AMD Radeon Pro 570X vs AMD Radeon Pro W5500X Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database records only one shared benchmark between the AMD Radeon Pro 570X and the AMD Radeon Pro W5500X: Geekbench Metal. In that test, the Radeon Pro 570X posts a score of 40066, while the Radeon Pro W5500X finishes at 27973. That is a 43.2% advantage for the older card, a decisive margin in a compute-oriented API that favors the 570X's raw shader throughput and wider memory bus.

The Radeon Pro 570X's score of 40066 places it in the 76th percentile of all GPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score across all recorded tests of 32176. Its nearest rivals include the AMD FirePro S10000 at 32388 (0.7% slower), the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE at 32456 (0.9% slower), the Intel Arc Pro A30M at 31894 (0.9% faster), and the AMD FirePro S9300 X2 at 32540 (1.1% slower). This clustering shows the 570X sitting in a tight performance band, with its single strong Metal result pulling its average upward.

The Radeon Pro W5500X, by contrast, has only one recorded benchmark, Geekbench Metal, and its average benchmark score is identical to that single result: 27973. That places it in the 73rd percentile of all GPUs, just three points behind the 570X in percentile terms. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti at 28020 (0.2% faster), the AMD Radeon RX 7800M at 27883 (0.3% slower), the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 at 27839 (0.5% slower), and the AMD FirePro S7150 at 28117 (0.5% faster). The W5500X is effectively bracketed by a 2015 flagship GeForce and a pair of professional AMD parts, indicating that its Metal performance is competitive with that generation of hardware but not exceptional.

The head-to-head delta is stark: 43.2% in favor of the 570X. No other benchmark appears in both cards' records, so the Metal result is the only direct comparison available. The W5500X has no recorded OpenCL or Vulkan scores, which limits the scope of the comparison. In the absence of those data points, the Metal test becomes the sole arbiter of relative performance in this database.

Where Each One Wins

The Radeon Pro 570X wins the only direct benchmark comparison, and it does so emphatically. Its Geekbench Metal lead of 43.2% over the W5500X suggests that workloads built around Metal compute, such as GPU-accelerated rendering, image processing, or scientific simulation on macOS, will favor the older card. The 570X's higher shading unit count, 1792 versus 1536, and its 256-bit memory bus versus 128-bit, contribute to this advantage in bandwidth-sensitive and shader-heavy tasks.

The Radeon Pro W5500X, despite losing the Metal test, has strengths that do not appear in the benchmark data. Its architecture is newer, its process node is smaller, and its memory is faster in effective data rate. The W5500X also carries double the VRAM, 8 GB versus 4 GB, which matters for large datasets or high-resolution textures that exceed the 570X's capacity. In scenarios where memory footprint is the limiting factor, the W5500X can handle workloads the 570X cannot, even if its raw compute score is lower.

The W5500X also supports DirectX 12_1, while the 570X supports DirectX 12_0. That feature-level difference could matter for certain Windows-based professional applications, though both cards target Mac-oriented workloads. The W5500X's Vulkan support is version 1.4 versus 1.3 for the 570X, a minor but real API maturity advantage.

The 570X wins on raw Metal compute and memory bandwidth. The W5500X wins on memory capacity, API feature level, power efficiency, and physical design flexibility. The choice between them depends on whether the workload is bandwidth-bound and shader-bound, where the 570X excels, or capacity-bound and API-feature-bound, where the W5500X has the edge.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from different architectural generations with distinct design philosophies. The Radeon Pro 570X uses the Ellesmere chip, built on GCN 4.0 architecture, fabricated by GlobalFoundries on a 14 nm process. The die measures 232 mm² and contains 5,700 million transistors, yielding a transistor density of 24.6 million per mm². The Radeon Pro W5500X uses the Navi 14 chip, built on RDNA 1.0 architecture, fabricated by TSMC on a 7 nm process. The die is smaller at 158 mm² but packs more transistors, 6,400 million, resulting in a density of 40.5 million per mm². The 7 nm node gives the W5500X a nearly 65% higher transistor density, which is the foundation of its efficiency advantage.

