AMD Radeon RX 5500M vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data contains a single common benchmark between these two GPUs: Geekbench OpenCL. In this test, the AMD Radeon RX 5500M delivers a score of 38,725, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 scores 15,283. The delta of 60.5% means the AMD part is dramatically ahead, more than doubling the NVIDIA GPU's output. This is a decisive, one-sided result, and the RX 5500M takes the only recorded win in this comparison.

A closer look at the RX 5500M's score in context shows why this margin is notable. The Radeon's OpenCL result of 38,725 places it in the 54th percentile of all GPUs in the database. Meanwhile, the GTX 580's 15,283 score sits at the 58th percentile. Despite the lower raw number, the GTX 580's percentile is slightly higher, which highlights a quirk of the database's distribution. However, in a direct head-to-head, the 60.5% lead for the RX 5500M is unambiguous.

For the GTX 580, its nearest rivals are all modern or semi-modern parts: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (average score 15,290, delta 0%), the AMD Radeon 680M (15,270, delta 0.1%), the RTX 3050 OEM (15,199, delta 0.6%), and the AMD Radeon RX 7600 (15,171, delta 0.7%). The GTX 580's score of 15,283 is essentially tied with these, within a fraction of a percent. This tells us that the ancient Fermi chip is somehow keeping pace with a much newer entry-level card and an integrated GPU in this particular OpenCL workload, but it does not have any headroom above them.

On the other side, the RX 5500M's nearest rivals are all older or lower-end AMD mobile parts: the AMD FirePro M6100 (13,354, delta 0%), the AMD Radeon HD 8950M (13,376, delta -0.1%), the AMD Radeon Pro 555X (13,321, delta 0.3%), and the AMD Radeon Pro 555 (13,407, delta -0.4%). The 5500M's average benchmark score is 13,356, which puts it just ahead of the M6100 and just behind the HD 8950M. Yet its OpenCL score of 38,725 is far above its own average, indicating that OpenCL is a particularly strong workload for this GPU. The delta between its OpenCL result and its nearest rivals in the same test is not directly listed, but the raw numbers show it is roughly 2.9 times higher than the GTX 580's OpenCL score.

In practical terms, the data shows a generational chasm. The GTX 580, based on Fermi 2.0, is firmly in end-of-life status from 2010. The RX 5500M, based on RDNA 1.0, is a 2019 mobile part. While the GTX 580 holds a higher overall percentile, the specific single-benchmark comparison shows that the RX 5500M is the far faster GPU in compute-heavy OpenCL tasks. There is no scenario in this data where the GTX 580 wins a head-to-head metric.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher Geekbench OpenCL score?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 5500M wins decisively with a score of 38,725, compared to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580's 15,283. That is a 60.5% lead for the AMD part.

Q: How does the GTX 580 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The GTX 580's OpenCL score of 15,283 is nearly identical to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (15,290, delta 0%), the AMD Radeon 680M (15,270, delta 0.1%), and the AMD Radeon RX 7600 (15,171, delta 0.7%). It is effectively tied with all of them.

Q: How does the RX 5500M compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RX 5500M's average benchmark score is 13,356, but its OpenCL score is 38,725. Its nearest rivals are the AMD FirePro M6100 (13,354, delta 0%), AMD Radeon HD 8950M (13,376, delta -0.1%), AMD Radeon Pro 555X (13,321, delta 0.3%), and AMD Radeon Pro 555 (13,407, delta -0.4%). The 5500M is effectively level with the M6100 and HD 8950M in average terms.

Q: What is the difference in overall performance percentile?

A: The GTX 580 is in the 58th percentile of all GPUs, while the RX 5500M is in the 54th percentile. So despite the RX 5500M winning the head-to-head OpenCL test, the GTX 580 ranks slightly higher in the overall database distribution.

Q: Does the RX 5500M support Vulkan?

A: Yes, the RX 5500M lists Vulkan 1.4 support. The GTX 580 does not list a Vulkan version in the data.

Q: Which GPU has a higher pixel rate?

A: The RX 5500M has a pixel rate of 52.64 GPixel/s, while the GTX 580 has a pixel rate of 24.70 GPixel/s. The RX 5500M is more than double.

