AMD Radeon RX 5500M vs AMD Radeon RX 580 Comparison

The AMD Radeon RX 5500M and AMD Radeon RX 580 represent two distinct approaches to GPU design from the same manufacturer, separated by a generation of architecture and a fundamental difference in form factor. The RX 5500M is a mobile-first part built on the 7 nm RDNA 1.0 architecture, while the RX 580 is a desktop Polaris card from the GCN 4.0 era. Benchmark data shows a clear split: the RX 5500M wins in 2 of the 10 head-to-head tests, while the RX 580 dominates the remaining 8, yet the overall average benchmark scores are surprisingly close, with the mobile part at 13356 and the desktop part at 12928. This page breaks down where each GPU excels, what separates their architectures, and what the benchmark numbers actually indicate for real-world usage.

Where Each One Wins

The division of wins is stark and follows a consistent pattern. The AMD Radeon RX 5500M claims victory in the two modern compute-oriented API tests: Geekbench Metal and Geekbench OpenCL. In the Metal test, it scores 50359 against the RX 580's 45235, a lead of 11.3%. In OpenCL, the margin narrows to 3.4%, with scores of 38725 versus 37453. These wins suggest the RDNA 1.0 architecture in the RX 5500M has a genuine advantage in certain compute workloads, particularly those that leverage the newer instruction set and higher clock speeds.

The AMD Radeon RX 580, however, is the clear winner across the entire Passmark suite and in Vulkan. Its most significant victories come in Passmark DirectX 11, where it scores 60 versus 35 — a 41.7% advantage. In DirectX 12, the RX 580 leads by 34.9% with scores of 43 versus 28. The desktop card also wins decisively in Passmark G3D (8813 vs 5848, a 33.6% delta) and Passmark GPU Compute (3488 vs 2316, also 33.6%). The RX 580 even takes the 2D test, scoring 769 against the RX 5500M's 414, a 46.2% gap. This pattern indicates that for traditional rasterization workloads and legacy API paths, the RX 580's larger shader count and memory bandwidth prove decisive, while the RX 5500M's wins are confined to more modern, compute-heavy abstractions.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are built on fundamentally different technology nodes and architectures. The RX 5500M uses the Navi 14 chip fabricated on a 7 nm process at TSMC, while the RX 580 uses the Polaris 20 chip on a 14 nm process from GlobalFoundries. This node difference is reflected in transistor density: the RX 5500M packs 6,400 million transistors into a 158 mm² die, yielding a density of 40.5 million transistors per mm². The RX 580, in contrast, has 5,700 million transistors on a much larger 232 mm² die, for a density of just 24.6 million per mm². The process advantage allows the RX 5500M to achieve higher clock speeds despite its smaller physical size.

Architecturally, the RX 5500M is based on RDNA 1.0, which is a significant departure from the RX 580's GCN 4.0. RDNA introduces a redesigned compute unit layout and a 2:1 FP16 rate, meaning the RX 5500M delivers 9.265 TFLOPS of FP16 versus 4.632 TFLOPS of FP32. The RX 580, being GCN-based, has a 1:1 ratio, delivering 6.175 TFLOPS for both FP16 and FP32. This architectural shift explains why the RX 5500M performs better in Metal and OpenCL, which can exploit the faster half-precision path. The RX 580 compensates with sheer scale: 2304 shading units and 144 texture mapping units, versus 1408 and 88 respectively on the RX 5500M. Both have 32 ROPs.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The Geekbench Metal test is the RX 5500M's strongest showing. With a score of 50359 versus 45235, it outperforms the RX 580 by 11.3%. This is notable because Metal is a low-level API that typically favors architectures with efficient command processing, and RDNA 1.0 delivers here. The OpenCL result follows the same trend but less dramatically: 38725 versus 37453, a 3.4% win for the RX 5500M. These two tests represent the mobile GPU's only victories.

