AMD Radeon Pro 5700 XT vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The benchmark data delivers a decisive outcome: the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 XT wins both recorded head-to-head tests by a wide margin. In Geekbench OpenCL, the Radeon Pro 5700 XT scores 59,467 against the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690's 17,399, a delta of 241.8%. That is not a close contest; it is a generational gap expressed in raw compute throughput. The Vulkan result follows the same pattern, with the AMD card posting 56,593 versus 16,675 for the GTX 690, a 239.4% advantage. Both figures place the Radeon Pro 5700 XT in a different performance class entirely.

Looking at the broader database averages, the Radeon Pro 5700 XT holds an average benchmark score of 18,685 across all recorded tests, while the GTX 690 averages 17,037. The delta between their overall averages is smaller than the head-to-head results suggest, because the GTX 690 only has two recorded benchmarks in the database, both compute-oriented, whereas the Radeon Pro 5700 XT has ten. Still, the direction is consistent: the AMD part leads in every shared test.

The Radeon Pro 5700 XT also places in the 63rd percentile of all GPUs, versus the 60th percentile for the GTX 690. That three-point gap in percentile ranking is modest, but the head-to-head deltas show why: the GTX 690's nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT with an average score of 17,083 (a 0.3% delta), the NVIDIA Tesla M4 at 16,932 (0.6%), and the AMD Radeon HD 7970M at 17,019 (0.1%). The Radeon Pro 5700 XT, meanwhile, sits between the AMD Radeon RX 560X at 18,626 (0.3% ahead) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 at 18,789 (0.6% behind), with the AMD FirePro D500 at 18,533 (0.8% ahead) and the NVIDIA Tesla K80 at 18,866 (1.0% behind) nearby. In other words, the Radeon Pro 5700 XT competes in a modern upper-midrange bracket, while the GTX 690 sits among older and lower-end parts.

Where Each One Wins

The Radeon Pro 5700 XT wins every category where both cards have recorded data. Compute workloads are its strongest suit: the OpenCL score of 59,467 is more than triple the GTX 690's 17,399, and the Vulkan score of 56,593 similarly dwarfs the 16,675 from the NVIDIA card. For anyone running OpenCL-based rendering, physics simulation, or general GPU compute, the AMD card is the clear choice based on these measurements.

The GTX 690 has no recorded wins in the database. Its only two benchmarks, Geekbench OpenCL and Geekbench Vulkan, both go to the AMD card. That does not mean the GTX 690 is without any utility, but the data cannot support a use case where it outperforms the Radeon Pro 5700 XT. The GTX 690's nearest rival cluster, with average scores around 17,000, suggests it performs at a level comparable to an AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT or an NVIDIA Tesla M4, both of which are far below the Radeon Pro 5700 XT's average of 18,685.

In terms of specific benchmark categories, the Radeon Pro 5700 XT also shows strength in DirectX tests from Passmark: it scores 153 in DirectX 9, 85 in DirectX 11, 76 in DirectX 10, and 59 in DirectX 12. Its Passmark G3D score is 12,547, and its G2D score is 810. The GTX 690 has no Passmark entries in the database, so those numbers stand as further evidence of the AMD card's broader test coverage, but they do not factor into the direct head-to-head comparison.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from different architectural eras. The AMD Radeon Pro 5700 XT uses the Navi 10 chip built on RDNA 1.0 architecture, fabricated on a 7 nm process at TSMC. It contains 10,300 million transistors on a 251 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 41.0 million per square millimeter. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 uses the GK104 chip with Kepler architecture, built on TSMC's 28 nm process. It packs 3,540 million transistors onto a 294 mm² die, for a transistor density of 12.0 million per square millimeter. The density difference is stark: the AMD chip crams more than three times as many transistors into a smaller physical area.

Clock speeds tell a similar story. The Radeon Pro 5700 XT runs at a base clock of 1243 MHz and boosts to 1499 MHz, while the GTX 690 runs at 915 MHz base and 1019 MHz boost. Higher clocks plus a newer process node and denser transistor layout explain the compute advantage, though architecture-level efficiency also plays a role. The RDNA 1.0 design delivers 7.675 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, while the Kepler-based GTX 690 manages 3.130 TFLOPS. The AMD card also supports FP16 at 15.35 TFLOPS with a 2:1 ratio; the GTX 690 has no recorded FP16 capability.

Memory architecture differs as well. The Radeon Pro 5700 XT uses 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, with memory clocked at 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective) for 384.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GTX 690 uses 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, at 1502 MHz (6 Gbps effective), yielding 192.3 GB/s. The AMD card has eight times the capacity and double the bandwidth.

