AMD Radeon Pro 5500M vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Comparison

The Verdict

The benchmark data reveals a clear split personality between these two end-of-life GPUs. The AMD Radeon Pro 5500M wins in exactly two tests, both in the Geekbench suite, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 dominates the remaining eight recorded benchmarks. The GeForce GTX 1070 takes the overall average benchmark score crown at 9780 versus 11528 for the AMD part, though that figure is skewed by the AMD card's massive Metal result. The database places the Radeon Pro 5500M at the 51st percentile of all GPUs, while the GeForce GTX 1070 sits at the 47th percentile, an interesting inversion given the head-to-head results. The AMD card is the pick for developers or creative professionals working primarily within Apple's Metal ecosystem, as its Metal score of 38235 is more than double the GTX 1070's 18801. The NVIDIA card is the straightforward choice for anyone running DirectX-based workloads, legacy titles, or general compute tasks, where it wins by margins ranging from roughly 23% to 58%. The GTX 1070 also carries a launch MSRP of 379 USD, while the Radeon Pro 5500M has no recorded launch price.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different architectural generations and process nodes. The AMD Radeon Pro 5500M uses the Navi 14 chip built on RDNA 1.0 architecture, manufactured by TSMC on a 7 nm process. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 uses the GP104 chip with Pascal architecture, also from TSMC but on a 16 nm process. The process node difference is stark: 7 nm versus 16 nm. This shows up in transistor density, where the AMD chip packs 40.5 million transistors per square millimeter versus 22.9 million for NVIDIA. The AMD die is much smaller at 158 mm² with 6,400 million transistors, while the NVIDIA die is nearly double at 314 mm² with 7,200 million transistors. The AMD part uses GDDR6 memory rated at 12 Gbps effective with a 128-bit bus, yielding 192.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The NVIDIA card uses GDDR5 at 8 Gbps effective on a 256-bit bus, producing 256.3 GB/s. Despite the smaller bus, the AMD memory clock is higher at 1500 MHz versus 2002 MHz for NVIDIA, though the effective data rate favors AMD at 12 Gbps versus 8 Gbps. The AMD architecture supports FP16 at a 2:1 ratio delivering 8.909 TFLOPS, while the NVIDIA GPU offers FP16 at only 1:64 with a paltry 101.0 GFLOPS. In FP32, the GTX 1070 leads with 6.463 TFLOPS against 4.454 TFLOPS for the Radeon Pro 5500M. Both cards support DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The AMD card connects via PCIe 4.0 x8, while the NVIDIA card uses PCIe 3.0 x16. Power requirements differ substantially: the Radeon Pro 5500M draws 85 W with no power connectors, while the GTX 1070 consumes 150 W and needs a single 8-pin connector with a suggested PSU of 450 W.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon Pro 5500M wins decisively in Metal and Vulkan API tests. Its Geekbench Metal score of 38235 is 103.4% higher than the GTX 1070's 18801. In Vulkan, the AMD card scores 35134 versus 22121 for NVIDIA, a 58.8% advantage. These results point to the Radeon Pro 5500M being optimized for modern, low-level graphics APIs, particularly in Apple-centric environments. The Metal result is especially notable, suggesting that Mac users running Metal-enabled applications will see a substantial performance advantage. The Vulkan win also indicates strong cross-platform modern API performance. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 wins everywhere else. Its most dominant category is PassMark DirectX 11, where it scores 100 against 42 for AMD, a 58% lead. In DirectX 10, NVIDIA leads 82 to 36, a 56.1% margin. DirectX 9 favors NVIDIA heavily at 197 versus 96, a 51.3% gap. The PassMark G3D score shows NVIDIA at 13498 versus 6732 for AMD, a 50.1% advantage. In compute, the GTX 1070 scores 6102 in PassMark GPU Compute versus 3240, a 46.9% lead. NVIDIA also wins in OpenCL with 44700 against 31088, a 30.5% margin, and in DirectX 12 with 48 versus 29, a 39.6% lead. The 2D test also favors NVIDIA at 846 versus 648, a 23.4% difference. The data indicates that for legacy DirectX compatibility, traditional rasterization, and OpenCL compute, the GTX 1070 is the superior part.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 5500M has a higher average benchmark score of 11528, compared to 9780 for the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070.

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

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 5500M scores 38235 in Geekbench Metal, which is 103.4% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070's score of 18801.

