AMD Radeon Pro W5500 vs AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The benchmark results between the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 and the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT are strikingly lopsided, but not in the way one might expect from the product names alone. Across the nine tests where both cards were measured directly, the RX 7900 XT claimed eight wins, while the Pro W5500 managed a single, dominant victory in one very specific workload.

That lone win is the most surprising result in the entire comparison. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the Radeon Pro W5500 scored 45,615 against the RX 7900 XT’s 12,756, a massive 257.6% advantage. This is not a small margin; it is a complete inversion of the expected hierarchy. The OpenCL result suggests that the older RDNA 1.0 architecture, with its focus on compute-oriented professional workloads, retains a decisive edge in certain legacy compute APIs. The recorded data shows that the Pro W5500 outperforms the RX 7900 XT by more than a factor of three in this specific test, making it the clear choice for OpenCL-bound applications.

Everywhere else, the RX 7900 XT dominates. In the Geekbench Vulkan test, the newer card scores 71,068 against 42,021 for the Pro W5500, a 40.9% lead. This is a substantial gap, but it is relatively modest compared to the Passmark suite, where the RX 7900 XT’s advantages grow much larger. In DirectX 10, the RX 7900 XT scores 158 against 47, a 70.3% difference. DirectX 11 shows an even wider margin: 340 versus 56, which translates to an 83.5% lead. DirectX 12 follows the same pattern, with the RX 7900 XT scoring 110 against 39, a 64.5% advantage. DirectX 9 results show the RX 7900 XT at 322 versus 126, a 60.9% gap.

The 2D and 3D graphics performance tests reinforce the pattern. In Passmark G2D, the RX 7900 XT scores 1,232 against 806, a 34.6% lead. In Passmark G3D, the difference becomes enormous: 29,009 versus 8,978, a 69.1% advantage. Compute performance in Passmark also heavily favors the RX 7900 XT, which scores 16,828 against 4,804, a 71.5% lead.

The average benchmark scores across all recorded tests tell a more nuanced story. The Pro W5500 has an average score of 15,679, while the RX 7900 XT averages 13,745. This discrepancy arises because the Pro W5500’s OpenCL result of 45,615 inflates its average, while the RX 7900 XT’s relatively low OpenCL score drags its average down. Looking at the nearest rival data, the Pro W5500 sits close to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (average score 15,548, a 0.8% difference) and the AMD Radeon R9 M380 (15,521, a 1% difference). The RX 7900 XT, meanwhile, is grouped near the AMD Radeon 660M (13,812, a 0.5% difference) and the NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile (13,821, a 0.5% difference) in average score, though this grouping is heavily influenced by its weak OpenCL showing.

Architecture Differences

The two cards represent starkly different points in AMD’s GPU evolution. The Radeon Pro W5500 is built on the Navi 14 chip using the RDNA 1.0 architecture, fabricated on a 7 nm process at TSMC. It packs 6,400 million transistors into a 158 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 40.5 million per square millimeter. The Radeon RX 7900 XT, by contrast, uses the Navi 31 chip with the RDNA 3.0 architecture, codenamed Plum Bonito. It is built on a 5 nm process, also at TSMC, and contains 57,700 million transistors across a 529 mm² die, achieving a transistor density of 109.1 million per square millimeter. The density difference is enormous, and it reflects the generational leap in manufacturing technology.

The core configurations differ just as dramatically. The Pro W5500 has 1,408 shading units, 88 texture mapping units, and 32 render output units. It has no dedicated ray tracing cores. The RX 7900 XT offers 5,376 shading units, 336 TMUs, and 192 ROPs, along with 84 ray tracing cores. This means the RX 7900 XT has roughly 3.8 times the shading units, 3.8 times the TMUs, and 6 times the ROPs of the Pro W5500.

Memory is another area of clear divergence. The Pro W5500 comes with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 224.0 GB/s. The RX 7900 XT provides 20 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 320-bit bus, with a bandwidth of 800.0 GB/s. That is a 3.6-fold increase in bandwidth and a 2.5-fold increase in capacity. The memory clocks also differ: the Pro W5500 runs at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective), while the RX 7900 XT runs at 2500 MHz (20 Gbps effective).

Clock speeds follow an interesting pattern. The Pro W5500 has a higher base clock at 1744 MHz versus 1387 MHz for the RX 7900 XT. However, the boost clock tells the opposite story: the RX 7900 XT boosts to 2394 MHz, while the Pro W5500 reaches only 1855 MHz. The RX 7900 XT also has a game clock of 2025 MHz, a figure not present for the Pro W5500. The actual throughput figures reflect these differences. The Pro W5500 delivers 59.36 GPixel/s and 163.2 GTexel/s, while the RX 7900 XT achieves 459.6 GPixel/s and 804.4 GTexel/s. Floating-point performance is similarly lopsided: the Pro W5500 offers 5.224 TFLOPS for FP32 and 10.45 TFLOPS for FP16 (2:1 ratio), while the RX 7900 XT provides 51.48 TFLOPS for FP32 and 103.0 TFLOPS for FP16.

The bus interface also differs. The Pro W5500 uses PCIe 4.0 x8, while the RX 7900 XT uses PCIe 4.0 x16, offering double the lane count for data transfer. Display outputs are distinct as well: the Pro W5500 has four DisplayPort 1.4a outputs, while the RX 7900 XT has one HDMI 2.1a, two DisplayPort 2.1, and one USB Type-C output.

FAQ

Q: Which card is faster in the Geekbench OpenCL test?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro W5500. It scores 45,615 versus 12,756 for the RX 7900 XT, a 257.6% advantage.

