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

The data presents a stark generational contrast between the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti. The RTX 4070 Ti, a later release built on a more advanced architecture, demonstrates overwhelming performance superiority in the recorded benchmarks, while the Radeon Pro 5500 XT holds a slight edge only in the aggregate average score due to its specific test profile. This comparison is less about competition and more about illustrating the technological gulf between an entry-level professional GPU from 2020 and a high-end consumer GPU from 2023.

The Verdict — who should pick which, strictly from the data

Based on the benchmark results, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is the clear performance victor. In the two head-to-head tests recorded, it wins decisively, scoring 205028 in Geekbench OpenCL against the AMD's 41772, a delta of -79.6% for the AMD part, and 186784 in Geekbench Vulkan against 39601, a -78.8% delta. The RTX 4070 Ti also holds a massive advantage in raw compute specifications, with an FP32 rating of 40.09 TFLOPS compared to the Radeon's 5.398 TFLOPS, and a texture rate of 626.4 GTexel/s versus 168.7 GTexel/s. For any workload leveraging these APIs, the choice is unambiguous: the RTX 4070 Ti is in a different league.

However, the data also shows a curious anomaly in the aggregate benchmark score. The AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT has an average benchmark score of 45642, placing it slightly ahead of the RTX 4070 Ti's 44900. This is primarily because the AMD's average is calculated from its three Geekbench results, while the RTX 4070 Ti's average includes a wider range of tests, including lower DirectX and Passmark scores. The nearestRivals data for the AMD confirms this, listing the RTX 4070 Ti as only 1.7% behind its average score, while the RTX 4070 Ti's own data shows the AMD as a rival that is 1.6% ahead. This suggests that the AMD's aggregate score is inflated by its limited test set, and it should not be interpreted as a sign of overall competitiveness.

The choice is therefore dictated by the task. The RTX 4070 Ti is for users who need maximum compute throughput, ray tracing capabilities (it has 60 dedicated RT cores), and higher memory bandwidth (504.2 GB/s). The Radeon Pro 5500 XT, with its lower power draw of 125 W and IGP slot width, is a different class of product entirely, suited for basic professional tasks in a Mac environment but not for demanding 3D rendering or compute workloads where the RTX 4070 Ti is overwhelmingly faster.

Where Each One Wins — use-case split based on benchmark wins

The RTX 4070 Ti wins every recorded head-to-head benchmark, making a use-case split based on performance straightforward. The NVIDIA GPU dominates in Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan, suggesting it is the superior choice for general-purpose GPU compute (GPGPU) and cross-platform graphics APIs. Its higher FP32 throughput and FP16 performance (40.09 TFLOPS at 1:1 ratio) indicate a strong capability for scientific simulation, AI inference, and video rendering tasks.

The AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT does not win any of the two head-to-head benchmarks. However, its existence in the Radeon Pro Mac generation implies a specific, niche purpose: it is a professional GPU for Mac systems, with no display outputs and an IGP form factor. Its strengths are not in raw speed but in its integration into a specific ecosystem. Its lower power consumption (125 W TDP vs 285 W) and lack of external power connectors suggest it is designed for systems where power and space are at a premium. The data does not support any performance-based use case where it beats the RTX 4070 Ti; its only "win" is the aggregate score anomaly, which is a statistical artifact of the benchmark suite, not a real-world performance advantage.

Architecture Differences — node, cores, cache, features that differ

The two GPUs are built on fundamentally different architectures and process nodes. The AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT uses the Navi 14 chip based on RDNA 1.0, manufactured on TSMC's 7 nm process. It contains 6,400 million transistors on a 158 mm² die. In contrast, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti uses the AD104 chip based on Ada Lovelace, manufactured on a more advanced 5 nm process. It packs 35,800 million transistors into a 294 mm² die, yielding a much higher transistor density of 121.8M / mm² versus 40.5M / mm² for the AMD.

The core configurations are vastly different. The RTX 4070 Ti has 7680 shading units, 240 TMUs, and 80 ROPs, while the Radeon Pro 5500 XT has only 1536 shading units, 96 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. More critically, the RTX 4070 Ti includes specialized hardware that the AMD lacks entirely: 60 RT cores for ray tracing and 240 Tensor cores for AI acceleration. This is a significant architectural feature difference, as the Radeon Pro 5500 XT has no equivalent hardware. The memory subsystems also differ, with the RTX 4070 Ti using 12 GB of GDDR6X on a 192-bit bus, achieving 504.2 GB/s bandwidth, versus the AMD's 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, achieving 224.0 GB/s. The bus interface also differs: the RTX 4070 Ti uses PCIe 4.0 x16, while the AMD uses PCIe 4.0 x8.

