AMD Radeon Pro 555 vs AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT Comparison

The AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT and AMD Radeon Pro 555 represent two distinct eras of AMD mobile and desktop graphics, separated by the 7nm Navi architecture and the older 14nm Polaris design. The benchmark data shows a decisive performance gap, with the RX 5500 XT winning all three head-to-head tests by massive margins, yet the Pro 555 maintains a niche as a low-power integrated graphics solution for portable workstations. This analysis breaks down where each card excels, what the numbers mean for real-world use, and who should consider which GPU based strictly on the provided facts.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT is the outright winner in every measurable category of the head-to-head benchmarks. In Geekbench Metal, it scores 54,842 against the Pro 555's 16,236, a 237.8% advantage. The OpenCL gap is even wider: 46,965 versus 11,682, representing a 302% lead. Vulkan performance follows suit at 44,191 versus 12,303, a 259.2% difference. These are not marginal wins; the RX 5500 XT delivers roughly three to four times the compute throughput in these API-level tests. Its average benchmark score of 14,692 also sits comfortably above the Pro 555's 13,407, and it ranks in the 57th percentile of all GPUs compared to the Pro 555's 54th.

The RX 5500 XT also wins on architectural fundamentals. It uses 1,408 shading units, 88 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs, versus the Pro 555's 768 shaders, 48 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. Its pixel rate of 59.04 GPixel/s and texture rate of 162.4 GTexel/s dwarf the Pro 555's 13.60 GPixel/s and 40.80 GTexel/s. The 4 GB GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus delivers 224.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the Pro 555's 2 GB GDDR5 on the same bus width manages only 81.60 GB/s. In every throughput metric, the RX 5500 XT is the clear performer.

Where the Pro 555 wins is in power efficiency and physical footprint. It carries a 75 W TDP with no power connectors, compared to the RX 5500 XT's 130 W TDP and single 8-pin connector. The Pro 555 is an IGP (integrated graphics processor) with portable-device-dependent display outputs, meaning it is designed for laptops where space and battery life are paramount. The RX 5500 XT, by contrast, is a dual-slot desktop card measuring 180 mm (7.1 inches) and requiring a 300 W suggested PSU. If the metric is "least power draw and smallest physical presence," the Pro 555 wins by default — but that is its only victory.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT is the superior GPU for any task that benefits from raw graphics compute. Its 302% lead in OpenCL and 237.8% lead in Metal make it the obvious choice for gaming, 3D rendering, or any compute-heavy workload on a desktop platform. Its 57th percentile ranking versus the Pro 555's 54th, combined with a higher average benchmark score (14,692 vs 13,407), confirms that the RX 5500 XT is not just faster in isolated tests but consistently better across a broader benchmark suite.

The AMD Radeon Pro 555 is only appropriate for users who absolutely require the IGP form factor and 75 W power envelope. Its 54th percentile ranking is respectable for a 2017-era integrated part, but its nearest rivals (AMD Radeon HD 8950M at 0.2% delta, AMD Radeon RX 5500M at 0.4% delta) show that it sits in a performance tier far below the RX 5500 XT. The Pro 555's only advantage is its portability and lack of external power requirements; if the workload can be handled by a desktop card, the RX 5500 XT is the only rational pick. For laptop buyers, the Pro 555 is a legacy part with no modern equivalent in this comparison, but the RX 5500 XT should be chosen whenever possible.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The three head-to-head tests all use Geekbench's cross-platform compute workloads, and the RX 5500 XT dominates each one. The largest relative margin is in OpenCL, where the RX 5500 XT scores 46,965 against the Pro 555's 11,682. That 302% delta means the RX 5500 XT delivers more than four times the OpenCL throughput. This is a critical result for professionals using OpenCL-accelerated applications like video editing or scientific simulation, as the RX 5500 XT effectively eliminates any waiting time on compute tasks.

In Metal, Apple's graphics API, the RX 5500 XT scores 54,842 versus 16,236, a 237.8% advantage. While Metal is more commonly associated with macOS, this benchmark runs on Windows and shows the architectural efficiency of RDNA 1.0 over GCN 4.0. The RX 5500 XT's 5.196 TFLOPS FP32 throughput versus the Pro 555's 1,305.6 GFLOPS explains this gap; the newer chip simply processes more floating-point operations per clock cycle, benefiting from its higher boost clock of 1845 MHz compared to the Pro 555's unspecified clock speeds.

