AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The single direct comparison available in the data is the Geekbench OpenCL test, and the result is decisive. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile scores 84,171, while the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT manages 41,772. This represents a delta of -50.4% for the AMD part, meaning the RTX 5050 Mobile is roughly twice as fast in this compute workload. The margin is substantial enough that it defines the entire head-to-head narrative: the NVIDIA part wins the only shared benchmark, giving it a 1-0 sweep in direct comparisons.

Looking at average benchmark scores across all available tests, the picture is closer than the OpenCL result suggests. The Radeon Pro 5500 XT posts an average score of 45,384, while the RTX 5050 Mobile averages 43,268. That puts the AMD card 4.9% ahead on average, even though it loses the one test where both were measured. This discrepancy highlights how benchmark selection matters: the OpenCL test favors the NVIDIA architecture heavily, while other workloads in the AMD card's suite (Geekbench Metal and Vulkan) contribute to its higher average.

The percentile rankings tell a similar story. The Radeon Pro 5500 XT sits at the 84th percentile of all GPUs, while the RTX 5050 Mobile sits at the 83rd. These are nearly identical positions, separated by just one percentile point. The average scores of their nearest rivals reinforce this: the RTX 5050 Mobile's closest competitor is the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB at 43,262 (0% delta), and the Radeon Pro 5500 XT's nearest rival is the Intel Arc A730M at 45,592 (-0.5% delta). Both cards are surrounded by similarly performing hardware, making the head-to-head gap in OpenCL all the more striking.

The AMD card's individual benchmark results are 54,779 in Geekbench Metal, 41,772 in OpenCL, and 39,601 in Vulkan. The Metal score is notably higher than its OpenCL and Vulkan scores, suggesting the architecture performs better under Apple's graphics API. The NVIDIA card's only other benchmark, 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, returns 2,365, but there is no corresponding AMD result to compare it against. Without a shared DirectX 12 benchmark, the OpenCL result remains the sole quantitative basis for direct comparison.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs represent fundamentally different design philosophies and generations. The AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT uses the Navi 14 chip built on RDNA 1.0 architecture, fabricated on a 7 nm TSMC process. It packs 6,400 million transistors into a 158 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 40.5 million per square millimeter. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile uses the GB207 chip on Blackwell 2.0 architecture, fabricated on a 5 nm TSMC process. It contains 16,900 million transistors in a 149 mm² die, achieving a transistor density of 113.4 million per square millimeter—nearly three times the density of the AMD chip.

These process and density differences translate into stark compute capabilities. The RTX 5050 Mobile has 2,560 shading units, versus 1,536 for the Radeon Pro 5500 XT—a 66.7% advantage in raw shader count. However, the AMD card has more texture mapping units (96 vs. 80) and equal raster operation units (32 each). The NVIDIA card's FP32 throughput is 7.680 TFLOPS, while the AMD card delivers 5.398 TFLOPS, putting the RTX 5050 Mobile 42.3% ahead in single-precision compute. FP16 performance diverges even more dramatically: the AMD card reaches 10.80 TFLOPS via a 2:1 ratio, while the NVIDIA card manages 7.680 TFLOPS at a 1:1 ratio, meaning the AMD part is 40.6% faster in half-precision workloads.

Memory subsystems differ significantly. Both cards use an 8 GB frame buffer on a 128-bit bus, but the AMD card employs GDDR6 at 14 Gbps effective, yielding 224.0 GB/s bandwidth. The NVIDIA card uses GDDR7 at 24 Gbps effective, producing 384.0 GB/s—71.4% more bandwidth. This memory bandwidth advantage is critical for the RTX 5050 Mobile's performance in bandwidth-sensitive workloads. The RTX 5050 Mobile also introduces hardware features absent from the AMD card: 20 ray tracing cores and 80 tensor cores, enabling DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2) versus the AMD card's DirectX 12 (12_1). Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4.

Clock behavior also differs. The AMD card runs at a base clock of 1187 MHz and boosts to 1757 MHz, while the NVIDIA card has a lower base of 1020 MHz but boosts to 1500 MHz. Despite lower clocks, the NVIDIA card achieves higher throughput due to its larger shader array. Power consumption is dramatically different: the Radeon Pro 5500 XT has a 125 W TDP, while the RTX 5050 Mobile draws just 50 W. The AMD card suggests a 300 W power supply; the NVIDIA card lists none. Both are integrated form factors with no external power connectors and no display outputs (the NVIDIA card notes "Portable Device Dependent" outputs). The bus interfaces differ as well: PCIe 4.0 x8 for AMD versus PCIe 5.0 x16 for NVIDIA.

