AMD Radeon HD 7790 vs AMD Radeon Pro 5700 Comparison

# Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The benchmark data between the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 and the AMD Radeon HD 7790 reveals a stark generational divide, with the Pro 5700 delivering a dominant performance in the only shared test. In Geekbench Metal, the Pro 5700 scores 60,126 points against the HD 7790's 17,666 points. That is a margin of 240.3% — the newer card is more than three times faster in this compute-oriented API test.

What makes this gap even more striking is where each card sits relative to the broader GPU landscape. The Pro 5700 holds a 62nd percentile ranking among all GPUs, while the HD 7790 sits at the 61st percentile. Despite nearly identical percentile positions, the absolute scores tell a different story — the Pro 5700's average benchmark score is 18,189, whereas the HD 7790 averages just 17,666. The percentile figures are misleading at first glance, but the data clarifies that the HD 7790's percentile is buoyed by the fact that many modern GPUs are not tested in the same legacy workloads.

Looking at the nearest rivals for each card provides additional context. The Pro 5700's average score of 18,189 places it 0.2% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile (18,159) and 0.5% ahead of the RTX 2060 SUPER (18,093). It trails the AMD Radeon RX 460 (18,373) by 1% and the Intel Arc A770M (18,383) by 1.1%. These are tight margins, suggesting the Pro 5700 competes in a crowded mid-range performance tier.

The HD 7790's average score of 17,666 puts it 0.2% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 (17,639) and 0.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon 780M (17,588). It also leads the AMD Radeon Pro 560 (17,551) by 0.7% but falls 0.7% behind the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 4000 (17,789). The fact that a 2013 card is within striking distance of modern entry-level and integrated solutions in this particular benchmark says more about the benchmark's weighting than about the HD 7790's real-world competitiveness.

The single head-to-head test result is unambiguous: the Pro 5700 wins 1-0. There are no benchmark categories where the HD 7790 emerges victorious. The delta of 240.3% in Geekbench Metal represents one of the largest performance deltas typically seen between two GPUs from different architectural eras.

# Where Each One Wins

The data shows the Radeon Pro 5700 winning in the only directly comparable benchmark, which is Geekbench Metal. This test measures GPU compute performance under Apple's Metal API, and the Pro 5700's RDNA architecture clearly excels here. For users running Metal-based applications — which includes many creative and scientific workloads on macOS platforms — the Pro 5700 is the only viable choice between these two.

The HD 7790, despite its loss, can claim victories in areas not captured by the benchmark suite. It has a much lower power requirement at 85 W versus the Pro 5700's 130 W — a 45 W difference that matters in compact builds. The HD 7790 is also a dual-slot card with a 183 mm (7.2 inches) length, making it a traditional expansion card, whereas the Pro 5700 is an integrated graphics processor (IGP) with no display outputs. For users needing a discrete card that outputs to displays, the HD 7790's 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 2x mini-DisplayPort 1.2 outputs are essential.

The HD 7790 also wins on platform compatibility in one specific way: it uses PCIe 3.0 x16, which works in older systems, while the Pro 5700 requires PCIe 4.0 x16. The Pro 5700 has no display outputs at all, meaning it is designed for compute or rendering tasks where a separate display adapter handles output. This makes the HD 7790 the only option for a system that needs both graphics output and GPU acceleration from a single card.

However, the Pro 5700 wins decisively in raw performance metrics that matter for modern workloads. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory dwarfs the HD 7790's 1 GB of GDDR5 — an eightfold capacity increase that allows for far larger datasets in GPU compute tasks. The memory bandwidth difference is equally stark: 384.0 GB/s versus 96.00 GB/s, a 4x advantage that directly impacts throughput in memory-bound operations.

# Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two GPUs spans seven years and two fundamentally different design philosophies. The Radeon Pro 5700 uses the Navi 10 chip built on RDNA 1.0 architecture, manufactured on TSMC's 7 nm process. The HD 7790 uses the Bonaire chip based on GCN 2.0 architecture, fabricated on a 28 nm process. The process node difference alone — 7 nm versus 28 nm — explains much of the efficiency and density advantage.

Transistor counts tell a dramatic story. The Navi 10 chip packs 10,300 million transistors into a 251 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 41.0M per mm². The Bonaire chip contains just 2,080 million transistors on a 160 mm² die, with a density of 13.0M per mm². The Pro 5700 has nearly five times the transistor count and three times the density, enabling far more complex compute units and features.

The compute resource allocation differs enormously. The Pro 5700 fields 2,304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units (TMUs), and 64 render output units (ROPs). The HD 7790 has 896 shading units, 56 TMUs, and just 16 ROPs. This translates to pixel rates of 86.40 GPixel/s for the Pro 5700 versus 16.00 GPixel/s for the HD 7790, and texture rates of 194.4 GTexel/s versus 56.00 GTexel/s.

