AMD Radeon Pro 5300 vs AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT Comparison

The AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT is the clear performance leader over the AMD Radeon Pro 5300, winning all three head-to-head benchmark comparisons by margins ranging from 7.8% to 14%. While both cards share the same Navi 14 chip and RDNA 1.0 architecture, the 5500 XT’s higher clocks, more shaders, and double the memory capacity translate into consistent, measurable advantages across Metal, OpenCL, and Vulkan workloads. The data does not show a single benchmark where the Radeon Pro 5300 comes out ahead.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The largest performance gap appears in the Geekbench Metal test, where the Radeon Pro 5500 XT scores 54,779 compared to the Radeon Pro 5300’s 48,070. That is a 14% advantage, the biggest delta between the two cards in any workload. Metal performance is critical for macOS-centric applications, and this result indicates that the 5500 XT delivers a substantially stronger experience for GPU-accelerated rendering and compute tasks that leverage Apple’s graphics framework.

In Vulkan, the 5500 XT again takes the lead, scoring 39,601 versus 35,793 for the 5300, a 10.6% difference. This suggests that cross-platform graphics workloads and modern game engines running through Vulkan will see a noticeable performance uplift on the 5500 XT. The OpenCL result is closer but still favors the 5500 XT: 41,772 against 38,747, a 7.8% edge. OpenCL is often used for general-purpose compute, and while the gap is smaller here, it remains consistent with the overall pattern of 5500 XT superiority.

Looking at the broader benchmark context, the 5500 XT’s average benchmark score is 45,384, placing it at the 84th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the Intel Arc A730M, scores 45,592, which is just 0.5% higher, making the two effectively neck-and-neck. The 5500 XT also edges out the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile (45,152, 0.5% lower) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti (44,795, 1.3% lower), while trailing the NVIDIA RTX 5880 Ada Generation (45,972, 1.3% higher) by a similarly narrow margin. This places the 5500 XT in a tight cluster of high-end performers where small percentage differences separate competitors.

The Radeon Pro 5300, by contrast, has an average benchmark score of 40,870, putting it at the 82nd percentile. Its nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti at 41,187, which is 0.8% higher, and it sits above the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 (40,377, 1.2% lower) and the AMD Radeon Pro 580 (40,318, 1.4% lower). The 5300 also leads the AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 by 2%. While the 5300 is competitive within its own tier, the 11% gap in average score between the two cards (45,384 vs 40,870) underscores that the 5500 XT is in a higher performance class.

FAQ

Q: Which card wins in Geekbench Metal performance?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT wins decisively, scoring 54,779 against the Radeon Pro 5300’s 48,070, a 14% advantage.

Q: How much faster is the 5500 XT in OpenCL?

A: The 5500 XT scores 41,772 versus 38,747 for the 5300, making it 7.8% faster in OpenCL compute workloads.

Q: Is the Radeon Pro 5300 competitive in any benchmark?

A: No. The data shows zero wins for the 5300 across all three head-to-head tests. Its closest result is the OpenCL test, where it trails by 7.8%.

Q: How does the 5500 XT compare to its nearest rival, the Intel Arc A730M?

A: The 5500 XT’s average score of 45,384 is 0.5% lower than the Intel Arc A730M’s 45,592, meaning the two perform almost identically on average.

Q: What is the percentile ranking difference between the two cards?

A: The 5500 XT sits at the 84th percentile of all GPUs, while the 5300 sits at the 82nd percentile, a two-point gap that reflects the 5500 XT’s higher average score.

Q: Does the 5300 beat any named GPU in its nearest rival list?

A: Yes, the 5300 outperforms the AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 by 2%, the AMD Radeon Pro 580 by 1.4%, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 by 1.2% in average benchmark score.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT is the superior GPU for every measured workload. It wins all three head-to-head benchmarks, has a higher average benchmark score (45,384 vs 40,870), and holds a higher percentile ranking (84th vs 82nd). Anyone choosing between these two should select the 5500 XT if raw performance is the priority, as it delivers between 7.8% and 14% more performance depending on the API.

The Radeon Pro 5300 is not without merit, but its advantages are not in performance. It operates at a lower TDP of 85 W compared to 125 W for the 5500 XT, and it requires a smaller suggested PSU of 250 W versus 300 W. For scenarios where power draw is the primary constraint and the performance gap is acceptable, the 5300 could be considered. However, the benchmark results show that the 5500 XT’s additional power consumption buys a meaningful and consistent performance uplift across all tested APIs.

