AMD Radeon Pro 5700 XT vs AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL Comparison

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score in the database?

A: The AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL shows an average benchmark score of 21,153, while the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 XT records 18,685. Despite this, in the recorded head-to-head tests, the Radeon Pro 5700 XT wins both.

Q: How do the two compare in OpenCL performance?

A: The Radeon Pro 5700 XT scores 59,467 in Geekbench OpenCL, which is 67.1% higher than the Radeon RX Vega M GL's 19,549. The Pro 5700 XT is clearly ahead in this compute workload.

Q: What about Vulkan performance?

A: In Geekbench Vulkan, the Radeon Pro 5700 XT again leads with 56,593 versus 22,757 for the Radeon RX Vega M GL, a delta of 59.8% in favor of the Pro card.

Q: Which card has more memory, and what type?

A: The Radeon Pro 5700 XT has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, while the Radeon RX Vega M GL has 4 GB of HBM2 on a 1024-bit bus. The Pro card's bandwidth is 384.0 GB/s compared to 179.2 GB/s for the Vega M GL.

Q: What are the architecture and process differences?

A: The Radeon RX Vega M GL uses GCN 4.0 on a 14 nm process from GlobalFoundries, with 5,000 million transistors on a 208 mm² die. The Radeon Pro 5700 XT uses RDNA 1.0 on a 7 nm process from TSMC, with 10,300 million transistors on a 251 mm² die.

Q: What is the DirectX support difference?

A: The Radeon RX Vega M GL supports DirectX 12 (12_0), while the Radeon Pro 5700 XT supports DirectX 12 (12_1). The Pro card also supports Vulkan 1.4, whereas the Vega M GL supports Vulkan 1.3.

The Verdict

The data clearly points to the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 XT as the stronger performer in the two benchmark tests recorded for both cards. It wins the Geekbench OpenCL test by 67.1% and the Geekbench Vulkan test by 59.8%. If the workload is compute-heavy or Vulkan-based, the Pro 5700 XT is the definitive choice.

However, the Radeon RX Vega M GL has a higher average benchmark score across all its recorded tests (21,153 vs. 18,685) and sits at a higher percentile (66 vs. 63). This suggests that in the broader database, the Vega M GL may fare better across a wider range of tests, though only two tests overlap directly. The Vega M GL is also a lower-power part at 65 W TDP versus 130 W, making it suitable for integrated or portable designs. The Pro 5700 XT, with a 300 W suggested PSU and no display outputs, is clearly aimed at pro workstation or external GPU use cases.

For users prioritizing raw compute in OpenCL or Vulkan, the Radeon Pro 5700 XT is the pick. For those needing a compact, low-power integrated GPU with a wider average benchmark profile, the Radeon RX Vega M GL holds its own. The decision hinges on the workload: the Pro card dominates the shared tests, while the Vega M GL offers a higher aggregate score in the database.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The head-to-head data shows a decisive victory for the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 XT in both recorded tests. In Geekbench OpenCL, the Pro 5700 XT scores 59,467 against 19,549 for the Radeon RX Vega M GL. That is a delta of 67.1% in favor of the Pro card. The gap is substantial, indicating a major advantage in general-purpose GPU compute tasks such as rendering, simulation, or machine learning inference.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the Pro 5700 XT scores 56,593 versus 22,757 for the Vega M GL, a 59.8% lead. Vulkan is often used in gaming and real-time graphics, and the Pro card's RDNA architecture clearly delivers higher throughput here. The Vega M GL's GCN 4.0 design, while capable, is outclassed by the newer RDNA 1.0 implementation.

The wins tally is 2 for the Pro 5700 XT and 0 for the Vega M GL. No test in the database shows the Vega M GL ahead of the Pro 5700 XT. This is a clean sweep in the head-to-head metrics. The Pro card's higher clock speeds (1,243 MHz base, 1,499 MHz boost vs. 931 MHz base, 1,011 MHz boost) and doubled shading units (2,560 vs. 1,280) are consistent with this result. The texture rate difference is also stark: 239.8 GTexel/s versus 80.88 GTexel/s.

The Pro 5700 XT's FP32 throughput of 7.675 TFLOPS is nearly three times the Vega M GL's 2.588 TFLOPS. Even in FP16, the Pro card achieves 15.35 TFLOPS (2:1 ratio) versus the Vega M GL's 2.588 TFLOPS (1:1 ratio). These numbers explain the benchmark disparity. The Vega M GL does have a higher average score across all its database entries, but that is due to the inclusion of different tests, not any overlap where it beats the Pro card.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ significantly in nearly every hardware specification. The Radeon RX Vega M GL uses 1,280 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The Radeon Pro 5700 XT doubles those counts to 2,560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. The Pro card's pixel rate is 95.94 GPixel/s versus 32.35 GPixel/s for the Vega M GL.

Memory configurations are also distinct. The Vega M GL has 4 GB of HBM2 with a 1024-bit bus and 179.2 GB/s bandwidth. The Pro 5700 XT has 16 GB of GDDR6 with a 256-bit bus and 384.0 GB/s bandwidth. The Pro card's memory clock is 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective), while the Vega M GL runs at 700 MHz (1400 Mbps effective).

The TDP differs by 65 W: the Vega M GL draws 65 W, the Pro 5700 XT draws 130 W. The Pro card also requires a 300 W suggested PSU, while the Vega M GL has no such requirement listed. The bus interface is another major split: the Vega M GL uses an integrated graphics processor (IGP) bus, whereas the Pro 5700 XT uses PCIe 4.0 x16.

Display outputs are listed as "Portable Device Dependent" for the Vega M GL, and "No outputs" for the Pro 5700 XT. This reinforces the Pro card's role as a compute or external GPU solution rather than a direct display adapter. The release dates differ by over two years: the Vega M GL launched on 2018-01-31, the Pro 5700 XT on 2020-08-03. Both are marked as end-of-life in the database.

Architecture Differences

The architectural split is fundamental. The Radeon RX Vega M GL is built on GCN 4.0, using a 14 nm process from GlobalFoundries. The chip, Polaris 22, packs 5,000 million transistors into a 208 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 24.0 million per mm². The Radeon Pro 5700 XT is built on RDNA 1.0, using a 7 nm process from TSMC. Its Navi 10 chip contains 10,300 million transistors on a 251 mm² die, achieving a density of 41.0 million per mm².

The RDNA architecture introduces a different shader organization and scheduling model compared to GCN. This is reflected in the FP16 performance: the Vega M GL offers 2.588 TFLOPS FP16 with a 1:1 ratio to FP32, while the Pro 5700 XT delivers 15.35 TFLOPS FP16 with a 2:1 ratio. The Pro card's FP16 throughput is six times higher, which matters for workloads that can exploit packed math.

The Vega M GL's GCN 4.0 design uses a unified shader array, while RDNA 1.0 on the Pro card uses a dual-compute-unit design with separate scalar and vector units. This architectural change improves instruction-level parallelism and efficiency. The Pro card's boost clock of 1,499 MHz is 48% higher than the Vega M GL's 1,011 MHz, further widening the performance gap.

The Pro 5700 XT also supports a newer DirectX feature level (12_1 vs. 12_0) and Vulkan 1.4 vs. 1.3. Both cards lack dedicated ray tracing or tensor cores, so the architectural differences are purely in the rasterization and compute pipelines. The RDNA 1.0 design in the Pro card is a generational leap over GCN 4.0 in the Vega M GL, which explains the benchmark dominance despite the Vega M GL's higher aggregate database percentile.