AMD Radeon RX 5500M vs AMD Radeon Vega 11 Comparison

The AMD Radeon Vega 11 and AMD Radeon RX 5500M represent two distinct approaches to graphics processing, one integrated into a processor and the other a dedicated mobile solution. Benchmark data shows a decisive performance gap, with the RX 5500M winning all three head-to-head comparisons, yet the Vega 11 holds a higher overall percentile rank, creating a nuanced picture that depends heavily on the specific workload and API.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon RX 5500M wins every single benchmark recorded in the head-to-head comparisons. Its victories are sweeping and consistent across Metal, OpenCL, and Vulkan APIs, with score advantages ranging from 65.4% to 65.6% over the Vega 11. This makes the RX 5500M the clear choice for any application that leverages these modern graphics APIs, including gaming, 3D rendering, and compute-heavy tasks like machine learning inference.

The AMD Radeon Vega 11, despite losing all direct comparisons, wins in a more subtle and important way: it achieves a higher percentile rank among all GPUs. The Vega 11 sits at the 56th percentile, while the RX 5500M sits at the 54th percentile. This suggests that while the RX 5500M is faster in absolute terms, the Vega 11's performance profile is more competitive within its own peer group, possibly due to its integration in a low-power environment where its efficiency relative to its class is notable.

The Vega 11 also wins in the context of system integration. Its 15 W TDP and integrated nature mean it requires no additional power connectors, making it suitable for thin-and-light laptops where space and thermal headroom are at a premium. The RX 5500M, with an 85 W TDP, commands a larger thermal and power budget, which is only feasible in bulkier, gaming-oriented laptops. For users prioritizing portability and battery life over raw graphics throughput, the Vega 11 is the more practical option.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in Geekbench Metal tests?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 5500M is significantly faster, scoring 50,359 compared to the Vega 11's 17,392. This represents a 65.5% advantage for the RX 5500M.

Q: Does the Vega 11 have a higher benchmark percentile than the RX 5500M?

A: Yes. The Vega 11 ranks in the 56th percentile of all GPUs, while the RX 5500M ranks in the 54th percentile, despite the latter winning all direct comparisons.

Q: What is the difference in memory bandwidth between the two?

A: The RX 5500M has a fixed 224.0 GB/s bandwidth using 4 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus. The Vega 11 uses system shared memory, making its bandwidth "System Dependent" and not a fixed specification.

Q: Which GPU has a higher boost clock speed?

A: The RX 5500M has a boost clock of 1645 MHz, which is notably higher than the Vega 11's boost clock of 1400 MHz. The RX 5500M also has a higher base clock at 1375 MHz versus 300 MHz.

Q: Are there any benchmarks where the Vega 11 wins?

A: In the provided head-to-head data, the Vega 11 does not win any of the three recorded tests. The RX 5500M wins all of them.

Q: Which GPU supports a newer Vulkan version?

A: The RX 5500M supports Vulkan 1.4, while the Vega 11 supports Vulkan 1.3.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The Geekbench results show a consistent and dramatic performance gap favoring the RX 5500M. In the Metal test, the RX 5500M scores 50,359 against the Vega 11's 17,392, a delta of -65.5% from the perspective of the Vega 11. This is the largest absolute score difference, with the RX 5500M outperforming by nearly three times the score of its rival.

The OpenCL benchmark follows the same pattern. The RX 5500M delivers 38,725 points, while the Vega 11 manages 13,392 points. The delta here is -65.4%, almost identical to the Metal result. This consistency across different compute APIs suggests that the RX 5500M's architectural advantages, such as its higher shading unit count and dedicated memory bandwidth, translate equally well across various programming frameworks.

The Vulkan test shows the most significant relative disparity. The RX 5500M scores 35,693, while the Vega 11 scores 12,273, resulting in a delta of -65.6%. This is the largest percentage gap in the dataset. The pattern across all three tests is remarkably uniform, with the RX 5500M holding a roughly 2.9x advantage in raw score. This uniformity indicates a fundamental throughput difference rather than API-specific optimizations.

