AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT vs AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE Comparison

The AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT and AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE are separated by five years of architecture evolution, but the benchmark data reveals a clear generational gap. The RX 7650 GRE is the decisive winner in the only shared test, posting an OpenCL score of 83,109 against the Pro 5500 XT's 41,772—a 49.7% advantage. However, the Pro 5500 XT holds its own in the broader performance percentile rankings, sitting at the 84th percentile versus the RX 7650 GRE's 83rd, making this a nuanced comparison that depends heavily on workload and context.

Where Each One Wins

The RX 7650 GRE dominates in raw compute throughput, as evidenced by its Geekbench OpenCL score of 83,109, which is nearly double the Pro 5500 XT's 41,772. This makes it the clear choice for compute-heavy tasks like rendering, scientific simulation, or any workload that leverages OpenCL acceleration. The card's 22.08 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 22.08 TFLOPS of FP16 performance (at a 1:1 ratio) provides the arithmetic muscle that the Pro 5500 XT cannot match, with its 5.398 TFLOPS FP32 and 10.80 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1) figures representing a previous generation's capabilities.

The Pro 5500 XT, despite losing the head-to-head, wins in the context of its intended deployment. It is a Radeon Pro Mac-series part with an IGP slot width, no display outputs, and no power connectors—it is designed to be integrated into Apple Mac systems, not as a standalone retail GPU. In that ecosystem, its 84th percentile ranking among all GPUs and an average benchmark score of 45,384 places it slightly ahead of the RX 7650 GRE's average of 42,723. For users constrained to Mac platforms, the Pro 5500 XT is the only option here, and its performance is respectable for its generation.

The RX 7650 GRE also wins on feature completeness. It supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), ray tracing with 32 dedicated RT cores, and includes modern display outputs (1x HDMI 2.1a and 3x DisplayPort 2.1). The Pro 5500 XT lacks RT cores entirely and only supports DirectX 12 (12_1), making it unsuitable for modern ray-traced gaming or professional workloads that rely on DXR. The RX 7650 GRE's additional 512 shading units, 32 TMUs, and 32 ROPs translate directly into higher fill rates: 172.5 GPixel/s and 345.0 GTexel/s versus the Pro's 56.22 GPixel/s and 168.7 GTexel/s.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap is stark. The Pro 5500 XT uses the Navi 14 chip built on RDNA 1.0 architecture, fabricated on a 7 nm TSMC process. The RX 7650 GRE uses Navi 33 built on RDNA 3.0, fabricated on a 6 nm TSMC process. This process shrink allows for a massive transistor count increase: 13,300 million versus 6,400 million, packed into a die size of 204 mm² versus 158 mm². The transistor density improves from 40.5M per mm² to 65.2M per mm², enabling the RX 7650 GRE to nearly quadruple its FP32 throughput despite only a modest die size increase.

Clock speeds tell a similar story. The RX 7650 GRE has a base clock of 1720 MHz, a game clock of 2350 MHz, and a boost clock of 2695 MHz. The Pro 5500 XT's base is 1187 MHz with a boost of 1757 MHz. The RX 7650 GRE's boost clock is 938 MHz higher, a 53% advantage that compounds with its wider execution resources. Memory clocks also favor the newer card: 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective) versus 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective), yielding 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth compared to 224.0 GB/s.

The RX 7650 GRE introduces dedicated ray tracing hardware with 32 RT cores, a feature entirely absent from the Pro 5500 XT. The RDNA 3.0 architecture also changes the FP16 execution model from a 2:1 ratio to a 1:1 ratio, meaning the RX 7650 GRE achieves the same 22.08 TFLOPS in both FP16 and FP32, whereas the Pro 5500 XT halves its FP32 rate to reach 10.80 TFLOPS in FP16. This makes the RX 7650 GRE far more efficient for mixed-precision workloads.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct benchmark comparison available is Geekbench OpenCL, and the result is lopsided. The RX 7650 GRE scores 83,109, while the Pro 5500 XT scores 41,772. The delta is -49.7% from the Pro's perspective, meaning it delivers less than half the performance of the newer card in this test. This single result encapsulates the generational leap: the RX 7650 GRE's 22.08 TFLOPS FP32 and 288.0 GB/s memory bandwidth overwhelm the Pro's 5.398 TFLOPS and 224.0 GB/s.