Floating-point performance shows the generational leap in compute capability. The Pro 5700 delivers 6.221 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 12.44 TFLOPS of FP16 (2:1 ratio). The HD 7790 manages just 1.792 TFLOPS of FP32 and has no listed FP16 capability. This makes the Pro 5700 approximately 3.5x faster in single-precision compute and gives it a half-precision path that the older card simply lacks.

Neither card features dedicated ray tracing cores or tensor cores, so that comparison is moot. Both support DirectX 12, with the Pro 5700 at version 12_1 and the HD 7790 at 12_0. OpenGL support is identical at 4.6, but Vulkan support differs: the Pro 5700 supports Vulkan 1.4 while the HD 7790 supports Vulkan 1.2.170.

# Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every specification category. Memory capacity: 8 GB GDDR6 versus 1 GB GDDR5. Memory bus width: 256-bit versus 128-bit. Memory bandwidth: 384.0 GB/s versus 96.00 GB/s. Effective memory clock: 12 Gbps versus 6 Gbps.

Clock speeds present an interesting divergence. The Pro 5700 has a base clock of 1243 MHz and a boost clock of 1350 MHz. The HD 7790 has no base or boost clock listed in the data, only a memory clock of 1500 MHz (6 Gbps effective). The Pro 5700's memory runs at 1500 MHz with 12 Gbps effective speed.

Power and physical specifications differ substantially. The Pro 5700 has a TDP of 130 W with no power connectors (it is an IGP), while the HD 7790 has an 85 W TDP with a single 6-pin power connector. The suggested PSU ratings are 300 W for the Pro 5700 and 250 W for the HD 7790. The Pro 5700 is an integrated processor with no slot width, while the HD 7790 is a dual-slot card measuring 183 mm (7.2 inches) in length.

Bus interface: PCIe 4.0 x16 for the Pro 5700 versus PCIe 3.0 x16 for the HD 7790. Display outputs: the Pro 5700 has none, while the HD 7790 offers 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 2x mini-DisplayPort 1.2. Release dates: the Pro 5700 launched on August 3, 2020, while the HD 7790 launched on March 21, 2013. Both are end-of-life products. The HD 7790 has a listed launch MSRP of 149 USD; the Pro 5700 has no launch MSRP in the data.

# FAQ

Q: Which card has better Metal performance?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 5700 scores 60,126 in Geekbench Metal, which is 240.3% higher than the HD 7790's 17,666. The Pro 5700 is the clear winner in Metal-based workloads.

Q: Do these cards support the same APIs?

A: Both support DirectX 12 and OpenGL 4.6, but the Pro 5700 supports DirectX 12_1 and Vulkan 1.4, while the HD 7790 supports DirectX 12_0 and Vulkan 1.2.170.

Q: Can either card output video to a display?

A: Only the HD 7790 has display outputs — 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 2x mini-DisplayPort 1.2. The Pro 5700 has no display outputs and is designed for compute-only tasks.

Q: How do their memory configurations compare?

A: The Pro 5700 has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus with 384.0 GB/s bandwidth. The HD 7790 has 1 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus with 96.00 GB/s bandwidth. The Pro 5700 offers 8x the capacity and 4x the bandwidth.

Q: What is the transistor density difference?

A: The Pro 5700's Navi 10 chip has 41.0M transistors per mm² (10,300 million total on 251 mm²), while the HD 7790's Bonaire chip has 13.0M per mm² (2,080 million on 160 mm²).

Q: How does power consumption compare?

A: The Pro 5700 has a 130 W TDP with no power connectors, while the HD 7790 has an 85 W TDP with a single 6-pin connector. The suggested PSU is 300 W for the Pro 5700 and 250 W for the HD 7790.

# The Verdict

The data points to an unmistakable conclusion: the Radeon Pro 5700 is the superior performer for any compute-heavy workload. Its 240.3% lead in Geekbench Metal, combined with 8 GB of memory, 384.0 GB/s of bandwidth, and 6.221 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, makes it the only reasonable choice for GPU-accelerated tasks. The 62nd percentile ranking and its proximity to modern GPUs like the RTX 3060 Mobile and RTX 2060 SUPER confirm it remains relevant years after release.

However, the HD 7790 serves a specific niche that the Pro 5700 cannot fill. It has display outputs, a lower 85 W TDP, and works with a 250 W PSU. For a legacy system requiring a discrete graphics card with traditional video outputs, the HD 7790 is the functional option. Its 61st percentile ranking, despite the massive absolute score deficit, suggests it still handles certain workloads respectably.

Users building a compute-focused system with a separate display adapter should choose the Pro 5700. Those needing an all-in-one graphics solution with video outputs and minimal power draw should consider the HD 7790, understanding that its 1 GB memory and 1.792 TFLOPS compute will limit modern workloads. The Pro 5700 wins on performance; the HD 7790 wins on versatility in older systems. The choice depends entirely on whether the user needs display output or pure compute power.