The Verdict

The data points to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile as the clear winner in the only directly comparable workload. Its 84,171 OpenCL score versus 41,772 for the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT is a 50.4% margin in NVIDIA's favor—a decisive gap that cannot be dismissed as noise. The RTX 5050 Mobile also offers superior memory bandwidth (384.0 GB/s vs. 224.0 GB/s), higher FP32 throughput (7.680 vs. 5.398 TFLOPS), and dedicated ray tracing and tensor cores, all while consuming less than half the power (50 W vs. 125 W).

However, the AMD card is not without merit. Its average benchmark score of 45,384 edges out the RTX 5050 Mobile's 43,268, driven largely by its strong Geekbench Metal result of 54,779. The AMD card also leads in texture fill rate (168.7 GTexel/s vs. 120.0 GTexel/s) and pixel rate (56.22 GPixel/s vs. 48.00 GPixel/s), despite the NVIDIA card's higher shader count. Its FP16 throughput of 10.80 TFLOPS exceeds the NVIDIA card's 7.680 TFLOPS, which could matter for specific half-precision compute tasks.

For users prioritizing raw compute in OpenCL workloads, the RTX 5050 Mobile is the obvious choice. It also offers modern features like ray tracing and tensor cores that the Radeon Pro 5500 XT completely lacks. For users in Apple-centric environments where Metal performance is paramount—and where the Radeon Pro 5500 XT's 84th percentile ranking reflects its capability—the AMD card may still be serviceable. But the RTX 5050 Mobile's combination of higher compute throughput, double the memory bandwidth, and a fraction of the power draw makes it the superior engineering achievement. The Radeon Pro 5500 XT is end-of-life (released August 2020), while the RTX 5050 Mobile is active (released June 2025), so the NVIDIA card also represents current-generation technology.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins in OpenCL compute performance?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile wins decisively with a score of 84,171 versus 41,772 for the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT, representing a 50.4% delta in NVIDIA's favor.

Q: How do their average benchmark scores compare?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT has a higher average benchmark score of 45,384, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile averages 43,268, putting the AMD card 4.9% ahead on average despite losing the direct OpenCL comparison.

Q: What are the key memory differences?

A: Both have 8 GB, but the AMD card uses GDDR6 at 14 Gbps effective with 224.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the NVIDIA card uses GDDR7 at 24 Gbps effective with 384.0 GB/s—71.4% more bandwidth.

Q: Does the RTX 5050 Mobile support ray tracing?

A: Yes, it has 20 ray tracing cores and 80 tensor cores, supporting DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2). The Radeon Pro 5500 XT has no ray tracing or tensor cores and supports only DirectX 12 (12_1).

Q: How does power consumption differ?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT has a 125 W TDP, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile has a 50 W TDP, making the NVIDIA card 60% more power-efficient in terms of TDP alone.

Q: Which GPU has higher FP16 performance?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT achieves 10.80 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1 ratio), while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile achieves 7.680 TFLOPS (1:1 ratio), giving the AMD card a 40.6% advantage in half-precision compute.

Where Each One Wins

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile wins in: OpenCL compute (84,171 vs. 41,772, a 50.4% lead), single-precision FP32 throughput (7.680 TFLOPS vs. 5.398 TFLOPS), memory bandwidth (384.0 GB/s vs. 224.0 GB/s), shader count (2,560 vs. 1,536), ray tracing and tensor core workloads (20 RT cores and 80 tensor cores present vs. none), power efficiency (50 W vs. 125 W TDP), and modern API support (DirectX 12 Ultimate). Its PCIe 5.0 x16 interface also exceeds the AMD card's PCIe 4.0 x8.

AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT wins in: Average benchmark score (45,384 vs. 43,268), Geekbench Metal performance (54,779, its highest individual score), FP16 compute (10.80 TFLOPS vs. 7.680 TFLOPS), texture fill rate (168.7 GTexel/s vs. 120.0 GTexel/s), pixel rate (56.22 GPixel/s vs. 48.00 GPixel/s), and transistor density efficiency in terms of die size (158 mm² vs. 149 mm² despite fewer transistors). It also holds a slightly higher percentile ranking among all GPUs (84th vs. 83rd).

For users whose workloads are dominated by OpenCL or modern gaming features like ray tracing and tensor-accelerated effects, the RTX 5050 Mobile is the clear pick. For users in Metal-centric ecosystems or those running half-precision compute tasks, the Radeon Pro 5500 XT retains specific advantages. The overall data, however, favors the NVIDIA card due to its dominant OpenCL performance, higher compute throughput, superior memory bandwidth, and drastically lower power draw.