AMD Radeon Pro 5500M vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Comparison

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins more head-to-head benchmarks?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 wins 8 out of 10 head-to-head comparisons, while the AMD Radeon Pro 5500M takes 2 wins.

Q: What is the largest single-benchmark margin between the two cards?

A: The GTX 1080 beats the Pro 5500M by 195.2% in Passmark DirectX 11, the biggest delta in the head-to-head set.

Q: Where does the Radeon Pro 5500M beat the GTX 1080?

A: It wins in Geekbench Metal (38,235 vs 23,824, a 37.7% advantage) and Geekbench Vulkan (35,134 vs 30,398, a 13.5% advantage).

Q: How do the average benchmark scores compare?

A: The GTX 1080 has an average benchmark score of 11,960, while the Pro 5500M averages 11,528 — a difference of roughly 3.7% in favor of the NVIDIA card.

Q: What is the percentile ranking for each GPU against all GPUs?

A: Both cards sit at the 51st percentile versus all GPUs, indicating comparable overall standing despite their architectural differences.

Q: Which card has a higher FP32 compute throughput?

A: The GTX 1080 delivers 8.873 TFLOPS FP32, nearly double the Pro 5500M's 4.454 TFLOPS.

Architecture Differences

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 uses the GP104 chip built on TSMC's 16 nm process, packing 7,200 million transistors into a 314 mm² die. This yields a transistor density of 22.9M per mm². The AMD Radeon Pro 5500M, by contrast, uses the Navi 14 chip on a 7 nm process from the same foundry, with 6,400 million transistors on a much smaller 158 mm² die — achieving a higher density of 40.5M per mm².

The GTX 1080 is built on the Pascal architecture, while the Pro 5500M uses RDNA 1.0. The NVIDIA card features 2,560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs. The AMD card has fewer execution resources: 1,536 shading units, 96 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. Neither GPU includes ray tracing cores or tensor cores.

Memory subsystems differ substantially. The GTX 1080 pairs 8 GB of GDDR5X on a 256-bit bus, delivering 320.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The Pro 5500M also has 8 GB, but uses GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, capping bandwidth at 192.0 GB/s. Clock behavior diverges too: the NVIDIA card runs at a 1607 MHz base and 1733 MHz boost, while the AMD chip starts at 1000 MHz and boosts to 1450 MHz.

Power characteristics separate these cards clearly. The GTX 1080 is rated at 180 W TDP, requires a single 8-pin power connector, and needs a 450 W suggested PSU. The Pro 5500M draws only 85 W, uses no external power connectors, and has no suggested PSU figure. The GTX 1080 is a dual-slot card measuring 267 mm in length, whereas the Pro 5500M has no listed dimensions, consistent with its mobile-oriented design. The bus interface also differs: PCIe 3.0 x16 for NVIDIA versus PCIe 4.0 x8 for AMD.

Both cards support DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The GTX 1080 offers 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0, and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a outputs, while the Pro 5500M's display outputs are described as "Portable Device Dependent." The GTX 1080 launched on May 26, 2016, with a launch MSRP of 599 USD; the Pro 5500M arrived on November 12, 2019, with no MSRP listed. Both are end-of-life products.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The data shows a lopsided contest. The GTX 1080 dominates the Passmark suite across every DirectX version tested. In DirectX 9, the NVIDIA card scores 211 versus 96 — a 119.8% lead. DirectX 10 shows 93 versus 36, a 158.3% advantage. The DirectX 11 gap widens further: 124 versus 42, or 195.2% — the largest margin in the entire comparison. DirectX 12 narrows things relatively, but the GTX 1080 still wins 55 to 29, an 89.7% edge.

The compute-oriented Passmark tests reinforce NVIDIA's superiority. Passmark G3D shows the GTX 1080 at 15,586 against 6,732 for the Pro 5500M — a 131.5% difference. Passmark GPU Compute follows the same pattern: 7,614 versus 3,240, a 135% gap. Even the 2D test favors NVIDIA, with 888 versus 648, a 37% margin.

Geekbench tells a different story. The AMD Radeon Pro 5500M wins Geekbench Metal decisively, scoring 38,235 against the GTX 1080's 23,824 — a 37.7% advantage for AMD. In Geekbench Vulkan, the Pro 5500M again takes the win, 35,134 versus 30,398, a 13.5% margin. However, Geekbench OpenCL flips back to NVIDIA: the GTX 1080 posts 51,204 against 31,088, a 64.7% lead.

