AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT vs AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Comparison

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT has a higher average benchmark score at 45384, compared to 37507 for the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56. This places the Pro 5500 XT in the 84th percentile of all GPUs, while the RX Vega 56 sits in the 81st percentile.

Q: How do the two cards compare in the Geekbench Metal test?

A: The AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 wins the Geekbench Metal test with a score of 73512, which is 25.5% higher than the Pro 5500 XT's score of 54779. This is the only head-to-head benchmark recorded between the two.

Q: What are the memory bandwidth differences?

A: The RX Vega 56 has a significantly higher memory bandwidth of 409.6 GB/s using HBM2 memory across a 2048-bit bus, while the Pro 5500 XT has 224.0 GB/s using GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus. Both cards have 8 GB of memory.

Q: What are the power requirements for each card?

A: The Pro 5500 XT has a TDP of 125 W with a suggested PSU of 300 W and no power connectors, while the RX Vega 56 has a TDP of 210 W with a suggested PSU of 550 W and requires two 8-pin power connectors.

Q: Which card has a higher transistor count and die size?

A: The RX Vega 56 has a much larger design with 12,500 million transistors on a 495 mm² die, compared to the Pro 5500 XT's 6,400 million transistors on a 158 mm² die. The Pro 5500 XT uses a denser 7 nm process from TSMC, while the RX Vega 56 uses a 14 nm process from GlobalFoundries.

Q: What is the release timeline for these GPUs?

A: The AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 was released on August 13, 2017, with a launch MSRP of 399 USD. The AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT was released later on August 3, 2020. Both are now end-of-life products.

Architecture Differences

The AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT and the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 represent two distinct architectural generations from AMD. The Pro 5500 XT is built on the RDNA 1.0 architecture using the Navi 14 chip, while the RX Vega 56 uses the older GCN 5.0 architecture with the Vega 10 chip. This fundamental difference in design philosophy explains many of the performance and efficiency characteristics observed in the data.

The manufacturing process marks a significant divergence. The Pro 5500 XT is fabricated on a 7 nm process at TSMC, enabling a transistor density of 40.5 million per square millimeter. In contrast, the RX Vega 56 uses a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries, achieving a lower transistor density of 25.3 million per square millimeter. Despite the RX Vega 56 having nearly double the transistor count (12,500 million vs 6,400 million), its die size of 495 mm² is over three times larger than the Pro 5500 XT's 158 mm².

The compute resources differ substantially. The RX Vega 56 packs 3584 shading units, 224 texture mapping units, and 64 raster operation units. The Pro 5500 XT has 1536 shading units, 96 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. This gives the RX Vega 56 higher theoretical peak rates: 94.14 GPixel/s pixel rate and 329.5 GTexel/s texture rate, versus 56.22 GPixel/s and 168.7 GTexel/s for the Pro 5500 XT. The FP32 compute is also nearly double, with the RX Vega 56 offering 10.54 TFLOPS compared to 5.398 TFLOPS.

Memory architecture presents another major difference. The RX Vega 56 uses HBM2 memory with a 2048-bit bus width, delivering 409.6 GB/s bandwidth. The Pro 5500 XT uses GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, providing 224.0 GB/s. Both have 8 GB capacity, but the memory subsystem design is fundamentally different. The RX Vega 56's memory operates at 800 MHz (1600 Mbps effective), while the Pro 5500 XT's memory runs at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective).

Clock speeds show the Pro 5500 XT running higher: its base clock is 1187 MHz with a boost of 1757 MHz, versus 1156 MHz base and 1471 MHz boost for the RX Vega 56. The Pro 5500 XT also supports PCIe 4.0 x8 interface, while the RX Vega 56 uses PCIe 3.0 x16. Both support DirectX 12 (12_1) and OpenGL 4.6, but the Pro 5500 XT supports Vulkan 1.4 while the RX Vega 56 supports Vulkan 1.3.

Physical design and power delivery differ notably. The Pro 5500 XT is an integrated graphics processor (IGP) with no display outputs and no power connectors, while the RX Vega 56 is a dual-slot card measuring 280 mm in length, 111 mm in height, and 40 mm in width, with 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a outputs.

The Verdict

The benchmark data presents a clear but nuanced picture. The AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 wins the only direct head-to-head benchmark in the database, the Geekbench Metal test, scoring 73512 against 54779 for the Pro 5500 XT, a 25.5% advantage. However, the Pro 5500 XT holds a higher average benchmark score across all tests at 45384 versus 37507, and it sits in a higher performance percentile at 84 versus 81.

The RX Vega 56 is the choice for raw compute throughput and memory bandwidth. Its 10.54 TFLOPS FP32 performance, 409.6 GB/s bandwidth, and 94.14 GPixel/s pixel rate make it the stronger candidate for compute-heavy workloads and high-resolution rendering. The 25.5% Metal benchmark victory confirms its superiority in at least one major API workload.

