AMD Radeon 890M vs AMD Radeon RX 6500M Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The benchmark data presents a clear split between these two AMD graphics solutions. The AMD Radeon RX 6500M wins three of the nine recorded tests, while the AMD Radeon 890M takes six. However, the margins of victory tell a more nuanced story than the raw win count.

The RX 6500M's most decisive victory comes in the Passmark DirectX 10 test, where it scores 52 against the 890M's 33, a massive 57.6% advantage. This is the single largest delta in either direction across the entire comparison. The RX 6500M also leads in the Geekbench Vulkan test with 43837 versus 40808, a 7.4% edge, and in Geekbench OpenCL with 38586 versus 37254, a 3.6% margin. These wins indicate that the RX 6500M retains a meaningful advantage in certain compute and legacy DirectX workloads, even though it is an end-of-life product from the Radeon RX 6000 series.

The AMD Radeon 890M counters with a broader but often narrower set of wins. Its largest victory is in Passmark G2D, where it scores 979 against the RX 6500M's 385, a 60.7% gap. This is the single biggest difference in the entire dataset, and it highlights a fundamental strength in 2D graphics throughput. The 890M also dominates Passmark GPU Compute with 4157 versus 2669, a 35.8% lead, suggesting substantially better general-purpose compute performance. In the Passmark G3D test, the 890M scores 8076 against 7531, a 6.7% advantage, which is the most relevant result for mainstream 3D rendering.

The remaining wins for the 890M are smaller but consistent. It leads in Passmark DirectX 11 by 4.1% (73 vs 70), DirectX 12 by 8.1% (37 vs 34), and DirectX 9 by 5.2% (97 vs 92). These results show that the 890M is the more balanced performer across the DirectX API family, while the RX 6500M's single DirectX 10 win stands out as an outlier rather than a pattern.

Looking at the overall averages, the RX 6500M posts an average benchmark score of 10362, placing it in the 48th percentile of all GPUs. The 890M averages 9210, which puts it in the 45th percentile. This is a notable inversion: the RX 6500M has the higher average and percentile, yet it loses the head-to-head win count. The explanation lies in the magnitude of the 890M's wins. Its G2D and compute victories are so large that they drag down the RX 6500M's overall standing, even though the RX 6500M wins the two Geekbench tests that are often weighted more heavily in synthetic rankings.

The nearest rival data reinforces this divergence. The RX 6500M sits within 2.1% of the AMD Radeon R9 M275X (10481), 1.1% of the AMD Radeon RX 550X (10481), and 0.9% of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950A (10273). It is nearly tied with the NVIDIA Tesla C2075 at 10400, trailing by just 0.4%. The 890M, by contrast, is essentially neck-and-neck with the AMD Radeon Vega 8 (9221, within 0.1%), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 (9273, trailing by 0.7%), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 465 (9294, trailing by 0.9%), and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M (9302, trailing by 1.0%). This means the RX 6500M competes in a slightly higher performance tier, while the 890M sits at the edge of a lower tier, despite its newer architecture.

The Verdict

The data supports a straightforward conclusion: the AMD Radeon RX 6500M is the stronger overall GPU for raw compute and legacy DirectX 10 workloads, while the AMD Radeon 890M is the better choice for modern 2D, 3D, and compute tasks when considering its wins across six test categories.

For users prioritizing Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan scores, the RX 6500M is the clear pick. It leads by 3.6% and 7.4% respectively, and its average score of 10362 against 9210 puts it nearly 12% ahead in the aggregate. The RX 6500M's 48th percentile ranking versus the 890M's 45th percentile confirms that it sits higher in the overall GPU distribution.

However, the 890M's wins are not trivial. Its 60.7% lead in G2D is a categorical difference, not a marginal one. Its 35.8% lead in GPU compute is similarly decisive. And its 6.7% edge in G3D means that for actual gaming and 3D rendering, the 890M will deliver visibly better performance. The fact that the 890M wins four of the five Passmark DirectX tests (11, 12, 9) and loses only DirectX 10 by a wide margin suggests it is the more future-proof option for DirectX 12 Ultimate titles.

The verdict for different use cases is clear. If the workload is compute-heavy, 2D desktop rendering, or modern DirectX 12 gaming, the AMD Radeon 890M is the superior choice. If the workload involves Vulkan API calls, OpenCL compute, or legacy DirectX 10 applications, the AMD Radeon RX 6500M holds the advantage. The RX 6500M is end-of-life, while the 890M is active, which may influence long-term driver support, but the recorded data does not quantify that factor. For a neutral recommendation based solely on the benchmark results, the 890M wins more tests and wins the most important modern ones, making it the better overall pick despite the RX 6500M's higher average score.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6500M has an average benchmark score of 10362, while the AMD Radeon 890M averages 9210. The RX 6500M also holds a higher percentile ranking at 48 versus 45.

Q: How large is the 890M's lead in 2D performance?

A: The AMD Radeon 890M scores 979 in the Passmark G2D test, which is 60.7% higher than the RX 6500M's score of 385. This is the largest delta in any test between the two.

Q: Does the RX 6500M win any compute tests?

A: Yes, the RX 6500M wins Geekbench OpenCL with a score of 38586 versus 37254, a 3.6% lead. However, the 890M wins Passmark GPU Compute with 4157 versus 2669, a 35.8% advantage.

Q: Which GPU performs better in DirectX 12?

