AMD Radeon Pro 455 vs AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT Comparison

The Verdict

The benchmark data positions the AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT as the clear performance leader in every recorded head-to-head test. Across the three shared workloads (Geekbench Metal, OpenCL, and Vulkan), the RX 5500 XT wins all three, with deltas ranging from 244.6% to 354.4%. The Radeon Pro 455, by contrast, trails substantially in every metric where both are measured. The RX 5500 XT also holds a higher average benchmark score (14692 versus 12831) and a better percentile rank among all GPUs (57th versus 52nd). Buyers seeking maximum compute and graphics throughput should select the RX 5500 XT without hesitation. The Pro 455, however, remains relevant only for legacy systems or specialized mobile form factors that require an MXM module with no external power connectors, a niche the RX 5500 XT does not serve due to its dual-slot design and 8-pin power requirement. For any general desktop workload, the data favors the RX 5500 XT decisively.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different architectural generations and manufacturing processes. The RX 5500 XT uses the Navi 14 chip built on RDNA 1.0, fabricated at TSMC on a 7 nm process node. It integrates 6,400 million transistors on a 158 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 40.5 million transistors per square millimeter. The Pro 455 uses the Baffin chip built on GCN 4.0, fabricated at GlobalFoundries on a 14 nm process node. It integrates 3,000 million transistors on a 123 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 24.4 million transistors per square millimeter. This means the RX 5500 XT packs more than twice the transistor count into a slightly larger die, a direct consequence of the denser 7 nm process.

The architectural shift from GCN 4.0 to RDNA 1.0 also changes the compute unit organization and instruction scheduling. The RX 5500 XT features 1,408 shading units, 88 texture mapping units, and 32 render output units. The Pro 455 features 768 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 16 render output units. The RX 5500 XT doubles the ROP count and nearly doubles the TMU count, which explains its much higher pixel rate (59.04 GPixel/s versus 13.68 GPixel/s) and texture rate (162.4 GTexel/s versus 41.04 GTexel/s). The FP32 throughput is also dramatically different: the RX 5500 XT delivers 5.196 TFLOPS, while the Pro 455 delivers 1,313.3 GFLOPS (roughly 1.31 TFLOPS). Notably, the RX 5500 XT achieves FP16 at a 2:1 ratio (10.39 TFLOPS), whereas the Pro 455 runs FP16 at a 1:1 ratio (1,313.3 GFLOPS), meaning the newer architecture dedicates more hardware to half-precision math.

Memory subsystems also diverge sharply. The RX 5500 XT uses 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus with a bandwidth of 224.0 GB/s, while the Pro 455 uses 2 GB of GDDR5 on the same 128-bit bus but with only 81.28 GB/s bandwidth. The memory clock for the RX 5500 XT is listed as 1750 MHz with 14 Gbps effective, while the Pro 455 runs at 1270 MHz with 5.1 Gbps effective. The RX 5500 XT also supports PCIe 4.0 x8, whereas the Pro 455 uses PCIe 3.0 x8. Both support DirectX 12 (the RX 5500 XT at 12_1, the Pro 455 at 12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan (RX 5500 XT at 1.4, Pro 455 at 1.3). Neither has ray tracing or tensor cores.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded head-to-head data covers three Geekbench workloads, and the RX 5500 XT wins every one by a wide margin. In Geekbench Metal, the RX 5500 XT scores 54,842 against the Pro 455's 15,916, a delta of 244.6%. This is the smallest of the three gaps, yet it still represents a more than threefold advantage in Apple's Metal API performance. The OpenCL result is even more lopsided: the RX 5500 XT scores 46,965 versus 10,336, a delta of 354.4%. This indicates that the RX 5500 XT's compute-heavy architecture, with its higher shader count and faster memory, delivers over four and a half times the raw OpenCL throughput of the Pro 455. The Vulkan test shows a similar pattern: the RX 5500 XT scores 44,191 versus 12,240, a delta of 261%. In all three cases, the winner is the RX 5500 XT, and the database records 3 wins for it and 0 for the Pro 455.

