AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER Comparison

The AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER represent two very different eras of GPU design, with the former being an end-of-life professional solution built on RDNA 1.0 and the latter a consumer-focused Ada Lovelace part. The benchmark data reveals a stark performance gulf, but the specifications tell a deeper story about architectural philosophy and intended use cases that goes beyond raw speed.

FAQ

Q: How large is the performance gap between the two cards in the shared benchmarks?

A: The data shows a decisive NVIDIA victory. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the RTX 4070 SUPER scores 172,795 versus the Radeon Pro 5500 XT's 41,772, a delta of -75.8% for the AMD card. The gap widens in Geekbench Vulkan, where the NVIDIA card scores 205,624 against 39,601, a -80.7% difference.

Q: What is the average benchmark score for each card, and how do they rank globally?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT has an average benchmark score of 45,384, placing it in the 84th percentile of all GPUs. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER, despite its much higher individual scores, has a lower average of 43,223, which puts it in the 83rd percentile. This discrepancy is due to the different suites of tests each card was subjected to.

Q: Which card has a higher transistor density, and what does that indicate?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER, built on a 5 nm process, has a transistor density of 121.8M / mm². This is significantly higher than the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT's 40.5M / mm² on a 7 nm node, indicating a much more complex and tightly packed design.

Q: What are the memory specifications for each card, and how do they compare?

A: The Radeon Pro 5500 XT features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The RTX 4070 SUPER steps up to 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering over double the bandwidth at 504.2 GB/s.

Q: Does the Radeon Pro 5500 XT have any dedicated ray tracing or AI acceleration hardware?

A: No. The data lists no RT cores or tensor cores for the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT. In contrast, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is equipped with 56 RT cores and 224 tensor cores, which are absent from the AMD part's specifications.

Q: What is the launch MSRP of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER?

A: The launch MSRP for the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is 599 USD. No launch MSRP is provided for the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are built on fundamentally different architectures. The AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT uses the RDNA 1.0 architecture, a design that marked AMD's shift away from the Graphics Core Next (GCN) layout. It is manufactured on a 7 nm process at TSMC, with a die size of 158 mm² and a transistor count of 6,400 million. In contrast, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is based on the Ada Lovelace architecture, NVIDIA's latest generation for consumer GPUs. Its AD104 chip is built on a more advanced 5 nm process, also from TSMC, but packs a massive 35,800 million transistors into a 294 mm² die.

This architectural difference translates directly into feature support. The Radeon Pro 5500 XT has no dedicated ray tracing cores and no tensor cores, as indicated by the null values in its specification sheet. It is a pure rasterization engine. The Ada Lovelace architecture in the RTX 4070 SUPER, however, includes 56 RT cores for hardware-accelerated ray tracing and 224 tensor cores for AI-driven tasks like DLSS. The presence of these specialized units is a defining feature of the NVIDIA card, enabling capabilities that the AMD card simply cannot match at the hardware level.

The compute capabilities also diverge sharply. The Radeon Pro 5500 XT has 1,536 shading units, 96 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. The RTX 4070 SUPER possesses 7,168 shading units, 224 TMUs, and 80 ROPs. The floating-point performance is telling: the AMD card delivers 5.398 TFLOPS in FP32, while the NVIDIA card achieves 35.48 TFLOPS. Furthermore, the Radeon's FP16 rate is 10.80 TFLOPS (2:1), whereas the RTX 4070 SUPER's FP16 rate is 35.48 TFLOPS (1:1), meaning it processes FP16 at the same rate as FP32. This indicates a fundamental difference in how the two architectures handle compute workloads, with the Ada Lovelace chip being far more powerful across the board.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The head-to-head comparison is limited to two tests, both of which are won decisively by the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER. In the Geekbench OpenCL benchmark, which tests general-purpose compute performance, the RTX 4070 SUPER scores 172,795. The AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT trails with a score of 41,772, resulting in a delta of -75.8% for the AMD card. This is not a marginal victory; it is a massive gulf in raw compute throughput.

The second test, Geekbench Vulkan, shows an even larger gap. Vulkan is a low-level graphics and compute API that can be more sensitive to architectural efficiencies. Here, the NVIDIA card scores 205,624, while the AMD card manages only 39,601. The delta for the AMD card is -80.7%, indicating that the RTX 4070 SUPER is over five times faster in this particular workload. The data shows a consistent pattern: the RTX 4070 SUPER is not just faster, but in a completely different performance class.

It is worth remembering the RTX 4070 SUPER has a much broader benchmark suite in the data, including tests like 3DMark Steel Nomad (scoring 4,627), Passmark G3D (29,995), and Passmark GPU Compute (17,108). The Radeon Pro 5500 XT has no corresponding results for these tests, making a direct comparison impossible. However, the two shared tests provide a clear and unambiguous picture of the performance hierarchy.