Q: How large is the gap in DirectX 11 performance?

A: The RX 7900 XT scores 340 in Passmark DirectX 11, while the Pro W5500 scores 56. This represents an 83.5% lead for the RX 7900 XT.

Q: Does the RX 7900 XT support ray tracing?

A: Yes. The RX 7900 XT has 84 ray tracing cores. The Pro W5500 has no dedicated ray tracing cores.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth difference between the two cards?

A: The RX 7900 XT offers 800.0 GB/s of bandwidth, while the Pro W5500 provides 224.0 GB/s, a 3.6-fold difference.

Q: Which card has a higher base clock speed?

A: The Pro W5500 has a base clock of 1744 MHz, which is higher than the RX 7900 XT’s 1387 MHz. However, the RX 7900 XT has a higher boost clock at 2394 MHz.

Q: How do the average benchmark scores compare?

A: The Pro W5500 has an average score of 15,679, while the RX 7900 XT averages 13,745. The Pro W5500’s average is inflated by its exceptional OpenCL result.

Specification Differences

The following specifications differ between the two cards:

• Chip: Navi 14 (Pro W5500) versus Navi 31 (RX 7900 XT)
• Architecture: RDNA 1.0 versus RDNA 3.0
• Codename: None listed versus Plum Bonito
• Generation: Radeon Pro Navi (Navi Series) versus Navi III (RX 7000)
• Process Node: 7 nm versus 5 nm
• Transistors: 6,400 million versus 57,700 million
• Die Size: 158 mm² versus 529 mm²
• Transistor Density: 40.5M per mm² versus 109.1M per mm²
• Base Clock: 1744 MHz versus 1387 MHz
• Boost Clock: 1855 MHz versus 2394 MHz
• Game Clock: None listed versus 2025 MHz
• Memory Clock: 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) versus 2500 MHz (20 Gbps effective)
• Memory Size: 8 GB versus 20 GB
• Memory Bus Width: 128 bit versus 320 bit
• Memory Bandwidth: 224.0 GB/s versus 800.0 GB/s
• Shading Units: 1408 versus 5376
• TMUs: 88 versus 336
• ROPs: 32 versus 192
• Ray Tracing Cores: None versus 84
• Pixel Rate: 59.36 GPixel/s versus 459.6 GPixel/s
• Texture Rate: 163.2 GTexel/s versus 804.4 GTexel/s
• FP32 Performance: 5.224 TFLOPS versus 51.48 TFLOPS
• FP16 Performance: 10.45 TFLOPS versus 103.0 TFLOPS
• TDP: 125 W versus 300 W
• Slot Width: Single-slot versus Dual-slot
• Power Connectors: 1x 6-pin versus 2x 8-pin
• Suggested PSU: 300 W versus 700 W
• Bus Interface: PCIe 4.0 x8 versus PCIe 4.0 x16
• Display Outputs: 4x DisplayPort 1.4a versus 1x HDMI 2.1a, 2x DisplayPort 2.1, 1x USB Type-C
• DirectX Support: 12 (12_1) versus 12 Ultimate (12_2)
• Dimensions: 241 mm length, 111 mm height versus 276 mm length, 110 mm height, 51 mm width
• Release Date: 2020-02-09 versus 2022-11-02
• Predecessor: Radeon Pro Vega versus Navi II
• Successor: None listed versus Navi IV
• Launch MSRP: 399 USD versus 899 USD

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT is the clear winner for modern gaming and general-purpose graphics workloads. Its DirectX 12 Ultimate support, ray tracing cores, and massive rasterization throughput make it the superior choice for contemporary game titles. The recorded data shows it leads by 83.5% in DirectX 11, 64.5% in DirectX 12, and 69.1% in Passmark G3D. Its 20 GB memory capacity and 800.0 GB/s bandwidth provide ample headroom for high-resolution textures and demanding scenes. The 2D performance advantage of 34.6% also indicates better desktop responsiveness and compositing performance. For anyone building a high-end gaming or content creation system, the RX 7900 XT is the obvious pick.

The AMD Radeon Pro W5500 wins in the narrow but critical domain of OpenCL compute. Its 257.6% advantage in the Geekbench OpenCL test is not a trivial outlier. This suggests that for applications that rely heavily on OpenCL execution, such as certain scientific computing tools, legacy engineering software, or compute pipelines that have not migrated to Vulkan or DirectX compute, the Pro W5500 is substantially faster. Its lower power draw of 125 W, single-slot form factor, and 1x 6-pin connector also make it far easier to integrate into dense workstation environments. The Pro W5500’s four DisplayPort 1.4a outputs support multi-display professional setups, and its end-of-life status means it may be available in existing systems at a lower entry point, though pricing is not a factor in this analysis.

The RX 7900 XT also wins in raw compute throughput outside of OpenCL. Its Passmark GPU compute score of 16,828 versus 4,804 represents a 71.5% advantage, and its FP32 performance of 51.48 TFLOPS versus 5.224 TFLOPS is nearly tenfold higher. This makes it the stronger choice for modern compute APIs and anything that can leverage its RDNA 3.0 architecture. The RX 7900 XT’s higher transistor density and newer process node also suggest better efficiency per transistor, though its overall power draw is higher at 300 W.

In summary, the RX 7900 XT wins on nearly every measurable front, with the exception of OpenCL compute, where the Pro W5500 demonstrates a surprising and significant lead. The data indicates that the Pro W5500 should be considered only for very specific legacy compute workloads, while the RX 7900 XT is the superior all-around performer for gaming, modern compute, and high-resolution content creation.