AMD Radeon Pro 555 vs AMD Radeon RX 5500M Comparison

The AMD Radeon Pro 555 and AMD Radeon RX 5500M are two mobile GPUs from different eras of AMD’s design philosophy. The data shows a decisive victory for the RX 5500M, which wins all three head-to-head benchmark comparisons by a wide margin, posting scores roughly three times higher than the Pro 555 in every test. While both cards occupy the same 54th percentile among all GPUs, that parity in ranking is misleading; the RX 5500M is a significantly more capable piece of hardware, and the Pro 555’s inclusion in the same percentile is a reflection of its age and the benchmark pool, not its competitive standing.

The Verdict

The benchmark results are unambiguous: the AMD Radeon RX 5500M is the superior product for any workload that leverages compute or graphics performance. In Geekbench Metal, the RX 5500M scores 50,359 against the Pro 555’s 16,236, a delta of -67.8% from the winner’s perspective, meaning the RX 5500M is over three times faster. The OpenCL and Vulkan results follow the same pattern, with the RX 5500M achieving 38,725 and 35,693, respectively, compared to the Pro 555’s 11,682 and 12,303. For any user whose tasks involve modern APIs or general-purpose compute, the RX 5500M is the only rational choice from this data.

The AMD Radeon Pro 555, however, retains a niche. Its average benchmark score of 13,407 is nearly identical to the RX 5500M’s 13,356, with a delta of just 0.4%. This near-identical average is driven by the fact that the Pro 555’s scores are concentrated in a narrow band, while the RX 5500M’s average is dragged down by additional Passmark tests that are not available for the Pro 555. In the specific tests they share, the RX 5500M dominates. Therefore, the Pro 555 should only be considered by users constrained to a system that requires its specific IGP form factor and power profile, as it is an integrated part of a portable device with no discrete power connectors. For anyone with a choice, the RX 5500M is the clear winner in raw performance.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs represent a generational leap in AMD’s architecture. The Radeon Pro 555 is built on the Polaris 21 chip using the GCN 4.0 architecture, manufactured on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. In contrast, the Radeon RX 5500M uses the Navi 14 chip with the RDNA 1.0 architecture, produced on a 7 nm process at TSMC. This process shrink is a major factor in the performance gap, as it allows the RX 5500M to pack 6,400 million transistors into a 158 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 40.5M / mm². The Pro 555, by comparison, houses only 3,000 million transistors on a larger 123 mm² die, resulting in a density of 24.4M / mm².

The architectural differences extend to compute resources. The RX 5500M features 1,408 shading units, 88 texture mapping units, and 32 render output units. The Pro 555 is far more modest, with just 768 shading units, 48 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. This nearly doubles the shading and texture throughput potential of the RX 5500M. The FP32 performance tells the story: the RX 5500M delivers 4.632 TFLOPS, while the Pro 555 manages 1,305.6 GFLOPS. The RX 5500M also supports FP16 at a 2:1 ratio, reaching 9.265 TFLOPS, while the Pro 555 offers FP16 at a 1:1 ratio, meaning its FP16 output is identical to its FP32 output at 1,305.6 GFLOPS.

The memory subsystems are equally divergent. The RX 5500M uses 4 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, achieving a bandwidth of 224.0 GB/s. The Pro 555 is limited to 2 GB of GDDR5 on the same 128-bit bus, yielding only 81.60 GB/s. This is a 2.7x advantage in memory bandwidth for the RX 5500M, which is critical for high-resolution textures and compute workloads. The RX 5500M also supports a newer PCIe interface, PCIe 4.0 x8, versus PCIe 3.0 x8 on the Pro 555, and its API support is more modern, including DirectX 12_1 and Vulkan 1.4, compared to DirectX 12_0 and Vulkan 1.3 on the Pro 555.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most significant victory for the RX 5500M comes in the Geekbench Metal test, where it scores 50,359 against the Pro 555’s 16,236. This is a delta of -67.8%, indicating the RX 5500M is roughly 210% faster. This is the largest margin of the three tests, suggesting that the RDNA 1.0 architecture’s improvements are particularly well-suited to Apple’s Metal API. The OpenCL test shows a similar story, with the RX 5500M scoring 38,725 versus 11,682 for the Pro 555, a delta of -69.8%. This is the closest margin of the three, but it still represents a massive performance gap.

The Vulkan test is the third data point, with the RX 5500M achieving 35,693 and the Pro 555 managing 12,303, a delta of -65.5%. While this is the smallest percentage difference, the absolute gap of 23,390 points is still enormous. In all three tests, the RX 5500M’s scores are more than double, and in some cases nearly triple, those of the Pro 555. The data shows no benchmark where the Pro 555 comes out ahead; the wins column is 3-0 in favor of the RX 5500M.

