OpenCL lead. The 7800M is the choice for users who need maximum compute performance and can tolerate a 180W TDP.

The 8050S is the efficiency pick. It uses 55W, has a higher boost clock (2800 MHz), and is built on a newer 4nm RDNA 3.5 architecture. Its system-shared memory simplifies system design, and its PCIe 5.0 interface is newer. For a thin-and-light laptop where power draw is critical, the 8050S offers near-identical average scores (62108 vs 62360) while consuming 125W less. However, it cannot match the 7800M in compute-heavy tasks. The data does not support a universal winner; the choice depends on whether the user prioritizes raw performance (7800M) or efficiency and modern process (8050S).

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The RX 7800M averages 62360, while the 8050S averages 62108 — a 0.4% difference in favor of the 7800M.

Q: How large is the OpenCL performance gap?

A: The RX 7800M scores 121647 in Geekbench OpenCL, versus 65818 for the 8050S, an 84.8% advantage.

Q: What is the TDP difference?

A: The RX 7800M has a 180W TDP; the 8050S is 55W — a 125W difference.

Q: Which GPU has more shading units?

A: The RX 7800M has 3840 shading units; the 8050S has 2048.

Q: What memory does the 8050S use?

A: The 8050S uses system-shared memory with system-dependent bandwidth; the 7800M has 12GB GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus with 432.0 GB/s bandwidth