AMD Radeon PRO W7500 vs AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data shows a decisive sweep for the AMD Radeon PRO W7500 across all nine shared benchmark tests. The largest margin appears in PassMark DirectX 11, where the W7500 scores 125 against the RX 5500 XT's 56, a 123.2% advantage. That result indicates a generational leap in driver overhead and shader efficiency rather than a modest clock-for-clock gain.

Vulkan performance tells a similar story. The W7500 posts 68634 in Geekbench Vulkan versus 44191 for the RX 5500 XT, a 55.3% delta. This is particularly notable because Vulkan tends to expose raw architectural throughput more directly than older APIs. The W7500's RDNA 3.0 design clearly extracts more work per instruction stream than the RDNA 1.0 part.

OpenCL results are closer but still one-sided. The W7500 reaches 58213, while the RX 5500 XT manages 46965, giving the newer card a 23.9% lead. This narrower gap suggests that compute workloads scale less dramatically than graphics-bound tests, though the W7500 still holds a comfortable edge.

DirectX 9 and DirectX 10 tests show the W7500 ahead by 50.4% and 41.3% respectively. The DirectX 9 score of 200 versus 133 indicates that even legacy rasterization paths benefit from the newer architecture's higher ROP count and texture throughput. DirectX 12 shows the smallest delta at 15%, with scores of 46 and 40. This tight margin implies that both cards handle modern explicit-multi-threaded APIs with similar efficiency at their respective hardware limits.

The 2D and compute tests round out the picture. PassMark G2D favors the W7500 at 1174 against 774, a 51.7% improvement, which reflects better memory bandwidth and display engine throughput. PassMark GPU Compute gives the W7500 5910 versus 4446 for the RX 5500 XT, a 32.9% lead. The overall PassMark G3D score of 13368 for the W7500 against 9083 for the RX 5500 XT, a 47.2% difference, aligns with the average benchmark scores: 16415 for the W7500 and 14692 for the RX 5500 XT.

Context from the database's nearest-rival data places the W7500 in a different competitive tier. Its average score sits within 0.5% of the NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell and 0.3% above the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT. The RX 5500 XT, by contrast, trades blows with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 and the Quadro M2000, sitting 0.4% below the former and 1.1% above the latter. The W7500 is effectively competing with upper-midrange cards from a generation later, while the RX 5500 XT anchors a lower performance stratum.

Architecture Differences

The two cards share a common ancestor but diverge sharply in execution. The W7500 uses the Navi 33 chip built on RDNA 3.0, fabricated on a 6 nm TSMC process. The RX 5500 XT uses the Navi 14 chip on RDNA 1.0, fabricated on a 7 nm TSMC node. The process shrink allows the W7500 to pack 13,300 million transistors into a 204 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 65.2 million per square millimeter. The RX 5500 XT carries 6,400 million transistors on a 158 mm² die, for a density of 40.5 million per square millimeter. That is a 62.5% higher transistor density on the newer part, which explains how the W7500 achieves far higher throughput with a lower power envelope.

Shader resources follow the same pattern. The W7500 deploys 1792 shading units, 112 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs. The RX 5500 XT offers 1408 shading units, 88 TMUs, and just 32 ROPs. The doubled ROP count is crucial: it directly drives the W7500's pixel rate of 108.8 GPixel/s versus 59.04 GPixel/s for the RX 5500 XT. Texture rate also favors the W7500 at 190.4 GTexel/s against 162.4 GTexel/s.

The W7500 introduces dedicated ray tracing cores, 28 of them, while the RX 5500 XT has none. This is a hard feature boundary: any workload using DirectX Raytracing or Vulkan ray tracing will simply not run on the older card. The W7500 also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, while the RX 5500 XT is limited to DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.4. The feature-level difference matters for modern game engines and professional visualization tools that target mesh shaders and other 12_2 features.

Memory configuration differs in capacity and bandwidth. The W7500 ships with 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, delivering 256.0 GB/s. The RX 5500 XT ships with 4 GB of GDDR6 on the same 128-bit bus, delivering 224.0 GB/s. The W7500's memory runs at 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective), while the RX 5500 XT runs at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). The 32 GB/s bandwidth advantage and doubled capacity give the W7500 a significant edge in texture-heavy scenes and large dataset workloads.

Clock speeds tell a more nuanced story. The RX 5500 XT has a higher base clock at 1607 MHz and boost at 1845 MHz, plus a game clock of 1717 MHz. The W7500 runs lower at 1500 MHz base and 1700 MHz boost. Despite the clock deficit, the W7500's FP32 throughput of 12.19 TFLOPS more than doubles the RX 5500 XT's 5.196 TFLOPS. The architecture's wider execution resources overcome the frequency gap.

Power and physical design also diverge. The W7500 draws 70 W TDP and requires no power connectors, running on slot power alone with a suggested 250 W PSU. It occupies a single slot. The RX 5500 XT draws 130 W TDP, needs a single 8-pin connector, recommends a 300 W PSU, and takes a dual-slot design. The W7500 is 216 mm long, 115 mm tall, and 20 mm wide; the RX 5500 XT is 180 mm long. Display outputs differ as well: the W7500 offers four DisplayPort 2.1 connections, while the RX 5500 XT provides one HDMI 2.0b and three DisplayPort 1.4a outputs.

