AMD Radeon Pro W5500X vs AMD Radeon RX 9070 Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon Pro W5500X and the AMD Radeon RX 9070 occupy entirely different corners of the GPU landscape, and the recorded data makes that split obvious. The W5500X is a professional workstation part from 2019, built for Apple MPX systems, with a single Geekbench Metal score of 27,973. The RX 9070 is a current-generation consumer gaming card, and its benchmark suite spans DirectX, OpenCL, Vulkan, and compute workloads.

Looking at the win column, the RX 9070 dominates in raw compute and modern API performance. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 131,539 is nearly five times the W5500X's single Metal result, and its Geekbench Vulkan score of 58,705 shows a similar gap. The RX 9070 also posts a Passmark G3D score of 25,381, which is a comprehensive 3D rendering aggregate, while the W5500X has no comparable DirectX test in the database. The RX 9070 wins every category where both have data, but that is not the full story.

The W5500X's strength lies in its specific ecosystem. Its only benchmark, Geekbench Metal, is the Apple Metal API test, and the card is built for the Apple MPX bus interface. The RX 9070 has no Metal benchmark recorded, so in the Mac-centric professional workflow space, the W5500X remains the only option with verified data. The W5500X also carries a higher percentile ranking, sitting at the 73rd percentile versus the RX 9070's 69th, though the W5500X's average benchmark score of 27,973 is based on a single test while the RX 9070's average of 23,877 spans ten tests.

The use-case split is clear: the RX 9070 is for Windows or Linux gaming and general compute, while the W5500X is for Apple MPX workstations where Metal performance and professional display outputs matter. The RX 9070's 16 GB of memory and 256-bit bus make it the choice for large textures and high-resolution workloads, while the W5500X's 8 GB and 128-bit bus are modest by comparison.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are separated by four years of architecture evolution. The W5500X uses the Navi 14 chip on RDNA 1.0, built on a 7 nm TSMC process. The RX 9070 uses the Navi 48 chip on RDNA 4.0, built on a 4 nm TSMC process. That process shrink is substantial, and it shows in the transistor counts: the W5500X packs 6,400 million transistors on a 158 mm² die, while the RX 9070 crams 53,900 million transistors onto a 357 mm² die. The transistor density jumps from 40.5 million per square millimeter to 151.0 million per square millimeter, a 3.7x increase in density.

The RX 9070 also introduces ray tracing cores, with 56 dedicated RT cores, a feature entirely absent from the W5500X. The shading unit count more than doubles, from 1,536 to 3,584, and texture mapping units jump from 96 to 224. The render output units quadruple from 32 to 128, which directly explains the massive pixel rate difference: 56.22 GPixel/s versus 322.6 GPixel/s.

Clock behavior differs as well. The W5500X has a base clock of 1187 MHz and a boost of 1757 MHz, while the RX 9070 runs at 1330 MHz base and 2520 MHz boost, with a game clock of 2070 MHz. The memory clocks are also far apart: the W5500X runs GDDR6 at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective), while the RX 9070 runs GDDR6 at 2518 MHz (20.1 Gbps effective). The RX 9070's FP32 throughput of 36.13 TFLOPS dwarfs the W5500X's 5.398 TFLOPS, and the FP16 ratio differs: the W5500X achieves 10.80 TFLOPS at a 2:1 ratio, while the RX 9070 hits 36.13 TFLOPS at a 1:1 ratio, meaning it handles FP16 at the same rate as FP32.

The bus interface is a major differentiator. The W5500X uses Apple MPX, a proprietary connector for Mac Pro systems, while the RX 9070 uses PCIe 5.0 x16, the standard for consumer PCs. Display outputs also differ: the W5500X offers 2x HDMI 2.0b, while the RX 9070 provides 1x HDMI 2.1b and 3x DisplayPort 2.1a. The W5500X lacks a power connector listing, while the RX 9070 requires 2x 8-pin connectors. The suggested PSU rating goes from 300 W for the W5500X to 550 W for the RX 9070, and the TDP jumps from 125 W to 220 W.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database contains no direct head-to-head benchmark results between these two cards, so the comparison relies on their respective benchmark suites. The W5500X has exactly one recorded test: Geekbench Metal, scoring 27,973. The RX 9070 has ten tests, but none are Geekbench Metal. The closest cross-API comparison would be the RX 9070's Geekbench Vulkan score of 58,705, which is 2.1x the W5500X's Metal score, but these measure different APIs on different operating systems.

The nearest rivals for each card provide context. The W5500X sits within 0.5% of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti (28,020, -0.2% delta), the AMD Radeon RX 7800M (27,883, +0.3% delta), the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 (27,839, +0.5% delta), and the AMD FirePro S7150 (28,117, -0.5% delta). That cluster of scores, all within a 1% band, suggests the W5500X's Metal performance is tightly grouped with mid-range GPUs from several generations.