The RX 580's dominance in the Passmark suite is comprehensive. In DirectX 11, the desktop card scores 60 against 35, a 41.7% lead. DirectX 12 shows a 34.9% gap, with scores of 43 and 28. Even in legacy DirectX 9, the RX 580 leads by 19.4% (124 vs 100). The G3D test, which is a aggregate measure of 3D rendering performance, shows the RX 580 ahead by 33.6% (8813 vs 5848), and the GPU Compute test shows the same 33.6% delta (3488 vs 2316). The RX 580 also wins in Vulkan, scoring 45173 versus 35693, a 21% margin. This Vulkan result is particularly interesting because it contradicts the Metal result, suggesting that the RX 5500M's compute advantage is not universal across all modern APIs.

Specification Differences

The most visible specification difference is memory configuration. The RX 5500M has 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, providing 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The RX 580 has 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, providing 256.0 GB/s. While the RX 580 has higher total bandwidth, the RX 5500M's GDDR6 operates at 14 Gbps effective versus 8 Gbps effective on the RX 580, which partially compensates for the narrower bus. In terms of clock speeds, the RX 5500M has a base clock of 1375 MHz and a boost of 1645 MHz, while the RX 580 runs at 1257 MHz base and 1340 MHz boost. The RX 5500M also has a game clock of 1448 MHz, a feature the RX 580 lacks.

Power and physical design differ substantially. The RX 5500M has a TDP of 85 W and requires no power connectors, being a mobile chip. The RX 580 has a TDP of 185 W, requires a single 8-pin power connector, and is a dual-slot card measuring 241 mm (9.5 inches) in length. The RX 580 also has a suggested PSU rating of 450 W. The bus interface differs: the RX 5500M uses PCIe 4.0 x8, while the RX 580 uses PCIe 3.0 x16. Display outputs also differ, with the RX 580 offering 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, while the RX 5500M's outputs are listed as portable device dependent. The RX 5500M supports DirectX 12_1 and Vulkan 1.4, while the RX 580 supports DirectX 12_0 and Vulkan 1.3. The RX 580 launched at an MSRP of 229 USD.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 5500M has a higher average benchmark score of 13356 compared to the RX 580's 12928. However, the RX 5500M's nearest rivals are other mobile parts like the AMD FirePro M6100 (13354) and AMD Radeon Pro 555X (13321), while the RX 580 sits close to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile (12940) and AMD Radeon 740M (12870).

Q: Why does the RX 580 win more head-to-head tests?

A: The RX 580 wins 8 of the 10 head-to-head benchmarks, with its largest victories coming in Passmark DirectX 11 (41.7% ahead), DirectX 12 (34.9% ahead), and G3D (33.6% ahead). The RX 5500M wins only in Geekbench Metal (11.3% ahead) and OpenCL (3.4% ahead). The RX 580's higher shading unit count and wider memory bus contribute to its dominance in traditional rasterization workloads.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth difference?

A: The RX 580 has 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth from its 256-bit GDDR5 bus, while the RX 5500M has 224.0 GB/s from a 128-bit GDDR6 bus. Despite the lower total bandwidth, the RX 5500M's memory runs at 14 Gbps effective versus 8 Gbps on the RX 580.

Q: How do the power requirements compare?

A: The RX 5500M has a TDP of 85 W and requires no power connectors, making it suitable for mobile implementations. The RX 580 has a TDP of 185 W, requires a single 8-pin power connector, and has a suggested PSU rating of 450 W.

Q: Which GPU supports newer API versions?

A: The RX 5500M supports DirectX 12_1 and Vulkan 1.4, while the RX 580 supports DirectX 12_0 and Vulkan 1.3. Both support OpenGL 4.6.

Q: What is the manufacturing process difference?

A: The RX 5500M is built on a 7 nm process at TSMC with 6,400 million transistors on a 158 mm² die. The RX 580 uses a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries with 5,700 million transistors on a 232 mm² die. This gives the RX 5500M a transistor density of 40.5 million per mm² versus 24.6 million per mm² for the RX 580.