AMD Radeon RX 5300M vs AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT Comparison

The Verdict

The benchmark data presents a stark generational and market-segment divide between these two AMD Radeon offerings. The RX 6800 XT is a high-end desktop part from the Radeon RX 6000 series, built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture, while the RX 5300M is a mobile chip from the Radeon RX 5000 series, using the older RDNA 1.0 architecture. The recorded data shows the RX 6800 XT dominating the only shared benchmark, with a 369% lead in Geekbench OpenCL, scoring 171304 against the RX 5300M's 36529. For any workload that leverages OpenCL compute, the RX 6800 XT is the clear choice, and the data suggests it is in a completely different performance class.

Conversely, the RX 5300M is positioned for a specific niche: portable systems where power draw and physical size are primary constraints. Its 85 W TDP and compact design, with no power connectors required, make it suitable for laptops, while the RX 6800 XT demands a 300 W TDP, dual-slot width, and dual 8-pin power connectors. The data does not show a single benchmark win for the RX 5300M, but its very existence in the database with a percentile ranking of 80 indicates it is not a weak performer in the broader context of all GPUs. The verdict is straightforward: the RX 6800 XT is for users seeking maximum desktop compute and gaming performance, while the RX 5300M is for users who need a capable, power-efficient mobile solution, though the data confirms it is vastly outmatched by the desktop card in raw throughput.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs represent distinct generations of AMD's RDNA architecture, which explains their significant performance disparity. The RX 6800 XT uses the RDNA 2.0 architecture and is built on the Navi 21 chip, while the RX 5300M uses the RDNA 1.0 architecture on the Navi 14 chip. Both are fabricated by TSMC on a 7 nm process node, which is a point of commonality, but the underlying designs diverge considerably.

The RX 6800 XT is a massive chip with 26,800 million transistors on a 520 mm² die, resulting in a transistor density of 51.5M per mm². In contrast, the RX 5300M is a much smaller chip with 6,400 million transistors on a 158 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 40.5M per mm². This difference in scale is a primary driver of the performance gap. The RX 6800 XT also features 72 dedicated ray tracing cores, a hallmark of the RDNA 2.0 architecture, while the RX 5300M has no ray tracing cores listed, reflecting its older RDNA 1.0 design.

Memory architecture also differs significantly. The RX 6800 XT has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 512.0 GB/s. The RX 5300M has 3 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 96-bit bus, with a bandwidth of 168.0 GB/s. The RX 6800 XT's memory clocks are set at 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective), while the RX 5300M's memory runs at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). The RX 6800 XT supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the RX 5300M is limited to DirectX 12 (12_1). Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4, and both use the PCIe 4.0 interface, but the RX 6800 XT uses a x16 connection while the RX 5300M uses a x8 connection.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has more shader processing units?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT has 4608 shading units, while the AMD Radeon RX 5300M has 1408 shading units. The RX 6800 XT also has 288 texture mapping units and 128 render output units, compared to 88 TMUs and 32 ROPs on the RX 5300M.

Q: What is the performance difference in the Geekbench OpenCL benchmark?

A: The RX 6800 XT scores 171304 in Geekbench OpenCL, while the RX 5300M scores 36529. This gives the RX 6800 XT a 369% lead over the RX 5300M in this test.

Q: What are the power requirements for each card?

A: The RX 6800 XT has a TDP of 300 W and requires a 700 W power supply, along with two 8-pin power connectors. The RX 5300M has a TDP of 85 W and requires no power connectors, as it is designed for portable devices.

Q: What are the memory specifications of each GPU?

A: The RX 6800 XT comes with 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 512.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The RX 5300M has 3 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 96-bit bus, providing 168.0 GB/s of bandwidth.

Q: Which GPU supports ray tracing?

A: The RX 6800 XT has 72 ray tracing cores and supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), which includes ray tracing features. The RX 5300M does not list any ray tracing cores and supports DirectX 12 (12_1).

Q: How do the two GPUs compare in terms of their percentile ranking among all GPUs?

A: The RX 6800 XT is in the 85th percentile, while the RX 5300M is in the 80th percentile. Despite the large performance gap between them, both rank in the top 20% of all GPUs in the database.

