AMD Radeon Pro W5500X vs AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data shows a stark performance gap between these two AMD offerings, though direct comparison is complicated by the fact that the two cards were tested under different benchmark suites. The Radeon RX 7900 GRE has a comprehensive benchmark record, while the Radeon Pro W5500X has only a single recorded score. The RX 7900 GRE achieves an average benchmark score of 32,456, which places it in the 77th percentile of all GPUs in the database. The Pro W5500X, by contrast, records an average score of 27,973, sitting at the 73rd percentile.

The most meaningful head-to-head comparison comes through the Geekbench suite. The RX 7900 GRE posts a Geekbench OpenCL score of 175,758, while the Pro W5500X has no OpenCL result recorded. However, the Pro W5500X does have a Geekbench Metal score of 27,973, a test that the RX 7900 GRE does not appear in. The RX 7900 GRE also records a Geekbench Vulkan score of 99,850, which has no counterpart in the Pro W5500X data. This means the database contains no overlapping test results, so the performance delta must be inferred from the average scores and percentile positions.

Looking at the nearest rivals for each card provides useful context. The RX 7900 GRE's average score of 32,456 puts it just 0.2% ahead of the AMD FirePro S10000 (32,388) and 0.9% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro 570X (32,176). It trails the AMD FirePro S9300 X2 by 0.3% (32,540) and the AMD Radeon RX 590 GME by 0.4% (32,601). These are extremely tight margins, indicating the RX 7900 GRE sits in a crowded performance band. The Pro W5500X, with its average of 27,973, sits 0.2% behind the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti (28,020) and 0.5% behind the AMD FirePro S7150 (28,117), while leading the AMD Radeon RX 7800M by 0.3% (27,883) and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 by 0.5% (27,839).

The raw score gap between the two cards is substantial. The RX 7900 GRE's average benchmark score is 4,483 points higher than the Pro W5500X's, representing a roughly 16% advantage. In the database's percentile ranking, the RX 7900 GRE sits 4 percentile points higher. The RX 7900 GRE also shows strength in specific DX12 testing, posting a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 4,814. The Pro W5500X has no comparable DX12 result recorded, though its DirectX 12 API support is listed as "12 (12_1)" versus the RX 7900 GRE's "12 Ultimate (12_2)".

Where Each One Wins

The RX 7900 GRE is the clear winner in raw compute and gaming-oriented workloads. Its PassMark G3D score of 27,089 and PassMark GPU Compute score of 15,016 demonstrate substantial throughput. The card also posts strong legacy DirectX results: PassMark DirectX 9 scores 310, DirectX 11 scores 300, and DirectX 10 scores 139. The DirectX 12 PassMark result is 107, which is lower than the older API scores but still represents a functional DX12 implementation. The 2D graphics score of 1,180 rounds out a well-rounded profile.

The Pro W5500X, with only its Geekbench Metal score of 27,973 recorded, wins in the Apple ecosystem context. Metal is the native graphics API for macOS, and this card is explicitly designed for Mac systems, as indicated by its "Radeon Pro Mac (Navi Series)" generation label and its Apple MPX bus interface. The card's two HDMI 2.0b outputs suggest a focus on display connectivity rather than multi-monitor gaming setups. For users in the Mac ecosystem, this Metal score is the relevant metric, and it places the card competitively against the RX 7800M and Pro Vega 20.

For gaming and general Windows-based compute, the RX 7900 GRE dominates. Its FP32 throughput of 45.98 TFLOPS versus the Pro W5500X's 5.398 TFLOPS represents an 8.5x advantage. The texture rate of 718.4 GTexel/s versus 168.7 GTexel/s is a 4.3x gap. Pixel rate of 359.2 GPixel/s versus 56.22 GPixel/s is a 6.4x difference. These are not marginal improvements; they represent entirely different performance classes. The RX 7900 GRE also has ray tracing hardware with 80 RT cores, a feature the Pro W5500X lacks entirely.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from different generations of AMD's RDNA architecture. The RX 7900 GRE uses RDNA 3.0, built on a 5 nm process at TSMC, with the Navi 31 chip and the codename "Plum Bonito." The Pro W5500X uses RDNA 1.0, built on a 7 nm process, also at TSMC, with the Navi 14 chip and no codename listed. This process node difference is significant: 5 nm versus 7 nm allows for substantially higher transistor density.

The transistor counts tell the story of scale. The RX 7900 GRE packs 57,700 million transistors on a 529 mm² die, yielding a density of 109.1 million transistors per square millimeter. The Pro W5500X has 6,400 million transistors on a 158 mm² die, for a density of 40.5 million per square millimeter. The RX 7900 GRE has 9x the transistor count on 3.3x the die area, with 2.7x the density. This is the fundamental architectural gap between a flagship-tier chip and a mid-range chip from an older generation.

