AMD Radeon Pro W5500 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark data splits these two GPUs into clearly different roles. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile wins 8 of the 9 head-to-head tests, and the margin is often decisive. Its biggest advantages appear in compute-oriented and DirectX workloads. In Geekbench Vulkan, the RTX 3060 Mobile scores 80,344 against 42,021 for the AMD Radeon Pro W5500, a 91.2% lead. The OpenCL gap is nearly as large: 79,483 versus 45,615, a 74.2% difference. These are not small edges; they indicate a fundamentally stronger execution engine for modern graphics APIs and general-purpose GPU compute.

The RTX 3060 Mobile also dominates the older DirectX tests. In Passmark DirectX 11, it scores 110 versus 56, a 96.4% advantage. DirectX 10 shows 90 versus 47, a 91.5% lead. Even DirectX 12, where the gap is the smallest among the DirectX suite, still favors NVIDIA by 48.7% (58 versus 39). The overall 3D performance marker, Passmark G3D, puts the RTX 3060 Mobile at 13,230 versus 8,978, a 47.4% win. Compute throughput in Passmark GPU Compute also goes to NVIDIA, 5,718 versus 4,804, a 19% edge.

The AMD Radeon Pro W5500 has exactly one victory: Passmark G2D, which measures 2D desktop and windowing performance. It scores 806 versus 588, a 27% lead for AMD. That is a meaningful result for professional workstation use where multiple high-resolution displays and 2D UI rendering matter, but it is the only category where AMD turns the tables. The Radeon Pro W5500 also has an additional benchmark not present on the NVIDIA side: Geekbench Metal, where it scores 54,302. That is not a head-to-head comparison, but it shows the card has a dedicated path for Apple's Metal API, something the RTX 3060 Mobile lacks entirely in the recorded data.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from different design philosophies and process nodes. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile uses the GA106 chip on Samsung's 8 nm process, with 12,000 million transistors packed into a 276 mm² die. That gives a transistor density of 43.5M per mm². The AMD Radeon Pro W5500 uses the Navi 14 chip on TSMC's 7 nm process, with 6,400 million transistors on a 158 mm² die, for a density of 40.5M per mm². AMD's chip is smaller and denser per transistor, but NVIDIA packs nearly twice the transistor count.

The architectural split is stark. The RTX 3060 Mobile is built on Ampere, NVIDIA's second-generation ray tracing architecture. It includes 30 dedicated RT cores and 120 tensor cores, which the AMD card completely lacks. The Radeon Pro W5500 is RDNA 1.0, a first-generation RDNA design with no RT cores and no tensor cores. This explains the compute benchmark disparity: the RTX 3060 Mobile has 3,840 shading units, 120 TMUs, and 48 ROPs. The W5500 has 1,408 shading units, 88 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. NVIDIA has more than double the shader count, and the tensor cores add further throughput for AI workloads.

Clock speeds tell a different story. The AMD card runs at a base clock of 1,744 MHz and boosts to 1,855 MHz. The NVIDIA card has a base of 900 MHz and a boost of 1,425 MHz. AMD's higher clocks help close the per-clock gap, but the raw shader count advantage for NVIDIA is too large to overcome. The FP32 output is 10.94 TFLOPS for NVIDIA versus 5.224 TFLOPS for AMD. For FP16, NVIDIA delivers 10.94 TFLOPS at a 1:1 ratio, while AMD offers 10.45 TFLOPS at a 2:1 ratio. The RTX 3060 Mobile leads in both precision formats.

Memory configurations also differ. The RTX 3060 Mobile has 6 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, yielding 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The W5500 has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, yielding 224.0 GB/s. NVIDIA has 50% more bandwidth, while AMD has 2 GB more capacity. The AMD card also uses a PCIe 4.0 x8 interface, half the lanes of NVIDIA's PCIe 4.0 x16. Both support DirectX 12, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, but NVIDIA is rated for DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while AMD is rated for DirectX 12 (12_1). That means no DirectX 12 Ultimate feature set on the Radeon Pro W5500.

The Verdict

For gaming and general 3D acceleration, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile is the clear choice. The data shows it wins every 3D benchmark by a wide margin, from 15.9% in Passmark DirectX 9 to 96.4% in Passmark DirectX 11. Its RT cores and tensor cores make it future-proof for ray-traced games and DLSS-style workloads, neither of which the AMD card can handle. The 47.4% lead in Passmark G3D alone is enough to settle any gaming argument.

For professional workstation use with a focus on 2D desktop performance, the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 has a niche. Its 27% lead in Passmark G2D indicates better raw 2D throughput, and its 8 GB memory capacity is larger than NVIDIA's 6 GB. The AMD card also has four DisplayPort 1.4a outputs, while the NVIDIA card's display outputs are listed as portable device dependent, meaning they vary by laptop implementation. The W5500 is a single-slot card with a 6-pin power connector and a 300 W suggested PSU, making it a straightforward drop into a workstation chassis. The RTX 3060 Mobile, with its 80 W TDP and no power connectors, is designed for laptops and cannot be installed in a desktop.

The RTX 3060 Mobile sits at the 62nd percentile of all GPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 18,159. The Radeon Pro W5500 sits at the 58th percentile, with an average score of 15,679. That is a 15.8% gap in aggregate performance. The RTX 3060 Mobile's nearest rival is the AMD Radeon Pro 5700, which scores 18,189, just 0.2% higher. The W5500's nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti, which scores 15,548, 0.8% lower. In short, the RTX 3060 Mobile competes with much stronger desktop cards, while the W5500 sits near older high-end hardware.