A: The AMD Radeon 890M wins the Passmark DirectX 12 test with a score of 37 against the RX 6500M's 34, an 8.1% difference. The 890M also leads in DirectX 9 and DirectX 11, while the RX 6500M only wins DirectX 10.

Q: How does the 890M compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The 890M is within 1% of the AMD Radeon Vega 8 (9221, -0.1%), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 (9273, -0.7%), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 465 (9294, -0.9%), and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M (9302, -1.0%).

Q: What is the production status of each GPU?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6500M is listed as end-of-life, while the AMD Radeon 890M is listed as active production.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ in several core specifications. The AMD Radeon RX 6500M uses the Navi 24 chip with an RDNA 2.0 architecture, while the AMD Radeon 890M uses the Strix Point chip with an RDNA 3.5 architecture. The RX 6500M is built on a 6 nm process, whereas the 890M uses a 4 nm process. Both are manufactured by TSMC.

The RX 6500M has 5,400 million transistors on a 107 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 50.5M per mm². The 890M has 34,000 million transistors on a 233 mm² die, with a density of 145.9M per mm². Clock speeds differ substantially: the RX 6500M has a base clock of 2000 MHz and a boost clock of 2400 MHz, while the 890M has a base clock of 400 MHz and a boost clock of 2900 MHz. The RX 6500M also has a game clock of 2191 MHz, which the 890M does not list.

Memory configurations are fundamentally different. The RX 6500M has 4 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 64-bit bus, delivering 144.0 GB/s of bandwidth, with a memory clock of 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective). The 890M uses system shared memory, with the type, bus width, and bandwidth all listed as system dependent.

The RX 6500M has a TDP of 50 W, while the 890M has a TDP of 15 W. Both are IGP slot width with no power connectors. The bus interface differs: the RX 6500M uses PCIe 4.0 x4, while the 890M uses PCIe 4.0 x8. Pixel rate and texture rate also differ, with the RX 6500M at 76.80 GPixel/s and 153.6 GTexel/s, versus the 890M at 92.80 GPixel/s and 185.6 GTexel/s. The release dates are 2022-01-03 for the RX 6500M and 2024-07-14 for the 890M.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between the two is significant. The RX 6500M is based on RDNA 2.0, the architecture used in the Radeon RX 6000 series, while the 890M uses RDNA 3.5, a newer design. Both have 1024 shading units, 64 texture mapping units, 32 raster operation units, and 16 ray tracing cores. Neither has tensor cores listed.

The process node difference is notable: 6 nm versus 4 nm. This allows the 890M to pack 34,000 million transistors into a 233 mm² die, despite being an integrated graphics solution, while the RX 6500M has only 5,400 million transistors on a smaller 107 mm² die. The transistor density jumps from 50.5M per mm² to 145.9M per mm², indicating a much more compact design in the 890M.

FP32 performance differs as well. The RX 6500M delivers 4.915 TFLOPS, while the 890M delivers 5.939 TFLOPS. FP16 performance is where they diverge architecturally: the RX 6500M provides 9.830 TFLOPS with a 2:1 ratio, while the 890M provides 5.939 TFLOPS with a 1:1 ratio. This means the RX 6500M has a dedicated FP16 path that doubles throughput, whereas the 890M does not.

Both support DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The 890M uses system shared memory rather than dedicated VRAM, which is a fundamental architectural difference for an integrated GPU. The RX 6500M is a discrete mobile GPU with dedicated GDDR6 memory. The 890M's predecessor is listed as Navi II IGP, while the RX 6500M's predecessor is Polaris Mobile. The RX 6500M is end-of-life; the 890M is active.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon RX 6500M wins in scenarios that leverage its Geekbench performance and its DirectX 10 capability. Specifically, it wins Geekbench OpenCL by 3.6% and Geekbench Vulkan by 7.4%, making it the better choice for applications that rely on these APIs. Its 57.6% lead in Passmark DirectX 10 means any legacy workload using that API will run significantly better on the RX 6500M. Its higher average score of 10362 and 48th percentile ranking also make it the stronger option for synthetic benchmark comparisons and for users who value a higher aggregate score.

The AMD Radeon 890M wins in nearly every other measured category. Its 60.7% lead in Passmark G2D makes it the clear choice for 2D desktop rendering, UI compositing, and any workload that stresses 2D throughput. Its 35.8% lead in Passmark GPU Compute indicates superior general-purpose compute performance, useful for tasks like video encoding, physics simulation, or other non-graphics compute. Its 6.7% lead in Passmark G3D means it is the better GPU for mainstream 3D rendering and gaming, despite the RX 6500M's higher average. The 890M also wins DirectX 11 by 4.1%, DirectX 12 by 8.1%, and DirectX 9 by 5.2%, making it the more versatile option for modern gaming APIs.

The use-case split is therefore clear: the RX 6500M is for Vulkan-heavy, OpenCL-heavy, or DirectX 10-specific workloads, while the 890M is for everything else, including 2D, 3D, compute, and the full range of modern DirectX versions. The 890M's lower TDP of 15 W versus 50 W also makes it more suitable for power-constrained systems, even though the recorded data does not include efficiency benchmarks. For a user who plays modern DirectX 12 games, the 890M is the better pick. For a user running legacy DirectX 10 applications or Vulkan-based software, the RX 6500M retains a measurable edge.