AMD Radeon Pro W5500X vs AMD Radeon RX 6800S Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database contains one directly comparable benchmark between these two cards: Geekbench Metal. The AMD Radeon RX 6800S scores 85,256, while the AMD Radeon Pro W5500X scores 27,973. That is a massive 67.2% advantage for the RX 6800S in this test. In raw terms, the mobile chip more than triples the desktop workstation card's score.

Looking at the broader picture, the RX 6800S also has additional benchmark results recorded in the database that the Pro W5500X lacks entirely. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RX 6800S scores 73,202. In Geekbench Vulkan, it reaches 81,272. Its Passmark G3D score is 15,908, with a Passmark GPU Compute score of 6,144. For legacy DirectX workloads, the RX 6800S posts Passmark scores of 200 in DirectX 9, 139 in DirectX 11, 91 in DirectX 10, and 65 in DirectX 12. The Pro W5500X has no recorded data for any of these tests, so the only head-to-head comparison comes from the Metal benchmark.

The average benchmark score across all recorded tests also favors the RX 6800S. Its average is 24,063, while the Pro W5500X averages 27,973 (based on its single Metal result). However, that average for the RX 6800S is pulled down by the very low Passmark DirectX scores. The average alone is misleading here: the RX 6800S wins the only directly comparable test by a wide margin.

The percentile rankings place the Pro W5500X in the 73rd percentile among all GPUs, while the RX 6800S sits in the 69th percentile. This seems counterintuitive given the Metal result, but it reflects the different test suites each card was evaluated with. The Pro W5500X's single Metal score places it in a strong position relative to the wider GPU landscape, whereas the RX 6800S's mixed bag of results, including some very low Passmark scores, pulls its overall percentile down.

The RX 6800S's nearest rivals in the database include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER (average score 24,170, a 0.4% difference), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti (24,236, a 0.7% difference), and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1630 (24,277, a 0.9% difference). Its average score is also 0.8% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 9070 (23,877). The Pro W5500X, by contrast, sits within 0.5% of the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 (27,839), within 0.3% of the AMD Radeon RX 7800M (27,883), and within 0.2% of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti (28,020). These rival comparisons reinforce the performance gap: the Pro W5500X trades blows with mid-range desktop cards from the GTX 980 Ti era, while the RX 6800S lands near much newer and faster hardware.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon RX 6800S wins decisively in the single directly comparable workload, Geekbench Metal, by 67.2%. That is the only head-to-head benchmark recorded, so any other comparison must be inferred from the available data. The RX 6800S also demonstrates strength across a wide range of APIs in its own benchmark set: it posts strong scores in Metal, OpenCL (73,202), and Vulkan (81,272), suggesting broad compute and graphics capability. Its Passmark G3D score of 15,908 indicates solid general 3D performance, and its GPU Compute score of 6,144 shows it can handle compute tasks.

The AMD Radeon Pro W5500X wins in the category of consistency, but only because it has a single recorded benchmark. Its Metal score of 27,973 places it at the 73rd percentile, higher than the RX 6800S's 69th percentile. That means, relative to all GPUs in the database, the Pro W5500X's measured performance is better positioned than the RX 6800S's average across all its tests. However, this is a function of test selection rather than raw capability. The Pro W5500X also has a higher average benchmark score (27,973) than the RX 6800S (24,063), but again, this reflects how few tests were run on the Pro card.

For use cases, the RX 6800S is the clear choice for anyone running Metal, OpenCL, or Vulkan workloads. Its Metal score alone is more than triple the Pro W5500X's. The Pro W5500X is better suited to scenarios where the specific workload matches its single recorded strength, namely Metal at a level comparable to the GTX 980 Ti or RX 7800M. But the data does not show any workload where the Pro W5500X beats the RX 6800S directly.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different RDNA generations. The AMD Radeon Pro W5500X uses RDNA 1.0 architecture on the Navi 14 chip. The AMD Radeon RX 6800S uses RDNA 2.0 architecture on the Navi 23 chip. Both are built on TSMC's 7 nm process, but the transistor counts differ significantly. The Navi 14 chip packs 6,400 million transistors on a 158 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 40.5 million per mm². The Navi 23 chip contains 11,060 million transistors on a 237 mm² die, for a density of 46.7 million per mm². The RX 6800S's chip is both larger and denser.

The architectural leap from RDNA 1.0 to RDNA 2.0 brings hardware ray tracing. The RX 6800S includes 32 ray tracing cores, while the Pro W5500X has none recorded. This is a major feature difference. The RX 6800S also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the Pro W5500X only supports DirectX 12 (12_1). Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4.

The RX 6800S has more execution resources across the board: 2,048 shading units versus 1,536, 128 texture mapping units versus 96, and 64 render output units versus 32. These resource counts directly explain the performance gap. The RX 6800S also has a higher transistor density, meaning it packs more logic into each square millimeter.

