AMD Radeon RX 5300M vs AMD Radeon RX 590 GME Comparison

The Verdict

The benchmark data shows a near dead heat between these two end-of-life AMD graphics cards, with the mobile RX 5300M holding a razor-thin 0.6% lead in OpenCL compute. For most users, the choice comes down to platform and memory capacity rather than raw performance, as the two cards effectively trade blows within a single percentage point.

The AMD Radeon RX 5300M is the better pick for anyone building a compact, power-conscious system. Its 85 W TDP, PCIe 4.0 x8 interface, and modern RDNA 1.0 architecture make it a sensible choice for a small-form-factor or portable setup. The RX 5300M also edges ahead in the only head-to-head benchmark recorded, so there is no measurable performance penalty for choosing the far more efficient card.

The AMD Radeon RX 590 GME is the better pick when memory capacity and bandwidth matter more than efficiency. Its 8 GB GDDR5 frame buffer, 256-bit bus, and 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth are substantially larger than the RX 5300M's 3 GB GDDR6 with a 96-bit bus and 168.0 GB/s. The RX 590 GME also offers a dual-slot cooler, a single 8-pin power connector, and a 450 W suggested PSU, making it a drop-in replacement for older desktop towers.

The data shows the RX 590 GME has a lower average benchmark score of 32601 versus the RX 5300M's 36529, but that average includes a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score and a Geekbench Vulkan score, whereas the RX 5300M only has a single OpenCL result. The head-to-head OpenCL comparison shows the RX 5300M wins by 0.6% (36529 vs 36294), but with only one shared benchmark, the performance difference is effectively negligible.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from completely different architectural generations and manufacturing processes. The RX 5300M is built on RDNA 1.0 using the Navi 14 chip, fabricated on TSMC's 7 nm process. The RX 590 GME uses GCN 4.0 with the Polaris 20 chip, built on GlobalFoundries' 14 nm process. The RX 5300M packs 6,400 million transistors into a 158 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 40.5M per mm². The RX 590 GME has 5,700 million transistors spread across a much larger 232 mm² die, resulting in a lower 24.6M transistors per mm².

The RX 5300M's RDNA architecture brings a 2:1 FP16 rate, delivering 8.138 TFLOPS of half-precision compute compared to its 4.069 TFLOPS FP32. The RX 590 GME's GCN 4.0 runs FP16 at a 1:1 rate, so both FP16 and FP32 are 6.543 TFLOPS. The RX 590 GME has more raw compute units: 2304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. The RX 5300M has 1408 shading units, 88 TMUs, and equally 32 ROPs.

The RX 5300M uses PCIe 4.0 x8, while the RX 590 GME uses PCIe 3.0 x16. The RX 5300M has no dedicated power connectors and a TDP of 85 W, whereas the RX 590 GME requires a single 8-pin connector and draws 175 W. The RX 590 GME supports DirectX 12_0 and Vulkan 1.3, while the RX 5300M supports DirectX 12_1 and Vulkan 1.4, both with OpenGL 4.6.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only shared benchmark in the database is Geekbench OpenCL, and the RX 5300M takes the win by a hair: 36529 versus 36294, a delta of 0.6%. This 235-point difference is small enough to be within run-to-run variance, but the recorded data does give the win to the RX 5300M.

Looking at each card's nearest rivals gives additional context. The RX 5300M sits at the 80th percentile among all GPUs, and its 36529 score is essentially tied with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN X at 36530 (0.0% delta). It is 0.7% ahead of the NVIDIA T1000 at 36289, and 1.7% behind the AMD Radeon PRO W6400 at 37157. The RX 5300M is 1.9% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro Duo at 35860.

The RX 590 GME sits at the 77th percentile, and its 36294 OpenCL score places it 0.2% ahead of the AMD FirePro S9300 X2 at 32540, 0.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE at 32456, and 0.7% ahead of the AMD FirePro S10000 at 32388. It trails the NVIDIA T600 Mobile by 0.8%, which scores 32849.

The RX 590 GME also has a Vulkan score of 60508 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1001, but the RX 5300M has no corresponding data in those tests, so a direct comparison is not possible.

FAQ

Q: Which card is faster in the shared benchmark?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 5300M wins the only head-to-head test, Geekbench OpenCL, with a score of 36529 versus the RX 590 GME's 36294, a 0.6% margin.

Q: How much memory and bandwidth does each card offer?

