AMD Radeon Pro 5700 XT vs AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT Comparison

The AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT and the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 XT represent two very different interpretations of AMD’s Radeon DNA, separated by two years of architectural evolution. The data reveals a lopsided head-to-head, with the RX 6650 XT taking 9 of 10 benchmark wins, yet the single loss exposes a chasm in compute-oriented performance that flips the script entirely. This comparison is less about a single victor and more about identifying which workload each GPU was purpose-built to serve.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most dramatic divergence in this matchup appears in the Geekbench results. In the Geekbench Metal test, the RX 6650 XT posts a score of 97,969 against the Pro 5700 XT’s 51,272, a crushing 91.1% advantage. That is nearly double the performance in Apple’s graphics API, suggesting that the newer RDNA 2.0 architecture has a substantial efficiency and feature-set advantage in this specific workload. The Vulkan results tell a similar, though less extreme, story: the RX 6650 XT scores 81,306 versus 56,593, a 43.7% lead. However, the Geekbench OpenCL test is the great equalizer, but in the opposite direction. Here, the Pro 5700 XT annihilates the RX 6650 XT with a score of 59,467 versus 10,111, a delta of -83%. This is not a minor victory; it is a complete role reversal, indicating that the Pro card’s compute-oriented design, likely tied to its larger memory bus and driver optimizations, dominates in raw OpenCL throughput.

Moving to the Passmark suite, the RX 6650 XT’s dominance is consistent across every DirectX iteration. The largest gap materializes in DirectX 11, where the RX 6650 XT scores 169 versus the Pro’s 85, a 98.8% advantage—effectively double the performance. DirectX 10 shows a 43.4% lead (109 vs 76), DirectX 9 shows a 40.5% lead (215 vs 153), and even DirectX 12, the closest of the group, shows a 5.1% lead (62 vs 59). The DirectX 12 result is surprisingly tight, hinting that the Pro 5700 XT’s raw compute power can partially compensate for its older architecture in modern low-level APIs. In the overall Passmark G3D test, the RX 6650 XT scores 17,166 against 12,547, a 36.8% advantage, while the compute-specific Passmark GPU Compute test shows a 30.2% lead (7,532 vs 5,787). The 2D performance also favors the RX 6650 XT, with a 13.3% margin (918 vs 810). The only other benchmark, 3DMark Steel Nomad, was only run on the RX 6650 XT (1,859), providing no comparative data.

Where Each One Wins

The RX 6650 XT is the definitive winner for graphics-centric, real-time rendering tasks. Its wins span the entire DirectX legacy stack, from DirectX 9 through DirectX 12, and extend to modern cross-platform APIs like Vulkan and Metal. If the workload involves drawing frames to a screen—gaming, 3D modeling viewports, or video rendering with GPU acceleration—the data overwhelmingly favors the RX 6650 XT. Its 36.8% lead in the Passmark G3D test and its 43.7% lead in Vulkan solidify this position.

The Pro 5700 XT has exactly one domain of superiority, but it is a significant one: raw compute in the OpenCL framework. The -83% delta in Geekbench OpenCL is a staggering outlier. This suggests that for non-graphics compute workloads—such as scientific simulation, machine learning inference, or video encoding that leverages OpenCL—the Pro 5700 XT is the only choice between the two. The card’s 16 GB of memory and 256-bit bus likely contribute to this, but the benchmark data alone shows a clear, specialized victor. The Pro 5700 XT also wins the practical power contest, with a 130 W TDP versus the RX 6650 XT’s 176 W, but this is a spec difference, not a benchmark result.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gulf between these two is the root cause of the performance split. The RX 6650 XT is built on RDNA 2.0, while the Pro 5700 XT uses the older RDNA 1.0. This is a generational leap, and the data reflects it in DirectX and Vulkan performance. The RX 6650 XT also features dedicated ray tracing cores (32 of them), a capability entirely absent from the Pro 5700 XT, which lists null for RT cores. This explains the RX 6650 XT’s support for DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), whereas the Pro 5700 XT is limited to DirectX 12 (12_1). Both use a 7 nm TSMC process, but the RX 6650 XT packs 11,060 million transistors into a smaller 237 mm² die, yielding a density of 46.7M / mm², compared to the Pro’s 10,300 million transistors on a larger 251 mm² die (41.0M / mm²).

