AMD Radeon Pro 5600M vs AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data shows a clear split between these two AMD RDNA 1.0 parts. The AMD Radeon Pro 5600M wins 6 of the 10 head-to-head tests, while the AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT wins the remaining 4. The margins, however, tell a more nuanced story than the raw win count.

The Pro 5600M’s largest victory comes in the PassMark DirectX 10 test, where it scores 62 against the RX 5500 XT’s 46, a 34.8% delta. That is a decisive gap, and it suggests the Pro 5600M’s architecture handles that legacy API workload with significantly more headroom. The second-largest win for the Pro 5600M is in Geekbench Vulkan, where it posts 46425 versus 44191, a 5.1% advantage. DirectX 11 shows a 5.4% lead (59 versus 56), and Geekbench OpenCL shows a 1.7% edge (47783 versus 46965). The closest margin in the Pro 5600M’s favor is Geekbench Metal, at 55030 versus 54842, a mere 0.3% delta. PassMark G3D also goes to the Pro 5600M, 9279 versus 9083, a 2.2% lead.

The RX 5500 XT’s wins are concentrated in specific areas. Its largest victory is in PassMark DirectX 9, where it scores 133 against the Pro 5600M’s 118, an 11.3% delta. The second-largest is in PassMark G2D, 774 versus 679, a 12.3% margin. In PassMark GPU Compute, the RX 5500 XT leads 4446 versus 4031, a 9.3% advantage. The only test where the RX 5500 XT wins by a slim margin is PassMark DirectX 12, 40 versus 39, a 2.5% delta.

Interpreting these numbers, the Pro 5600M dominates in modern API and compute-adjacent workloads, particularly Vulkan and OpenCL, while the RX 5500 XT shows strength in older DirectX 9 titles and 2D rasterization. The DirectX 12 result is a near-tie, with the RX 5500 XT edging ahead by a single point. The average benchmark score reinforces the overall picture: the Pro 5600M averages 16351 across all tests, while the RX 5500 XT averages 14692. That puts the Pro 5600M roughly 11% ahead in aggregate, despite the RX 5500 XT’s wins in specific legacy tests.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins more head-to-head benchmark tests?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 5600M wins 6 of the 10 recorded head-to-head tests, while the AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT wins 4.

Q: What is the largest performance gap between the two cards?

A: The largest gap is in PassMark DirectX 10, where the Pro 5600M scores 62 versus the RX 5500 XT’s 46, a 34.8% delta in favor of the Pro 5600M.

Q: Where does the RX 5500 XT outperform the Pro 5600M?

A: The RX 5500 XT wins in PassMark DirectX 9 (133 versus 118, an 11.3% delta), PassMark G2D (774 versus 679, a 12.3% delta), PassMark GPU Compute (4446 versus 4031, a 9.3% delta), and PassMark DirectX 12 (40 versus 39, a 2.5% delta).

Q: How do the two cards compare in Geekbench Metal?

A: The Pro 5600M scores 55030, and the RX 5500 XT scores 54842. The Pro 5600M wins by a 0.3% delta, making it the closest result in the entire head-to-head set.

Q: What do the average benchmark scores indicate?

A: The Pro 5600M has an average benchmark score of 16351, while the RX 5500 XT averages 14692. This places the Pro 5600M roughly 11% higher in aggregate performance.

Q: How do the percentile rankings differ?

A: The Pro 5600M sits at the 59th percentile against all GPUs in the database, while the RX 5500 XT sits at the 57th percentile.

The Verdict

The data points to the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M as the stronger overall performer. It wins the majority of tests, holds a higher average benchmark score (16351 versus 14692), and occupies a higher percentile ranking (59th versus 57th). Its wins in Geekbench Vulkan (5.1% delta), OpenCL (1.7% delta), and PassMark G3D (2.2% delta) suggest a more capable core for modern graphics and compute workloads. The 34.8% DirectX 10 win is particularly striking, indicating a substantial advantage in that API.