FAQ

Q: Is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti always faster than the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT?

A: Yes, in the recorded head-to-head benchmarks. The RTX 4070 Ti wins both Geekbench OpenCL (205028 vs 41772) and Geekbench Vulkan (186784 vs 39601). There are no tests in the data where the AMD wins.

Q: Why does the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT have a higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD's average score of 45642 is derived from only its three Geekbench tests (Metal, OpenCL, Vulkan). The RTX 4070 Ti's average of 44900 includes a broader set of tests, including Passmark DirectX and G2D/G3D tests, which lower its overall average. This is a statistical quirk of the different test suites, not an indication of real-world performance parity.

Q: What are the key architectural differences that explain the performance gap?

A: The RTX 4070 Ti is built on the newer Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process, 7680 shading units, and dedicated 60 RT cores and 240 Tensor cores. The Radeon Pro 5500 XT uses older RDNA 1.0 on a 7 nm process with only 1536 shading units and no RT or Tensor cores. The RTX 4070 Ti also has significantly more memory bandwidth (504.2 GB/s vs 224.0 GB/s).

Q: Does the Radeon Pro 5500 XT support ray tracing?

A: No. The FACT PACK lists no RT cores for the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT. In contrast, the RTX 4070 Ti has 60 RT cores, indicating hardware support for ray tracing.

Q: What is the power consumption difference between the two?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT has a TDP of 125 W with a suggested PSU of 300 W, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti has a TDP of 285 W with a suggested PSU of 600 W. The AMD also requires no power connectors, whereas the RTX 4070 Ti uses a 1x 16-pin connector.

Q: What is the memory configuration of each GPU?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti has 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus. This results in the RTX 4070 Ti having more than double the memory bandwidth.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The two recorded head-to-head benchmarks show a massive and consistent performance lead for the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti.

In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 4070 Ti scores 205028, while the Radeon Pro 5500 XT scores 41772. This represents a delta of -79.6% for the AMD card, meaning the NVIDIA GPU is nearly five times faster in this compute test. This test is a strong indicator of general-purpose compute performance, and the result aligns with the raw specification differences, particularly the RTX 4070 Ti's 40.09 TFLOPS FP32 throughput versus the AMD's 5.398 TFLOPS.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the RTX 4070 Ti again dominates, scoring 186784 against the AMD's 39601, a delta of -78.8%. This confirms that the performance gap is not specific to one API but is a fundamental property of the hardware. The RTX 4070 Ti's higher memory bandwidth (504.2 GB/s) and superior texture rate (626.4 GTexel/s) likely contribute to this result, as Vulkan workloads often stress these subsystems. The data leaves no room for ambiguity: the RTX 4070 Ti is the definitive winner in both tests, with the AMD trailing by roughly 79% in each case.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ in nearly every major specification category. The process node is a key differentiator: the AMD uses a 7 nm process, while the NVIDIA uses a 5 nm process. This is reflected in the transistor counts, with the RTX 4070 Ti having 35,800 million transistors versus the AMD's 6,400 million, and in the transistor density (121.8M / mm² vs 40.5M / mm²). The die size also differs, with the RTX 4070 Ti at 294 mm² and the AMD at 158 mm².

Clock speeds are another major difference. The RTX 4070 Ti has a base clock of 2310 MHz and a boost clock of 2610 MHz, while the AMD has a base of 1187 MHz and a boost of 1757 MHz. The memory is also different: the AMD uses 8 GB of GDDR6 with a 128-bit bus and 224.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the NVIDIA uses 12 GB of GDDR6X with a 192-bit bus and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth.

Core counts are drastically different: the RTX 4070 Ti has 7680 shading units, 240 TMUs, and 80 ROPs, compared to the AMD's 1536 shading units, 96 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The RTX 4070 Ti also has 60 RT cores and 240 Tensor cores, which are entirely absent from the AMD's spec sheet. The FP32 and FP16 performance figures reflect this gulf, with the RTX 4070 Ti at 40.09 TFLOPS for both, while the AMD is at 5.398 TFLOPS (FP32) and 10.80 TFLOPS (FP16 at 2:1).

Power and physical requirements differ significantly. The RTX 4070 Ti has a TDP of 285 W and requires a 600 W PSU, while the AMD has a TDP of 125 W and a 300 W PSU suggestion. The RTX 4070 Ti is a dual-slot card with a 1x 16-pin power connector, whereas the AMD is an IGP with no power connectors. The bus interface also differs, with the RTX 4070 Ti using PCIe 4.0 x16 and the AMD using PCIe 4.0 x8. Finally, the RTX 4070 Ti has display outputs (1x HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a) and a launch MSRP of 799 USD, while the AMD has no display outputs.