FAQ

Q: Which card is faster in Vulkan workloads?

A: The AMD Radeon PRO W7500 leads by 55.3% in Geekbench Vulkan, scoring 68634 against the RX 5500 XT's 44191.

Q: Does the RX 5500 XT support ray tracing?

A: No. The RX 5500 XT has no ray tracing cores, while the W7500 includes 28 dedicated RT cores.

Q: What is the memory capacity difference?

A: The W7500 has 8 GB of GDDR6, while the RX 5500 XT has 4 GB of GDDR6. Both use a 128-bit bus, but the W7500's bandwidth is 256.0 GB/s versus 224.0 GB/s.

Q: How do the power requirements compare?

A: The W7500 has a 70 W TDP and needs no external power connector. The RX 5500 XT has a 130 W TDP and requires a single 8-pin connector.

Q: Which card has a higher transistor density?

A: The W7500 reaches 65.2 million transistors per square millimeter on a 6 nm TSMC process, versus 40.5 million per square millimeter for the RX 5500 XT on 7 nm TSMC.

Q: What is the DirectX feature level of each card?

A: The W7500 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the RX 5500 XT supports DirectX 12 (12_1).

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every major specification. The W7500 uses the Navi 33 chip with RDNA 3.0 architecture and the codename Hotpink Bonefish, part of the Radeon Pro Navi (Navi III Series) generation. The RX 5500 XT uses Navi 14 with RDNA 1.0 architecture, no codename listed, from the Navi (RX 5000) generation. Process nodes are 6 nm versus 7 nm, both TSMC. Transistor counts are 13,300 million versus 6,400 million, with die sizes of 204 mm² versus 158 mm².

Clock behavior differs: the W7500 runs at 1500 MHz base and 1700 MHz boost with no game clock, while the RX 5500 XT runs at 1607 MHz base, 1845 MHz boost, and 1717 MHz game clock. Memory clocks are 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective) for the W7500 and 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) for the RX 5500 XT. Memory capacity is 8 GB versus 4 GB, bandwidth 256.0 GB/s versus 224.0 GB/s.

Compute resources: 1792 shading units versus 1408, 112 TMUs versus 88, 64 ROPs versus 32, and 28 RT cores versus none. Pixel rates are 108.8 GPixel/s versus 59.04 GPixel/s, texture rates 190.4 GTexel/s versus 162.4 GTexel/s, FP32 12.19 TFLOPS versus 5.196 TFLOPS, and FP16 24.37 TFLOPS versus 10.39 TFLOPS (both 2:1).

Power and cooling: 70 W versus 130 W TDP, single-slot versus dual-slot, no power connectors versus one 8-pin, 250 W versus 300 W suggested PSU. Dimensions: 216 mm length for the W7500, 180 mm for the RX 5500 XT, with the W7500 also listed at 115 mm height and 20 mm width. Display outputs: 4x DisplayPort 2.1 versus 1x HDMI 2.0b plus 3x DisplayPort 1.4a.

Production status and release timing also differ. The W7500 is Active and released on 2023-08-02, with a predecessor of Radeon Pro Vega and no successor listed. The RX 5500 XT is End-of-life, released on 2019-12-11, with a predecessor of Vega and successor of Navi II. The W7500 sits at the 59th percentile of all GPUs in the database, the RX 5500 XT at the 57th.

Where Each One Wins

The W7500 wins every benchmark category recorded. Its strengths cluster around modern, heavy workloads: Vulkan, DirectX 11, and compute tasks. The 55.3% Vulkan lead and 123.2% DirectX 11 lead make it the clear choice for applications that lean on those APIs, which includes most current game engines and professional DCC tools. The 32.9% GPU compute advantage and doubled FP32 throughput position it for simulation, rendering, and machine learning inference tasks that fit within 8 GB of memory.

The W7500's 4x DisplayPort 2.1 outputs and single-slot, 70 W design make it suitable for multi-display professional setups and compact workstations where slot space and power budget are constrained. The lack of external power connectors simplifies installation in pre-built systems with limited PSU headroom. Its active production status means ongoing availability for system integrators.

The RX 5500 XT retains relevance only in narrow legacy scenarios. Its lower base and boost clocks do not translate into any benchmark win, and its 4 GB memory capacity limits it to older titles and lighter workloads. However, its 180 mm length makes it easier to fit into very small cases, and its dual-slot cooler with a single 8-pin connector is a conventional layout that most power supplies already support. For users running DirectX 12 titles at lower settings, the 15% delta in that specific test shows the RX 5500 XT is not entirely outclassed.

The database's nearest-rival data reinforces the positioning. The W7500 competes with cards like the RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell and RX 5700 XT, while the RX 5500 XT sits near the GTX 770 and Quadro M2000. The W7500 is a professional-grade part aimed at current-generation software, while the RX 5500 XT is an end-of-life consumer card best suited to budget systems running older or undemanding applications.