AMD Radeon Pro 555X vs AMD Radeon RX 570X Comparison

AMD Radeon RX 570X and AMD Radeon Pro 555X are both built on the same GCN 4.0 architecture, but they target entirely different segments of the market. The RX 570X is a desktop add-in board with a 150 W TDP, a dual-slot cooler, and a 6-pin power connector, while the Pro 555X is an integrated graphics processor (IGP) designed for portable Mac systems. Benchmark results show a massive performance gap between the two, driven by fundamental differences in die size, memory configuration, and compute resources. The data indicates that the RX 570X is not merely faster—it is decisively in another performance class, while the Pro 555X serves a specific low-power, mobile niche.

The Verdict

The benchmark data is unambiguous: the AMD Radeon RX 570X is the overwhelming performance winner, with a 208.4% higher score in the only head-to-head benchmark available. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the RX 570X scores 38,939 points compared to the Pro 555X’s 12,628 points. This is not a marginal advantage; the RX 570X delivers more than triple the compute performance in this workload. For any user whose primary criterion is raw graphics throughput, the RX 570X is the only rational choice based on the data.

The Pro 555X, however, is not without purpose. Its average benchmark score of 13,321 places it at the 54th percentile of all GPUs, which is nearly identical to the RX 570X’s 55th percentile. The Pro 555X is specified as an IGP with no power connectors and a 75 W TDP, making it suitable for systems where discrete power delivery is unavailable. It also supports the same API set—DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3—so software compatibility is equivalent. The choice hinges on platform constraints: the RX 570X is for desktop builds with PCIe 3.0 x16 slots and adequate power supplies, while the Pro 555X is for integrated, portable systems.

Data suggests the RX 570X is the pick for desktop users, gamers, or anyone running OpenCL-heavy workloads. The Pro 555X is the pick for users who need a functional GPU in a constrained mobile chassis, accepting a 208.4% performance deficit in exchange for a 75 W power envelope and integration.

Where Each One Wins

The RX 570X wins the only direct benchmark comparison, the Geekbench OpenCL test, with a delta of 208.4% over the Pro 555X. This single win (winsA: 1, winsB: 0) reflects the RX 570X’s substantial hardware advantages: 2,048 shading units versus 768, 128 texture mapping units versus 48, and 32 ROPs versus 16. The RX 570X also has 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, yielding 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth, whereas the Pro 555X has 4 GB on a 128-bit bus, providing 94.08 GB/s. These are not incremental differences; they represent a roughly 2.7x advantage in shading units and a 2.4x advantage in memory bandwidth.

The Pro 555X, despite its lower compute performance, does not lose in every conceivable metric. Its average benchmark score of 13,321 is only 4.0% lower than the RX 570X’s average of 13,871, which suggests that in certain workloads—particularly those that are memory-latency bound or that scale poorly with raw compute—the gap narrows significantly. The Pro 555X also has a higher transistor density (24.4M / mm²) than the RX 570X (24.6M / mm²), though this is a negligible difference. More importantly, the Pro 555X’s lower TDP (75 W versus 150 W) makes it the only option for systems without a 6-pin power connector or a 450 W suggested PSU.

Architecture Differences

Both GPUs are built on GCN 4.0 architecture and use a 14 nm process node from GlobalFoundries, but they are distinct chips. The RX 570X uses Polaris 20, a 232 mm² die with 5,700 million transistors, while the Pro 555X uses Polaris 21, a 123 mm² die with 3,000 million transistors. The die size difference is nearly 2x, which directly correlates with the RX 570X’s higher resource counts.

Memory configuration is a major differentiator. The RX 570X has 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, running at 1750 MHz (7 Gbps effective), delivering 224.0 GB/s. The Pro 555X has 4 GB on a 128-bit bus, running at 1470 MHz (5.9 Gbps effective), delivering 94.08 GB/s. The RX 570X’s memory clock is also higher, and its effective data rate is 7 Gbps versus 5.9 Gbps.

