AMD Radeon RX 5300M vs AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Comparison

# AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 vs AMD Radeon RX 5300M

The AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 and AMD Radeon RX 5300M occupy different corners of the GPU landscape: the former is a desktop-oriented flagship from the Vega generation built on a 14 nm process, while the latter is a mobile part from the Navi generation on 7 nm. Benchmark results show the Vega 56 posting an average score of 37507 across its tested workloads, placing it in the 81st percentile of all GPUs, whereas the RX 5300M averages 36529 in its single available benchmark, sitting at the 80th percentile. The delta between their average scores is 978 points, roughly 2.7%, which is modest but measurable. The Vega 56's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Tesla P4 (37628, −0.3%), the GeForce RTX 4070 (37648, −0.4%), and the AMD Radeon PRO W6400 (37157, +0.9%), while the RX 5300M sits near the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN X (36530, 0%), the NVIDIA T1000 (36289, +0.7%), and the AMD Radeon Pro Duo (35860, +1.9%). No direct head-to-head benchmarks exist between the two cards in the data, so the comparison relies on their respective average scores and architectural specifications.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The data set contains no direct head-to-head benchmark results between the RX Vega 56 and the RX 5300M, meaning the comparison must be drawn from their individual benchmark averages and how each stacks against its own nearest rivals. The Vega 56's average benchmark score of 37507 comes from two tests: a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 run scoring 1501 and a Geekbench Metal score of 73512. The RX 5300M's average of 36529 is derived from a single Geekbench OpenCL result. When placed side by side, the Vega 56 leads by 978 points, a 2.7% advantage in raw average score. This margin is small enough that the two cards would trade places depending on the workload, but the Vega 56's higher percentile ranking (81st vs 80th) reflects its slight edge in aggregate performance.

Looking at rival comparisons, the Vega 56 is essentially tied with the NVIDIA Tesla P4, trailing by just 0.3%, and sits 0.4% behind the GeForce RTX 4070, yet it leads the AMD Radeon PRO W6400 by 0.9%. The RX 5300M, meanwhile, is exactly level with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN X (0% delta), beats the NVIDIA T1000 by 0.7%, and trails the AMD Radeon PRO W6400 by 1.7% while leading the AMD Radeon Pro Duo by 1.9%. These deltas illustrate that both cards cluster tightly within a narrow performance band around 36-38 thousand average points, with the Vega 56's rivals generally scoring slightly higher than the RX 5300M's rivals. Notably, the RX 5300M's 36529 average is below the Radeon PRO W6400's 37157, whereas the Vega 56's 37507 clears that same rival, underscoring the Vega 56's relative strength in this comparison.

The Verdict

From the benchmark data alone, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 is the stronger performer, holding a 2.7% lead in average score and a one-percentile advantage in the global ranking. The Vega 56's 37507 average places it ahead of the RX 5300M's 36529, and its nearest rivals (Tesla P4, RTX 4070, RTX 4080 Mobile) all score above 37,600, whereas the RX 5300M's nearest rivals (GTX TITAN X, T1000, Pro Duo) cluster between 35,860 and 36,530. This suggests the Vega 56 competes in a slightly higher performance tier, even if the gap is narrow. The RX 5300M, however, is not far behind—its 80th percentile ranking means it outperforms most GPUs in the database, and its 0% delta against the GTX TITAN X indicates it holds its own against a former flagship.

For a user prioritizing raw compute and desktop-class performance, the data points to the Vega 56. For a mobile scenario where power draw and form factor matter, the RX 5300M's 85 W TDP and lack of power connectors make it the practical choice, though the benchmark scores cannot capture thermal or efficiency dynamics. Strictly from the numbers, the Vega 56 wins on performance, but the RX 5300M's proximity—under 3% behind—means the decision hinges on context rather than a decisive gap.

Where Each One Wins

The Vega 56 wins on raw compute throughput. Its average benchmark score of 37507 exceeds the RX 5300M's 36529 by 978 points, and its percentile ranking (81st vs 80th) reflects a broader lead across the GPU landscape. The Vega 56 also benefits from a larger memory subsystem: 8 GB of HBM2 on a 2048-bit bus delivering 409.6 GB/s of bandwidth, versus the RX 5300M's 3 GB of GDDR6 on a 96-bit bus at 168.0 GB/s. This bandwidth advantage—over 2.4 times higher—would favor memory-intensive workloads such as high-resolution texturing or compute tasks that stream large data sets. The Vega 56's shading unit count of 3584, TMUs of 224, and ROPs of 64 all dwarf the RX 5300M's 1408, 88, and 32 respectively, explaining its 10.54 TFLOPS FP32 throughput versus 4.069 TFLOPS.