Clock behavior diverges sharply. The 570X runs at a 1000 MHz base and 1105 MHz boost, while the W5500X runs at 1187 MHz base and 1757 MHz boost. That is a substantial boost clock advantage for the W5500X, roughly 59% higher, which partially compensates for its lower shader count. The memory clocks also differ: the 570X uses 1695 MHz with 6.8 Gbps effective data rate, while the W5500X uses 1750 MHz with 14 Gbps effective. The W5500X's GDDR6 memory runs at double the effective rate of the 570X's GDDR5, though the 570X's 256-bit bus gives it a raw bandwidth edge, 217.0 GB/s versus 224.0 GB/s, a narrow 3.2% difference.

Shader configuration favors the 570X in raw count: 1792 shading units, 112 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. The W5500X has 1536 shading units, 96 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The 570X has 16.7% more shaders and 16.7% more TMUs, with equal ROP counts. Pixel rate, however, favors the W5500X at 56.22 GPixel/s versus 35.36 GPixel/s, a 59% advantage driven by its higher clock speed. Texture rate also favors the W5500X at 168.7 GTexel/s versus 123.8 GTexel/s, a 36.3% lead.

Compute throughput tells a more nuanced story. The 570X's FP32 rating is 3.960 TFLOPS, and its FP16 rating is identical at 3.960 TFLOPS with a 1:1 ratio. The W5500X's FP32 rating is 5.398 TFLOPS, and its FP16 rating is 10.80 TFLOPS with a 2:1 ratio. The W5500X is 36.3% faster in FP32 and 172.7% faster in FP16, a massive advantage for workloads that can use reduced precision.

Power characteristics also differ. The 570X has a TDP of 150 W and uses no external power connectors, fitting into an IGP slot width. The W5500X has a TDP of 125 W, a lower figure, but requires a dual-slot design and a suggested PSU of 300 W. The W5500X's bus interface is Apple MPX, while the 570X uses PCIe 3.0 x16. Display outputs differ as well: the 570X is listed as portable device dependent, while the W5500X offers 2x HDMI 2.0b.

FAQ

Q: Which card has a higher Geekbench Metal score?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 570X scores 40066, which is 43.2% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro W5500X's 27973.

Q: How much memory does each card have?

A: The Radeon Pro 570X has 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, while the Radeon Pro W5500X has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus.

Q: What are the FP32 compute ratings for the two cards?

A: The 570X delivers 3.960 TFLOPS FP32, while the W5500X delivers 5.398 TFLOPS FP32, making the W5500X 36.3% faster.

Q: Which card has a higher boost clock?

A: The W5500X boosts to 1757 MHz, compared to the 570X's 1105 MHz.

Q: Do the cards use the same process node?

A: No. The 570X is built on GlobalFoundries' 14 nm process, while the W5500X is built on TSMC's 7 nm process.

Q: What is the launch MSRP for the W5500X?

A: The launch MSRP is 599 USD.

Specification Differences

| Field | AMD Radeon Pro 570X | AMD Radeon Pro W5500X |

|-------|---------------------|-----------------------|

| Chip | Ellesmere | Navi 14 |

| Architecture | GCN 4.0 | RDNA 1.0 |

| Generation | Radeon Pro Mac (500X Series) | Radeon Pro Mac (Navi Series) |

| Process Node | 14 nm | 7 nm |

| Foundry | GlobalFoundries | TSMC |

| Transistors | 5,700 million | 6,400 million |

| Die Size | 232 mm² | 158 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 24.6M / mm² | 40.5M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1000 MHz | 1187 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1105 MHz | 1757 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 1695 MHz, 6.8 Gbps effective | 1750 MHz, 14 Gbps effective |

| Memory Size | 4 GB | 8 GB |

| Memory Type | GDDR5 | GDDR6 |

| Memory Bus Width | 256 bit | 128 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 217.0 GB/s | 224.0 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 1792 | 1536 |

| TMUs | 112 | 96 |

| ROPs | 32 | 32 |

| Pixel Rate | 35.36 GPixel/s | 56.22 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 123.8 GTexel/s | 168.7 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 3.960 TFLOPS | 5.398 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 3.960 TFLOPS (1:1) | 10.80 TFLOPS (2:1) |

| TDP | 150 W | 125 W |

| Slot Width | IGP | Dual-slot |

| Power Connectors | None | Not specified |

| Suggested PSU | Not specified | 300 W |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | Apple MPX |

| Display Outputs | Portable Device Dependent | 2x HDMI 2.0b |

| DirectX | 12 (12_0) | 12 (12_1) |

| Vulkan | 1.3 | 1.4 |

| Release Date | 2019-03-17 | 2019-12-10 |

| Launch MSRP | Not specified | 599 USD |