AMD Radeon Pro 455 vs AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT Comparison

The AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT and AMD Radeon Pro 455 occupy opposite ends of the GPU spectrum, separated by seven years of architecture evolution and design intent. Benchmark data shows the RX 7800 XT delivering a 77% higher OpenCL score and a 343% higher Vulkan score than the Pro 455, yet the Pro 455 posts a higher average benchmark score (12831 vs 11627) due to its single Metal result. This comparison is less about a fair fight and more about illustrating how far desktop gaming hardware has leapfrogged legacy mobile workstation parts.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous for any workload using OpenCL or Vulkan: the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT is the superior performer. In OpenCL, it scores 18290 against the Pro 455’s 10336, a 77% advantage. In Vulkan, the gap widens dramatically to 343%, with the RX 7800 XT hitting 54228 versus 12240. Anyone needing modern API compute or rasterization should choose the RX 7800 XT without hesitation.

The AMD Radeon Pro 455, however, has one niche that the RX 7800 XT cannot touch: Apple’s Metal API. Its Geekbench Metal score of 15916 is the only benchmark where it has a data point, and it is the reason its average benchmark score (12831) exceeds the RX 7800 XT’s (11627). The Pro 455 is an end-of-life, 14nm GCN 4.0 part from 2016, built as an MXM module for portable Macs. If your workflow is locked to Metal on an aging Mac, the Pro 455 is what you have; if you have any choice, the RX 7800 XT is the only rational pick for modern workloads.

The RX 7800 XT also holds a percentile edge of 51st versus 52nd among all GPUs, but this is misleading given the Pro 455’s higher average score from Metal-only results. In every cross-platform test, the RX 7800 XT wins decisively.

Architecture Differences

The RX 7800 XT uses the Navi 32 chip on TSMC’s 5nm process, packing 28,100 million transistors into a 346 mm² die. This yields a transistor density of 81.2 million per mm². The Pro 455, in contrast, uses the Baffin chip on GlobalFoundries’ 14nm process, with just 3,000 million transistors on a 123 mm² die (24.4 million per mm²). The RX 7800 XT’s architecture is RDNA 3.0, codenamed Wheat Nas, part of the Navi III (RX 7000) generation. The Pro 455 is GCN 4.0 from the Radeon Pro Mac (400 Series).

Memory technology diverges sharply. The RX 7800 XT has 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 624.1 GB/s of bandwidth. The Pro 455 has 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus, yielding 81.28 GB/s. The RX 7800 XT’s memory clock is 2438 MHz (19.5 Gbps effective), while the Pro 455 runs at 1270 MHz (5.1 Gbps effective). Core counts follow the same trend: the RX 7800 XT has 3840 shading units, 240 TMUs, 96 ROPs, and 60 ray tracing cores. The Pro 455 has 768 shading units, 48 TMUs, and 16 ROPs, with no ray tracing cores.

The RX 7800 XT also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, while the Pro 455 is limited to DirectX 12 (12_0) and Vulkan 1.3. Both support OpenGL 4.6. The RX 7800 XT is an active production part with a dual-slot design and PCIe 4.0 x16 interface; the Pro 455 is end-of-life with a PCIe 3.0 x8 interface.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The shared benchmark suite reveals a complete sweep for the RX 7800 XT. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RX 7800 XT scores 18290 versus the Pro 455’s 10336, a 77% delta. This reflects the massive difference in shading units (3840 vs 768) and memory bandwidth (624.1 GB/s vs 81.28 GB/s). The Pro 455’s 1,313.3 GFLOPS FP32 output is dwarfed by the RX 7800 XT’s 37.32 TFLOPS.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the gap grows to 343%, with scores of 54228 and 12240 respectively. This is not just a raw compute gap; it reflects the architectural chasm between RDNA 3.0’s modern driver stack and GCN 4.0’s legacy Vulkan support. The RX 7800 XT’s 60 ray tracing cores and DirectX 12 Ultimate feature set give it capabilities the Pro 455 simply lacks. The Pro 455’s only competitive score is in Geekbench Metal (15916), which the RX 7800 XT does not have a data point for.

