AMD Radeon Pro W5700X vs AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark data draws a starkly one-sided picture. The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT wins every single head-to-head comparison against the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X, taking all three available tests with decisive margins. The Pro W5700X does not register a single victory in any of the compared workloads.

The most lopsided result comes in Geekbench OpenCL, where the RX 6800 XT scores 171,304 against the Pro W5700X's 43,810. That is a 74.4% advantage for the newer card, a gap so large that it represents more than a generational step — it is a complete class separation in compute throughput. For raw GPU compute tasks, the RX 6800 XT is in a different league entirely.

Geekbench Vulkan tells a similar story, with the RX 6800 XT posting 136,875 versus 45,246 for the Pro W5700X, a 66.9% lead. This suggests the RDNA 2 architecture handles modern graphics APIs with far greater efficiency. The Pro W5700X's Vulkan score is actually lower than its OpenCL result, indicating that its older RDNA 1 architecture does not scale as well with this API.

The narrowest gap appears in Geekbench Metal, where the RX 6800 XT scores 181,337 against 75,427 for the Pro W5700X — still a commanding 58.4% lead, but the closest margin of the three tests. This is notable because Metal is the native API for Apple platforms, and the Pro W5700X is explicitly designed for Mac systems via its Apple MPX bus interface. Even in its home turf, the RX 6800 XT dominates.

Looking at aggregate performance, the Pro W5700X holds an average benchmark score of 54,828 across all tests, placing it in the 87th percentile of all GPUs. The RX 6800 XT averages 48,477, which sits in the 85th percentile. The paradox here is that the Pro card's average is boosted by its narrower test set — it only has three Geekbench results, while the RX 6800 XT has eleven benchmarks including Passmark tests that drag down its average. In every directly comparable workload, the RX 6800 XT wins by enormous margins.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from different generations of AMD's RDNA architecture. The Pro W5700X uses the Navi 10 chip built on RDNA 1.0, while the RX 6800 XT uses the Navi 21 chip on RDNA 2.0. Both are fabricated on TSMC's 7 nm process, but the similarities end there.

The RX 6800 XT packs 26,800 million transistors on a 520 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 51.5M per mm². The Pro W5700X has just 10,300 million transistors on a 251 mm² die, with a lower density of 41.0M per mm². The RX 6800 XT's die is more than twice the size and holds nearly 2.6 times the transistors, which explains the massive performance differential.

Compute resources are heavily stacked in the RX 6800 XT's favor. It features 4,608 shading units, 288 texture mapping units, and 128 render output units. The Pro W5700X has 2,560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and just 64 ROPs. This translates to a pixel rate of 288.0 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 648.0 GTexel/s for the RX 6800 XT, versus 130.6 GPixel/s and 326.4 GTexel/s for the Pro card. FP32 throughput is 20.74 TFLOPS on the RX 6800 XT, almost exactly double the Pro W5700X's 10.44 TFLOPS.

Clock speeds also favor the newer card. The RX 6800 XT has a base clock of 1825 MHz, a game clock of 2015 MHz, and a boost clock of 2250 MHz. The Pro W5700X starts at 1243 MHz base and boosts to 2040 MHz. Even at maximum boost, the Pro card cannot match the RX 6800 XT's base clock.

Memory configurations are superficially similar — both have 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus — but the RX 6800 XT runs its memory at 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective) for 512.0 GB/s of bandwidth, while the Pro W5700X runs at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) for 448.0 GB/s. The RX 6800 XT also adds 72 ray tracing cores, a feature entirely absent from the RDNA 1-based Pro card.

Power and physical characteristics diverge significantly. The RX 6800 XT consumes 300 W TDP with a 700 W suggested PSU and dual 8-pin connectors, fitting in a dual-slot 267 mm form factor. The Pro W5700X has a 205 W TDP with a 550 W suggested PSU, but occupies a quad-slot design at 305 mm length. The Pro card uses an Apple MPX bus interface with 1x HDMI 2.0b and 4x Thunderbolt outputs, while the RX 6800 XT uses PCIe 4.0 x16 with 1x HDMI 2.1, 2x DisplayPort 1.4a, and 1x USB Type-C.

API support also differs: the RX 6800 XT supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the Pro W5700X is limited to DirectX 12 (12_1). Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous. The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT is the superior performer in every measurable benchmark, with leads ranging from 58.4% to 74.4% across Geekbench Metal, OpenCL, and Vulkan. Any user prioritizing raw graphics performance should choose the RX 6800 XT without hesitation.

