AMD Radeon Pro W5500 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Comparison

AMD Radeon Pro W5500 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is a lopsided contest in raw compute, but the data reveals a more nuanced picture for professional workloads. The RTX 2060 wins 8 of 9 head-to-head benchmarks, with an average benchmark score of 15290 against the W5500's 15679, yet the AMD card holds a narrow advantage in overall average score due to its dominant 2D performance and a favorable position among its nearest rivals. Benchmark results show the RTX 2060 as the clear performance leader in nearly every 3D and compute test, while the W5500 counters with a single but significant win in 2D throughput, making the choice dependent on whether the workload is graphics-heavy or compute-bound.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The RTX 2060’s largest victory comes in Geekbench Vulkan, where it scores 65846 against the W5500’s 42021, a decisive 36.2% delta. This gap underscores the NVIDIA card’s architectural advantage in modern API workloads, a trend repeated across DirectX tests. In Passmark DirectX 10, the RTX 2060 scores 98 versus 47, a 52% lead—the single biggest percentage difference in the entire comparison. DirectX 11 shows a similar story: 110 versus 56, a 49.1% margin. These are not marginal wins; they represent a doubling of performance in legacy and current-generation rasterization paths.

The Geekbench OpenCL result tells a slightly different story, with the RTX 2060 scoring 65014 against 45615, a 29.8% advantage. This is the smallest percentage gap among the compute-focused tests, but still a substantial margin. Passmark GPU Compute shows the closest compute race: 5488 versus 4804, a 12.5% delta, indicating that while the NVIDIA card is faster, the AMD card is not embarrassingly behind in raw compute throughput. The DirectX 12 test narrows further to 53 versus 39, a 26.4% gap, which is notable given that both cards support DirectX 12, but the RTX 2060’s 12 Ultimate (12_2) feature level provides an edge.

The W5500’s only win is in Passmark G2D, scoring 806 against the RTX 2060’s 745, an 8.2% advantage. This is a meaningful result for professional users who spend significant time in 2D applications, but it does little to offset the 36.4% deficit in Passmark G3D (14111 versus 8978). The overall pattern is clear: the RTX 2060 dominates in every 3D and compute benchmark, while the W5500’s single win is an outlier rather than a trend. The RTX 2060 also holds the edge in DirectX 9 (190 versus 126, 33.7% delta), showing that its superiority extends across API generations.

Architecture Differences

The two cards are built on fundamentally different architectures. The W5500 uses RDNA 1.0 on a 7 nm TSMC process, with Navi 14 chip containing 6,400 million transistors on a 158 mm² die. The RTX 2060 uses Turing on a 12 nm TSMC process, with the TU106 chip packing 10,800 million transistors on a much larger 445 mm² die. The transistor density tells the story of process efficiency: the W5500 achieves 40.5M transistors per mm² versus the RTX 2060’s 24.3M, meaning AMD’s newer process allows for significantly more transistors in a smaller area.

Core counts differ substantially. The W5500 has 1408 shading units, 88 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs, while the RTX 2060 boasts 1920 shading units, 120 TMUs, and 48 ROPs. This 36% advantage in shading units directly translates to the RTX 2060’s higher pixel rate of 80.64 GPixel/s versus 59.36 GPixel/s, and texture rate of 201.6 GTexel/s versus 163.2 GTexel/s. The RTX 2060 also features 30 dedicated ray tracing cores and 240 tensor cores, which the W5500 completely lacks—a critical difference for any workload involving ray-traced rendering or AI-accelerated tasks.

Memory configurations also diverge. The W5500 offers 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, delivering 224.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the RTX 2060 has 6 GB on a 192-bit bus, achieving 336.0 GB/s. The RTX 2060’s higher bandwidth is offset by less capacity, but for compute-heavy tasks, bandwidth often matters more than capacity. Both run at 1750 MHz memory clock with 14 Gbps effective speed. The FP32 performance shows the RTX 2060 ahead at 6.451 TFLOPS versus 5.224 TFLOPS, with FP16 at 12.90 TFLOPS versus 10.45 TFLOPS, both using a 2:1 ratio.

Power and physical design differ as well. The W5500 is a single-slot card with a 125 W TDP and a single 6-pin connector, while the RTX 2060 is dual-slot with a 160 W TDP and an 8-pin connector. The W5500 also supports PCIe 4.0 x8, while the RTX 2060 uses PCIe 3.0 x16. Display outputs favor the W5500 with 4x DisplayPort 1.4a, while the RTX 2060 offers a mix of 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0, 2x DisplayPort 1.4a, and 1x USB Type-C. The W5500’s launch MSRP is 399 USD, while the RTX 2060 launched at 349 USD.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is the faster card in nearly every measurable way. With 8 wins out of 9 head-to-head benchmarks, including a 36.4% lead in Passmark G3D and a 36.2% lead in Geekbench Vulkan, the RTX 2060 is the clear choice for 3D rendering, gaming, and compute workloads. The W5500’s sole win in Passmark G2D (8.2% ahead) is real but narrow, and it cannot compensate for the RTX 2060’s dominance elsewhere. The RTX 2060 also holds advantages in raw specifications: more shading units, higher pixel and texture rates, greater FP32 throughput, and dedicated ray tracing and tensor cores.

