AMD Radeon Pro 560 vs AMD Radeon Pro W5500 Comparison

The Verdict

The benchmark data presents a decisive outcome: the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 outperforms the AMD Radeon Pro 560 in every recorded test. The W5500 wins all three head-to-head Geekbench comparisons, with the 560 trailing by margins between 61.4% and 66%. For any workload that relies on Metal, OpenCL, or Vulkan acceleration, the W5500 is the clear choice based on measured performance.

The Radeon Pro 560 still holds relevance for specific scenarios. Its 75 W TDP and integrated form factor (IGP slot width, no power connectors) make it suitable for compact systems where the W5500's 125 W TDP, single-slot design, and 1x 6-pin power connector would not fit. The 560's end-of-life status and earlier release date (April 2017 versus February 2020) also position it as a legacy option, while the W5500, despite also being end-of-life, represents a newer generation with substantially higher compute capabilities.

The data indicates the W5500 is the superior product for performance-driven tasks. The 560 remains a viable option only for constrained environments where power delivery and physical space are the overriding concerns. The percentile rankings reinforce this: the 560 sits at the 61st percentile among all GPUs, while the W5500 sits at the 58th percentile, an apparent contradiction explained by the different benchmark suites included in each card's average score, a point examined further below.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from fundamentally different architectural generations. The Radeon Pro 560 uses the Polaris 21 chip built on GCN 4.0 architecture, fabricated on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. The Radeon Pro W5500 uses the Navi 14 chip with RDNA 1.0 architecture, built on a 7 nm process at TSMC. This process shrink from 14 nm to 7 nm is significant, allowing the W5500 to pack 6,400 million transistors into a 158 mm² die, compared to 3,000 million transistors in a 123 mm² die for the 560. The transistor density figures illustrate this clearly: 40.5M per mm² for the W5500 versus 24.4M per mm² for the 560.

Core resources differ substantially. The W5500 fields 1,408 shading units, 88 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs, while the 560 has 1,024 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. Neither card includes ray tracing cores or tensor cores. The W5500 also carries a much higher clock configuration with a base clock of 1744 MHz and boost clock of 1855 MHz, though the 560 lists no base or boost clock figures in the database, only its memory clock.

Memory architecture shows a generational leap. The 560 uses 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus, delivering 81.28 GB/s of bandwidth. The W5500 doubles capacity to 8 GB of GDDR6 on the same 128-bit bus width, but more than doubles bandwidth to 224.0 GB/s. Its memory clock runs at 1750 MHz with 14 Gbps effective, versus 1270 MHz and 5.1 Gbps effective for the 560.

The API support also differs. The W5500 supports DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.4, while the 560 lists DirectX 12 (12_0) and Vulkan 1.3. Both cards support OpenGL 4.6. The W5500 also uses PCIe 4.0 x8, compared to PCIe 3.0 x8 on the 560, and offers four DisplayPort 1.4a outputs, whereas the 560's display outputs are listed as "Portable Device Dependent."

Where Each One Wins

The W5500 wins every benchmark category recorded in the database. In Geekbench Metal, it scores 54,302 against the 560's 20,918, a delta of 61.5%. In Geekbench OpenCL, it scores 45,615 versus 15,504, a 66% advantage. In Geekbench Vulkan, it scores 42,021 versus 16,232, a 61.4% lead. There are no benchmark categories where the 560 wins.

The W5500's additional benchmark results, which the 560 lacks entirely, show its versatility across different workloads. Its Passmark scores include 8,978 in G3D, 4,804 in GPU compute, 806 in G2D, and DirectX scores of 47 for DirectX 10, 56 for DirectX 11, 39 for DirectX 12, and 126 for DirectX 9. These results indicate the W5500 was tested across a broader range of legacy and modern APIs.

The 560's only advantage lies in its physical and power profile. Its 75 W TDP, IGP slot width, and lack of power connectors make it a low-power integrated option. The W5500 requires a 125 W TDP, single-slot spacing, a 1x 6-pin power connector, and a suggested 300 W power supply. The 560 also measures no listed dimensions, while the W5500 comes in at 241 mm in length and 111 mm in height, making it a card that requires actual case space.

FAQ

Q: Which card is faster in Geekbench Metal?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro W5500 scores 54,302 in Metal, while the AMD Radeon Pro 560 scores 20,918. The W5500 leads by 61.5%.

Q: How do the memory configurations compare?

A: The W5500 has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory with 224.0 GB/s bandwidth on a 128-bit bus. The 560 has 4 GB of GDDR5 with 81.28 GB/s bandwidth on the same 128-bit bus width.

Q: Do either of these cards support ray tracing?