Specification Differences

The specification sheets reveal several key differences beyond the core architecture.

• Process Node: The AMD card uses a 7 nm process, while the NVIDIA card uses a 5 nm process.
• Transistors: The RTX 4070 SUPER has 35,800 million transistors, compared to 6,400 million for the Radeon Pro 5500 XT.
• Die Size: The NVIDIA chip is larger at 294 mm², versus 158 mm² for AMD.
• Base Clock: The RTX 4070 SUPER has a base clock of 1980 MHz, significantly higher than the Radeon's 1187 MHz.
• Boost Clock: The NVIDIA card boosts to 2475 MHz, while the AMD card reaches 1757 MHz.
• Memory Size: The RTX 4070 SUPER has 12 GB of VRAM, while the Radeon has 8 GB.
• Memory Type: The NVIDIA card uses GDDR6X, while the AMD card uses GDDR6.
• Memory Bus Width: The RTX 4070 SUPER has a 192-bit bus, compared to the Radeon's 128-bit bus.
• Memory Bandwidth: The NVIDIA card offers 504.2 GB/s, more than double the AMD card's 224.0 GB/s.
• Shading Units: The RTX 4070 SUPER has 7,168, versus 1,536 for the Radeon.
• TMUs: The RTX 4070 SUPER has 224, versus 96 for the Radeon.
• ROPs: The RTX 4070 SUPER has 80, versus 32 for the Radeon.
• RT Cores: The NVIDIA card has 56; the AMD card has none.
• Tensor Cores: The NVIDIA card has 224; the AMD card has none.
• FP32 Performance: The RTX 4070 SUPER delivers 35.48 TFLOPS, versus 5.398 TFLOPS for the Radeon.
• TDP: The RTX 4070 SUPER consumes 220 W, while the Radeon is rated at 125 W.
• Slot Width: The NVIDIA card is a dual-slot design, while the AMD card is an IGP (integrated graphics processor) form factor with no power connectors.
• Bus Interface: The RTX 4070 SUPER uses PCIe 4.0 x16, while the Radeon uses PCIe 4.0 x8.
• Display Outputs: The NVIDIA card has 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a; the AMD card has no outputs.
• Dimensions: The RTX 4070 SUPER measures 267 mm in length, 112 mm in height, and 42 mm in width. The AMD card has no listed dimensions.
• DirectX Support: The NVIDIA card supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the AMD card supports DirectX 12 (12_1).

Where Each One Wins

Based on the data, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER wins in every measurable performance category. In the two shared benchmarks, it is 75.8% and 80.7% faster than the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT. Its specifications are overwhelmingly superior, with more than four times the shading units, over double the memory bandwidth, and a significantly higher boost clock. The presence of RT and tensor cores gives it capabilities in ray-tracing and AI-accelerated workloads that the AMD card lacks entirely. The RTX 4070 SUPER is the clear winner for any task that requires raw graphics or compute performance.

The AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT, however, has its own niche. Its specifications list it as an IGP with no power connectors and no display outputs. This suggests it is designed for integration into a system where the GPU is not a user-serviceable component, such as a laptop or a pre-built workstation. Its lower TDP of 125 W, compared to the RTX 4070 SUPER's 220 W, makes it a more power-efficient option. The data shows its closest rivals are the Intel Arc A730M and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile, both of which are mobile parts. This positioning confirms that the Radeon Pro 5500 XT's intended domain is the mobile or integrated space, where its modest specifications are balanced against power and thermal constraints. Its only "win" is in its form factor and power profile, not in performance.

The Verdict

The data presents a straightforward verdict for users seeking maximum performance: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is the superior choice. Its benchmark scores are dramatically higher, its memory subsystem is vastly faster, and its feature set includes hardware for ray tracing and AI that the AMD card does not have. For any workload that leverages these strengths, the RTX 4070 SUPER is the only viable option. Its launch MSRP of 599 USD reflects its positioning as a high-performance consumer part.

The AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT is not a competitor in the same arena. Its end-of-life status, integrated form factor, and lack of display outputs suggest it is a specialized OEM component. Its average benchmark score of 45,384 is competitive with its mobile rivals, but it is simply outclassed by the desktop RTX 4070 SUPER. A user or system integrator would choose the Radeon Pro 5500 XT only if they require its specific low-power, integrated form factor and do not need the performance or features of the NVIDIA card. For anyone building a traditional desktop PC, the RTX 4070 SUPER is the clear and only choice based on the benchmark results.