The RX 6800S is part of the Radeon RX 6000 series, while the Pro W5500X is a Radeon Pro Mac product from the Navi Series. The RX 6800S is a mobile part (Navi Mobile, RX 6000M generation), whereas the Pro W5500X is a desktop workstation card. The RX 6800S has a predecessor listed as Polaris Mobile. The Pro W5500X has no predecessor or successor recorded.

Specification Differences

The most striking difference is in clock speeds. The RX 6800S has a base clock of 1800 MHz and a boost clock of 2100 MHz, with a game clock of 1975 MHz. The Pro W5500X has a base clock of 1187 MHz and a boost clock of 1757 MHz, with no game clock listed. The RX 6800S runs much faster at every point.

Memory configurations are similar but not identical. Both cards have 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus. However, the RX 6800S runs its memory at 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective), yielding a bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s. The Pro W5500X runs its memory at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective), for a bandwidth of 224.0 GB/s. The RX 6800S has 14.3% more memory bandwidth.

Pixel and texture rates follow the same pattern. The RX 6800S delivers 134.4 GPixel/s and 268.8 GTexel/s, while the Pro W5500X delivers 56.22 GPixel/s and 168.7 GTexel/s. Compute performance shows a similarly large gap: the RX 6800S reaches 8.602 TFLOPS FP32 and 17.20 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1), whereas the Pro W5500X reaches 5.398 TFLOPS FP32 and 10.80 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1).

Power figures differ in an important way. The Pro W5500X has a TDP of 125 W and a suggested PSU of 300 W. The RX 6800S has a TDP of 100 W and no suggested PSU listed, which makes sense for a portable device. The RX 6800S is an IGP (integrated graphics processor) form factor with no power connectors, while the Pro W5500X is dual-slot with no power connector details listed.

The bus interface differs: the Pro W5500X uses Apple MPX, while the RX 6800S uses PCIe 4.0 x8. Display outputs also differ: the Pro W5500X has 2x HDMI 2.0b, while the RX 6800S is described as "Portable Device Dependent," meaning its outputs depend on the host device.

Release dates and pricing diverge as well. The Pro W5500X launched on 2019-12-10 with a launch MSRP of 599 USD. The RX 6800S launched on 2022-01-03 with no launch MSRP recorded. Both are end-of-life products.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in Metal benchmarks?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6800S scores 85,256 in Geekbench Metal, which is 67.2% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro W5500X's score of 27,973.

Q: Does the RX 6800S support ray tracing?

A: Yes, the RX 6800S has 32 ray tracing cores. The Pro W5500X has no ray tracing cores recorded.

Q: Which card has more memory bandwidth?

A: The RX 6800S has 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth, while the Pro W5500X has 224.0 GB/s. Both use 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus.

Q: Why does the Pro W5500X have a higher percentile ranking than the RX 6800S?

A: The Pro W5500X sits in the 73rd percentile of all GPUs, while the RX 6800S sits in the 69th. This reflects the different benchmark suites: the Pro W5500X only has a strong Metal score, while the RX 6800S includes several low Passmark DirectX scores that lower its average.

Q: What is the TDP of each card?

A: The Pro W5500X has a TDP of 125 W, while the RX 6800S has a TDP of 100 W.

Q: Can the Pro W5500X handle DirectX 12 Ultimate?

A: No, the Pro W5500X supports DirectX 12 (12_1), while the RX 6800S supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2).

The Verdict

The data points in one direction: the AMD Radeon RX 6800S is the faster card by a wide margin. In the only directly comparable benchmark, Geekbench Metal, it beats the Pro W5500X by 67.2%. It also has superior specifications across the board: higher clocks, more shading units, more TMUs, more ROPs, more memory bandwidth, higher pixel and texture rates, and nearly 60% more FP32 compute (8.602 TFLOPS versus 5.398 TFLOPS). It adds hardware ray tracing and supports DirectX 12 Ultimate. All of this comes at a lower TDP (100 W versus 125 W).

Who should pick the Pro W5500X? Someone who specifically needs a dual-slot Apple MPX workstation card with 2x HDMI 2.0b outputs and does not need ray tracing or the latest DirectX feature level. Its 73rd percentile ranking is respectable, and its Metal score is competitive with cards like the GTX 980 Ti and RX 7800M. But the data shows no scenario where it beats the RX 6800S in a head-to-head test.

Who should pick the RX 6800S? Anyone running Metal, OpenCL, or Vulkan workloads who wants the highest performance per watt. Its benchmark scores are dramatically higher, its architecture is newer, and its feature set is more complete. The only caveat is its portable device dependent display outputs, which means it is not a drop-in desktop card. For a laptop or integrated system, it is clearly the stronger choice. The verdict is unambiguous from the recorded measurements: the RX 6800S wins on performance, features, and efficiency.