A: No. Both the Radeon Pro 560 and Radeon Pro W5500 have no ray tracing cores listed in the database.

Q: What is the power consumption difference?

A: The 560 has a 75 W TDP, while the W5500 has a 125 W TDP. The W5500 also requires a 1x 6-pin power connector and a suggested 300 W power supply, whereas the 560 has no power connectors.

Q: Which card has better API support?

A: The W5500 supports DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.4, while the 560 supports DirectX 12 (12_0) and Vulkan 1.3. Both support OpenGL 4.6.

Q: Is the 560 ever faster in any test?

A: No. The database records zero benchmark wins for the 560. The W5500 wins all three head-to-head tests: Metal, OpenCL, and Vulkan.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The gap between these two cards is consistent and large across all three shared benchmarks. The closest margin is in Geekbench Vulkan, where the W5500 scores 42,021 against the 560's 16,232. That difference of 25,789 points translates to a 61.4% lead for the W5500. Even this "smallest" gap represents a massive performance differential.

Geekbench Metal shows the W5500 at 54,302 versus 20,918 for the 560, a 61.5% advantage. The absolute difference of 33,384 points is the largest of the three tests. This result matters for macOS and Metal-accelerated applications, where the W5500 delivers more than 2.5 times the score of the 560.

Geekbench OpenCL shows the widest relative gap of the three. The W5500 scores 45,615, while the 560 scores 15,504, giving the W5500 a 66% lead. This 66% delta is the largest percentage difference in any shared test, indicating the W5500's architectural advantages are most pronounced in OpenCL compute workloads.

The W5500's additional Passmark results provide context for its overall profile. Its G3D score of 8,978 and GPU compute score of 4,804 show strong performance in both rasterization and compute. Its DirectX 9 score of 126 is notably higher than its DirectX 10 (47), DirectX 11 (56), and DirectX 12 (39) scores, an interesting inversion that may reflect driver optimization patterns or workload characteristics in the database.

The 560's average benchmark score sits at 17,551, while the W5500's average sits at 15,679. This appears contradictory given the W5500's dominance in the head-to-head tests. The explanation lies in the benchmark sets: the 560 averages only its three Geekbench scores, all of which are reasonably high, while the W5500's average includes its Passmark scores, many of which are on different scales and drag down the arithmetic mean. The W5500's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti at a 0.8% delta and the AMD Radeon R9 M380 at a 1% delta, while the 560's nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon 780M at a 0.2% delta and the AMD Radeon Pro 460 at a 0.2% delta. These rival comparisons reflect the different performance neighborhoods each card occupies.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every specification category. The process node moves from 14 nm (GlobalFoundries) on the 560 to 7 nm (TSMC) on the W5500. Transistor count jumps from 3,000 million to 6,400 million, die size from 123 mm² to 158 mm², and transistor density from 24.4M per mm² to 40.5M per mm².

Clock specifications show the W5500 with a base clock of 1744 MHz and boost clock of 1855 MHz, while the 560 lists no base or boost clocks. Memory clocks differ as well: 1270 MHz with 5.1 Gbps effective for the 560, 1750 MHz with 14 Gbps effective for the W5500.

Memory capacity doubles from 4 GB to 8 GB, and type advances from GDDR5 to GDDR6. Bandwidth increases from 81.28 GB/s to 224.0 GB/s. Both use a 128-bit bus. The W5500 has more shading units (1,408 versus 1,024), more TMUs (88 versus 64), and more ROPs (32 versus 16). Pixel rate rises from 14.51 GPixel/s to 59.36 GPixel/s, texture rate from 58.05 GTexel/s to 163.2 GTexel/s, and FP32 from 1.858 TFLOPS to 5.224 TFLOPS. FP16 performance jumps from 1.858 TFLOPS at a 1:1 ratio to 10.45 TFLOPS at a 2:1 ratio.

Power requirements differ sharply: 75 W versus 125 W TDP. The 560 has no power connectors and an IGP slot width, while the W5500 uses a single-slot design with a 1x 6-pin connector and a suggested 300 W power supply. The bus interface advances from PCIe 3.0 x8 to PCIe 4.0 x8. Display outputs change from portable-device-dependent to four DisplayPort 1.4a connections.

Release dates differ by nearly three years: April 2017 for the 560, February 2020 for the W5500. Both are end-of-life. The W5500 lists a predecessor, the Radeon Pro Vega, while the 560 lists none. The W5500 has a launch MSRP of 399 USD. The 560 has no launch MSRP recorded. The W5500's dimensions are 241 mm in length and 111 mm in height, while the 560 has no recorded dimensions.