The RX 5500 XT, however, is not without merit. Its 11.3% lead in DirectX 9 and 12.3% lead in G2D show that it handles older rasterization and 2D tasks more efficiently. The 9.3% win in GPU Compute is also notable, as it indicates the RX 5500 XT can outperform the Pro 5600M in certain compute-heavy scenarios. For users whose workloads skew toward legacy DirectX 9 titles or 2D desktop rendering, the RX 5500 XT may be the better pick.

For everything else, the Pro 5600M is the clear choice. Its higher average score, superior Vulkan performance, and dominance in DirectX 10 make it the more versatile and future-proof option. The DirectX 12 test is effectively a tie, so that does not tip the balance. The verdict from the recorded data is straightforward: the Pro 5600M is the better GPU for modern and mixed workloads, while the RX 5500 XT has targeted strengths in legacy and 2D scenarios.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every core specification. The Pro 5600M uses 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 render output units. The RX 5500 XT uses 1408 shading units, 88 texture mapping units, and 32 render output units. This gives the Pro 5600M a 73.22 GPixel/s pixel rate and a 183.0 GTexel/s texture rate, versus the RX 5500 XT’s 59.04 GPixel/s and 162.4 GTexel/s.

Memory configurations are also divergent. The Pro 5600M has 8 GB of HBM2 on a 2048-bit bus, delivering 394.2 GB/s of bandwidth. The RX 5500 XT has 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, delivering 224.0 GB/s. Clock speeds favor the RX 5500 XT, with a base of 1607 MHz and a boost of 1845 MHz, while the Pro 5600M runs at 822 MHz base and 1144 MHz boost. The game clock for the RX 5500 XT is 1717 MHz, and its memory runs at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective), while the Pro 5600M’s memory is rated at 770 MHz (1540 Mbps effective).

The Pro 5600M has a 50 W TDP and is an integrated GPU (IGP) with no power connectors, while the RX 5500 XT has a 130 W TDP, is a dual-slot card, and requires a single 8-pin power connector with a suggested 300 W PSU. The bus interface also differs: the Pro 5600M uses PCIe 4.0 x16, while the RX 5500 XT uses PCIe 4.0 x8. Display outputs are portable-device-dependent for the Pro 5600M, while the RX 5500 XT offers 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a. The RX 5500 XT has a physical length of 180 mm (7.1 inches), while the Pro 5600M has no recorded dimensions. The launch MSRP of the RX 5500 XT is 169 USD.

Architecture Differences

Both GPUs are built on AMD’s RDNA 1.0 architecture and use a 7 nm process from TSMC, but they are different chips. The Pro 5600M uses the Navi 12 chip, while the RX 5500 XT uses the Navi 14 chip. The RX 5500 XT is part of the Radeon RX 5000 series and the Navi (RX 5000) generation, while the Pro 5600M belongs to the Radeon Pro Mac (Navi Mobile) generation. The RX 5500 XT has recorded transistor details: 6,400 million transistors on a 158 mm² die, with a transistor density of 40.5M per mm². The Pro 5600M has no recorded transistor count, die size, or density in the database.

The RX 5500 XT also has a recorded predecessor (Vega) and successor (Navi II), while the Pro 5600M has none. The RX 5500 XT supports Vulkan 1.4, while the Pro 5600M supports Vulkan 1.3. Both support DirectX 12 (12_1) and OpenGL 4.6, and neither has ray tracing or tensor cores. The Pro 5600M’s FP32 throughput is 5.857 TFLOPS with FP16 at 11.71 TFLOPS (2:1), while the RX 5500 XT’s FP32 is 5.196 TFLOPS with FP16 at 10.39 TFLOPS (2:1). The Pro 5600M was released on June 14, 2020, while the RX 5500 XT was released on December 11, 2019. Both are marked as end-of-life in the database.