The Radeon Pro 5700 XT also supports PCIe 4.0 x16, while the GTX 690 uses PCIe 3.0 x16. API support differs: the AMD card lists DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, while the GTX 690 lists DirectX 12 (11_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.175. Neither card has ray tracing cores or tensor cores recorded in the database.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every specification field. Process node: 7 nm versus 28 nm. Transistors: 10,300 million versus 3,540 million. Die size: 251 mm² versus 294 mm². Transistor density: 41.0M per mm² versus 12.0M per mm². Base clock: 1243 MHz versus 915 MHz. Boost clock: 1499 MHz versus 1019 MHz. Memory size: 16 GB versus 2 GB. Memory type: GDDR6 versus GDDR5. Memory bandwidth: 384.0 GB/s versus 192.3 GB/s. Shading units: 2560 versus 1536. Texture mapping units: 160 versus 128. Raster output units: 64 versus 32. Pixel rate: 95.94 GPixel/s versus 32.61 GPixel/s. Texture rate: 239.8 GTexel/s versus 130.4 GTexel/s. FP32: 7.675 TFLOPS versus 3.130 TFLOPS. FP16: 15.35 TFLOPS (2:1) versus null. TDP: 130 W versus 300 W. Slot width: IGP versus dual-slot. Power connectors: none versus 2x 8-pin. Suggested PSU: 300 W versus 700 W. Bus interface: PCIe 4.0 x16 versus PCIe 3.0 x16. Display outputs: none versus 3x DVI plus 1x mini-DisplayPort 1.2. Dimensions: the GTX 690 measures 279 mm by 111 mm by 38 mm; the Radeon Pro 5700 XT has no recorded dimensions. Release dates: 2020-08-03 for the AMD card versus 2012-05-02 for the NVIDIA card. The GTX 690 has a predecessor (GeForce 500) and successor (GeForce 700) recorded; the Radeon Pro 5700 XT has neither. The GTX 690 carries a launch MSRP of 999 USD; the AMD card has no recorded launch MSRP.

The TDP difference is particularly notable: 130 W versus 300 W means the Radeon Pro 5700 XT delivers far higher performance while drawing less than half the power budget according to the recorded specifications. The GTX 690 requires a dual-slot cooler, two 8-pin power connectors, and a 700 W suggested PSU, whereas the AMD card is an IGP-style slot with no power connectors and a 300 W suggested PSU.

FAQ

Q: Which card is faster in OpenCL compute?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 5700 XT scores 59,467 in Geekbench OpenCL, which is 241.8% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690's 17,399.

Q: How do the two cards compare in Vulkan performance?

A: The Radeon Pro 5700 XT scores 56,593 in Geekbench Vulkan versus 16,675 for the GTX 690, a 239.4% advantage for the AMD card.

Q: What is the memory capacity difference?

A: The Radeon Pro 5700 XT has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory, while the GTX 690 has 2 GB of GDDR5. The AMD card also delivers 384.0 GB/s of bandwidth versus 192.3 GB/s.

Q: Which card has a higher transistor count?

A: The Radeon Pro 5700 XT contains 10,300 million transistors, compared to 3,540 million in the GTX 690. The AMD chip is built on a 7 nm process, while the GTX 690 uses 28 nm.

Q: What is the power consumption difference?

A: The Radeon Pro 5700 XT has a TDP of 130 W with a suggested PSU of 300 W and no power connectors. The GTX 690 has a TDP of 300 W, requires 2x 8-pin power connectors, and a suggested PSU of 700 W.

Q: Does the GTX 690 have any recorded benchmark wins over the Radeon Pro 5700 XT?

A: No. The database records two head-to-head benchmarks, Geekbench OpenCL and Geekbench Vulkan, and the Radeon Pro 5700 XT wins both.

The Verdict

The data points to a single conclusion: the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 XT is the superior card in every measured category. It wins both head-to-head benchmarks by margins exceeding 239%, offers 16 GB of GDDR6 memory versus 2 GB of GDDR5, delivers 7.675 TFLOPS of FP32 compute versus 3.130 TFLOPS, and does so at 130 W TDP versus 300 W. The GTX 690, released in 2012 and built on 28 nm Kepler, cannot compete with the 2020 RDNA 1.0 part in compute workloads. Its only advantages are physical: it has display outputs, a dual-slot form factor, and recorded dimensions, whereas the Radeon Pro 5700 XT has no outputs and is an IGP-style slot. For any compute-focused application, the Radeon Pro 5700 XT is the clear pick. The GTX 690's launch MSRP of 999 USD reflects its 2012 positioning, but the benchmark record shows it now sits in a performance tier comparable to cards averaging around 17,000 points, far below the Radeon Pro 5700 XT's 18,685 average. Users who need a card for OpenCL or Vulkan workloads should choose the AMD part without hesitation. Users who need display outputs from the GPU itself, however, would need to look at the GTX 690, since the Radeon Pro 5700 XT records no outputs. But for raw performance, the verdict is unambiguous: the Radeon Pro 5700 XT wins on every recorded metric.