The Verdict

The data is one-sided. In the single recorded benchmark, the AMD Radeon RX 5500M beats the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 by 60.5% in OpenCL. There is no metric in this dataset where the GTX 580 comes out ahead. For anyone choosing between these two based on the recorded measurements, the RX 5500M is the clear performer.

However, the percentile story is more nuanced. The GTX 580 sits in the 58th percentile, while the RX 5500M sits in the 54th. This means that, across the entire database, the GTX 580 outperforms a larger fraction of other GPUs than the RX 5500M does. In practice, this suggests the GTX 580's raw OpenCL score, while lower, is still competitive with many modern parts, as shown by its ties with the RTX 2060 and RX 7600. The RX 5500M's score is higher but sits in a denser, more competitive region of the distribution.

Who should pick which? If the task is specifically OpenCL compute, the RX 5500M is the only reasonable choice, as it delivers more than double the throughput. If the concern is overall standing relative to the entire GPU install base, the GTX 580's percentile is marginally better, but that advantage is tiny and does not translate to a win in any direct test. Given that the RX 5500M also has lower power draw (85 W vs. 244 W), a smaller die, and more modern memory, the data strongly favors the AMD part for any workload that resembles OpenCL. The GTX 580 is a legacy card that is only relevant in a database percentile context, not in practical performance.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ in almost every core specification. The GTX 580 has 512 shading units, 64 texture mapping units, and 48 ROPs. The RX 5500M has 1,408 shading units, 88 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The RX 5500M has more than double the shading units and more texture units, but fewer ROPs. The pixel rate reflects this: the RX 5500M is at 52.64 GPixel/s, while the GTX 580 is at 24.70 GPixel/s. The texture rate is also lopsided: 144.8 GTexel/s for the RX 5500M versus 49.41 GTexel/s for the GTX 580.

Memory differences are substantial. The GTX 580 uses 1536 MB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus with a bandwidth of 192.4 GB/s. The RX 5500M uses 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus with a bandwidth of 224.0 GB/s. The RX 5500M has more memory and higher bandwidth despite a narrower bus.

Clock speeds are not directly comparable because the GTX 580 has no listed base or boost clock. The RX 5500M has a base clock of 1375 MHz, a boost of 1645 MHz, and a game clock of 1448 MHz. The GTX 580's memory clock is 1002 MHz (4 Gbps effective), while the RX 5500M's is 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective).

Power and physical dimensions differ. The GTX 580 has a TDP of 244 W, requires a 1x 6-pin and 1x 8-pin power connector, and needs a 550 W suggested PSU. The RX 5500M has a TDP of 85 W, uses no power connectors, and has no suggested PSU listed. The GTX 580 is dual-slot, 267 mm long, and 111 mm high. The RX 5500M has no listed dimensions and is dependent on the portable device.

Architecture Differences

The GTX 580 is built on the GF110 chip using the Fermi 2.0 architecture from the GeForce 500 generation. The RX 5500M uses the Navi 14 chip with the RDNA 1.0 architecture from the Radeon RX 5000 series. The process nodes are generations apart: the GTX 580 is on 40 nm, while the RX 5500M is on 7 nm, both fabricated by TSMC.

Transistor counts are stark. The GTX 580 packs 3,000 million transistors on a 520 mm² die, giving a density of 5.8 million transistors per mm². The RX 5500M has 6,400 million transistors on a 158 mm² die, achieving a density of 40.5 million per mm². This is a 7-fold advantage in density for the AMD part.

The RX 5500M supports more modern APIs. It lists DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The GTX 580 lists DirectX 12 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.6, but no Vulkan. The GTX 580 also has no FP16 capabilities listed, while the RX 5500M lists FP16 performance of 9.265 TFLOPS with a 2:1 ratio.

Neither GPU has ray tracing or tensor cores. The RX 5500M has a base clock and boost clock, which is typical of modern designs, while the GTX 580 does not list any. The RX 5500M also uses a PCIe 4.0 x8 interface, while the GTX 580 uses PCIe 2.0 x16. The bus interface is another sign of the architectural gap.

In terms of production status, both are end-of-life. The GTX 580 was released on 2010-11-08, with a successor in the GeForce 600 series. The RX 5500M was released on 2019-10-07, with the predecessor being Polaris Mobile and no listed successor. The GTX 580 had a launch MSRP of 499 USD, which is the only price-related detail in this dataset. The RX 5500M has no launch MSRP listed.