AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct head-to-head benchmark recorded in the database is Geekbench OpenCL, and the result is a decisive victory for the AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT. The AMD card scores 46,965 points compared to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590's 12,830 points. That is a delta of 266.1% in favor of the RX 5500 XT. This is not a marginal win; it is a generational gap made visible in raw compute throughput.

The RX 5500 XT's OpenCL score of 46,965 places it far outside the range of the GTX 590's nearest rivals. The GTX 590's own average benchmark score is 12,830, which puts it in the 52nd percentile of all GPUs. Its closest competitors in the database are the AMD Radeon Pro 455 (12,831, 0% delta), the AMD FirePro W5100 (12,847, -0.1% delta), and the AMD Radeon 740M (12,870, -0.3% delta). The GTX 590 is effectively tied with those cards, all within a fraction of a percent of each other. In contrast, the RX 5500 XT sits at the 57th percentile, with an average benchmark score of 14,692 across all recorded tests.

Looking at the RX 5500 XT's broader benchmark profile, it shows consistent strength across different API tests. It scores 1,032 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, 54,842 in Geekbench Metal, 44,191 in Geekbench Vulkan, and 9,083 in Passmark G3D. The GTX 590 has no recorded scores in these tests, so direct comparison is limited to the single OpenCL result. However, that single result is telling: the RX 5500 XT delivers more than 3.6 times the OpenCL performance of the GTX 590, and the GTX 590's nearest rivals are all within 0.4% of its score, meaning the RX 5500 XT would be roughly 266% ahead of any of those cards as well.

The data shows a clear pattern: the RX 5500 XT is not just faster, it is overwhelmingly faster in the one test where both cards have recorded results. The GTX 590, despite its dual-GPU design, cannot keep pace with a modern mid-range card from a decade later. The delta of 266.1% is one of the largest margins seen in the database for a head-to-head comparison, and it underscores how far GPU compute performance has advanced.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two cards is immense, and it explains the benchmark results. The AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT is built on the Navi 14 chip using RDNA 1.0 architecture, fabricated on a 7 nm process at TSMC. It contains 6,400 million transistors on a die size of 158 mm², yielding a transistor density of 40.5M per mm². The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590, by contrast, uses the GF110 chip with Fermi 2.0 architecture, built on a 40 nm process, also at TSMC. It packs 3,000 million transistors on a much larger 520 mm² die, with a transistor density of just 5.8M per mm².

The process node difference is stark: 7 nm versus 40 nm. This allows the RX 5500 XT to pack more than twice the transistors into less than one-third the die area. The transistor density advantage is nearly 7 times higher for the AMD card. This is the fundamental reason for the performance disparity.

Memory configurations also differ substantially. The RX 5500 XT has 4 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GTX 590 has 1,536 MB (1.5 GB) of GDDR5 memory on a 384-bit bus, with 164.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Despite the wider bus, the GTX 590 has less capacity and lower bandwidth due to the older memory technology. The RX 5500 XT's memory clock is 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective), while the GTX 590's memory runs at 854 MHz (3.4 Gbps effective).

Compute resources tell a similar story. The RX 5500 XT has 1,408 shading units, 88 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The GTX 590 has 512 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 48 ROPs. The AMD card has nearly 3 times the shading units and more TMUs, though the GTX 590 has more ROPs. Pixel rate is 59.04 GPixel/s for the RX 5500 XT versus 19.46 GPixel/s for the GTX 590. Texture rate is 162.4 GTexel/s versus 38.91 GTexel/s. FP32 compute is 5.196 TFLOPS for the AMD card versus 1,244.2 GFLOPS (approximately 1.24 TFLOPS) for the NVIDIA card. The RX 5500 XT also supports FP16 at 10.39 TFLOPS (2:1 ratio), while the GTX 590 has no recorded FP16 capability.

Interface and connectivity also differ. The RX 5500 XT uses PCIe 4.0 x8, while the GTX 590 uses PCIe 2.0 x16. Display outputs are 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a for the AMD card, versus 3x DVI and 1x mini-DisplayPort for the NVIDIA card. Both support DirectX 12, but the RX 5500 XT supports version 12_1 while the GTX 590 only supports 11_0. OpenGL is 4.6 for both. Vulkan support is present on the RX 5500 XT (version 1.4) but is not recorded for the GTX 590.

FAQ

Q: Which card has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT has an average benchmark score of 14,692, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590 has an average score of 12,830. The RX 5500 XT also sits at the 57th percentile of all GPUs, versus the 52nd percentile for the GTX 590.

Q: How much faster is the RX 5500 XT in OpenCL?

A: In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the RX 5500 XT scores 46,965 compared to the GTX 590's 12,830, a delta of 266.1%. This is the only head-to-head benchmark recorded for both cards.

Q: What are the nearest rivals for each card?

A: The RX 5500 XT's nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 (14,747, -0.4% delta), the NVIDIA Quadro M2000 (14,532, 1.1% delta), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 965M (14,404, 2% delta), and the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 (14,385, 2.1% delta). The GTX 590's nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon Pro 455 (12,831, 0% delta), the AMD FirePro W5100 (12,847, -0.1% delta), the AMD Radeon 740M (12,870, -0.3% delta), and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 (12,773, 0.4% delta).

Q: What is the process node difference?