Vulkan results are similarly lopsided: 44,191 for the RX 5500 XT versus 12,303 for the Pro 555, a 259.2% delta. Vulkan's low-overhead design scales well with the RX 5500 XT's 7nm process and 6,400 million transistors, while the Pro 555's 3,000 million transistors on 14nm hit a ceiling. The RX 5500 XT also wins on API support, offering DirectX 12_1 and Vulkan 1.4 versus the Pro 555's DirectX 12_0 and Vulkan 1.3, giving it access to newer features like mesh shaders and variable rate shading. The Pro 555's only benchmark presence is these three Geekbench tests, while the RX 5500 XT also posts scores in Passmark's suite (G3D: 9,083, G2D: 774, GPU Compute: 4,446), further cementing its broader applicability.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has higher memory bandwidth?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT has 224.0 GB/s bandwidth from 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus. The AMD Radeon Pro 555 has 81.60 GB/s from 2 GB of GDDR5 on the same 128-bit bus width.

Q: How large is the performance gap in OpenCL?

A: The RX 5500 XT scores 46,965 in Geekbench OpenCL, while the Pro 555 scores 11,682. This represents a 302% delta, meaning the RX 5500 XT is roughly four times faster in this workload.

Q: What are the power requirements for each card?

A: The RX 5500 XT has a 130 W TDP, requires a single 8-pin power connector, and needs a 300 W suggested PSU. The Pro 555 has a 75 W TDP with no power connectors and no suggested PSU listed.

Q: Which card supports newer DirectX and Vulkan versions?

A: The RX 5500 XT supports DirectX 12_1 and Vulkan 1.4. The Pro 555 supports DirectX 12_0 and Vulkan 1.3. The RX 5500 XT's higher version numbers enable access to more recent graphics features.

Q: How do the two cards compare in average benchmark score?

A: The RX 5500 XT has an average benchmark score of 14,692, while the Pro 555 averages 13,407. The RX 5500 XT also ranks in the 57th percentile of all GPUs, versus the Pro 555's 54th percentile.

Q: Which card has more shading units and texture units?

A: The RX 5500 XT has 1,408 shading units and 88 TMUs. The Pro 555 has 768 shading units and 48 TMUs. The RX 5500 XT also has 32 ROPs versus the Pro 555's 16.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are built on fundamentally different architectures and process nodes. The AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT uses the Navi 14 chip on TSMC's 7nm process, employing RDNA 1.0 architecture. It packs 6,400 million transistors into a 158 mm² die, achieving a transistor density of 40.5 million per mm². The AMD Radeon Pro 555 uses the Polaris 21 chip on GlobalFoundries' 14nm process, based on the older GCN 4.0 architecture. It has 3,000 million transistors on a 123 mm² die, with a density of 24.4 million per mm². The RX 5500 XT's newer node allows significantly higher clock speeds — 1607 MHz base, 1717 MHz game, and 1845 MHz boost — while the Pro 555's clocks are not specified in the data.

Memory configurations also differ sharply. The RX 5500 XT uses 4 GB of GDDR6 at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective), delivering 224.0 GB/s. The Pro 555 uses 2 GB of GDDR5 at 1275 MHz (5.1 Gbps effective), delivering 81.60 GB/s. Both use a 128-bit memory bus, but the newer memory type gives the RX 5500 XT nearly three times the bandwidth. FP16 compute also diverges: the RX 5500 XT achieves 10.39 TFLOPS with a 2:1 ratio, while the Pro 555 manages 1,305.6 GFLOPS with a 1:1 ratio, indicating the older card lacks the accelerated half-precision path found in RDNA.

Feature support and physical design create the final distinction. The RX 5500 XT is a dual-slot desktop card with PCIe 4.0 x8 interface, 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a outputs. The Pro 555 is an IGP with PCIe 3.0 x8 and portable-device-dependent displays. The RX 5500 XT has a 130 W TDP and requires a 300 W PSU, while the Pro 555 draws just 75 W with no external power. DirectX support favors the RX 5500 XT (12_1 vs 12_0), as does Vulkan (1.4 vs 1.3). Both cards share OpenGL 4.6, but the RX 5500 XT's newer architecture and higher transistor count make it the clear technical leader across every compute and rendering metric in the FACT PACK.