Compute resources are massively skewed toward the RX 570X. It has 2,048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, producing 39.81 GPixel/s pixel rate and 159.2 GTexel/s texture rate. The Pro 555X has 768 shading units, 48 TMUs, and 16 ROPs, yielding 14.51 GPixel/s and 43.54 GTexel/s. FP32 compute is 5.095 TFLOPS for the RX 570X versus 1,393.2 GFLOPS (1.393 TFLOPS) for the Pro 555X. Both support FP16 at a 1:1 ratio with FP32.

The bus interface differs: PCIe 3.0 x16 for the RX 570X versus PCIe 3.0 x8 for the Pro 555X. The RX 570X is dual-slot, 241 mm (9.5 inches) long, with 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0b, and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a outputs. The Pro 555X’s display outputs are listed as "Portable Device Dependent," and its slot width is IGP, meaning it is soldered or integrated. The RX 570X supports a 450 W suggested PSU; the Pro 555X has no such requirement.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in OpenCL compute?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 570X is significantly faster, scoring 38,939 in Geekbench OpenCL versus 12,628 for the AMD Radeon Pro 555X, a delta of 208.4%.

Q: What is the memory capacity of each GPU?

A: The RX 570X has 8 GB of GDDR5 memory, while the Pro 555X has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory. The RX 570X also has a 256-bit bus versus 128-bit on the Pro 555X.

Q: Are the power requirements different?

A: Yes. The RX 570X has a 150 W TDP and requires a 1x 6-pin power connector with a suggested 450 W PSU. The Pro 555X has a 75 W TDP and uses no power connectors, as it is an IGP.

Q: Do both GPUs support the same APIs?

A: Yes, both support DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3.

Q: How do they compare in overall average benchmark scores?

A: The RX 570X has an average benchmark score of 13,871, and the Pro 555X has an average of 13,321. The RX 570X is 4.1% higher, but this is a much smaller gap than the OpenCL-specific test.

Q: Which GPU is better for a portable device?

A: The Pro 555X is the only viable option for portables, given its IGP form factor, 75 W TDP, and lack of power connectors. The RX 570X is a dual-slot desktop card requiring a 6-pin connector.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct head-to-head benchmark in the data is the Geekbench OpenCL test, and it is a landslide victory for the RX 570X. The RX 570X scores 38,939, while the Pro 555X scores 12,628. The delta is 208.4%, meaning the RX 570X is more than three times as fast. This result is consistent with the hardware disparity: the RX 570X has 2,048 shading units versus 768, a 2.67x difference; 128 TMUs versus 48, a 2.67x difference; and 32 ROPs versus 16, a 2x difference. Memory bandwidth is 224.0 GB/s versus 94.08 GB/s, a 2.38x difference.

The FP32 compute rating tells the same story: 5.095 TFLOPS for the RX 570X versus 1,393.2 GFLOPS for the Pro 555X, a 3.66x difference. The RX 570X also has a higher transistor count (5,700 million versus 3,000 million) and a larger die (232 mm² versus 123 mm²), which explains its higher pixel rate (39.81 GPixel/s versus 14.51 GPixel/s) and texture rate (159.2 GTexel/s versus 43.54 GTexel/s).

Despite this decisive OpenCL win, the average benchmark scores tell a more nuanced story. The RX 570X averages 13,871 across all benchmarks, while the Pro 555X averages 13,321. This is only a 4.1% difference, and the nearest rival data confirms that both GPUs sit in a crowded performance tier. The RX 570X’s nearest rivals include the NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile (13,821, +0.4%) and the AMD Radeon 660M (13,812, +0.4%), while the Pro 555X’s nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 480 (13,300, +0.2%) and the AMD FirePro M6100 (13,354, -0.2%). The OpenCL test may be particularly favorable to the RX 570X due to its higher memory bandwidth and compute throughput, but other workloads—where the average scores converge—likely favor the Pro 555X’s efficiency or are bound by other factors. The data shows that the RX 570X is the clear winner, but the Pro 555X is not an outlier in its performance class.