The compute resources differ correspondingly. The RX 7900 GRE has 5,120 shading units, 320 texture mapping units, 160 render output units, and 80 ray tracing cores. The Pro W5500X has 1,536 shading units, 96 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, with no ray tracing cores listed. The RX 7900 GRE supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), which includes features like mesh shaders and variable rate shading, while the Pro W5500X is limited to DirectX 12 (12_1). Both cards support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4, so those API levels match.

The memory architecture also diverges. The RX 7900 GRE uses a 256-bit memory bus with 16 GB of GDDR6 memory, delivering 576.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The Pro W5500X uses a 128-bit bus with 8 GB of GDDR6, delivering 224.0 GB/s. The RX 7900 GRE's memory clock is listed at 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective), while the Pro W5500X runs at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). The RX 7900 GRE has 2x the memory capacity, 2x the bus width, and 2.6x the bandwidth.

Specification Differences

The most direct specification comparison comes from the core clock speeds. The RX 7900 GRE has a base clock of 1287 MHz and a boost clock of 2245 MHz, with a game clock of 1880 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 7900 GRE runs 100 MHz higher at base and 488 MHz higher at boost.

Power requirements differ substantially. The RX 7900 GRE has a TDP of 260 W and a suggested PSU of 600 W, requiring 2x 8-pin power connectors. The Pro W5500X has a TDP of 125 W and a suggested PSU of 300 W, with no power connectors listed, suggesting it draws power directly from the Apple MPX bus interface. The RX 7900 GRE consumes 2.1x the power of the Pro W5500X, which is proportional to its much higher compute throughput.

Display outputs also differ. The RX 7900 GRE offers 1x HDMI 2.1a, 2x DisplayPort 2.1, and 1x USB Type-C. The Pro W5500X offers 2x HDMI 2.0b. The RX 7900 GRE supports newer display standards and more connectivity options, while the Pro W5500X is limited to older HDMI 2.0b outputs. The bus interface differs as well: the RX 7900 GRE uses PCIe 4.0 x16, while the Pro W5500X uses Apple MPX, a proprietary Apple interface.

The RX 7900 GRE has physical dimensions of 276 mm length, 110 mm height, and 51 mm width. The Pro W5500X has no dimensions recorded in the database. Both cards are dual-slot designs. The RX 7900 GRE is still in active production, released on 2023-07-26, while the Pro W5500X is end-of-life, released on 2019-12-10. The RX 7900 GRE has a predecessor in Navi II and a successor in Navi IV, while the Pro W5500X has neither listed.

FAQ

Q: Which card has better raw compute performance?

A: The Radeon RX 7900 GRE is overwhelmingly faster in raw compute. Its FP32 throughput is 45.98 TFLOPS versus 5.398 TFLOPS for the Pro W5500X, an 8.5x advantage. Its average benchmark score of 32,456 versus 27,973 reflects this gap, and it sits at the 77th percentile of all GPUs versus the 73rd percentile for the Pro W5500X.

Q: Why does the Radeon Pro W5500X have only one benchmark score?

A: The database records a single Geekbench Metal score of 27,973 for the Pro W5500X. This is because the card is designed for Apple Mac systems with an Apple MPX bus interface, and Metal is the native graphics API for macOS. The RX 7900 GRE, by contrast, has ten recorded benchmark scores across 3DMark, Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan, and PassMark tests.

Q: Does the Radeon Pro W5500X support ray tracing?

A: No. The Pro W5500X has no ray tracing cores listed in its specifications. The RX 7900 GRE has 80 dedicated ray tracing cores, making it the only one of the two capable of hardware-accelerated ray tracing.

Q: How do the memory subsystems compare?

A: The RX 7900 GRE has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus with 576.0 GB/s bandwidth. The Pro W5500X has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus with 224.0 GB/s bandwidth. The RX 7900 GRE has 2x the capacity and 2.6x the bandwidth.

Q: Which card is more power-efficient?

A: The Pro W5500X has a lower TDP at 125 W versus 260 W for the RX 7900 GRE, and requires a 300 W PSU versus 600 W. However, the RX 7900 GRE delivers 8.5x the FP32 throughput, so its performance per watt is much higher despite the higher absolute power draw.

Q: What are the production statuses of these cards?

A: The RX 7900 GRE is listed as Active in production, having been released on 2023-07-26. The Pro W5500X is listed as End-of-life, with a release date of 2019-12-10. The RX 7900 GRE has a successor in Navi IV, while the Pro W5500X has no successor listed.