AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT vs AMD Radeon RX 560 XT Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The direct comparison between the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT and the AMD Radeon RX 560 XT is a one-sided affair, with the Pro card winning both recorded head-to-head tests. In Geekbench OpenCL, the Pro 5500 XT scores 41,772 against the RX 560 XT's 31,387, a decisive 33.1% lead. This is a substantial gap, indicating a clear advantage in compute-oriented workloads that stress raw parallel processing. The Vulkan test narrows the margin considerably, with the Pro 5500 XT scoring 39,601 versus the RX 560 XT's 36,879, a 7.4% advantage. While still a win for the newer architecture, this smaller delta suggests that in graphics API workloads, the older Polaris part is comparatively more competitive.

Looking at overall averages, the Pro 5500 XT's average benchmark score is 45,384, placing it in the 84th percentile of all GPUs. The RX 560 XT averages 34,133, which lands it in the 79th percentile. The 11,251-point gap in average scores reinforces the narrative of generational improvement, though the percentile difference of only 5 points shows that both cards occupy a similar tier in the broader GPU landscape. The Pro 5500 XT's nearest rivals include the Intel Arc A730M (45,592, a 0.5% gap) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti (44,795, a 1.3% gap), showing it sits in a performance class with some very capable competition. The RX 560 XT's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA RTX A2000 12 GB (34,154, a 0.1% gap) and the AMD Radeon RX 480 (33,997, a 0.4% gap), indicating it is closely matched with its direct predecessor-era contemporaries.

Architecture Differences

The two cards represent fundamentally different generations of AMD GPU design. The Radeon Pro 5500 XT is built on the Navi 14 chip using the RDNA 1.0 architecture, fabricated on a 7 nm process at TSMC. In contrast, the Radeon RX 560 XT uses the Ellesmere chip with the older GCN 4.0 architecture, produced on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. This node difference is a major factor in efficiency and performance density: the Pro card packs 6,400 million transistors into a 158 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 40.5 million per square millimeter. The RX 560 XT, by comparison, has 5,700 million transistors on a much larger 232 mm² die, resulting in a density of just 24.6 million per square millimeter. The newer process allows the Pro 5500 XT to achieve higher performance with fewer resources spread across a smaller physical area.

The feature sets diverge as well. The Pro 5500 XT supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The RX 560 XT supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. The difference in DirectX feature level (12_1 versus 12_0) and Vulkan version (1.4 versus 1.3) reflects the architectural improvements in RDNA 1.0. Neither card has ray tracing cores or tensor cores, so those remain a non-factor in this comparison. The memory subsystems also differ in type and bus width, though the recorded bandwidth figures happen to match exactly at 224.0 GB/s for both. The Pro 5500 XT uses 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, while the RX 560 XT uses 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus. The RX 560 XT's wider bus width compensates for the slower memory type, but the Pro card's faster effective memory speed of 14 Gbps versus 7 Gbps gives it the same overall bandwidth with half the bus width.

FAQ

Q: Which card has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT has an average benchmark score of 45,384, compared to the AMD Radeon RX 560 XT's 34,133.

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

A: The Pro 5500 XT scores 41,772 versus 31,387 for the RX 560 XT, which is a 33.1% advantage.

Q: Does the RX 560 XT win any head-to-head benchmark?

A: No, the recorded head-to-head data shows wins for the Pro 5500 XT in both Geekbench OpenCL and Geekbench Vulkan, giving it 2 wins to 0.

Q: What are the memory capacities of each card?

A: The Pro 5500 XT has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, while the RX 560 XT has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory.

Q: What process nodes are used for each GPU?

A: The Pro 5500 XT uses a 7 nm TSMC process, and the RX 560 XT uses a 14 nm GlobalFoundries process.

Q: How do their Vulkan scores compare?

A: The Pro 5500 XT scores 39,601 in Geekbench Vulkan, while the RX 560 XT scores 36,879, a difference of 7.4%.

