AMD Radeon Pro 580X vs AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE Comparison

The Verdict

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE is the clear performance winner in every direct comparison recorded in the database. The data shows it beating the AMD Radeon Pro 580X by 79.3% in Geekbench OpenCL and by 59.8% in Geekbench Vulkan. If you need maximum compute throughput, the RX 7900 GRE is the only sensible pick between these two.

The AMD Radeon Pro 580X, however, occupies a completely different position. It is an end-of-life integrated graphics processor (IGP) built for Apple MPX systems, with a single display output configuration of 2x HDMI 2.0b. The RX 7900 GRE is a dual-slot active add-in board with 2x 8-pin power connectors, a 600 W suggested PSU, and a PCIe 4.0 x16 interface. Anyone building a new PC should choose the RX 7900 GRE. Anyone maintaining a specific Apple MPX platform where the Pro 580X is the required form factor has no choice but to use that part, despite its far lower scores.

The percentile data reinforces this split. The Pro 580X sits at the 82nd percentile of all GPUs in the database, while the RX 7900 GRE sits at the 77th percentile. That seems counterintuitive given the head-to-head results, but it reflects the different benchmark pools each card is tested in. The Pro 580X is measured only in Geekbench Metal, OpenCL, and Vulkan, while the RX 7900 GRE is measured across a much wider set of DirectX and Passmark tests. The RX 7900 GRE's average benchmark score of 32456 is actually lower than the Pro 580X's average of 38706, again because of the different test suites. For raw compute in the shared tests, the RX 7900 GRE dominates.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different eras and entirely different design philosophies. The Pro 580X uses the Ellesmere chip built on GCN 4.0 architecture, fabricated on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. The RX 7900 GRE uses the Navi 31 chip with RDNA 3.0 architecture, fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC. The process node difference is massive: 14 nm versus 5 nm. Transistor counts reflect this generational leap. The Pro 580X packs 5,700 million transistors on a 232 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 24.6 million per mm². The RX 7900 GRE packs 57,700 million transistors on a 529 mm² die, for a density of 109.1 million per mm². That is roughly ten times the transistor count and more than four times the density.

Memory architecture also differs sharply. The Pro 580X uses 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 218.9 GB/s of bandwidth. The RX 7900 GRE uses 16 GB of GDDR6 on the same 256-bit bus width, delivering 576.0 GB/s. That is 2.6 times the bandwidth of the older card. Effective memory speed is 6.8 Gbps on the Pro 580X versus 18 Gbps on the RX 7900 GRE. Clock behavior is also different: the Pro 580X runs a base of 1100 MHz and boost of 1200 MHz, while the RX 7900 GRE runs a base of 1287 MHz, a game clock of 1880 MHz, and a boost of 2245 MHz.

Feature support diverges as well. The Pro 580X supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. The RX 7900 GRE supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The RX 7900 GRE also includes 80 ray tracing cores, a feature entirely absent from the Pro 580X. In terms of shader resources, the Pro 580X has 2304 shading units, 144 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The RX 7900 GRE has 5120 shading units, 320 TMUs, and 160 ROPs. Every throughput metric scales accordingly: pixel rate is 38.40 GPixel/s versus 359.2 GPixel/s, texture rate is 172.8 GTexel/s versus 718.4 GTexel/s, and FP32 compute is 5.530 TFLOPS versus 45.98 TFLOPS. The RX 7900 GRE also offers FP16 at 91.96 TFLOPS with a 2:1 ratio, while the Pro 580X is capped at 5.530 TFLOPS with a 1:1 ratio.

Where Each One Wins

The RX 7900 GRE wins every shared benchmark in the database. In Geekbench OpenCL, it scores 175758 against the Pro 580X's 36426. In Geekbench Vulkan, it scores 99850 against the Pro 580X's 40115. The RX 7900 GRE also has the only recorded DirectX results, with Passmark DirectX 9 at 310, DirectX 10 at 139, DirectX 11 at 300, and DirectX 12 at 107. The Pro 580X has no DirectX benchmark entries at all. For any workload that uses OpenCL, Vulkan, or DirectX, the RX 7900 GRE is the clear choice.

The Pro 580X's only advantage is its form factor and platform fit. It is an IGP with an Apple MPX bus interface, meaning it is designed to slot into Apple's proprietary MPX ecosystem. The RX 7900 GRE is a standard PCIe 4.0 x16 card measuring 276 mm long, 110 mm tall, and 51 mm wide. Systems built around the Apple MPX interface cannot accept the RX 7900 GRE without a platform change. The Pro 580X also has a much lower TDP at 185 W versus 260 W, and it is a single-slot IGP rather than a dual-slot card. For users constrained by the Apple MPX form factor, the Pro 580X is the only option that physically fits.

The RX 7900 GRE also wins on memory capacity and bandwidth, which matters for large datasets and high-resolution textures. Its 16 GB frame buffer is double the Pro 580X's 8 GB. Its 576.0 GB/s bandwidth is nearly triple. For ray tracing workloads, the RX 7900 GRE's 80 RT cores provide hardware acceleration that the Pro 580X simply lacks.

FAQ

Q: Which card is faster in OpenCL?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE scores 175758 in Geekbench OpenCL, which is 79.3% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro 580X's 36426.