However, the Pro 5500 XT has its own benchmark victories in the broader dataset. Its Geekbench Metal score is 54,779, and its Geekbench Vulkan score is 39,601. While there are no corresponding scores for the RX 7650 GRE in those tests, the Pro 5500 XT's average benchmark score of 45,384 actually exceeds the RX 7650 GRE's average of 42,723. This is a counterintuitive result: the RX 7650 GRE wins the shared OpenCL test by a wide margin, yet its overall average is lower. This suggests the RX 7650 GRE's benchmark results are dragged down by its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2,336, which is a very different workload than the compute-focused Geekbench tests.

The Pro 5500 XT's nearest rivals in the database include the Intel Arc A730M (avg score 45,592, -0.5% delta), NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile (45,152, +0.5%), NVIDIA RTX 5880 Ada Generation (45,972, -1.3%), and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti (44,795, +1.3%). The RX 7650 GRE's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER (43,223, -1.2%), NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB (43,262, -1.2%), NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile (43,268, -1.3%), and NVIDIA Quadro M6000 (43,301, -1.3%). These clusters show that the Pro 5500 XT sits in a slightly higher performance tier by average score, despite losing the direct comparison.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every measurable specification except memory size (both 8 GB GDDR6) and bus width (both 128 bit). The RX 7650 GRE has a 128-bit interface but achieves 288.0 GB/s bandwidth versus the Pro's 224.0 GB/s due to faster memory clocks. Core configurations diverge significantly: the RX 7650 GRE has 2048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, while the Pro 5500 XT has 1536 shading units, 96 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The RX 7650 GRE adds 32 RT cores; the Pro has none.

Power and physical design are also different. The RX 7650 GRE is a dual-slot card measuring 204 mm in length and 115 mm in height, requiring a 1x 8-pin power connector and a 450 W suggested PSU. It has a 170 W TDP. The Pro 5500 XT has a 125 W TDP, an IGP form factor, no power connectors, and no display outputs—it is soldered or embedded into Mac systems. The suggested PSU is 300 W. Both use PCIe 4.0 x8 interfaces, and both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4, but the RX 7650 GRE's DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) support supersedes the Pro's DirectX 12 (12_1).

Release and production status differ as well. The Pro 5500 XT was released on 2020-08-03 and is end-of-life. The RX 7650 GRE was released on 2025-02-06, is active, and has a launch MSRP of 279 USD. The RX 7650 GRE's predecessor is Navi II and successor is Navi IV, while the Pro 5500 XT lists no predecessor or successor. The RX 7650 GRE also has a codename, "Hotpink Bonefish," and belongs to the Radeon RX 7000 series, whereas the Pro 5500 XT's generation is listed as "Radeon Pro Mac (Navi Series)."

FAQ

Q: Which card wins in OpenCL compute performance?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE wins decisively, scoring 83,109 in Geekbench OpenCL versus the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT's 41,772, a 49.7% difference.

Q: Do both cards have the same memory capacity and bus width?

A: Yes, both have 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus. However, the RX 7650 GRE achieves 288.0 GB/s bandwidth versus the Pro 5500 XT's 224.0 GB/s due to faster memory clocks (2250 MHz vs 1750 MHz).

Q: Does the Pro 5500 XT support ray tracing?

A: No, the Pro 5500 XT has no RT cores. The RX 7650 GRE includes 32 dedicated RT cores and supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the Pro only supports DirectX 12 (12_1).

Q: Which card has a higher average benchmark score across all tests?

A: The Pro 5500 XT has a higher average benchmark score of 45,384 compared to the RX 7650 GRE's 42,723, despite losing the head-to-head OpenCL test. The Pro also holds a higher percentile ranking at 84 versus 83.

Q: What are the power connector and form factor differences?

A: The RX 7650 GRE is a dual-slot card with a 1x 8-pin power connector and 170 W TDP, requiring a 450 W PSU. The Pro 5500 XT is an IGP (integrated) part with no power connectors and a 125 W TDP, requiring a 300 W PSU.

Q: Which card is currently in production?

A: The RX 7650 GRE is active and was released on 2025-02-06. The Pro 5500 XT is end-of-life, having been released on 2020-08-03.