From a competitive standpoint, the 5500 XT sits in a performance tier that trades blows with GPUs like the Intel Arc A730M and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile, while the 5300 competes with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti and the AMD Radeon Pro 580. The 5500 XT is therefore positioned to handle more demanding professional workloads, while the 5300 is better suited for lighter tasks where its lower power envelope is an asset.

Specification Differences

The two cards share several core specifications but differ in key computational resources. Both use the Navi 14 chip on TSMC’s 7 nm process with 6,400 million transistors and a die size of 158 mm². The transistor density is identical at 40.5M per mm².

The most significant differences are in clock speeds and shader configuration. The 5500 XT has a base clock of 1187 MHz and a boost clock of 1757 MHz, while the 5300 runs at 1000 MHz base and 1650 MHz boost. This clock advantage is compounded by the 5500 XT’s larger shader array: 1536 shading units and 96 texture mapping units (TMUs) versus 1280 shading units and 80 TMUs on the 5300. Both cards have 32 raster operation units (ROPs).

Memory capacity is another major differentiator. The 5500 XT comes with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, while the 5300 has 4 GB. Both use a 128-bit bus and achieve the same 224.0 GB/s bandwidth, but the 5500 XT’s double capacity allows for larger datasets and textures. The memory clock is identical at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective).

The performance consequences of these differences are visible in the pixel and texture rates. The 5500 XT achieves 56.22 GPixel/s and 168.7 GTexel/s, while the 5300 manages 52.80 GPixel/s and 132.0 GTexel/s. Floating-point performance follows the same pattern: the 5500 XT delivers 5.398 TFLOPS FP32 and 10.80 TFLOPS FP16, versus 4.224 TFLOPS and 8.448 TFLOPS for the 5300.

Power specifications also diverge. The 5500 XT has a TDP of 125 W and a suggested PSU of 300 W, while the 5300 draws 85 W and suggests a 250 W PSU. Both are IGP cards with no power connectors and no display outputs, and both use a PCIe 4.0 x8 bus interface. Neither card has a launch MSRP listed.

Architecture Differences

Both GPUs are built on the RDNA 1.0 architecture, which means they share fundamental design principles. They are manufactured on TSMC’s 7 nm process and belong to the same Radeon Pro Mac (Navi Series) generation. The transistor count, die size, and transistor density are identical, confirming that they are cut-down and full versions of the same Navi 14 chip.

The architectural differences are purely in the configuration of the silicon, not in the underlying design. The 5500 XT activates more of the chip’s resources: 1536 shading units versus 1280, and 96 TMUs versus 80. This is the classic full-die versus partially-disabled-die relationship, where the 5500 XT enables more of the available compute units.

Neither card features dedicated ray tracing cores or tensor cores, as these are not part of the RDNA 1.0 architecture. Both support DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, providing identical API coverage. The memory subsystem is also architecturally identical in terms of bus width (128 bit) and bandwidth (224.0 GB/s), though the 5500 XT doubles the memory capacity to 8 GB. This means the 5500 XT can handle larger working sets without spilling to system memory, which is a practical advantage in professional rendering and large-model compute tasks.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT wins in every benchmark category that was tested, but the magnitude of its wins varies. Its largest advantage is in Metal, where the 14% lead suggests it is particularly strong in macOS-native graphics applications. The 10.6% Vulkan advantage indicates solid performance in cross-platform games and Vulkan-based compute. The 7.8% OpenCL lead is the smallest, but still represents a meaningful edge for general-purpose GPU computing. The 5500 XT is the clear choice for users who need maximum performance across Metal, OpenCL, and Vulkan workloads, especially those involving large 8 GB datasets.

The AMD Radeon Pro 5300 has no benchmark wins, so its strengths are not in raw performance. Instead, its case rests on efficiency and system requirements. With an 85 W TDP and a 250 W suggested PSU, it draws significantly less power than the 5500 XT’s 125 W and 300 W requirement. For systems with limited power budgets or smaller power supplies, the 5300 is the more feasible option. It also offers the same API support and memory bandwidth as the 5500 XT, meaning it can run the same software, just with less performance headroom.

In a use-case split, the 5500 XT is for professionals and power users who prioritize throughput in rendering, compute, and high-resolution texture work. The 5300 is for those who must minimize power draw and system PSU requirements, accepting a 7.8% to 14% performance penalty in exchange for a 40 W lower TDP. The data does not support any scenario where the 5300 wins on performance, but it clearly wins on power efficiency.