AMD Radeon Pro W5500 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 Comparison

The AMD Radeon Pro W5500 and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 represent two very different eras of GPU design, and the benchmark data reflects a generational chasm. The W5500, built on a modern 7 nm process, fundamentally outclasses the older 40 nm Fermi card in every measurable way, with the sole head-to-head test showing a staggering 198.5% advantage in Geekbench OpenCL performance. The GTX 580 is a historical piece, while the W5500 is a capable modern workstation card, and the numbers below quantify just how far GPU technology has advanced.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct benchmark comparison available between these two cards is the Geekbench OpenCL test, and the results are not close. The AMD Radeon Pro W5500 scores 45615, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 scores 15283. This gives the W5500 a decisive victory with a delta of 198.5%, meaning it is nearly three times faster in this compute-oriented workload. This is a massive margin that speaks to the fundamental architectural improvements in the newer card.

Looking at broader performance context, the W5500's average benchmark score is 15679, which places it in the 58th percentile of all GPUs. Its closest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti, which scores 15548 and is only 0.8% behind, and the AMD Radeon RX 7700, which is 1.1% ahead with a score of 15852. This shows the W5500 sits in a competitive mid-range tier, trading blows with much newer cards. In contrast, the GTX 580's average benchmark score is 15283, which also lands in the 58th percentile, but its nearest rivals are entirely different. It is effectively tied with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (0% delta) and the AMD Radeon 680M (0.1% delta), and it sits just 0.7% behind the AMD Radeon RX 7600. The data suggests that while the GTX 580's raw score is similar to the W5500's average, the W5500's standout OpenCL result is far higher than its average, indicating it excels in specific compute tasks.

In other benchmark categories, the W5500 shows a diverse profile. It scores 54302 in Geekbench Metal, 42021 in Geekbench Vulkan, and 8978 in Passmark G3D. Its Passmark compute score is 4804. The GTX 580 has no corresponding data for these tests, so a direct comparison is impossible. However, the W5500's Passmark DirectX scores are notably low (47 for DX10, 56 for DX11, 39 for DX12), suggesting that its strength lies in compute and modern API workloads rather than legacy DirectX rasterization. The GTX 580's only benchmark is the OpenCL test, which it loses decisively.

FAQ

Q: Which card has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro W5500 has a higher average benchmark score of 15679, compared to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580's 15283. Despite this, both cards sit in the 58th percentile of all GPUs, meaning their overall standing is statistically similar.

Q: How much faster is the W5500 in OpenCL compute?

A: The W5500 is 198.5% faster than the GTX 580 in the Geekbench OpenCL test, scoring 45615 versus 15283. This is the only head-to-head benchmark available and represents a near-threefold performance advantage.

Q: What are the closest rivals to each card?

A: The W5500's nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti, which is only 0.8% behind it in average score. The GTX 580's nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060, which is exactly tied at a 0% delta.

Q: Do both cards support modern graphics APIs?

A: The W5500 supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The GTX 580 supports DirectX 12 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.6, but it has no Vulkan support listed.

Q: What is the memory configuration difference?

A: The W5500 has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus with 224.0 GB/s bandwidth. The GTX 580 has 1536 MB (1.5 GB) of GDDR5 memory on a 384-bit bus with 192.4 GB/s bandwidth. The W5500 has significantly more capacity and higher bandwidth.

Q: Which card has a higher transistor density?

A: The W5500 has a transistor density of 40.5M / mm², while the GTX 580 has a density of 5.8M / mm². This reflects the W5500's much more modern 7 nm manufacturing process.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon Pro W5500 wins in every category where data exists. Its 198.5% lead in OpenCL compute makes it the clear choice for general-purpose GPU computing, machine learning inference, or any workload that leverages OpenCL. Its support for Vulkan 1.4 and DirectX 12 (12_1) means it is also better suited for modern game engines and newer rendering APIs. With 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, it can handle larger textures and datasets than the GTX 580's 1.5 GB frame buffer, making it more practical for contemporary content creation and 3D modeling workloads. The W5500 also has a higher pixel rate (59.36 GPixel/s vs 24.70 GPixel/s) and texture rate (163.2 GTexel/s vs 49.41 GTexel/s), indicating superior fill-rate performance in rasterization tasks.

