AMD Radeon RX 5500M vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile Comparison

The AMD Radeon RX 5500M and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile are both end-of-life mobile graphics solutions aimed at thin-and-light gaming laptops, but the benchmark data shows they occupy very different performance tiers. Across every single shared test in the database, the NVIDIA part finishes ahead, often by a wide margin, making this comparison less about close competition and more about quantifying the generational and architectural gap between the two. The data shows a decisive victory for the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile, with the RX 5500M trailing by double-digit percentages in all nine head-to-head benchmarks.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most lopsided results appear in the DirectX 11 and compute-heavy workloads. In the Passmark DirectX 11 test, the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile scores 76 against the RX 5500M's 35, a delta of -53.9% for the AMD part. That is the single largest gap in the entire comparison, indicating a fundamental difference in how the two architectures handle legacy API overhead. The Passmark GPU Compute test tells a similar story: NVIDIA scores 4305 while AMD manages only 2316, a -46.2% deficit. This suggests the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile's compute capabilities are significantly more robust, likely due to its higher shading unit count and dedicated tensor cores.

The gap narrows somewhat in the DirectX 12 test, but NVIDIA still wins comfortably. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile posts a score of 49 versus the RX 5500M's 28, a -42.9% difference. This is a critical metric for modern gaming, as DirectX 12 is the foundation for most current AAA titles. The Passmark DirectX 10 test shows a -35% delta (60 vs 39), while the older DirectX 9 test shows the smallest relative gap at -16.7% (120 vs 100). This pattern indicates that as the API becomes more modern and complex, the NVIDIA architecture pulls further ahead, likely due to its superior driver optimization and hardware feature set.

In the Geekbench suite, the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile again dominates. The OpenCL score is 57915 for NVIDIA versus 38725 for AMD, a -33.1% delta. The Vulkan score is even more decisive: 55812 versus 35693, a -36% gap. These results are particularly telling because they represent cross-platform, low-level APIs that are highly sensitive to raw hardware throughput. The 2D performance, measured by Passmark G2D, shows a smaller but still significant gap of -16.9% (498 vs 414), which is less relevant for gaming but indicates better overall desktop responsiveness on the NVIDIA part.

The most comprehensive metric, Passmark G3D, which aggregates overall 3D rendering performance, shows the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile scoring 10093 against the RX 5500M's 5848. That is a -42.1% delta, meaning the NVIDIA GPU delivers roughly 73% more raw 3D performance. This single number encapsulates the overall experience: the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile is in a different performance class. It is notably the RX 5500M does not win a single benchmark in this comparison; the wins column shows 0 for AMD and 9 for NVIDIA.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are built on fundamentally different architectures and process nodes. The AMD Radeon RX 5500M uses the Navi 14 chip based on RDNA 1.0, fabricated on a 7 nm process at TSMC. In contrast, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile uses the GA106 chip based on the Ampere architecture, fabricated on an 8 nm process at Samsung. This is a notable inversion: AMD has the process advantage with a smaller node, but NVIDIA compensates with a massively larger die. The GA106 chip contains 12,000 million transistors on a 276 mm² die, while the Navi 14 has 6,400 million transistors on a 158 mm² die. This means the NVIDIA chip has nearly double the transistor count and a transistor density of 43.5M per mm² versus AMD's 40.5M per mm².

The core configuration differences are stark. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile packs 2560 shading units, while the RX 5500M has only 1408. This 82% advantage in raw shader count is the primary driver of its performance lead. However, the AMD part has a slight edge in texture mapping units (88 vs 80) and a higher texture fill rate of 144.8 GTexel/s versus NVIDIA's 82.80 GTexel/s. Both have 32 ROPs, but the RX 5500M achieves a higher pixel rate of 52.64 GPixel/s compared to 33.12 GPixel/s on the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile. This suggests AMD is better at pixel throughput per clock, but NVIDIA's sheer shader count overwhelms this advantage in actual workloads.

The most consequential architectural difference is the inclusion of dedicated hardware on the NVIDIA part. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile features 20 RT cores and 80 tensor cores, which enable hardware-accelerated ray tracing and DLSS. The RX 5500M has no RT cores or tensor cores at all, meaning it must rely on software-based solutions for these features. This is reflected in the API support: NVIDIA supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while AMD is limited to DirectX 12 (12_1). The FP32 throughput also favors NVIDIA at 5.299 TFLOPS versus AMD's 4.632 TFLOPS, though AMD's FP16 performance is higher at 9.265 TFLOPS (2:1 ratio) compared to NVIDIA's 5.299 TFLOPS (1:1 ratio).