The RX 5300M wins on efficiency and mobility. Its 7 nm process node from TSMC and 158 mm² die size (versus 14 nm and 495 mm²) show a modern design that packs 40.5M transistors per mm² compared to the Vega 56's 25.3M. The RX 5300M's 85 W TDP is less than half the Vega 56's 210 W, and it requires no power connectors, making it suitable for thin-and-light laptops. Its PCIe 4.0 x8 interface is a generation newer than the Vega 56's PCIe 3.0 x16, and its Vulkan API support at 1.4 is newer than the Vega 56's 1.3. The RX 5300M also posts a higher game clock (1181 MHz) relative to its base (1000 MHz) than the Vega 56's boost-to-base ratio, indicating a different clocking strategy optimized for sustained mobile workloads.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon RX Vega 56, with an average score of 37507, exceeds the RX 5300M's 36529 by 978 points.

Q: How do the two cards compare in memory bandwidth?

A: The Vega 56 offers 409.6 GB/s from 8 GB of HBM2 on a 2048-bit bus, while the RX 5300M provides 168.0 GB/s from 3 GB of GDDR6 on a 96-bit bus.

Q: What is the process node difference?

A: The Vega 56 uses a 14 nm process from GlobalFoundries, while the RX 5300M uses a 7 nm process from TSMC.

Q: Which card has a higher transistor density?

A: The RX 5300M packs 40.5M transistors per mm², compared to the Vega 56's 25.3M per mm².

Q: What are the power requirements?

A: The Vega 56 has a 210 W TDP and requires 2x 8-pin power connectors with a 550 W suggested PSU, while the RX 5300M has an 85 W TDP and needs no power connectors.

Q: How do their percentile rankings compare?

A: The Vega 56 sits at the 81st percentile of all GPUs, while the RX 5300M is at the 80th percentile.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs represent distinct architectural generations from AMD. The RX Vega 56 is built on the Vega 10 chip using the GCN 5.0 architecture, fabricated on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. It integrates 12,500 million transistors on a 495 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 25.3M per mm². The RX 5300M uses the Navi 14 chip with the RDNA 1.0 architecture, manufactured on a 7 nm process at TSMC, with 6,400 million transistors on a 158 mm² die, achieving 40.5M transistors per mm². The Vega 56's larger die and older process explain its higher power draw and physical dimensions (280 mm length, 111 mm height, 40 mm width, dual-slot), while the RX 5300M has no listed dimensions, consistent with a portable device-dependent design.

Memory architecture diverges sharply. The Vega 56 uses 8 GB of HBM2 with a 2048-bit bus and 409.6 GB/s bandwidth, while the RX 5300M uses 3 GB of GDDR6 with a 96-bit bus and 168.0 GB/s. Clock speeds differ in strategy: the Vega 56 runs a base of 1156 MHz and boost of 1471 MHz, whereas the RX 5300M has a base of 1000 MHz, a game clock of 1181 MHz, and a boost of 1445 MHz. The Vega 56's memory clock is 800 MHz (1600 Mbps effective), while the RX 5300M's memory runs at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). Compute resources favor the Vega 56 heavily: 3584 shading units, 224 TMUs, and 64 ROPs versus 1408, 88, and 32 on the RX 5300M. This translates to 10.54 TFLOPS FP32 and 21.09 TFLOPS FP16 on the Vega 56, compared to 4.069 TFLOPS and 8.138 TFLOPS on the RX 5300M. Pixel and texture rates follow suit: 94.14 GPixel/s and 329.5 GTexel/s for the Vega 56 versus 46.24 GPixel/s and 127.2 GTexel/s for the RX 5300M.

Bus interface and connectivity also differ. The Vega 56 uses PCIe 3.0 x16 with display outputs of 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, while the RX 5300M uses PCIe 4.0 x8 with portable device-dependent outputs. API support is nearly identical—both support DirectX 12 (12_1) and OpenGL 4.6—but the RX 5300M lists Vulkan 1.4 compared to the Vega 56's Vulkan 1.3. The Vega 56's launch MSRP was 399 USD, while no launch MSRP is available for the RX 5300M. Release dates place the Vega 56 in August 2017 and the RX 5300M in November 2019, with the Vega 56's predecessor being Polaris and its successor Navi, while the RX 5300M's predecessor is Polaris Mobile with no successor listed. Both are marked end-of-life production status.