AMD Radeon RX 5500M vs AMD Radeon RX 9060 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The benchmark data records a clean sweep for the AMD Radeon RX 9060, winning all nine head-to-head comparisons against the AMD Radeon RX 5500M. The margins, however, vary dramatically by workload, revealing distinct performance characteristics.

The largest single gap appears in PassMark DirectX 11, where the RX 9060 scores 182 against 35 for the RX 5500M, a 420% delta. This is a legacy API test, but the magnitude signals that the newer architecture handles traditional rasterization pipelines with far greater efficiency. Similarly, PassMark GPU Compute shows a 328.3% advantage, with the RX 9060 at 9919 versus 2316. Compute throughput is a core strength of the RDNA 4.0 design, and this result aligns with the raw FP32 and FP16 specifications.

In synthetic 3D gaming workloads, the RX 9060 posts a PassMark G3D score of 17631, which is 201.5% higher than the RX 5500M's 5848. That is a threefold performance lead in a direct aggregate measure of graphics capability. The DirectX 12 subtest narrows the gap to 57.1%, with scores of 44 and 28 respectively. While the RX 9060 still wins, the smaller margin suggests that modern API overhead partially equalizes the field, though the RX 9060's support for DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) versus the RX 5500M's DirectX 12 (12_1) gives it access to newer feature levels.

The OpenCL workload shows a 127.7% delta, with the RX 9060 at 88183 and the RX 5500M at 38725. This is a general-purpose compute test, and the gap reflects the 21.43 TFLOPS FP32 throughput of the RX 9060 against 4.632 TFLOPS for the RX 5500M. Vulkan results are closer: 39476 versus 35693, a 10.6% delta. Vulkan's low-overhead nature appears to benefit the older RDNA 1.0 architecture relatively more, yet the RX 9060 still leads.

Older DirectX versions show consistent wins for the RX 9060: DirectX 9 at 280 versus 100 (180% delta), DirectX 10 at 104 versus 39 (166.7% delta). The 2D workload, PassMark G2D, also favors the RX 9060 at 1002 versus 414, a 142% delta, indicating faster texture and blitting operations.

The average benchmark score for the RX 9060 is 16014, placing it in the 59th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, which averages 16129, a delta of -0.7%. The RX 5500M, by contrast, averages 13356 in the 54th percentile, with its closest competitor being the AMD FirePro M6100 at 13354, a 0% delta. This means the RX 9060 sits just below a popular desktop mid-range card, while the RX 5500M sits at the edge of mobile-class performance.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different architectural generations and process nodes. The RX 9060 uses RDNA 4.0 on a 4 nm TSMC process, while the RX 5500M uses RDNA 1.0 on a 7 nm TSMC process. This node difference alone explains much of the efficiency and clock speed gap. The RX 9060's transistor count is 29,700 million on a 199 mm² die, yielding a density of 149.2M transistors per mm². The RX 5500M has 6,400 million transistors on a 158 mm² die, with a density of 40.5M per mm². That is a 3.7x density advantage for the newer part, allowing far more compute units in a similar physical footprint.

Clock speeds differ substantially. The RX 9060 has a base clock of 1700 MHz, a game clock of 2400 MHz, and a boost clock of 2990 MHz. The RX 5500M runs at 1375 MHz base, 1448 MHz game, and 1645 MHz boost. The RX 9060's boost clock is nearly double the RX 5500M's base clock, which contributes directly to its higher pixel and texture rates: 191.4 GPixel/s versus 52.64 GPixel/s, and 334.9 GTexel/s versus 144.8 GTexel/s.

Memory configurations diverge as well. The RX 9060 has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, with a bandwidth of 288.0 GB/s. The RX 5500M has 4 GB of GDDR6 on the same 128-bit bus, but with only 224.0 GB/s bandwidth. The RX 9060's memory clock is 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective) versus 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) for the RX 5500M. The extra capacity and bandwidth are critical for modern textures and higher resolutions.

Compute resources scale accordingly. The RX 9060 has 1792 shading units, 112 TMUs, 64 ROPs, and 28 ray tracing cores. The RX 5500M has 1408 shading units, 88 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, with no ray tracing cores listed. FP32 throughput is 21.43 TFLOPS for the RX 9060, while the RX 5500M achieves 4.632 TFLOPS. FP16 differs in ratio: the RX 9060 runs FP16 at 1:1 (21.43 TFLOPS), whereas the RX 5500M runs FP16 at 2:1 (9.265 TFLOPS). The RX 9060's ray tracing cores are a feature the RX 5500M lacks entirely, which explains the newer card's support for DirectX 12 Ultimate.