Memory configurations are similar but not identical. Both use 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, but the RX 5500M runs its memory at 14 Gbps effective, yielding 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth, while the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile runs at 12 Gbps effective for 192.0 GB/s. This gives AMD a 17% bandwidth advantage, which helps in certain bandwidth-sensitive scenarios but does not overcome NVIDIA's compute advantage. The power envelopes are also close: the RX 5500M has a TDP of 85 W, while the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile is rated at 75 W, making NVIDIA more power-efficient despite the larger die. The bus interface differs as well, with AMD using PCIe 4.0 x8 and NVIDIA using PCIe 4.0 x16.

Where Each One Wins

Based on the data, the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile wins every single benchmark category, but the magnitude of its wins varies significantly by workload type. The largest deltas are in compute-heavy and modern API tests. The Passmark GPU Compute test shows a -46.2% delta, and the DirectX 11 test shows a -53.9% delta, indicating NVIDIA's dominance in GPGPU tasks and legacy API optimization. For users running scientific simulations, video encoding, or any CUDA-accelerated application, the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile is categorically superior.

The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile also holds a commanding lead in DirectX 12 performance, with a -42.9% delta. This is the most important metric for modern gaming, as virtually all new AAA titles use DirectX 12. The Geekbench Vulkan score shows a -36% delta, meaning NVIDIA also wins in cross-platform Linux or Vulkan-based games. The Passmark G3D score, which is the best overall indicator of gaming performance, shows a -42.1% delta, reinforcing that the NVIDIA part is the better choice for any current or near-future gaming workload.

The RX 5500M's closest relative performance comes in the legacy DirectX 9 test, where the delta is only -16.7%. This suggests that for very old games or light esports titles that rely on DirectX 9, the AMD part is relatively less disadvantaged, though it still loses. The Passmark G2D test shows a -16.9% delta, meaning the RX 5500M is also closer in 2D desktop performance. However, these are niche scenarios that do not reflect the demands of modern gaming or professional workloads.

There is no workload category where the RX 5500M emerges as the recommended option based on the benchmark data. Even in texture fill rate and pixel rate, where the AMD part has theoretical advantages on paper (144.8 GTexel/s vs 82.80 GTexel/s, and 52.64 GPixel/s vs 33.12 GPixel/s), the real-world Passmark G3D score shows NVIDIA winning by 42.1%. This indicates that the architectural efficiency of Ampere, combined with its higher shader count, overcomes AMD's raw throughput advantages in those specific sub-units.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile is the superior GPU in every measurable way. It wins all nine head-to-head benchmarks, with deltas ranging from -16.7% in DirectX 9 to -53.9% in DirectX 11. The average benchmark score for the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile is 12940, while the RX 5500M averages 13356, which is counterintuitive given the latter's losses. This discrepancy is explained by the fact that the RX 5500M has a Geekbench Metal score of 50359, which is not shared in the head-to-head comparison, inflating its average. However, in the tests where both parts are directly compared, NVIDIA wins decisively.

For gamers and content creators, the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile is the clear choice. Its support for DirectX 12 Ultimate, hardware ray tracing via 20 RT cores, and DLSS via 80 tensor cores provides features the RX 5500M simply cannot offer. The 5.299 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, combined with 2560 shading units, ensures it can handle modern titles at reasonable settings. The RX 5500M, with its RDNA 1.0 architecture and lack of dedicated RT or tensor hardware, is suitable only for older titles or esports games that do not stress modern APIs.

The power efficiency also favors NVIDIA, with the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile drawing 75 W compared to the RX 5500M's 85 W, despite delivering significantly more performance. This makes the NVIDIA part a better fit for thin-and-light laptops where thermal and power budgets are constrained. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile's PCIe 4.0 x16 interface also provides double the bandwidth of the RX 5500M's x8 connection, which can benefit data transfer in certain workloads. In summary, the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile is the recommended GPU for any user prioritizing performance, features, and efficiency.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher Passmark G3D score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile scores 10093, while the AMD Radeon RX 5500M scores 5848, a difference of 42.1% in favor of NVIDIA.

Q: Does the AMD Radeon RX 5500M support hardware ray tracing?

A: No. The RX 5500M has no RT cores, while the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile includes 20 RT cores for hardware-accelerated ray tracing.

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

A: The RX 5500M has a bandwidth of 224.0 GB/s, while the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile has 192.0 GB/s, giving AMD a 32 GB/s advantage.

Q: Which GPU has more shading units?

A: The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile has 2560 shading units, compared to 1408 on the RX 5500M, a difference of 1152 units.

Q: How do the two GPUs compare in DirectX 12 performance?

A: The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile scores 49 in Passmark DirectX 12, while the RX 5500M scores 28, a delta of -42.9% for AMD.

Q: Are both GPUs the same generation of technology?

A: No. The RX 5500M uses the RDNA 1.0 architecture on a 7 nm process, while the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile uses the Ampere architecture on an 8 nm process.