The memory configurations are polar opposites. The RX 6650 XT has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, delivering 280.3 GB/s of bandwidth, while the Pro 5700 XT has 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 384.0 GB/s. This explains the Pro’s OpenCL dominance, as compute workloads often scale with memory capacity and bandwidth. Clock speeds also differ massively: the RX 6650 XT boosts to 2635 MHz, while the Pro 5700 XT boosts to just 1499 MHz. This clock advantage, combined with higher pixel and texture rates (168.6 GPixel/s and 337.3 GTexel/s vs 95.94 GPixel/s and 239.8 GTexel/s), gives the RX 6650 XT a theoretical FP32 throughput of 10.79 TFLOPS, well above the Pro’s 7.675 TFLOPS. The RX 6650 XT is a dual-slot card with a single 8-pin power connector, while the Pro 5700 XT is an integrated GPU (IGP) with no power connectors and no display outputs, designed for Apple Mac systems.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in gaming workloads?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT wins every DirectX benchmark, including a 98.8% lead in DirectX 11 and a 36.8% lead in the overall Passmark G3D test, making it the clear choice for gaming.

Q: Why does the Radeon Pro 5700 XT win the OpenCL benchmark by such a large margin?

A: The Pro 5700 XT scores 59,467 in Geekbench OpenCL versus 10,111 for the RX 6650 XT, an 83% difference. This likely stems from its 16 GB memory configuration and 256-bit bus, which provides 384.0 GB/s of bandwidth for compute tasks.

Q: Does the RX 6650 XT support hardware ray tracing?

A: Yes, the RX 6650 XT has 32 dedicated RT cores, while the Radeon Pro 5700 XT has none. This is a fundamental architectural difference between RDNA 2.0 and RDNA 1.0.

Q: What is the performance percentile ranking for each card?

A: The RX 6650 XT sits in the 65th percentile of all GPUs, while the Pro 5700 XT is in the 63rd percentile. Their average benchmark scores are 19,765 and 18,685, respectively.

Q: Are these cards comparable in terms of power consumption?

A: No. The RX 6650 XT has a TDP of 176 W and requires a 450 W PSU, while the Pro 5700 XT has a 130 W TDP and a suggested 300 W PSU. The Pro 5700 XT also uses no power connectors.

Q: Which card has a higher memory bandwidth?

A: The Radeon Pro 5700 XT, with 384.0 GB/s over a 256-bit bus. The RX 6650 XT has 280.3 GB/s over a 128-bit bus, despite having a much higher effective memory clock of 17.5 Gbps versus 12 Gbps.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every measurable specification. The RX 6650 XT uses a Navi 23 chip, while the Pro 5700 XT uses Navi 10. The RX 6650 XT has 2,048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 64 ROPs; the Pro 5700 XT has 2,560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. The RX 6650 XT has 32 RT cores; the Pro 5700 XT has none. Clock speeds are drastically different: the RX 6650 XT has a base clock of 2055 MHz and a boost of 2635 MHz, while the Pro 5700 XT has a base of 1243 MHz and a boost of 1499 MHz. Memory differs in size (8 GB vs 16 GB), bus width (128-bit vs 256-bit), and bandwidth (280.3 GB/s vs 384.0 GB/s). The RX 6650 XT offers a game clock of 2410 MHz, while the Pro 5700 XT has no game clock listed. The RX 6650 XT has a TDP of 176 W, is dual-slot, uses a single 8-pin connector, and has display outputs; the Pro 5700 XT has a 130 W TDP, is an IGP, uses no connectors, and has no outputs. The RX 6650 XT supports PCIe 4.0 x8, while the Pro 5700 XT uses PCIe 4.0 x16. Finally, the RX 6650 XT supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, while the Pro 5700 XT supports DirectX 12 (12_1).

The Verdict

The data presents a clear bifurcation. For any user who needs to render graphics, play games, or use Vulkan/Metal/DirectX-based applications, the AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT is the superior choice, with a 36.8% lead in the Passmark G3D test and a 91.1% lead in Geekbench Metal. It is also the only one of the two with ray tracing capability. The Pro 5700 XT, conversely, is not a gaming card; it is a compute workhorse. Its 83% lead in OpenCL and its 16 GB of memory make it the only viable option for OpenCL-accelerated compute tasks, despite its slower clocks and older architecture. The Pro 5700 XT also offers a lower TDP of 130 W, which is relevant for system builders constrained by power. The choice is not about which is "better" overall, but which workload—graphics or compute—defines the user’s primary need. The RX 6650 XT wins 9 out of 10 benchmarks, but the one it loses is a decisive knockout in a specialized arena.