Specification Differences

The specifications where these two cards differ are numerous. The process node is 7 nm for the Pro 5500 XT versus 14 nm for the RX 560 XT. The foundry is TSMC for the Pro card and GlobalFoundries for the RX card. Transistor counts are 6,400 million versus 5,700 million, and die sizes are 158 mm² versus 232 mm². Transistor density is 40.5 million per mm² versus 24.6 million per mm². Base clocks are 1187 MHz versus 1074 MHz, and boost clocks are 1757 MHz versus 1226 MHz. Memory speed is 1750 MHz at 14 Gbps effective versus 1750 MHz at 7 Gbps effective. Memory size is 8 GB versus 4 GB, type is GDDR6 versus GDDR5, and bus width is 128-bit versus 256-bit. Shading units are 1536 versus 1792, texture mapping units are 96 versus 112, and ROPs are 32 for both. Pixel rate is 56.22 GPixel/s versus 39.23 GPixel/s, texture rate is 168.7 GTexel/s versus 137.3 GTexel/s, FP32 is 5.398 TFLOPS versus 4.394 TFLOPS, and FP16 is 10.80 TFLOPS (2:1) versus 4.394 TFLOPS (1:1). TDP is 125 W versus 150 W, slot width is IGP versus Dual-slot, power connectors are none versus 1x 6-pin, and suggested PSU is 300 W versus 450 W. The bus interface is PCIe 4.0 x8 versus PCIe 3.0 x16, and display outputs are none versus 1x HDMI 2.0b plus 3x DisplayPort 1.4a. The RX 560 XT has dimensions of 241 mm (9.5 inches) in length, while the Pro 5500 XT has no recorded dimensions. The RX 560 XT also has a predecessor of Arctic Islands and a successor of Vega, while the Pro 5500 XT lists neither.

The Verdict

The data points to the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT as the stronger performer in every measured category. It wins both head-to-head benchmarks, has a higher average score, a higher percentile ranking, and a smaller, more efficient die. The 33.1% OpenCL lead is particularly telling, as it suggests a major compute advantage that would matter in professional workloads. The 7.4% Vulkan lead is narrower, but still a win. The RX 560 XT does have a wider memory bus and more shading units, yet these advantages do not translate into benchmark victories. The Pro 5500 XT's higher boost clock of 1757 MHz versus 1226 MHz and its newer architecture more than compensate for the raw resource deficit. For anyone choosing strictly on recorded performance, the Pro 5500 XT is the clear pick. The RX 560 XT, however, does have the advantage of integrated display outputs, making it a functional standalone graphics card, whereas the Pro 5500 XT has no outputs and is designed as an integrated part of a Mac system, likely relying on external display solutions.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT wins in compute-heavy scenarios. Its 33.1% OpenCL advantage makes it the obvious choice for workloads that leverage OpenCL for general-purpose GPU computing. Its FP16 performance of 10.80 TFLOPS (2:1) versus 4.394 TFLOPS (1:1) for the RX 560 XT indicates a significant edge in half-precision workloads, which are increasingly relevant in AI inference and certain scientific computing. The higher pixel rate of 56.22 GPixel/s and texture rate of 168.7 GTexel/s further solidify its lead in graphics processing throughput. Its lower TDP of 125 W and smaller die size also make it a more efficient option in thermally constrained environments.

The RX 560 XT wins in scenarios where its specific physical attributes matter. Its 256-bit memory bus width and 4 GB of GDDR5 memory make it a functional add-in card for systems where display output is needed directly from the GPU. It has a longer physical footprint at 241 mm (9.5 inches), which is a normal size for a dual-slot card, and draws power from a 1x 6-pin connector, fitting into standard desktop PC builds. Its PCIe 3.0 x16 interface offers full bus width for data transfer from the host system, and it supports a higher FP32 shading count and more TMUs, which could matter in specific compatibility scenarios. In the nearest rival comparison, the RX 560 XT's 0.4% delta to the AMD Radeon RX 480 shows it is a close family match, meaning it is part of a well-understood performance tier. The Pro 5500 XT's 0.5% delta to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile shows it sits alongside top-tier mobile graphics, placing its performance in an elite class.