AMD Radeon Pro 5500M vs AMD Radeon Pro 555X Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark split between these two mobile workstation GPUs is anything but balanced. The AMD Radeon Pro 5500M wins every single head-to-head contest recorded in the database, taking all three Geekbench tests with decisive margins. The AMD Radeon Pro 555X does not register a single win in the direct comparison, which makes the use-case separation straightforward: if the workload relies on Metal, OpenCL, or Vulkan compute, the 5500M is the only rational choice.

That said, the 555X still occupies a niche, just not a performance one. Its 54th percentile ranking among all GPUs actually sits slightly above the 5500M's 51st percentile, a quirk driven by the different benchmark suites each card was tested with. The 555X's average benchmark score of 13321 pulls from three Geekbench results, while the 5500M's 11528 average includes ten tests, several of which are legacy DirectX and Passmark subtests that drag the mean down. So in pure aggregate terms, the older card looks closer, but the direct head-to-head data is unambiguous.

For users running modern Apple-oriented compute stacks, the 5500M dominates. Its Metal score of 38235 versus 14479 represents a 62.1% advantage, a gap large enough to change the nature of a workflow. OpenCL shows a 59.4% lead, and Vulkan a 63.4% lead. There is no scenario in the recorded data where the 555X wins a modern compute race. The 555X's only conceivable advantage is its lower power draw and integrated form factor, but the database does not record any benchmark where that translates into a performance win.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from completely different architectural lineages. The 555X is built on Polaris 21, a GCN 4.0 design manufactured on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. The 5500M uses Navi 14, an RDNA 1.0 architecture fabricated by TSMC on 7 nm. That process shrink is not just a marketing point: it allows the 5500M to pack 6,400 million transistors into a 158 mm² die, while the 555X fits just 3,000 million transistors into 123 mm². Transistor density jumps from 24.4 million per square millimeter to 40.5 million, a 66% increase in packing efficiency.

The compute resources scale accordingly. The 5500M doubles the shading units to 1536, doubles the texture mapping units to 96, and doubles the render output units to 32. The 555X operates with 768 shaders, 48 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. Clock behavior also differs: the 555X has no recorded base or boost clock, while the 5500M runs at a 1000 MHz base and 1450 MHz boost. The 5500M also supports a 2:1 FP16 ratio, delivering 8.909 TFLOPS of half-precision compute versus 4.454 TFLOPS FP32. The 555X offers FP16 at a 1:1 ratio, meaning its FP16 throughput equals its FP32 figure at 1,393.2 GFLOPS.

API support differs as well. The 5500M supports DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.4, while the 555X is limited to DirectX 12 (12_0) and Vulkan 1.3. Both support OpenGL 4.6. Memory technology reflects the generational split: GDDR5 at 1470 MHz on the 555X versus GDDR6 at 1500 MHz on the 5500M. Effective data rates jump from 5.9 Gbps to 12 Gbps, and bandwidth nearly doubles from 94.08 GB/s to 192.0 GB/s. Capacity doubles as well, from 4 GB to 8 GB, both on a 128-bit bus. The 5500M also moves to PCIe 4.0 x8, while the 555X is stuck on PCIe 3.0 x8.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has higher raw compute throughput?

A: The Radeon Pro 5500M. Its FP32 performance is 4.454 TFLOPS versus 1,393.2 GFLOPS for the 555X, a more than threefold difference. FP16 output is even more lopsided at 8.909 TFLOPS versus 1,393.2 GFLOPS, thanks to the RDNA 1.0 architecture's 2:1 ratio.

Q: How much faster is the 5500M in Metal workloads?

A: The head-to-head Metal score for Geekbench Metal shows 38235 for the 5500M against 14479 for the 555X, a 62.1% delta. That is the largest single-test gap recorded between the two cards.

Q: Do the two GPUs differ in memory capacity and bandwidth?

A: Yes, in every way that matters. The 5500M offers 8 GB of GDDR6 memory with 192.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the 555X provides 4 GB of GDDR5 at 94.08 GB/s. The 5500M memory clock runs at 1500 MHz, and the 555X memory clock is 1470 MHz with 5.9 Gbps effective.

Q: Are there any benchmarks where the 555X wins?

**A: In the direct head-to-head comparison, no. The 555X records 0 wins out of 3 tests. Its percentileVsAllGpus percentile is 54, three points higher than the 5500M's 51st percentile, but no individual test favors the older card.