The RX 7800 XT also shows strong results in other tests, including a Passmark G3D score of 24176 and a GPU compute score of 13473. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 4157. The Pro 455 has no equivalent data points, so cross-test comparisons are impossible beyond the two shared benchmarks.

Specification Differences

The most striking difference is process node and transistor count: 5nm with 28,100 million transistors on the RX 7800 XT versus 14nm with 3,000 million on the Pro 455. Die size is 346 mm² versus 123 mm², and transistor density is 81.2M/mm² versus 24.4M/mm².

Memory is another clear divider. The RX 7800 XT offers 16 GB GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus with 624.1 GB/s bandwidth; the Pro 455 offers 2 GB GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus with 81.28 GB/s. Memory clocks are 2438 MHz (19.5 Gbps effective) versus 1270 MHz (5.1 Gbps effective). The RX 7800 XT’s base clock is 1295 MHz with a boost of 2430 MHz and a game clock of 2124 MHz; the Pro 455 lists no base or boost clocks.

Compute units scale accordingly: 3840 shading units, 240 TMUs, 96 ROPs, and 60 RT cores on the RX 7800 XT versus 768 shading units, 48 TMUs, 16 ROPs, and zero RT cores on the Pro 455. Pixel rate is 233.3 GPixel/s versus 13.68 GPixel/s, and texture rate is 583.2 GTexel/s versus 41.04 GTexel/s. FP32 performance is 37.32 TFLOPS versus 1,313.3 GFLOPS.

Power and physical design differ entirely. The RX 7800 XT has a TDP of 263 W, requires a 600 W PSU, uses dual-slot cooling with 2x 8-pin power connectors, and measures 267 mm long, 111 mm tall, and 50 mm wide. The Pro 455 has a TDP of 35 W, uses an MXM module with no power connectors, and has no listed dimensions. The RX 7800 XT outputs via 1x HDMI 2.1a and 3x DisplayPort 2.1; the Pro 455’s outputs are portable device dependent. The RX 7800 XT was released on 2023-09-05 with a launch MSRP of 499 USD; the Pro 455 was released on 2016-10-29 with no MSRP listed.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher average benchmark score, and why does that contradict the head-to-head results?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 455 has a higher average benchmark score (12831) than the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT (11627). This is because the Pro 455’s average includes a Geekbench Metal score of 15916, which the RX 7800 XT has no data point for, whereas the RX 7800 XT’s average includes lower scores from Passmark DirectX 9 (304) and Passmark DirectX 10 (121) tests.

Q: How much faster is the RX 7800 XT in Vulkan performance?

A: The RX 7800 XT scores 54228 in Geekbench Vulkan versus the Pro 455’s 12240, a 343% advantage. This is the largest delta between the two GPUs in any shared benchmark.

Q: Does the Radeon Pro 455 support ray tracing?

A: No. The Radeon Pro 455 has no ray tracing cores listed, while the RX 7800 XT has 60. Additionally, the Pro 455 only supports DirectX 12 (12_0), whereas the RX 7800 XT supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) which includes ray tracing features.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth difference between the two cards?

A: The RX 7800 XT has 624.1 GB/s of bandwidth from 16 GB GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus. The Pro 455 has 81.28 GB/s from 2 GB GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus. This is a 7.7x difference in favor of the RX 7800 XT.

Q: Which GPU has a smaller process node?

A: The RX 7800 XT uses a 5nm process at TSMC, while the Pro 455 uses a 14nm process at GlobalFoundries. The RX 7800 XT’s die is larger (346 mm² vs 123 mm²) but packs far more transistors (28,100 million vs 3,000 million).

Q: Are both GPUs still in production?

A: No. The RX 7800 XT has an active production status, released on 2023-09-05. The Pro 455 is end-of-life, released on 2016-10-29. Neither has a successor listed, though the RX 7800 XT’s predecessor is Navi II.