A: The RX 5300M has 3 GB of GDDR6 on a 96-bit bus with 168.0 GB/s bandwidth. The RX 590 GME has 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus with 256.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: What are the power requirements?

A: The RX 5300M has a TDP of 85 W and requires no power connector. The RX 590 GME has a TDP of 175 W, requires one 8-pin connector, and the database suggests a 450 W power supply.

Q: Which card uses a smaller manufacturing process?

A: The RX 5300M is built on a 7 nm TSMC process, while the RX 590 GME uses a 14 nm GlobalFoundries process.

Q: Do both cards support the same API versions?

A: No. The RX 5300M supports DirectX 12_1 and Vulkan 1.4, while the RX 590 GME supports DirectX 12_0 and Vulkan 1.3. Both support OpenGL 4.6.

Q: Which card has a higher percentile ranking among all GPUs?

A: The RX 5300M ranks at the 80th percentile, while the RX 590 GME ranks at the 77th percentile.

Where Each One Wins

The RX 5300M wins in the only directly comparable metric, the Geekbench OpenCL score. It also wins decisively on efficiency with an 85 W TDP versus the RX 590 GME's 175 W. The RX 5300M's 7 nm process gives it a 40.5M transistors per mm² density, more than the RX 590 GME's 24.6M per mm². The newer RDNA 1.0 architecture supports the 2:1 FP16 throughput, which is a win for mixed-precision compute workloads. The RX 5300M also carries a PCIe 4.0 x8 and a newer Vulkan 1.4.

The RX 590 GME wins on memory capacity and bandwidth: 8 GB GDDR5 with 256.0 GB/s versus 3 GB GDDR6 with 168.0 GB/s. This is a substantial advantage for high-resolution texture loads or compute workloads that exceed 3 GB. The RX 590 GME also has more shading units (2304 versus 1408), more TMUs (144 versus 88), a higher texture fill rate of 204.5 GTexel/s versus 127.2 GTexel/s, and a higher FP32 throughput of 6.543 TFLOPS versus 4.069 TFLOPS. It has a slightly lower pixel rate of 45.44 GPixel/s versus 46.24 GPixel/s, but the raw compute advantage is real.

The RX 590 GME also has a Vulkan benchmark result of 60508, which indicates strong API-specific performance, though the RX 5300M lacks a comparable score. The RX 590 GME's dual-slot design and standard display outputs lend to desktop use, while the RX 5300M is portable-device dependent.

Specification Differences

The table below summarizes only the fields where the two cards differ.

• Architecture: RDNA 1.0 (RX 5300M) versus GCN 4.0 (RX 590 GME)
• Process Node: 7 nm TSMC versus 14 nm GlobalFoundries
• Transistors: 6,400 million versus 5,700 million
• Die Size: 158 mm² versus 232 mm²
• Transistor Density: 40.5M / mm² versus 24.6M / mm²
• Base Clock: 1000 MHz versus 1257 MHz
• Boost Clock: 1445 MHz versus 1420 MHz
• Memory Clock: 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) versus 2000 MHz (8 Gbps effective)
• Memory Size: 3 GB versus 8 GB
• Memory Type: GDDR6 versus GDDR5
• Memory Bus Width: 96 bit versus 256 bit
• Memory Bandwidth: 168.0 GB/s versus 256.0 GB/s
• Shading Units: 1408 versus 2304
• TMUs: 88 versus 144
• Pixel Rate: 46.24 GPixel/s versus 45.44 GPixel/s
• Texture Rate: 127.2 GTexel/s versus 204.5 GTexel/s
• FP32: 4.069 TFLOPS versus 6.543 TFLOPS
• FP16: 8.138 TFLOPS (2:1) versus 6.543 TFLOPS (1:1)
• TDP: 85 W versus 175 W
• Slot Width: Not specified versus Dual-slot
• Power Connectors: None versus 1x 8-pin
• Suggested PSU: Not specified versus 450 W
• Bus Interface: PCIe 4.0 x8 versus PCIe 3.0 x16
• Display Outputs: Portable Device Dependent versus 1x HDMI 2.0b, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a
• DirectX Support: 12 (12_1) versus 12 (12_0)
• Vulkan Support: 1.4 versus 1.3
• Dimensions: Not specified versus 241 mm (9.5 inches) length
• Release Date: 2019-11-12 versus 2020-03-08
• Predecessor: Polaris Mobile versus Arctic Islands
• Successor: Not specified versus Vega
• Average Benchmark Score: 36529 versus 32601
• Percentile: 80th versus 77th