Q: What is the difference in power consumption?

A: The 555X has a TDP of 75 W and uses no power connectors, similar to the 5500M's 85 W TDP. Both are portable-device dependent for display outputs. Neither has a recorded launch MSRP.

Specification Differences

The recorded specifications differ across nearly every measurable field. Process node moves from 14 nm to 7 nm. Foundry shifts from GlobalFoundries to TSMC. Transistor count grows from 3,000 million to 6,400 million. Die size expands from 123 mm² to 158 mm², while transistor density rises from 24.4M per mm² to 40.5M per mm².

Compute units double in every category: shading units 768 to 1536, TMUs 48 to 96, ROPs 16 to 32. The 5500M has a base clock of 1000 MHz and boost clock of 1450 MHz; the 555X has neither recorded. Memory clock jumps from 1470 MHz to 1500 MHz, effective data rate from 5.9 Gbps to 12 Gbps, and bandwidth from 94.08 GB/s to 192.0 GB/s. Memory size doubles from 4 GB to 8 GB, while bus width stays at 128 bit. Pixel rate climbs from 14.51 GPixel/s to 46.40 GPixel/s, texture rate from 43.54 GTexel/s to 139.2 GTexel/s. FP32 goes from 1,393.2 GFLOPS to 4.454 TFLOPS. FP16 goes from 1,393.2 GFLOPS (1:1) to 8.909 TFLOPS (2:1). TDP rises from 75 W to 85 W. Bus interface advances from PCIe 3.0 x8 to PCIe 4.0 x8. DirectX support improves from 12_0 to 12_1, Vulkan from 1.3 to 1.4. Release dates differ by over a year, with the 555X launching in 2018 and the 5500M in 2019. Both are marked end-of-life.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The Geekbench Metal test delivers the clearest signal. The 5500M scores 38235, the 555X scores 14479, producing a 62.1% delta in favor of the newer card. That is not a marginal improvement; it is a generational leap that transforms the 5500M from a capable entry point into a serious compute device. In OpenCL, the gap narrows slightly but remains overwhelming: 31088 versus 12628, a 59.4% advantage. Vulkan shows the largest relative separation of the three, with the 5500M at 35134 and the 555X at 12855, a 63.4% delta.

Looking at the nearest rivals puts these numbers in context. The 555X's average score of 13321 sits within 0.4% of the AMD Radeon HD 8950M and within 0.2% of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480. It is effectively tied with the AMD Radeon RX 5500M at -0.3% delta. The 5500M, by contrast, averages 11528 but its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Tesla K20c at a 0.4% delta and the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT at -0.8%. The 5500M's average is dragged down by its Passmark results, which include a DirectX 9 score of 96, a DirectX 10 score of 36, a DirectX 11 score of 42, and a DirectX 12 score of 29. Those legacy tests are not part of the 555X's recorded suite, so the average comparison is not apples-to-apples. The head-to-head Geekbench results, which both cards share, are the fairer measure, and they uniformly favor the 5500M.

The Passmark G3D score of 6732 and GPU compute score of 3240 for the 5500M have no corresponding data for the 555X, so they cannot be compared directly. But the pattern holds: every recorded benchmark that includes both cards shows the 5500M winning by a wide margin.

The Verdict

The data does not support choosing the Radeon Pro 555X for any performance-driven task. The 5500M leads by 59.4% to 63.4% across all shared benchmarks, doubles the memory capacity, nearly doubles the bandwidth, and offers more than triple the FP32 throughput. Its architectural advantages, the 7 nm RDNA 1.0 design, PCIe 4.0 support, and 2:1 FP16 ratio, are baked into every measured result.

The only argument for the 555X comes from its lower TDP of 75 W versus 85 W and its higher percentile ranking of 54 versus 51, but that percentile gap is an artifact of different benchmark suites. The 555X's three Geekbench scores are all mid-range, while the 5500M's ten scores include several legacy DirectX tests that pull its average down. In direct competition, the 555X never wins.

For users on a Mac workstation with a 5500M, the recorded data shows a GPU that belongs in a different class than the 555X, despite both carrying the Radeon Pro branding. The 555X remains a functional entry-level part for light graphics work, but anyone choosing between these two should take the 5500M based on the benchmark record alone. The 62.1% Metal advantage alone justifies that pick, and the OpenCL and Vulkan results only reinforce it.