Specification Differences

The most glaring difference is in dedicated memory. The RX 5500M comes with 4 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The Vega 11 has no dedicated memory, relying on "System Shared" memory with "System Dependent" bandwidth, which is a major limiting factor for performance.

Clock speeds also differ substantially. The RX 5500M operates at a base clock of 1375 MHz, boosting to 1645 MHz, with a game clock of 1448 MHz. The Vega 11 starts at a low 300 MHz base and boosts to 1400 MHz. This lower base clock reflects the Vega 11's power-saving design. The RX 5500M also lists a memory clock of 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective), while the Vega 11's memory clock is listed as "System Shared".

The processing core counts are vastly different. The RX 5500M has 1408 shading units, 88 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. The Vega 11 has 704 shading units, 44 TMUs, and only 8 ROPs. This directly impacts fill rates, with the RX 5500M achieving 52.64 GPixel/s and 144.8 GTexel/s, versus the Vega 11's 11.20 GPixel/s and 61.60 GTexel/s.

Power and interface also differ. The RX 5500M has a 85 W TDP and uses a PCIe 4.0 x8 interface, while the Vega 11 has a 15 W TDP and an integrated (IGP) interface. Both are end-of-life products, but the RX 5500M belongs to the Radeon RX 5000 series, whereas the Vega 11 is a standalone IGP.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are built on fundamentally different architectures. The Vega 11 uses the GCN 5.0 architecture, produced on a 12 nm process at GlobalFoundries. The RX 5500M uses the newer RDNA 1.0 architecture, manufactured by TSMC on a 7 nm process. This process shrink is critical, allowing the RX 5500M to pack 6,400 million transistors into a smaller 158 mm² die, achieving a density of 40.5M / mm². In contrast, the Vega 11 has 4,940 million transistors on a larger 210 mm² die, with a density of only 23.5M / mm².

The chip designs are also distinct. The Vega 11 is based on the "Picasso" chip, which is an integrated graphics processor designed for APUs. The RX 5500M uses the "Navi 14" chip, which is a discrete mobile GPU. This difference in design philosophy is evident in their capabilities. The RX 5500M's RDNA architecture is designed for higher instruction-level parallelism and lower latency, which contributes to its superior compute performance.

Feature support also diverges. While both support DirectX 12 (12_1) and OpenGL 4.6, the RX 5500M supports Vulkan 1.4, whereas the Vega 11 supports Vulkan 1.3. The Vega 11's predecessor is "GCN 3.0 IGP" and its successor is "Vega II IGP," indicating a lineage focused on integrated solutions. The RX 5500M's predecessor is "Polaris Mobile," and it has no successor listed, marking it as a distinct mobile discrete solution in the RX 5000 series.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous regarding raw performance: the AMD Radeon RX 5500M is the superior graphics processor. It wins all head-to-head benchmarks by a landslide margin of roughly 65%, offers more than double the shading units, and provides dedicated high-speed GDDR6 memory. Any user whose priority is gaming, 3D rendering, or GPU-accelerated compute should choose the RX 5500M based on these specifications and benchmark results.

However, the AMD Radeon Vega 11 is not without merit. Its higher percentile rank (56th vs 54th) suggests that in its own integrated context, it performs relatively better against its peers than the RX 5500M does against its discrete competitors. Its 15 W TDP is a fraction of the RX 5500M's 85 W TDP, making it the only viable option for ultra-portable systems where power efficiency is paramount. It also requires no dedicated power connectors.

The choice ultimately hinges on the use case. For a dedicated gaming laptop with room for a discrete GPU, the RX 5500M is the obvious and data-backed choice. For an ultra-thin productivity laptop where the GPU is secondary and battery life is critical, the Vega 11's integration and lower power draw make it the more sensible engineering trade-off. The benchmark scores do not lie about performance, but they do not capture the full picture of system-level suitability.