AMD Radeon Pro 5700 vs AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT Comparison

The AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT and AMD Radeon Pro 5700 are both end-of-life 7 nm GPUs, but they target entirely different workloads and performance profiles. The data shows a decisive overall winner in terms of raw benchmark victories, yet the Pro 5700 holds a single, massive edge in one specific compute test that cannot be ignored. The RX 6650 XT wins 9 out of 10 head-to-head comparisons, but the Pro 5700’s one victory reveals a fundamental difference in their design philosophies and intended use cases.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most striking result in the entire comparison is the Geekbench OpenCL score. Here, the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 absolutely dominates, scoring 52,787 against the RX 6650 XT’s 10,111. This represents an 80.8% lead for the Pro 5700, a margin so large that it completely flips the narrative of the average benchmark scores. This suggests the Pro 5700 is heavily optimized for OpenCL compute workloads, while the RX 6650 XT’s architecture and drivers prioritize other metrics.

Every other head-to-head benchmark falls in favor of the RX 6650 XT, often by substantial margins. In the DirectX 11 test, the RX 6650 XT scores 169 versus the Pro 5700’s 78, a 116.7% advantage. This is the largest win for the RX 6650 XT and highlights its strength in legacy API performance. The DirectX 9 test shows a similar trend, with the RX 6650 XT scoring 215 compared to 143, a 50.3% lead.

The compute-focused Passmark GPU Compute benchmark also goes to the RX 6650 XT, with a score of 7,532 against 4,961, a 51.8% difference. This is particularly interesting because it contrasts sharply with the Geekbench OpenCL result, indicating that the two GPUs respond very differently to various compute APIs and test methodologies. In the DirectX 10 test, the RX 6650 XT leads with 109 points versus 71, a 53.5% advantage.

The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test is only listed for the RX 6650 XT with a score of 1,859, providing a baseline for its modern gaming performance. In the Geekbench Vulkan test, the RX 6650 XT scores 81,306, which is 58.5% higher than the Pro 5700’s 51,289. The Geekbench Metal test shows a 62.9% lead for the RX 6650 XT, with scores of 97,969 and 60,126 respectively, suggesting its drivers are more effective even in Apple’s API.

The Passmark G3D test, a general gaming and graphics metric, shows the RX 6650 XT at 17,166 versus the Pro 5700’s 11,583, a 48.2% advantage. Even in the 2D test (Passmark G2D), the RX 6650 XT wins with 918 points against 805, a 14% lead. The DirectX 12 test is the closest of the RX 6650 XT’s wins, with a score of 62 versus 48, a 29.2% advantage. Across the board, the RX 6650 XT demonstrates superior rasterization and gaming-oriented performance, while the Pro 5700’s single OpenCL win suggests a specialized compute niche.

Where Each One Wins

The use-case split is stark and clear. The AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT is the definitive choice for gaming and general graphics workloads. Its wins across DirectX 9, 10, 11, and 12, alongside the Passmark G3D and Vulkan tests, confirm it is built for real-time rendering. The 58.5% lead in Vulkan is particularly relevant for modern game engines, and the 48.2% lead in G3D indicates superior overall 3D performance. The 62.9% lead in Metal also suggests it could handle graphics tasks on macOS systems better than the Pro 5700, despite the latter’s Mac-oriented generation name.

The AMD Radeon Pro 5700, on the other hand, has exactly one clear domain: OpenCL compute. Its 80.8% lead in the Geekbench OpenCL test is not a marginal win; it is a complete rout. This indicates that for applications that rely heavily on OpenCL for general-purpose GPU computing—such as certain scientific simulations, medical imaging, or financial modeling—the Pro 5700 would be the faster card. Its lower TDP of 130 W versus 176 W also suggests it may be more efficient for sustained compute tasks, though the data does not provide direct efficiency metrics. However, its poor performance in all DirectX tests, including a 116.7% deficit in DirectX 11, makes it a poor choice for gaming.

The average benchmark scores reflect this split. The RX 6650 XT has an average score of 19,765, placing it in the 65th percentile of all GPUs. The Pro 5700’s average is 18,189, placing it in the 62nd percentile. The RX 6650 XT’s nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Tesla K40m and AMD FirePro W7000, with which it trades blows within a 0.7% margin. The Pro 5700 sits alongside the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile and RTX 2060 SUPER, again within a 1.1% margin. These comparisons show that while the RX 6650 XT has a higher average score, both cards are positioned in a similar performance tier overall, but with vastly different strengths.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous for gamers and general users: the AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT is the superior card. It wins 9 of 10 benchmarks, and its victories are not narrow. It delivers a 116.7% improvement in DirectX 11, a 50.3% improvement in DirectX 9, and a 48.2% improvement in Passmark G3D. If the workload involves running games, 3D rendering, or any standard graphics API, the RX 6650 XT is the only logical choice from this pairing. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus provides 280.3 GB/s bandwidth, which is sufficient for its target resolutions. Its launch MSRP was 399 USD, and it was released in 2022, making it a modern, albeit end-of-life, product.