These deltas far exceed what the architectural differences alone would suggest. The RX 5500 XT has roughly 1.83 times the shading units (1408 versus 768) and 2.76 times the memory bandwidth (224.0 GB/s versus 81.28 GB/s), yet its benchmark advantage ranges from 244.6% to 354.4%. Part of this comes from clock speed: the RX 5500 XT has a base clock of 1607 MHz, a boost clock of 1845 MHz, and a game clock of 1717 MHz, while the Pro 455 has no recorded base, boost, or game clocks in the database, indicating a fixed-clock mobile part. The combination of higher clocks, newer architecture, and wider memory interface explains why the RX 5500 XT's lead is so pronounced. The Pro 455's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Quadro M2000 (delta 1.1% from the Pro 455's average) and the AMD Radeon 740M (delta -0.3%), but neither comes close to the RX 5500 XT's performance tier.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ on nearly every specification field. Process node: 7 nm (RX 5500 XT) versus 14 nm (Pro 455). Foundry: TSMC versus GlobalFoundries. Transistors: 6,400 million versus 3,000 million. Die size: 158 mm² versus 123 mm². Transistor density: 40.5M per mm² versus 24.4M per mm². Base clock: 1607 MHz versus none recorded. Boost clock: 1845 MHz versus none recorded. Game clock: 1717 MHz versus none recorded. Memory clock: 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) versus 1270 MHz (5.1 Gbps effective). Memory size: 4 GB versus 2 GB. Memory type: GDDR6 versus GDDR5. Memory bandwidth: 224.0 GB/s versus 81.28 GB/s. Shading units: 1408 versus 768. TMUs: 88 versus 48. ROPs: 32 versus 16. Pixel rate: 59.04 GPixel/s versus 13.68 GPixel/s. Texture rate: 162.4 GTexel/s versus 41.04 GTexel/s. FP32: 5.196 TFLOPS versus 1,313.3 GFLOPS. FP16: 10.39 TFLOPS (2:1) versus 1,313.3 GFLOPS (1:1). TDP: 130 W versus 35 W. Slot width: Dual-slot versus MXM Module. Power connectors: 1x 8-pin versus None. Suggested PSU: 300 W versus none recorded. Bus interface: PCIe 4.0 x8 versus PCIe 3.0 x8. Display outputs: 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a versus Portable Device Dependent. DirectX support: 12 (12_1) versus 12 (12_0). Vulkan support: 1.4 versus 1.3. Release date: 2019-12-11 versus 2016-10-29. The RX 5500 XT has a launch MSRP of 169 USD; the Pro 455 has no recorded launch MSRP. The RX 5500 XT's predecessor is listed as Vega and its successor as Navi II, while the Pro 455 has neither.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins in Geekbench OpenCL, and by how much?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT wins with a score of 46,965 against the Pro 455's 10,336, a delta of 354.4%.

Q: Is the RX 5500 XT always faster than the Pro 455 in the shared benchmarks?

A: Yes. The RX 5500 XT wins all three recorded head-to-head tests: Geekbench Metal (54,842 versus 15,916), Geekbench OpenCL (46,965 versus 10,336), and Geekbench Vulkan (44,191 versus 12,240). The database records 3 wins for the RX 5500 XT and 0 for the Pro 455.

Q: How does the memory bandwidth compare between the two cards?

A: The RX 5500 XT has 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth from 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus. The Pro 455 has 81.28 GB/s of bandwidth from 2 GB of GDDR5 on the same 128-bit bus. The RX 5500 XT's bandwidth is nearly three times higher.

Q: What are the FP32 and FP16 performance figures for each card?

A: The RX 5500 XT delivers 5.196 TFLOPS FP32 and 10.39 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1 ratio). The Pro 455 delivers 1,313.3 GFLOPS FP32 and 1,313.3 GFLOPS FP16 (1:1 ratio).

Q: Which card has a higher transistor density, and why does it matter?

A: The RX 5500 XT has a transistor density of 40.5 million transistors per square millimeter, versus 24.4 million for the Pro 455. This comes from the 7 nm TSMC process versus the 14 nm GlobalFoundries process, allowing the RX 5500 XT to fit 6,400 million transistors on a 158 mm² die while the Pro 455 fits only 3,000 million on a 123 mm² die.

Q: Do both cards support the same APIs?

A: Both support DirectX 12, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan. However, the RX 5500 XT supports DirectX 12 at feature level 12_1 and Vulkan 1.4, while the Pro 455 supports DirectX 12 at feature level 12_0 and Vulkan 1.3.