It is importantly the RX 5500M has additional Passmark scores that are not present for the Pro 555. These include Passmark G3D at 5,848, Passmark G2D at 414, and Passmark GPU Compute at 2,316. These scores contribute to the RX 5500M’s average benchmark score but are not directly comparable to the Pro 555’s data, as the Pro 555 lacks these test results. The shared Geekbench tests, however, provide a clear and consistent picture of the RX 5500M’s dominance.

Specification Differences

The following specifications differ between the two cards, highlighting the generational gap.

• Process Node: The Pro 555 uses a 14 nm process, while the RX 5500M uses a 7 nm process.
• Foundry: The Pro 555 is built by GlobalFoundries; the RX 5500M is built by TSMC.
• Transistors: The Pro 555 has 3,000 million transistors; the RX 5500M has 6,400 million.
• Die Size: The Pro 555’s die is 123 mm²; the RX 5500M’s is 158 mm².
• Transistor Density: The Pro 555 has 24.4M / mm²; the RX 5500M has 40.5M / mm².
• Base Clock: The Pro 555 has no listed base clock; the RX 5500M runs at 1375 MHz.
• Boost Clock: The Pro 555 has no listed boost clock; the RX 5500M boosts to 1645 MHz.
• Game Clock: The Pro 555 has no listed game clock; the RX 5500M has a game clock of 1448 MHz.
• Memory Clock: The Pro 555’s memory runs at 1275 MHz (5.1 Gbps effective); the RX 5500M’s runs at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective).
• Memory Size: The Pro 555 has 2 GB; the RX 5500M has 4 GB.
• Memory Type: The Pro 555 uses GDDR5; the RX 5500M uses GDDR6.
• Memory Bandwidth: The Pro 555 offers 81.60 GB/s; the RX 5500M offers 224.0 GB/s.
• Shading Units: The Pro 555 has 768; the RX 5500M has 1,408.
• TMUs: The Pro 555 has 48; the RX 5500M has 88.
• ROPs: The Pro 555 has 16; the RX 5500M has 32.
• Pixel Rate: The Pro 555 is rated at 13.60 GPixel/s; the RX 5500M at 52.64 GPixel/s.
• Texture Rate: The Pro 555 is rated at 40.80 GTexel/s; the RX 5500M at 144.8 GTexel/s.
• FP32 Performance: The Pro 555 delivers 1,305.6 GFLOPS; the RX 5500M delivers 4.632 TFLOPS.
• FP16 Performance: The Pro 555 offers 1,305.6 GFLOPS (1:1); the RX 5500M offers 9.265 TFLOPS (2:1).
• TDP: The Pro 555 has a TDP of 75 W; the RX 5500M has a TDP of 85 W.
• Slot Width: The Pro 555 is an IGP; the RX 5500M has no listed slot width.
• Bus Interface: The Pro 555 uses PCIe 3.0 x8; the RX 5500M uses PCIe 4.0 x8.
• DirectX Support: The Pro 555 supports 12 (12_0); the RX 5500M supports 12 (12_1).
• Vulkan Support: The Pro 555 supports 1.3; the RX 5500M supports 1.4.
• Release Date: The Pro 555 was released in 2017; the RX 5500M in 2019.
• Predecessor: The RX 5500M has a predecessor, Polaris Mobile; the Pro 555 does not.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 555 has a slightly higher average benchmark score of 13,407, compared to the RX 5500M’s 13,356. The delta is only 0.4%, making them statistically equivalent in this aggregate metric.

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

A: The RX 5500M scores 50,359 in Geekbench Metal, while the Pro 555 scores 16,236. This represents a delta of -67.8%, meaning the RX 5500M is approximately three times faster.

Q: Does the Radeon Pro 555 win any benchmark comparison against the RX 5500M?

A: No. In the head-to-head benchmark data, the RX 5500M wins all three tests: Geekbench Metal, OpenCL, and Vulkan. The wins count is 3-0 in favor of the RX 5500M.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth difference between the two cards?

A: The RX 5500M has a memory bandwidth of 224.0 GB/s, while the Pro 555 has 81.60 GB/s. This gives the RX 5500M a 2.7x advantage in memory bandwidth.

Q: Are these GPUs from the same architecture generation?

A: No. The Pro 555 is based on GCN 4.0, while the RX 5500M is based on RDNA 1.0. They also use different process nodes, with the Pro 555 on 14 nm and the RX 5500M on 7 nm.

Q: What is the TDP of each GPU?

A: The Radeon Pro 555 has a TDP of 75 W, while the Radeon RX 5500M has a TDP of 85 W. The RX 5500M delivers significantly more performance within a modest 10 W power envelope increase.