The AMD Radeon Pro 5700 is for a very specific buyer: one whose primary workload is OpenCL compute. If an application is heavily optimized for OpenCL and does not rely on Direct3D or Vulkan, the Pro 5700’s 80.8% lead in the Geekbench OpenCL test makes it the clear winner. Its 8 GB memory on a 256-bit bus offers a higher bandwidth of 384.0 GB/s, which may benefit memory-intensive compute tasks. It also has a lower TDP of 130 W and requires no power connectors, making it a low-power option for workstations, though it offers no display outputs. This card is not for gaming; its 116.7% deficit in DirectX 11 proves that. The Pro 5700 is a niche compute accelerator, while the RX 6650 XT is a versatile graphics card that also holds its own in compute.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins the most head-to-head benchmarks?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT wins 9 out of 10 head-to-head benchmarks against the AMD Radeon Pro 5700.

Q: In which benchmark does the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 outperform the RX 6650 XT, and by how much?

A: The Pro 5700 wins the Geekbench OpenCL test with a score of 52,787 versus 10,111, which is an 80.8% lead for the Pro 5700.

Q: What is the largest performance margin in favor of the RX 6650 XT?

A: The largest win for the RX 6650 XT is in the Passmark DirectX 11 test, where it scores 169 versus 78, a 116.7% advantage.

Q: How do the average benchmark scores compare between the two cards?

A: The RX 6650 XT has an average benchmark score of 19,765, while the Pro 5700 has an average score of 18,189. The RX 6650 XT also ranks in the 65th percentile of all GPUs, compared to the Pro 5700’s 62nd percentile.

Q: Which card has higher memory bandwidth?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 5700 has higher memory bandwidth at 384.0 GB/s, due to its 256-bit bus, compared to the RX 6650 XT’s 280.3 GB/s over a 128-bit bus.

Q: Are these cards still in production?

A: No, both the AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT and the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 have a production status of "End-of-life."

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are built on different generations of AMD’s RDNA architecture. The RX 6650 XT uses RDNA 2.0, while the Pro 5700 is based on the older RDNA 1.0. This is a fundamental difference that explains many of the performance deltas. The RX 6650 XT is part of the Navi II (RX 6000) generation, while the Pro 5700 is from the Radeon Pro Mac (Navi Series) generation.

The RX 6650 XT is built on the Navi 23 chip, which contains 11,060 million transistors on a 237 mm² die, giving it a transistor density of 46.7M per mm². The Pro 5700 uses the Navi 10 chip, which has 10,300 million transistors on a larger 251 mm² die, resulting in a lower transistor density of 41.0M per mm². Both are fabricated by TSMC on a 7 nm process node.

A critical architectural difference is the presence of ray tracing cores. The RX 6650 XT features 32 RT cores, while the Pro 5700 has none. This gives the RX 6650 XT the ability to handle hardware-accelerated ray tracing, a feature entirely absent on the Pro 5700. The RX 6650 XT also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), whereas the Pro 5700 is limited to DirectX 12 (12_1). Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4.

The clock speeds highlight the different design goals. The RX 6650 XT has a base clock of 2055 MHz and a boost clock of 2635 MHz, with a game clock of 2410 MHz. The Pro 5700 is significantly slower, with a base clock of 1243 MHz and a boost clock of 1350 MHz. This massive clock speed difference, combined with the newer architecture, explains why the RX 6650 XT dominates in most graphics tests despite having fewer shading units (2048 vs 2304) and TMUs (128 vs 144). Both have 64 ROPs.

Specification Differences

The specifications show a clear split between a high-clock gaming card and a lower-clock professional card. The RX 6650 XT has a TDP of 176 W and requires a single 8-pin power connector, with a suggested PSU of 450 W. The Pro 5700 has a much lower TDP of 130 W and requires no power connectors, with a suggested PSU of 300 W. The Pro 5700 is also listed as an IGP (integrated graphics processor) with no display outputs, while the RX 6650 XT is a dual-slot card with 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a outputs.

Memory configurations differ as well. Both have 8 GB of GDDR6, but the RX 6650 XT uses a 128-bit bus with memory clocked at 2190 MHz (17.5 Gbps effective), yielding 280.3 GB/s bandwidth. The Pro 5700 uses a 256-bit bus with memory at 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective), yielding 384.0 GB/s bandwidth. The Pro 5700’s wider bus provides higher bandwidth, which is beneficial for compute workloads, while the RX 6650 XT’s higher clock speed compensates for its narrower bus in gaming scenarios.

The compute rates reflect the clock speed advantage. The RX 6650 XT achieves 10.79 TFLOPS FP32 and 21.59 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1), with pixel rate of 168.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 337.3 GTexel/s. The Pro 5700 achieves only 6.221 TFLOPS FP32 and 12.44 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1), with pixel rate of 86.40 GPixel/s and texture rate of 194.4 GTexel/s. The RX 6650 XT is roughly 73% faster in FP32 and 74% faster in texture rate. The bus interface also differs: the RX 6650 XT uses PCIe 4.0 x8, while the Pro 5700 uses PCIe 4.0 x16. The release dates are also distinct, with the RX 6650 XT launching on 2022-05-09 and the Pro 5700 on 2020-08-03.