The RX 9070's nearest rivals are a different story. It trades blows with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Z (23,736, +0.6% delta), the AMD Radeon RX 6800S (24,063, -0.8% delta), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile (23,628, +1.1% delta), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER (24,170, -1.2% delta). The RX 9070's average benchmark score of 23,877 places it in that range, but its individual test scores vary widely. The Passmark DirectX results are telling: DX9 scores 343, DX10 scores 141, DX11 scores 281, and DX12 scores 74. The low DX12 number relative to DX9 is unusual, but the Passmark G3D aggregate of 25,381 and the GPU compute score of 14,737 indicate strong overall performance.

The biggest single-score gap in the data is the OpenCL result: the RX 9070's 131,539 versus the W5500X's 27,973 Metal score, a 4.7x difference. Even accounting for API differences, that is a massive compute advantage for the newer card.

FAQ

Q: Which card has more memory and bandwidth?

A: The RX 9070 has 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus with 644.6 GB/s bandwidth. The W5500X has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus with 224.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Does the W5500X support ray tracing?

A: No. The W5500X has no RT cores listed, while the RX 9070 has 56 ray tracing cores.

Q: What is the process node difference?

A: The W5500X uses a 7 nm TSMC process, while the RX 9070 uses a 4 nm TSMC process. The RX 9070 also has a much higher transistor density, 151.0M per mm² versus 40.5M per mm².

Q: Which card has a higher clock speed?

A: The RX 9070 has a base clock of 1330 MHz and a boost of 2520 MHz, compared to the W5500X's 1187 MHz base and 1757 MHz boost.

Q: What is the bus interface on each card?

A: The W5500X uses Apple MPX, while the RX 9070 uses PCIe 5.0 x16.

Q: Which card is still in production?

A: The RX 9070 is marked as Active, while the W5500X is End-of-life. The W5500X launched on 2019-12-10, and the RX 9070 launched on 2025-03-05.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon Pro W5500X | AMD Radeon RX 9070 |

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

| Chip | Navi 14 | Navi 48 |

| Architecture | RDNA 1.0 | RDNA 4.0 |

| Process node | 7 nm | 4 nm |

| Transistors | 6,400 million | 53,900 million |

| Die size | 158 mm² | 357 mm² |

| Transistor density | 40.5M / mm² | 151.0M / mm² |

| Base clock | 1187 MHz | 1330 MHz |

| Boost clock | 1757 MHz | 2520 MHz |

| Game clock | N/A | 2070 MHz |

| Memory clock | 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) | 2518 MHz (20.1 Gbps effective) |

| Memory size | 8 GB | 16 GB |

| Memory bus width | 128 bit | 256 bit |

| Memory bandwidth | 224.0 GB/s | 644.6 GB/s |

| Shading units | 1536 | 3584 |

| TMUs | 96 | 224 |

| ROPs | 32 | 128 |

| RT cores | N/A | 56 |

| Pixel rate | 56.22 GPixel/s | 322.6 GPixel/s |

| Texture rate | 168.7 GTexel/s | 564.5 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 5.398 TFLOPS | 36.13 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 10.80 TFLOPS (2:1) | 36.13 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 125 W | 220 W |

| Suggested PSU | 300 W | 550 W |

| Bus interface | Apple MPX | PCIe 5.0 x16 |

| Display outputs | 2x HDMI 2.0b | 1x HDMI 2.1b, 3x DisplayPort 2.1a |

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

| Production status | End-of-life | Active |

| Release date | 2019-12-10 | 2025-03-05 |

| Launch MSRP | 599 USD | 549 USD |

The Verdict

The data points to one conclusion: these are not competing products, they are products for different ecosystems. The W5500X is a Mac Pro card, locked to the Apple MPX bus, with a single Metal benchmark and a 73rd percentile ranking. It launched at 599 USD and is now end-of-life. The RX 9070 is a current-generation PCIe 5.0 card for standard PCs, with a 69th percentile ranking, a 549 USD launch MSRP, and an active production status.

For anyone building a modern Windows or Linux gaming or compute system, the RX 9070 is the obvious choice. Its 36.13 TFLOPS of FP32, 56 RT cores, 16 GB of memory, and 644.6 GB/s bandwidth are in a different class from the W5500X. Its OpenCL score of 131,539 and Vulkan score of 58,705 demonstrate capabilities the W5500X cannot approach. The RX 9070's nearest rivals include the RTX 2080 SUPER and GTX TITAN Z, and it matches or beats them within a 1.2% margin.

For a Mac Pro user with an Apple MPX slot, the W5500X is the only one of these two that physically fits. Its Metal score of 27,973 places it in the same performance band as the GTX 980 Ti and the Radeon Pro Vega 20, which means it is a competent professional card for its era. But the RX 9070 cannot be used there, so the choice is not about performance, it is about platform compatibility.

The production status settles the long-term question. The W5500X is end-of-life, with no successor listed, while the RX 9070 is active and has a predecessor (Navi III). The RX 9070 also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, while the W5500X only reaches DirectX 12_1. For anyone who can choose, the RX 9070 is the superior product in every measured metric. For anyone who must use an Apple MPX system, the W5500X remains the recorded option, but its age and limited memory are clear limitations.