However, the W5500 is not without merit. Its average benchmark score of 15679 is actually higher than the RTX 2060’s 15290, driven by its strong G2D performance and a percentile rank of 58 for both cards. The W5500’s nearest rivals include the GTX 1080 Ti (0.8% delta) and RX 7700 (-1.1% delta), while the RTX 2060’s rivals include the GTX 580 (0% delta) and RX 7600 (0.8% delta). This suggests that in aggregate, the W5500 sits in a slightly higher performance tier than the RTX 2060, despite losing most individual tests—a paradox explained by the W5500’s exceptional 2D throughput.

For professional users prioritizing 2D applications, multi-display setups (4x DisplayPort), or lower power consumption (125 W versus 160 W), the W5500 offers specific advantages. For anyone needing maximum 3D performance, compute throughput, or ray tracing capability, the RTX 2060 is the definitive winner. The choice ultimately depends on whether the workload is dominated by 3D rendering (RTX 2060) or 2D productivity (W5500). The 12.5% gap in Passmark GPU Compute is the smallest difference, suggesting that for pure compute tasks, the two cards are closer than the overall benchmark spread implies.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon Pro W5500 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 |

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

| Architecture | RDNA 1.0 | Turing |

| Process Node | 7 nm | 12 nm |

| Transistors | 6,400 million | 10,800 million |

| Die Size | 158 mm² | 445 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 40.5M / mm² | 24.3M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1744 MHz | 1365 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1855 MHz | 1680 MHz |

| Memory Size | 8 GB | 6 GB |

| Memory Bus Width | 128 bit | 192 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 224.0 GB/s | 336.0 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 1408 | 1920 |

| TMUs | 88 | 120 |

| ROPs | 32 | 48 |

| RT Cores | None | 30 |

| Tensor Cores | None | 240 |

| Pixel Rate | 59.36 GPixel/s | 80.64 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 163.2 GTexel/s | 201.6 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 5.224 TFLOPS | 6.451 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 10.45 TFLOPS (2:1) | 12.90 TFLOPS (2:1) |

| TDP | 125 W | 160 W |

| Slot Width | Single-slot | Dual-slot |

| Power Connectors | 1x 6-pin | 1x 8-pin |

| Suggested PSU | 300 W | 450 W |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 4.0 x8 | PCIe 3.0 x16 |

| Display Outputs | 4x DisplayPort 1.4a | 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0, 2x DisplayPort 1.4a, 1x USB Type-C |

| DirectX Support | 12 (12_1) | 12 Ultimate (12_2) |

FAQ

Q: Which card wins in DirectX 11 performance?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 wins decisively, scoring 110 in Passmark DirectX 11 versus the AMD Radeon Pro W5500’s 56, a 49.1% advantage.

Q: Does the AMD card have any benchmark win at all?

A: Yes, the W5500 wins Passmark G2D with a score of 806 against the RTX 2060’s 745, an 8.2% margin. This is its only head-to-head victory.

Q: How do the cards compare in compute performance?

A: The RTX 2060 leads in Passmark GPU Compute with 5488 versus 4804, a 12.5% delta, and in Geekbench OpenCL with 65014 versus 45615, a 29.8% delta. The compute gap is smaller than the 3D gap.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth difference?

A: The RTX 2060 offers 336.0 GB/s bandwidth on a 192-bit bus, while the W5500 provides 224.0 GB/s on a 128-bit bus. The RTX 2060 has 50% more bandwidth but 2 GB less memory capacity.

Q: Which card supports ray tracing?

A: Only the RTX 2060, with 30 dedicated ray tracing cores. The W5500 has no ray tracing cores, making the NVIDIA card the only option for ray-traced workloads.

Q: How do the average benchmark scores compare?

A: The W5500 has a higher average benchmark score of 15679 versus the RTX 2060’s 15290, despite losing 8 of 9 head-to-head tests. Both cards sit at the 58th percentile of all GPUs.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is the clear winner for any 3D-intensive workload. Its 36.4% lead in Passmark G3D (14111 versus 8978) and 36.2% lead in Geekbench Vulkan (65846 versus 42021) make it the superior choice for gaming, 3D rendering, and any application that stresses the graphics pipeline. The RTX 2060 also wins all DirectX tests—9, 10, 11, and 12—with deltas ranging from 26.4% to 52%, indicating consistent superiority across API generations. Its 30 ray tracing cores and 240 tensor cores add capabilities the W5500 simply cannot match, making it the only option for ray-traced effects or AI-accelerated features.

The AMD Radeon Pro W5500 wins in exactly one scenario: 2D desktop throughput. Its Passmark G2D score of 806 exceeds the RTX 2060’s 745 by 8.2%, and its 4x DisplayPort 1.4a outputs support more simultaneous displays than the RTX 2060’s mixed output set. The W5500 also offers advantages in power efficiency, with a 125 W TDP versus 160 W, a single-slot design versus dual-slot, and PCIe 4.0 x8 support versus PCIe 3.0 x16. Its 8 GB memory capacity exceeds the RTX 2060’s 6 GB, which could matter for memory-bound workloads despite the lower bandwidth. For professional users running 2D applications, multi-monitor setups, or prioritizing a compact, low-power card, the W5500 is the better fit. For anyone else, the RTX 2060 is the obvious choice based on benchmark data.