The Pro W5700X's only advantages are its lower 205 W TDP and its Apple MPX bus interface, which suits Mac integration. Its 550 W suggested PSU requirement is also more modest than the RX 6800 XT's 700 W. However, these are niche benefits that do not compensate for being roughly two-thirds slower in compute workloads.

The RX 6800 XT also offers future-proofing through DirectX 12 Ultimate support and hardware ray tracing cores, neither of which the Pro W5700X provides. While both cards are end-of-life products, the RX 6800 XT's RDNA 2 architecture is more modern and better equipped for current and upcoming game titles.

For general-purpose gaming and compute, the RX 6800 XT is the clear pick. The Pro W5700X only makes sense in the specific context of a Mac Pro or similar Apple workstation where the MPX form factor is required — and even then, the performance sacrifice is substantial. Benchmark results indicate that the RX 6800 XT's 300 W power draw is a worthwhile trade for double the FP32 throughput and more than double the pixel rate.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X has a higher average benchmark score of 54,828 compared to the RX 6800 XT's 48,477. However, the Pro card's average is based on only three Geekbench tests, while the RX 6800 XT has eleven benchmarks including Passmark tests that lower its average.

Q: What is the largest performance gap between the two cards?

A: The largest gap is in Geekbench OpenCL, where the RX 6800 XT leads by 74.4% with a score of 171,304 versus 43,810 for the Pro W5700X.

Q: Do both cards support ray tracing?

A: No. The RX 6800 XT has 72 ray tracing cores, while the Pro W5700X has no ray tracing cores listed in its specifications.

Q: Which card requires more power?

A: The RX 6800 XT has a 300 W TDP and requires a 700 W suggested PSU. The Pro W5700X has a 205 W TDP and requires a 550 W suggested PSU.

Q: How do their memory bandwidths compare?

A: The RX 6800 XT offers 512.0 GB/s bandwidth with 16 Gbps effective memory speed, while the Pro W5700X provides 448.0 GB/s with 14 Gbps effective. Both use 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus.

Q: Which card is larger physically?

A: The Pro W5700X is a quad-slot card measuring 305 mm in length. The RX 6800 XT is a dual-slot card at 267 mm long, 120 mm high, and 50 mm wide.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The Geekbench OpenCL test delivers the most dramatic divergence. The RX 6800 XT scores 171,304, which is more than 127,000 points higher than the Pro W5700X's 43,810. The 74.4% delta represents the single largest percentage gap in any shared benchmark. This test stresses general-purpose compute, and the RX 6800 XT's 20.74 TFLOPS FP32 throughput — nearly double the Pro card's 10.44 TFLOPS — directly explains the result.

Geekbench Vulkan shows a slightly smaller but still enormous gap. The RX 6800 XT posts 136,875, while the Pro W5700X manages only 45,246, a 66.9% deficit. Interestingly, the Pro card's Vulkan score is higher than its OpenCL score, but the RX 6800 XT's Vulkan performance is actually lower than its OpenCL result. This suggests RDNA 2 handles OpenCL more efficiently than RDNA 1, widening the compute gap further.

Geekbench Metal presents the closest comparison, though "closest" is relative. The RX 6800 XT scores 181,337 versus 75,427 for the Pro W5700X, a 58.4% advantage. This is the only test where the Pro card's deficit drops below 60%. Metal is Apple's native graphics API, and the Pro W5700X's design targets Mac systems, so its relatively stronger showing here is expected. Still, the RX 6800 XT's raw compute power overcomes any API optimization advantages the Pro card might enjoy.

The RX 6800 XT also benefits from a much richer benchmark portfolio. It has results across Passmark DirectX 9, 10, 11, and 12 tests, plus 2D, 3D, and compute benchmarks. Its Passmark G3D score of 24,980 and GPU compute score of 13,245 provide additional context for its 85th percentile ranking. The Pro W5700X has no Passmark results, relying solely on Geekbench scores for its 87th percentile placement.

A notable observation from the nearest rivals data: the Pro W5700X's average score of 54,828 places it 1.1% above the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 (54,247) and RTX 4080 SUPER (54,209), and 1.6% below the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (55,698). The RX 6800 XT's average of 48,477 sits 1.5% above the NVIDIA RTX A1000 Mobile (47,743) but 3% below both the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti (49,957) and AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 (50,001). These comparisons reinforce that the RX 6800 XT's lower average is a statistical artifact of its broader test suite, not a reflection of weaker performance — in every direct head-to-head test, it crushes the Pro W5700X.