AMD Radeon Pro 560X vs AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT Comparison

# AMD Radeon Pro 560X vs AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT

The AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT is decisively the faster GPU in every benchmark where both are measured, but the two cards target entirely different use cases. The RX 5500 XT sweeps all three head-to-head tests with margins between 61.9% and 79.4%, while the Radeon Pro 560X is an integrated-class part built for portability. The data shows no category where the older Pro 560X outperforms the newer RX 5500 XT, yet the Pro 560X's role as a low-power, slotless solution means it wins on physical integration rather than raw performance.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT wins every performance metric in the head-to-head comparison. In Geekbench Metal, the RX 5500 XT scores 54,842 against the Pro 560X's 18,763, a 65.8% advantage. The OpenCL gap is even larger: 46,965 versus 9,663, a 79.4% lead. The Vulkan test shows 44,191 versus 16,819, a 61.9% margin. These are not close contests; the RX 5500 XT is roughly two to five times faster depending on the API.

The Radeon Pro 560X wins in none of the shared benchmarks, but its advantages are structural. It draws a 75 W TDP versus the RX 5500 XT's 130 W, uses no power connectors, and occupies an IGP slot width — meaning it is designed to be soldered into laptops or compact systems. The RX 5500 XT is a dual-slot, 180 mm card requiring a 300 W power supply and a single 8-pin connector. If the metric is "fits into a thin chassis with no external power," the Pro 560X is the only choice between these two.

For compute workloads, the RX 5500 XT's FP32 throughput of 5.196 TFLOPS more than doubles the Pro 560X's 2.056 TFLOPS. In FP16, the gap widens further: the RX 5500 XT delivers 10.39 TFLOPS via 2:1 ratio, while the Pro 560X offers only 2.056 TFLOPS at 1:1. The RX 5500 XT also has more shading units (1,408 versus 1,024), more TMUs (88 versus 64), and double the ROPs (32 versus 16). Every architectural resource favors the newer card.

The Verdict

The AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT is the clear performance winner, and the data supports no other conclusion. It leads by 65.8% in Metal, 79.4% in OpenCL, and 61.9% in Vulkan, with a higher average benchmark score projected across all tests. Its 4 GB GDDR6 memory delivers 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth versus the Pro 560X's 94.08 GB/s from GDDR5 — a 138% improvement that directly benefits texture-heavy workloads. The RX 5500 XT also supports DirectX 12_1 and Vulkan 1.4, while the Pro 560X maxes out at DirectX 12_0 and Vulkan 1.3.

The Radeon Pro 560X is the pick only when power and physical constraints dominate. Its 75 W TDP, lack of power connectors, and IGP slot width make it suitable for systems where a dual-slot card with an 8-pin connector cannot fit. The RX 5500 XT's 130 W TDP and 300 W suggested PSU requirement are non-negotiable for that card. If the choice is between these two for a compact, low-power build, the Pro 560X is the only viable option — but the benchmark data shows it sacrifices 61.9% to 79.4% of performance to achieve that.

The RX 5500 XT also carries a launch MSRP of 169 USD, while the Pro 560X has no listed launch MSRP. Both cards are end-of-life, but the RX 5500 XT's newer RDNA 1.0 architecture and 7 nm process from TSMC give it a generational advantage over the Pro 560X's GCN 4.0 on 14 nm GlobalFoundries. For any user who can accommodate the RX 5500 XT's physical and power requirements, the benchmarks leave no reason to choose the Pro 560X.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The largest single victory for the RX 5500 XT comes in Geekbench OpenCL, where it scores 46,965 against the Pro 560X's 9,663 — a 79.4% delta. This test stresses general-purpose compute, and the RX 5500 XT's 1,408 shading units and 5.196 TFLOPS FP32 throughput explain the magnitude of the win. The Pro 560X's 1,024 shading units and 2.056 TFLOPS are less than half, and the OpenCL result reflects that.

In Geekbench Metal, the RX 5500 XT posts 54,842 versus 18,763, a 65.8% lead. This is the closest margin of the three tests, but still a dominant result. Metal performance on the RX 5500 XT benefits from its 59.04 GPixel/s pixel rate and 162.4 GTexel/s texture rate, both roughly 2.5 to 3.7 times the Pro 560X's 16.06 GPixel/s and 64.26 GTexel/s.

Geekbench Vulkan shows 44,191 for the RX 5500 XT against 16,819 for the Pro 560X, a 61.9% gap. The RX 5500 XT's Vulkan 1.4 support versus the Pro 560X's Vulkan 1.3 likely contributes, as does the newer RDNA architecture's more efficient command processing. Across all three APIs, the RX 5500 XT's victory is consistent, with no test where the Pro 560X closes the gap to under 60%.