A: The RX 5500 XT is built on a 7 nm process, while the GTX 590 is built on a 40 nm process. This results in a transistor density of 40.5M per mm² for the AMD card versus 5.8M per mm² for the NVIDIA card.

Q: How do the memory specifications compare?

A: The RX 5500 XT has 4 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus with 224.0 GB/s bandwidth. The GTX 590 has 1,536 MB of GDDR5 memory on a 384-bit bus with 164.0 GB/s bandwidth. The RX 5500 XT also has a higher effective memory clock at 14 Gbps versus 3.4 Gbps.

Q: Which card has higher power consumption?

A: The GTX 590 has a TDP of 365 W, while the RX 5500 XT has a TDP of 130 W. The GTX 590 requires a 750 W suggested PSU and uses 2x 8-pin power connectors, while the RX 5500 XT requires a 300 W suggested PSU and uses 1x 8-pin connector.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT is the superior performer in every measurable category where both cards have results. The 266.1% lead in OpenCL is a massive margin, and the RX 5500 XT's higher percentile rank (57th versus 52nd) and higher average benchmark score (14,692 versus 12,830) confirm its overall advantage.

The RX 5500 XT should be the choice for any workload that relies on compute performance, modern API support, or memory bandwidth. It has 4 GB of GDDR6 memory versus 1.5 GB of GDDR5, supports DirectX 12_1 versus 11_0, has Vulkan 1.4 support versus none recorded, and delivers over 4 times the FP32 compute throughput (5.196 TFLOPS versus 1,244.2 GFLOPS). It also consumes less than half the power (130 W versus 365 W) and requires a smaller PSU (300 W versus 750 W).

The GTX 590, despite its higher launch MSRP of 699 USD compared to the RX 5500 XT's 169 USD, cannot compete on any recorded metric. Its only potential advantages are a wider memory bus (384 bit versus 128 bit) and more ROPs (48 versus 32), but these do not translate into better benchmark results. The GTX 590's nearest rivals are all modern integrated or low-end discrete GPUs, and it is statistically tied with them.

For anyone building a system today, the RX 5500 XT is the clear pick. For anyone considering the GTX 590, the data suggests it is obsolete for all but the most basic tasks, and even then it is outperformed by a card from a lower tier.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590 |

|---|---|---|

| Process Node | 7 nm | 40 nm |

| Transistors | 6,400 million | 3,000 million |

| Die Size | 158 mm² | 520 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 40.5M / mm² | 5.8M / mm² |

| Memory Size | 4 GB | 1,536 MB |

| Memory Type | GDDR6 | GDDR5 |

| Memory Bus | 128 bit | 384 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 224.0 GB/s | 164.0 GB/s |

| Memory Clock | 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) | 854 MHz (3.4 Gbps effective) |

| Shading Units | 1,408 | 512 |

| TMUs | 88 | 64 |

| ROPs | 32 | 48 |

| Pixel Rate | 59.04 GPixel/s | 19.46 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 162.4 GTexel/s | 38.91 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 5.196 TFLOPS | 1,244.2 GFLOPS |

| FP16 | 10.39 TFLOPS (2:1) | null |

| TDP | 130 W | 365 W |

| Power Connectors | 1x 8-pin | 2x 8-pin |

| Suggested PSU | 300 W | 750 W |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 4.0 x8 | PCIe 2.0 x16 |

| Display Outputs | 1x HDMI 2.0b, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a | 3x DVI, 1x mini-DisplayPort |

| DirectX | 12 (12_1) | 12 (11_0) |

| Vulkan | 1.4 | null |

| Length | 180 mm (7.1 inches) | 279 mm (11 inches) |

| Height | null | 111 mm (4.4 inches) |

| Width | null | 40 mm (1.6 inches) |

| Launch MSRP | 169 USD | 699 USD |

Where Each One Wins

The RX 5500 XT wins in almost every scenario. For compute-heavy workloads such as OpenCL rendering, GPGPU tasks, or any application that leverages FP32 or FP16 throughput, the RX 5500 XT is overwhelmingly faster. Its 5.196 TFLOPS FP32 and 10.39 TFLOPS FP16 capabilities dwarf the GTX 590's 1,244.2 GFLOPS FP32, and its 224.0 GB/s memory bandwidth provides faster data movement despite a narrower bus. Modern API support (DirectX 12_1, Vulkan 1.4) also means the RX 5500 XT can run newer games and applications that may not even launch on the GTX 590.

The GTX 590's only theoretical advantages are its 384-bit memory bus and 48 ROPs, which could favor certain legacy fill-rate-bound scenarios. However, no benchmark in the database confirms this advantage, and its lower bandwidth (164.0 GB/s) and memory capacity (1,536 MB) would likely bottleneck any such workload. The GTX 590 also has a higher launch MSRP of 699 USD, but the data shows no performance benefit to justify it.

In practical terms, the RX 5500 XT is the card for anyone seeking modern gaming at 1080p, compute tasks, or a low-power build (130 W TDP, 300 W PSU). The GTX 590 is a relic from 2011, and its 365 W TDP, 750 W PSU requirement, and lack of modern API support make it unsuitable for contemporary use. The data gives the RX 5500 XT a 1-0 win in head-to-head benchmarks, and the architecture differences ensure that lead would only grow across a wider test suite.