These results suggest workload-dependent behavior. The GTX 1080's massive lead in Passmark tests (ranging from 37% to 195.2%) indicates strong legacy DirectX performance and raw compute throughput. The Pro 5500M's wins in Metal and Vulkan point to better optimization in modern, low-level APIs — particularly Apple's Metal, which aligns with its Radeon Pro Mac branding.

The average benchmark scores reflect this split: 11,960 for the GTX 1080 versus 11,528 for the Pro 5500M, a difference of about 3.7%. Both cards rank at the 51st percentile against all GPUs, meaning their overall standing is statistically similar despite the wide per-test swings.

Specification Differences

The most consequential spec gap is raw throughput. The GTX 1080 delivers 8.873 TFLOPS FP32 versus 4.454 TFLOPS for the Pro 5500M — exactly double. Pixel rate also diverges sharply: 110.9 GPixel/s versus 46.40 GPixel/s. Texture rate follows: 277.3 GTexel/s versus 139.2 GTexel/s.

Memory bandwidth heavily favors NVIDIA: 320.3 GB/s versus 192.0 GB/s. This stems from the 256-bit bus versus 128-bit, and the faster GDDR5X versus GDDR6 does not compensate for the narrower interface. Effective memory speed is 10 Gbps for the GTX 1080 and 12 Gbps for the Pro 5500M, but the bandwidth figure tells the real story.

FP16 performance is a notable reversal. The GTX 1080 manages 138.6 GFLOPS FP16 at a 1:64 ratio to FP32 — essentially negligible. The Pro 5500M delivers 8.909 TFLOPS FP16 at a 2:1 ratio to FP32, making it far more capable in half-precision workloads.

Physical and power specs differ completely. The GTX 1080 has a 180 W TDP, dual-slot cooler, 1x 8-pin connector, and 450 W suggested PSU. The Pro 5500M draws 85 W, has no power connectors, and no suggested PSU. The NVIDIA card is 267 mm long, 112 mm tall, and 40 mm wide; the AMD card has no listed dimensions. Transistor counts are close (7,200 million vs 6,400 million), but die size differs dramatically (314 mm² vs 158 mm²), giving the Pro 5500M a 40.5M/mm² density versus 22.9M/mm².

The GTX 1080 uses PCIe 3.0 x16; the Pro 5500M uses PCIe 4.0 x8. Display outputs, as noted, are fixed on the GTX 1080 (DVI, HDMI 2.0, three DisplayPort 1.4a) versus portable-device-dependent on the AMD card. Release dates are 2016 for NVIDIA and 2019 for AMD. The GTX 1080 has a listed launch MSRP of 599 USD; the Pro 5500M has none.

Where Each One Wins

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 is the clear pick for raw rasterization and legacy API performance. Its Passmark DirectX 9 through 12 results are all dramatically higher, with margins from 89.7% to 195.2%. The 131.5% lead in Passmark G3D and 135% lead in GPU Compute make it the stronger choice for general 3D rendering, GPU-accelerated compute, and older DirectX titles. The 64.7% advantage in Geekbench OpenCL further cements its position for OpenCL-based workloads. The GTX 1080 also doubles the FP32 throughput and offers 67% more memory bandwidth, which matters for high-resolution textures and heavy fill-rate scenarios. Its 180 W TDP and desktop-oriented design (dual-slot, 267 mm length, dedicated power connector) position it as a fixed installation component.

AMD Radeon Pro 5500M wins where modern API efficiency and half-precision matter. Its Geekbench Metal score of 38,235 is 60.5% higher than the GTX 1080's, making it the obvious choice for macOS/Metal environments — consistent with its Radeon Pro Mac generation. The Vulkan win (35,134 vs 30,398, a 13.5% margin) shows better low-level API utilization. The Pro 5500M's FP16 output of 8.909 TFLOPS versus 138.6 GFLOPS is a generational leap for half-precision compute, relevant for AI inference and certain scientific workloads. Its 85 W TDP with no external power connectors means it suits compact, mobile, or power-constrained systems where the GTX 1080's 180 W draw would be prohibitive. The 7 nm process and smaller die (158 mm²) hint at better efficiency per watt, though the data does not directly measure that metric.

In summary: the GTX 1080 wins on brute-force performance across most traditional benchmarks, while the Pro 5500M excels in modern APIs, half-precision tasks, and power-sensitive deployments. Both sit at the same 51st percentile overall, so the choice hinges on the specific workload and platform rather than absolute capability.