The Pro 560X's average benchmark score of 15,082 places it in the 57th percentile of all GPUs, with nearest rivals including the GeForce GTX 660 Ti (15,063, +0.1%) and the Radeon RX 7600 (15,171, -0.6%). The RX 5500 XT's average of 14,692 also sits at the 57th percentile, with nearest rivals including the GeForce GTX 770 (14,747, -0.4%) and the Quadro M2000 (14,532, +1.1%). Despite the RX 5500 XT's huge wins in the head-to-head tests, both cards project to similar average scores across broader test suites — a reminder that the head-to-head results are specific to three Geekbench APIs.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in Geekbench Metal?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT scores 54,842 versus 18,763 for the Radeon Pro 560X, a 65.8% advantage.

Q: How much does the RX 5500 XT lead in OpenCL?

A: The RX 5500 XT scores 46,965 while the Pro 560X scores 9,663, giving the RX 5500 XT a 79.4% lead — the largest margin of any head-to-head test.

Q: Does the Radeon Pro 560X win any benchmark?

A: No. Across Geekbench Metal, OpenCL, and Vulkan, the RX 5500 XT wins all three tests. The Pro 560X has zero wins in the head-to-head data.

Q: What are the power requirements of each card?

A: The Radeon Pro 560X has a 75 W TDP and requires no power connectors, while the RX 5500 XT has a 130 W TDP, needs a single 8-pin connector, and suggests a 300 W power supply.

Q: Which card has higher memory bandwidth?

A: The RX 5500 XT delivers 224.0 GB/s from 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, versus 94.08 GB/s from 4 GB of GDDR5 on the Pro 560X's 128-bit bus.

Q: Are both cards still in production?

A: No. Both the Radeon Pro 560X and the Radeon RX 5500 XT are listed as end-of-life products.

Architecture Differences

The AMD Radeon Pro 560X uses the Polaris 21 chip based on GCN 4.0 architecture, manufactured on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. It packs 3,000 million transistors into a 123 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 24.4M per mm². The RX 5500 XT uses the Navi 14 chip with RDNA 1.0 architecture, built on TSMC's 7 nm process. It contains 6,400 million transistors on a 158 mm² die, achieving 40.5M transistors per mm² — nearly double the density of the older chip.

The RDNA 1.0 architecture brings a 2:1 FP16 ratio, allowing the RX 5500 XT to hit 10.39 TFLOPS in FP16 versus 5.196 TFLOPS in FP32. The Pro 560X's GCN 4.0 runs FP16 at a 1:1 ratio, so both FP16 and FP32 peak at 2.056 TFLOPS. This makes the RX 5500 XT over five times faster in FP16 workloads, a significant advantage for compute tasks that leverage reduced precision.

Memory architecture differs as well: the Pro 560X uses GDDR5 at 1470 MHz (5.9 Gbps effective), while the RX 5500 XT uses GDDR6 at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). Both have a 128-bit bus, but the newer memory type nearly doubles bandwidth from 94.08 GB/s to 224.0 GB/s. The RX 5500 XT also supports PCIe 4.0 x8, while the Pro 560X is limited to PCIe 3.0 x8.

API support favors the RX 5500 XT, which lists DirectX 12_1, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The Pro 560X lists DirectX 12_0, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. Neither card has ray tracing or tensor cores, as both predate those features in AMD's consumer lineup.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every measurable specification. The RX 5500 XT has 1,408 shading units, 88 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, versus 1,024 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 16 ROPs on the Pro 560X. Pixel rate jumps from 16.06 GPixel/s to 59.04 GPixel/s, and texture rate from 64.26 GTexel/s to 162.4 GTexel/s.

Clock behavior differs fundamentally: the Pro 560X lists no base or boost clock, only memory at 1470 MHz, while the RX 5500 XT specifies a 1607 MHz base, 1717 MHz game, and 1845 MHz boost. The RX 5500 XT's memory runs at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) versus 1470 MHz (5.9 Gbps effective) on the Pro 560X.

Physical specifications favor the Pro 560X for compact systems: it is an IGP with no power connectors and no display outputs listed ("Portable Device Dependent"), while the RX 5500 XT is a dual-slot card measuring 180 mm (7.1 inches) with 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a outputs, plus a single 8-pin power connector. The RX 5500 XT has a 130 W TDP and suggests a 300 W PSU; the Pro 560X draws 75 W.

The RX 5500 XT lists a launch MSRP of 169 USD, while the Pro 560X has no launch MSRP. The RX 5500 XT also has a predecessor (Vega) and successor (Navi II) in its product lineage, while the Pro 560X lists neither. Release dates differ by roughly 17 months: July 2018 for the Pro 560X, December 2019 for the RX 5500 XT. Both are end-of-life as of the data, and both sit at the 57th percentile of all GPUs in the database.