If you need raw compute, ray tracing, or high frame rates in modern games, the RTX 3060 Mobile is the only rational pick. If you need a low-profile, single-slot workstation card with high 2D throughput and more VRAM for large framebuffers, the W5500 has a reason to exist. The data does not support any other conclusion.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in overall 3D performance?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile wins Passmark G3D with a score of 13,230 versus 8,978 for the AMD Radeon Pro W5500, a 47.4% advantage.

Q: Does the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 win any benchmark?

A: Yes, it wins Passmark G2D with 806 versus 588, a 27% lead. This is a 2D desktop performance test.

Q: Does the RTX 3060 Mobile support ray tracing?

A: Yes, it has 30 RT cores and 120 tensor cores. The AMD Radeon Pro W5500 has no RT cores and no tensor cores.

Q: Which card has more memory bandwidth?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile, with 336.0 GB/s over a 192-bit bus. The AMD Radeon Pro W5500 has 224.0 GB/s over a 128-bit bus.

Q: What is the difference in FP32 compute?

A: The RTX 3060 Mobile delivers 10.94 TFLOPS, while the Radeon Pro W5500 delivers 5.224 TFLOPS.

Q: Which card has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The RTX 3060 Mobile averages 18,159 across its recorded tests, placing it at the 62nd percentile. The W5500 averages 15,679, at the 58th percentile.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The largest win for the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile comes in Passmark DirectX 11, where it scores 110 against 56, a 96.4% delta. This is a legacy API test, but the margin shows how much raw shader throughput the Ampere chip brings. The Vulkan test is nearly as decisive: 80,344 versus 42,021, a 91.2% lead. Vulkan is a modern low-level API, so this result is more relevant to current games. The OpenCL test, which measures GPU compute for non-graphics tasks, gives NVIDIA a 74.2% win (79,483 versus 45,615). For any machine learning or physics simulation workload, the RTX 3060 Mobile is in a different class.

Passmark DirectX 10 shows a 91.5% lead (90 versus 47), and DirectX 12 shows a 48.7% lead (58 versus 39). The smaller DirectX 12 gap is still significant, but it suggests the AMD card is relatively less disadvantaged in the newest Microsoft API. Passmark G3D, the overall 3D marker, gives NVIDIA a 47.4% win (13,230 versus 8,978). Passmark GPU Compute gives NVIDIA a 19% win (5,718 versus 4,804). Passmark DirectX 9 is the closest 3D test, with NVIDIA ahead by 15.9% (146 versus 126).

The single AMD win is Passmark G2D: 806 versus 588, a 27% lead. This is a 2D test, and it is the only category where the W5500's higher clock speed and RDNA 1.0 architecture translate into a victory. The Radeon Pro W5500 also has a Geekbench Metal score of 54,302, but there is no equivalent NVIDIA Metal score in the database, so no direct comparison is possible.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every measurable specification. The RTX 3060 Mobile uses an 8 nm Samsung process, while the W5500 uses a 7 nm TSMC process. The NVIDIA chip has 12,000 million transistors on a 276 mm² die, versus 6,400 million on a 158 mm² die for AMD. Transistor density is 43.5M per mm² for NVIDIA and 40.5M per mm² for AMD. The NVIDIA chip is both larger and denser.

The RTX 3060 Mobile has a base clock of 900 MHz and a boost of 1,425 MHz. The W5500 has a base of 1,744 MHz and a boost of 1,855 MHz. AMD runs much faster per clock, but NVIDIA compensates with more hardware. Shading units are 3,840 versus 1,408, TMUs are 120 versus 88, and ROPs are 48 versus 32. The RTX 3060 Mobile has 30 RT cores and 120 tensor cores; the W5500 has neither.

Memory capacity is 6 GB for NVIDIA and 8 GB for AMD, both GDDR6. Bus width is 192-bit versus 128-bit, giving bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s versus 224.0 GB/s. Pixel rate is 68.40 GPixel/s for NVIDIA versus 59.36 GPixel/s for AMD. Texture rate is 171.0 GTexel/s versus 163.2 GTexel/s. FP32 is 10.94 TFLOPS versus 5.224 TFLOPS. FP16 is 10.94 TFLOPS (1:1) versus 10.45 TFLOPS (2:1).

Power and physical specs diverge sharply. The RTX 3060 Mobile draws 80 W and has no power connectors, reflecting its laptop design. The W5500 draws 125 W, is single-slot, requires a 6-pin power connector, and has a 300 W suggested PSU. The NVIDIA card uses PCIe 4.0 x16; the AMD card uses PCIe 4.0 x8. Display outputs are portable device dependent for NVIDIA, while AMD provides 4x DisplayPort 1.4a. The AMD card is 241 mm long and 111 mm high. The NVIDIA card has no listed dimensions.

API support is close but not identical. Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4. NVIDIA supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while AMD supports DirectX 12 (12_1). The RTX 3060 Mobile was released on 2021-01-11, the W5500 on 2020-02-09. Both are end-of-life. The W5500 has a launch MSRP of 399 USD. The RTX 3060 Mobile has no recorded launch MSRP.