Q: Which card is faster in Vulkan?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE scores 99850 in Geekbench Vulkan, which is 59.8% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro 580X's 40115.

Q: Can the Pro 580X be installed in a standard desktop PC?

A: No. The Pro 580X uses an Apple MPX bus interface and is an IGP form factor. The RX 7900 GRE uses a standard PCIe 4.0 x16 interface and is a dual-slot card.

Q: Does the Pro 580X support ray tracing?

A: No. The Pro 580X has no ray tracing cores. The RX 7900 GRE includes 80 ray tracing cores.

Q: How much memory does each card have?

A: The Pro 580X has 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus with 218.9 GB/s bandwidth. The RX 7900 GRE has 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus with 576.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: What DirectX level does each card support?

A: The Pro 580X supports DirectX 12 (12_0). The RX 7900 GRE supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2).

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database records two direct head-to-head comparisons between these cards, and the RX 7900 GRE wins both by wide margins.

Geekbench OpenCL is the largest gap. The RX 7900 GRE scores 175758, while the Pro 580X scores 36426. That is a delta of -79.3% from the RX 7900 GRE's perspective, meaning the Pro 580X delivers only about one-fifth of the OpenCL throughput. This is the single biggest differential in the head-to-head set. The RX 7900 GRE's advantage here comes from its 45.98 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, its 320 TMUs, and its 160 ROPs. The Pro 580X's 5.530 TFLOPS and 144 TMUs simply cannot compete at the same scale.

Geekbench Vulkan shows a similar story, though with a slightly smaller gap. The RX 7900 GRE scores 99850, and the Pro 580X scores 40115, a delta of -59.8%. The RX 7900 GRE still delivers roughly two and a half times the Vulkan performance. The Pro 580X's Vulkan 1.3 support is functional, but the underlying GCN 4.0 architecture is far older than RDNA 3.0, and the shading unit count is less than half.

There is no recorded head-to-head for Geekbench Metal, despite the Pro 580X having a Metal score of 39577 in its individual benchmark list. The RX 7900 GRE has no Metal benchmark entry in the database, so no direct comparison is possible. Similarly, the RX 7900 GRE's Passmark tests have no counterpart on the Pro 580X side. The Pro 580X's individual benchmarks include Geekbench Metal at 39577 and Geekbench OpenCL at 36426 and Geekbench Vulkan at 40115. The RX 7900 GRE's individual benchmarks include 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 at 4814, Passmark G3D at 27089, Passmark GPU Compute at 15016, and Passmark G2D at 1180, along with the DirectX 9 through 12 scores.

The takeaway from the head-to-head data is unambiguous. In every shared workload, the RX 7900 GRE outperforms the Pro 580X by a margin that ranges from roughly 60% to nearly 80%. The only reason to choose the Pro 580X is platform compatibility with Apple MPX systems, not performance.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every specification category recorded in the database.

The Pro 580X is built on GCN 4.0 with the Ellesmere chip at 14 nm, produced by GlobalFoundries. The RX 7900 GRE is built on RDNA 3.0 with the Navi 31 chip at 5 nm, produced by TSMC. Transistor count is 5,700 million versus 57,700 million. Die size is 232 mm² versus 529 mm². Transistor density is 24.6 million per mm² versus 109.1 million per mm².

Clocks differ substantially. The Pro 580X has a base of 1100 MHz and a boost of 1200 MHz, with no game clock listed. The RX 7900 GRE has a base of 1287 MHz, a game clock of 1880 MHz, and a boost of 2245 MHz. Memory clocks are 1710 MHz (6.8 Gbps effective) for the Pro 580X versus 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective) for the RX 7900 GRE.

Memory capacity is 8 GB GDDR5 versus 16 GB GDDR6. Both use a 256-bit bus, but bandwidth is 218.9 GB/s versus 576.0 GB/s.

Compute resources: the Pro 580X has 2304 shading units, 144 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The RX 7900 GRE has 5120 shading units, 320 TMUs, and 160 ROPs. The RX 7900 GRE adds 80 RT cores; the Pro 580X has none. Pixel rate is 38.40 GPixel/s versus 359.2 GPixel/s. Texture rate is 172.8 GTexel/s versus 718.4 GTexel/s. FP32 is 5.530 TFLOPS versus 45.98 TFLOPS. FP16 is 5.530 TFLOPS (1:1) versus 91.96 TFLOPS (2:1).

Power and physical specs: the Pro 580X has a TDP of 185 W and is an IGP with Apple MPX bus interface. The RX 7900 GRE has a TDP of 260 W, is dual-slot, requires 2x 8-pin power connectors, and a 600 W suggested PSU. The RX 7900 GRE measures 276 mm by 110 mm by 51 mm. The Pro 580X has no dimensions recorded.

Display outputs: the Pro 580X has 2x HDMI 2.0b. The RX 7900 GRE has 1x HDMI 2.1a, 2x DisplayPort 2.1, and 1x USB Type-C. API support: the Pro 580X lists DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. The RX 7900 GRE lists DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

Production status: the Pro 580X is end-of-life, released 2019-03-17. The RX 7900 GRE is active, released 2023-07-26. Its predecessor is listed as Navi II and successor as Navi IV. The RX 7900 GRE has a launch MSRP of 549 USD. The Pro 580X has no recorded launch MSRP.