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 has no benchmark wins. Its only data point is the OpenCL score, where it loses by a wide margin. However, the card's historical significance is notable. Its 384-bit memory bus is wider than the W5500's 128-bit bus, but the lower memory clock (4 Gbps effective vs 14 Gbps effective) results in lower overall bandwidth. The GTX 580 also has more ROPs (48 vs 32), which could theoretically benefit certain legacy rasterization scenarios, but there is no benchmark data to support this. In practical terms, the data shows the GTX 580 is outclassed in every measurable area.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every specification. The W5500 uses a 7 nm process, while the GTX 580 uses a 40 nm process. The W5500 has 6,400 million transistors on a 158 mm² die, while the GTX 580 has 3,000 million transistors on a much larger 520 mm² die. This results in a transistor density of 40.5M / mm² for the W5500 versus 5.8M / mm² for the GTX 580. Clock speeds differ significantly, with the W5500 having a base clock of 1744 MHz and a boost clock of 1855 MHz, while the GTX 580 has no listed base or boost clocks, only a memory clock of 1002 MHz (4 Gbps effective).

Memory configurations are vastly different. The W5500 has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus with 224.0 GB/s bandwidth. The GTX 580 has 1536 MB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus with 192.4 GB/s bandwidth. Compute resources also differ: the W5500 has 1408 shading units, 88 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, while the GTX 580 has 512 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 48 ROPs. The W5500's FP32 performance is 5.224 TFLOPS, and it has FP16 performance of 10.45 TFLOPS (2:1), while the GTX 580's FP32 is only 1.581 TFLOPS with no FP16 support listed.

Power and physical requirements differ as well. The W5500 has a TDP of 125 W, requires a single 6-pin power connector, and a 300 W power supply. The GTX 580 has a TDP of 244 W, requires a 6-pin and an 8-pin power connector, and a 550 W power supply. The W5500 is a single-slot card that is 241 mm long, while the GTX 580 is a dual-slot card that is 267 mm long. Both are 111 mm high. The W5500 uses a PCIe 4.0 x8 interface, while the GTX 580 uses PCIe 2.0 x16. Display outputs also differ: the W5500 has four DisplayPort 1.4a outputs, while the GTX 580 has two DVI and one mini-HDMI 1.3a output.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gulf between these two cards is immense. The W5500 is built on AMD's RDNA 1.0 architecture with the Navi 14 chip, while the GTX 580 uses NVIDIA's Fermi 2.0 architecture with the GF110 chip. The W5500 is part of the Radeon Pro Navi generation, while the GTX 580 belongs to the GeForce 500 series. The W5500's RDNA architecture is designed for efficiency and modern compute workloads, which is reflected in its 7 nm process and high transistor density. The GTX 580's Fermi architecture is an older design from 2010, built on a 40 nm process, and is significantly less efficient.

The W5500 has a much higher shading unit count (1408 vs 512) and a higher texture unit count (88 vs 64). While the GTX 580 has more ROPs (48 vs 32), the W5500's higher clock speeds and newer architecture more than compensate. The W5500 supports FP16 compute at a 2:1 ratio, which is absent on the GTX 580. The W5500 also supports Vulkan 1.4, while the GTX 580 has no Vulkan support listed. Both cards support DirectX 12, but the W5500 supports feature level 12_1, while the GTX 580 only supports 11_0.

The W5500 lacks dedicated RT or tensor cores, as does the GTX 580. However, the W5500's memory subsystem is far more advanced, using GDDR6 with 14 Gbps effective speed versus the GTX 580's GDDR5 at 4 Gbps. The W5500 also uses a PCIe 4.0 interface, which offers double the bandwidth of the GTX 580's PCIe 2.0 interface, though the W5500 only uses x8 lanes. The release dates are also a major factor: the W5500 was released on 2020-02-09, while the GTX 580 was released on 2010-11-08, a gap of nearly a decade.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 is the superior card in every measurable aspect. Its 198.5% lead in OpenCL compute makes it the obvious choice for any compute-heavy workload. Its modern architecture, 8 GB of memory, and support for Vulkan and DirectX 12 (12_1) make it a viable option for current software. The W5500 also consumes less power (125 W vs 244 W TDP), requires a smaller power supply, and takes up only one slot, making it far easier to integrate into a system.

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 is a relic. Its only benchmark score is the OpenCL test, where it is thoroughly beaten. Its 1.5 GB of memory is insufficient for modern workloads, and its lack of Vulkan support limits its compatibility with current applications. The GTX 580's higher ROP count and wider memory bus do not translate into any performance advantage in the available data. For anyone building a system today, the W5500 is the only rational choice based on the benchmark results. The GTX 580 is a piece of computing history, and the data shows it should remain that way.