The bus interface also differs: PCIe 5.0 x16 for the RX 9060 versus PCIe 4.0 x8 for the RX 5500M. The RX 9060 uses a dual-slot cooler with a single 8-pin power connector and a suggested 300 W power supply. The RX 5500M has no power connectors listed, reflecting its mobile design, and consumes 85 W TDP versus 132 W for the RX 9060. Display outputs on the RX 9060 include one HDMI 2.1b and two DisplayPort 2.1a, while the RX 5500M is described as "Portable Device Dependent."

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has higher raw compute performance?

A: The RX 9060 delivers 21.43 TFLOPS FP32, which is 4.6x the RX 5500M's 4.632 TFLOPS. In the PassMark GPU Compute test, the RX 9060 scores 9919 versus 2316, a 328.3% delta.

Q: Does the RX 9060 support ray tracing?

A: Yes, the RX 9060 has 28 ray tracing cores and supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2). The RX 5500M has no ray tracing cores and only supports DirectX 12 (12_1).

Q: How does memory capacity affect real-world performance?

A: The RX 9060 has 8 GB of GDDR6 with 288.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the RX 5500M has 4 GB with 224.0 GB/s. The larger frame buffer allows the RX 9060 to handle higher-resolution textures and larger datasets without swapping.

Q: What is the performance difference in Vulkan?

A: In Geekbench Vulkan, the RX 9060 scores 39476 versus 35693 for the RX 5500M, a 10.6% delta. This is the smallest margin in any head-to-head test, indicating Vulkan's efficiency narrows the architectural gap.

Q: Which GPU has a higher transistor density?

A: The RX 9060 has 149.2M transistors per mm² on a 4 nm node, versus 40.5M per mm² for the RX 5500M on a 7 nm node. The RX 9060 packs 29,700 million transistors into a 199 mm² die versus 6,400 million into 158 mm².

Q: Which GPU is better for legacy DirectX titles?

A: The RX 9060 wins all legacy API tests. DirectX 9 shows 280 versus 100 (180% delta), DirectX 10 shows 104 versus 39 (166.7% delta), and DirectX 11 shows 182 versus 35 (420% delta).

Specification Differences

| Field | AMD Radeon RX 9060 | AMD Radeon RX 5500M |

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

| Architecture | RDNA 4.0 | RDNA 1.0 |

| Process Node | 4 nm | 7 nm |

| Transistors | 29,700 million | 6,400 million |

| Die Size | 199 mm² | 158 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 149.2M / mm² | 40.5M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1700 MHz | 1375 MHz |

| Game Clock | 2400 MHz | 1448 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 2990 MHz | 1645 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 2250 MHz (18 Gbps) | 1750 MHz (14 Gbps) |

| Memory Size | 8 GB | 4 GB |

| Memory Bandwidth | 288.0 GB/s | 224.0 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 1792 | 1408 |

| TMUs | 112 | 88 |

| ROPs | 64 | 32 |

| RT Cores | 28 | None |

| Pixel Rate | 191.4 GPixel/s | 52.64 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 334.9 GTexel/s | 144.8 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 21.43 TFLOPS | 4.632 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 21.43 TFLOPS (1:1) | 9.265 TFLOPS (2:1) |

| TDP | 132 W | 85 W |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 5.0 x16 | PCIe 4.0 x8 |

| DirectX | 12 Ultimate (12_2) | 12 (12_1) |

| Production Status | Active | End-of-life |

| Release Date | 2025-08-04 | 2019-10-06 |

The Verdict

The data points to a decisive generational leap. The RX 9060 wins every benchmark in the head-to-head set, with deltas ranging from 10.6% in Vulkan to 420% in DirectX 11. Its average benchmark score of 16014 places it in the 59th percentile of all GPUs, just 0.7% below the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti. The RX 5500M, at 13356 average, sits in the 54th percentile, effectively tied with the AMD FirePro M6100 and Radeon Pro 555X.

For users targeting modern gaming with ray tracing or demanding compute workloads, the RX 9060 is the only viable option from this pair. It offers 28 ray tracing cores, DirectX 12 Ultimate support, and 8 GB of memory, all absent or halved on the RX 5500M. The 4 nm process and RDNA 4.0 architecture deliver 21.43 TFLOPS FP32, enabling the 3x PassMark G3D lead.

The RX 5500M retains relevance only in constrained power envelopes. Its 85 W TDP versus 132 W, lack of external power connectors, and mobile form factor make it a legacy part for thin-and-light laptops. It cannot match the RX 9060's compute, memory bandwidth, or API support, and its end-of-life production status indicates no further updates.

The verdict is clear: choose the RX 9060 for any task where performance matters. The RX 5500M is only appropriate for systems that cannot physically accommodate a dual-slot, 132 W card with an 8-pin connector. The recorded data shows no scenario where the RX 5500M outperforms the RX 9060, and the architectural gap is too wide to bridge with driver optimizations.