Q: Which card wins in DirectX 12 performance?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 wins in PassMark DirectX 12 with a score of 48, compared to 29 for the AMD Radeon Pro 5500M, a 39.6% difference.

Q: What is the memory configuration difference between the two?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 5500M has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus with 192.0 GB/s bandwidth. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 has 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus with 256.3 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which GPU has a higher FP32 compute throughput?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 has a higher FP32 throughput at 6.463 TFLOPS, while the AMD Radeon Pro 5500M delivers 4.454 TFLOPS.

Q: How do the process nodes differ between the two GPUs?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 5500M is built on a 7 nm process, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 uses a 16 nm process, both from TSMC.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The largest win for the AMD Radeon Pro 5500M comes in Geekbench Metal. The AMD card scores 38235 against 18801 for the GTX 1070, a delta of 103.4%. This is the single most lopsided result in either direction across all ten head-to-head benchmarks. The second AMD victory is in Geekbench Vulkan, where it scores 35134 versus 22121, a 58.8% advantage. These two wins show that when the workload uses modern, low-level APIs, the RDNA 1.0 architecture can pull far ahead of Pascal. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 counters with eight wins. The most significant NVIDIA victory is in PassMark DirectX 11, where it scores 100 against 42, a 58% lead. The DirectX 10 result is nearly as dominant, with NVIDIA at 82 versus 36, a 56.1% margin. In PassMark G3D, NVIDIA scores 13498 against 6732, a 50.1% lead. The DirectX 9 test shows NVIDIA at 197 versus 96, a 51.3% advantage. In compute workloads, the GTX 1070 leads in PassMark GPU Compute with 6102 versus 3240, a 46.9% gap. The OpenCL test in Geekbench favors NVIDIA at 44700 versus 31088, a 30.5% difference. DirectX 12 shows NVIDIA ahead at 48 versus 29, a 39.6% margin. The smallest NVIDIA win is in PassMark G2D, where it scores 846 versus 648, a 23.4% lead. The pattern is consistent: AMD dominates in Metal and Vulkan, while NVIDIA sweeps the DirectX family, compute, and 2D tests.

Specification Differences

The AMD Radeon Pro 5500M and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 differ across nearly every major specification category. The AMD card uses the Navi 14 chip with RDNA 1.0 architecture, while the NVIDIA card uses GP104 with Pascal. Process nodes differ at 7 nm for AMD and 16 nm for NVIDIA. The AMD die measures 158 mm² with 6,400 million transistors, while the NVIDIA die is 314 mm² with 7,200 million transistors. Transistor density favors AMD at 40.5M per mm² versus 22.9M for NVIDIA. Clock speeds show NVIDIA with higher base and boost clocks at 1506 MHz and 1683 MHz, while AMD runs at 1000 MHz base and 1450 MHz boost. Memory clocks differ, with AMD at 1500 MHz and 12 Gbps effective, while NVIDIA runs at 2002 MHz and 8 Gbps effective. Memory type differs as GDDR6 for AMD and GDDR5 for NVIDIA. Bus width favors NVIDIA at 256-bit versus 128-bit, and bandwidth favors NVIDIA at 256.3 GB/s versus 192.0 GB/s. The NVIDIA card has more shading units at 1920 versus 1536, more TMUs at 120 versus 96, and more ROPs at 64 versus 32. Pixel rate favors NVIDIA at 107.7 GPixel/s versus 46.40 GPixel/s, and texture rate favors NVIDIA at 202.0 GTexel/s versus 139.2 GTexel/s. FP32 throughput favors NVIDIA at 6.463 TFLOPS versus 4.454 TFLOPS, while FP16 throughput favors AMD at 8.909 TFLOPS versus 101.0 GFLOPS. Power draw differs at 85 W for AMD and 150 W for NVIDIA. The NVIDIA card is dual-slot with a 1x 8-pin power connector and a 450 W suggested PSU, while the AMD card has no power connectors. Bus interfaces differ as PCIe 4.0 x8 for AMD and PCIe 3.0 x16 for NVIDIA. Display outputs are portable device dependent for AMD, while NVIDIA offers 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0, and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a. Physical dimensions are only recorded for NVIDIA at 267 mm length, 112 mm height, and 40 mm width. The NVIDIA card has a launch MSRP of 379 USD, while AMD has none recorded.