The Pro 5500 XT is the more efficient and modern design. It delivers competitive average scores with less than half the transistor count, a smaller die, and significantly lower power requirements. Its 125 W TDP and 300 W suggested PSU contrast sharply with the RX Vega 56's 210 W TDP and 550 W suggested PSU. The Pro 5500 XT also benefits from newer API support with Vulkan 1.4.

The data suggests the RX Vega 56 for users prioritizing peak compute performance and memory bandwidth, particularly in Metal-based applications where its advantage is proven. The Pro 5500 XT suits scenarios where the higher average benchmark score, better transistor density, and lower power demands matter more, especially in systems with limited power delivery or thermal capacity.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ across nearly every specification category. The Pro 5500 XT uses the Navi 14 chip with RDNA 1.0 architecture, while the RX Vega 56 uses Vega 10 with GCN 5.0. Manufacturing nodes differ: 7 nm TSMC versus 14 nm GlobalFoundries. Transistor counts are 6,400 million versus 12,500 million, and die sizes are 158 mm² versus 495 mm², resulting in transistor densities of 40.5M/mm² and 25.3M/mm² respectively.

Clock specifications show the Pro 5500 XT boosting higher at 1757 MHz versus 1471 MHz, with base clocks of 1187 MHz and 1156 MHz. Memory configurations differ completely: the Pro 5500 XT uses GDDR6 at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) on a 128-bit bus with 224.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the RX Vega 56 uses HBM2 at 800 MHz (1600 Mbps effective) on a 2048-bit bus with 409.6 GB/s bandwidth.

Compute resources differ significantly: shading units are 1536 versus 3584, TMUs are 96 versus 224, and ROPs are 32 versus 64. Pixel rates are 56.22 GPixel/s versus 94.14 GPixel/s, texture rates are 168.7 GTexel/s versus 329.5 GTexel/s, and FP32 performance is 5.398 TFLOPS versus 10.54 TFLOPS. FP16 performance is 10.80 TFLOPS versus 21.09 TFLOPS.

Power and physical specifications vary widely. The Pro 5500 XT has a 125 W TDP, is an IGP with no power connectors, and requires a 300 W PSU. The RX Vega 56 has a 210 W TDP, is dual-slot, requires two 8-pin connectors, and needs a 550 W PSU. The Pro 5500 XT uses PCIe 4.0 x8 with no display outputs, while the RX Vega 56 uses PCIe 3.0 x16 with 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a. Vulkan support differs: 1.4 for the Pro 5500 XT versus 1.3 for the RX Vega 56.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database contains one direct head-to-head benchmark between these two GPUs: the Geekbench Metal test. The AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 achieves a score of 73512, while the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT scores 54779. This represents a 25.5% advantage for the RX Vega 56, which is a substantial margin in a single test.

However, the average benchmark scores across all tests tell a different story. The Pro 5500 XT averages 45384, which is notably higher than the RX Vega 56's 37507 average. This difference of approximately 21% in favor of the Pro 5500 XT suggests that while the RX Vega 56 dominates the Metal workload, the Pro 5500 XT performs better across a broader range of benchmarking scenarios.

The nearest rival comparisons provide additional context. The Pro 5500 XT's average score places it within 1.3% of the NVIDIA RTX 5880 Ada Generation and within 0.5% of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile. The RX Vega 56's average score is within 0.4% of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 and within 0.3% of the NVIDIA Tesla P4. These proximity values indicate that both cards compete in similar performance tiers despite their architectural differences.

The RX Vega 56 also has a recorded 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1501, though no comparable result exists for the Pro 5500 XT in the database. This means the DX12 comparison cannot be directly evaluated between the two.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 wins decisively in the Geekbench Metal benchmark, achieving a 25.5% higher score. This makes it the preferred choice for applications that rely heavily on Metal API performance. Its massive memory bandwidth of 409.6 GB/s, over 80% higher than the Pro 5500 XT, supports this advantage in bandwidth-sensitive workloads. The RX Vega 56 also offers significantly higher theoretical compute: 10.54 TFLOPS FP32, 21.09 TFLOPS FP16, 329.5 GTexel/s texture rate, and 94.14 GPixel/s pixel rate. These specifications suggest superior performance in compute-heavy tasks, high-resolution rendering, and texture-intensive operations.

The AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT wins on average benchmark score, posting 45384 versus 37507, a difference of about 21%. Its percentile ranking of 84 versus 81 indicates better overall positioning among all GPUs. The Pro 5500 XT achieves this with dramatically lower power requirements: 125 W TDP versus 210 W, and a 300 W suggested PSU versus 550 W. Its modern 7 nm process and RDNA architecture deliver higher clock speeds (1757 MHz boost versus 1471 MHz) and better transistor density (40.5M/mm² versus 25.3M/mm²). The Pro 5500 XT also supports Vulkan 1.4 and PCIe 4.0, representing newer interface standards. For systems with limited power delivery, thermal constraints, or space limitations (as an IGP with no power connectors), the Pro 5500 XT is the more practical choice.