Specification Differences

The specification differences between the two cards are extensive, reflecting their different market positions. The RX 6800 XT has a base clock of 1825 MHz and a boost clock of 2250 MHz, with a game clock of 2015 MHz. The RX 5300M has a base clock of 1000 MHz, a boost clock of 1445 MHz, and a game clock of 1181 MHz. The RX 6800 XT's pixel rate is 288.0 GPixel/s and its texture rate is 648.0 GTexel/s, while the RX 5300M achieves 46.24 GPixel/s and 127.2 GTexel/s respectively. In terms of compute power, the RX 6800 XT delivers 20.74 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 41.47 TFLOPS of FP16 performance (2:1), while the RX 5300M delivers 4.069 TFLOPS of FP32 and 8.138 TFLOPS of FP16.

The physical dimensions differ as well. The RX 6800 XT measures 267 mm in length, 120 mm in height, and 50 mm in width, with a dual-slot width. The RX 5300M has no listed dimensions, as it is a mobile chip. The RX 6800 XT has display outputs including 1x HDMI 2.1, 2x DisplayPort 1.4a, and 1x USB Type-C, while the RX 5300M's display outputs are listed as "Portable Device Dependent." The RX 6800 XT uses a PCIe 4.0 x16 bus interface, while the RX 5300M uses PCIe 4.0 x8. The RX 6800 XT was released on 2020-10-27, while the RX 5300M was released on 2019-11-12. The RX 6800 XT has a launch MSRP of 649 USD; no MSRP is listed for the RX 5300M. Both are end-of-life products, and both are manufactured by AMD.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database contains a single head-to-head benchmark result for these two GPUs, which is the Geekbench OpenCL test. This benchmark is a compute-focused test that measures general-purpose GPU performance, and the results are overwhelmingly in favor of the RX 6800 XT. The RX 6800 XT scores 171304, while the RX 5300M scores 36529, resulting in a delta of 369% in favor of the RX 6800 XT. This is a massive margin that highlights the sheer compute capability of the desktop card.

Looking at the broader benchmark data, the RX 6800 XT has an average benchmark score of 48477 across all its tested workloads, while the RX 5300M has an average score of 36529, which is based on its single Geekbench OpenCL result. The RX 6800 XT also has a wider range of benchmark scores available, including results from 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 (3689), Geekbench Metal (181337), Geekbench Vulkan (136875), and various Passmark tests. The RX 5300M only has the one Geekbench OpenCL score in the database. This limited data set means the comparison is necessarily focused on compute performance, but the available evidence shows a clear and decisive victory for the RX 6800 XT.

Where Each One Wins

The RX 6800 XT wins in every measurable aspect of the recorded data. Its victory in the Geekbench OpenCL benchmark is absolute, with a 369% lead. Beyond this, its higher average benchmark score of 48477 versus 36529 for the RX 5300M indicates superior overall performance across all tested applications. The RX 6800 XT also wins on architectural grounds, with more shading units, TMUs, ROPs, ray tracing cores, and significantly more memory bandwidth. It is the clear winner for desktop users who prioritize raw performance, high-resolution gaming, and compute-intensive workloads like content creation or 3D rendering. Its support for DirectX 12 Ultimate and its 16 GB of memory make it a more future-proof option for demanding applications.

The RX 5300M, despite having no benchmark wins in the head-to-head data, has its own domain of superiority: power efficiency and form factor. Its 85 W TDP is substantially lower than the RX 6800 XT's 300 W, and it requires no external power connectors, making it suitable for thin and light laptops. Its lack of listed dimensions and "Portable Device Dependent" display outputs confirm its mobile intent. For users who need a GPU for a laptop, the RX 5300M is the only viable option of the two, as the RX 6800 XT is a dual-slot desktop card. The data shows that while the RX 5300M is far behind in performance, it occupies a necessary niche in the mobile space, and its 80th percentile ranking indicates it is still a competent performer relative to all GPUs. The RX 6800 XT wins on performance, while the RX 5300M wins on portability and power efficiency, though the latter cannot be quantified with benchmark scores in this dataset.