AMD Radeon RX 5600M vs AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT Comparison

# AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT vs AMD Radeon RX 5600M

The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT is decisively ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 5600M in every shared benchmark, with wins ranging from 136.6% to 187.5% across four tests. The RX 6800 XT posts an average benchmark score of 48,477 versus 46,601 for the RX 5600M, yet both cards occupy the 85th percentile among all GPUs, indicating that the mobile part is surprisingly competitive in its segment despite the desktop card's overwhelming per-test superiority. The RX 6800 XT is a dual-slot desktop behemoth with a 300 W TDP, while the RX 5600M is an IGP-class mobile chip drawing 150 W — a difference that explains the performance gulf but also defines their entirely separate use cases.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT averages 48,477 across all benchmarks, compared to 46,601 for the AMD Radeon RX 5600M. That is a difference of roughly 1,876 points, though the RX 6800 XT's nearest rivals (NVIDIA RTX A1000 Mobile at 47,743) sit just 1.5% behind it, while the RX 5600M's closest competitor (Intel Arc A530M at 46,614) is essentially tied at 0% delta.

Q: How large is the RX 6800 XT's lead in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test?

A: The RX 6800 XT scores 3,689 versus 1,320 for the RX 5600M, a 179.5% advantage. This is the second-largest margin between the two cards, trailing only the OpenCL result.

Q: Does the RX 5600M win any benchmark against the RX 6800 XT?

A: No. The RX 5600M has zero wins across the four head-to-head tests. The RX 6800 XT wins all four: 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, Geekbench Metal, Geekbench OpenCL, and Geekbench Vulkan.

Q: What is the memory configuration difference between the two cards?

A: The RX 6800 XT has 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus delivering 512.0 GB/s bandwidth. The RX 5600M has 6 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus delivering 288.0 GB/s. The desktop card offers 2.67 times the memory capacity and 1.78 times the bandwidth.

Q: Are both GPUs on the same manufacturing process?

A: Both use a 7 nm process from TSMC, but the chips differ significantly. The RX 6800 XT's Navi 21 die measures 520 mm² with 26,800 million transistors (51.5M per mm²), while the RX 5600M's Navi 10 die is 251 mm² with 10,300 million transistors (41.0M per mm²).

Q: What architecture generation does each card belong to?

A: The RX 6800 XT uses RDNA 2.0 from the Navi II (RX 6000) generation, released on 2020-10-27. The RX 5600M uses RDNA 1.0 from the Navi Mobile (RX 5000M) generation, released on 2020-07-06. Both are end-of-life products.

Architecture Differences

The RX 6800 XT is built on RDNA 2.0, while the RX 5600M uses the older RDNA 1.0 architecture. This generational gap manifests in several critical ways. The RX 6800 XT's Navi 21 chip includes 72 dedicated ray tracing cores, a feature entirely absent from the RX 5600M's Navi 10 chip, which lists no RT cores whatsoever. The desktop card also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), whereas the mobile part is limited to DirectX 12 (12_1) — a difference that matters for modern game features like mesh shaders and variable rate shading.

The compute resources differ by exactly a factor of two. The RX 6800 XT packs 4,608 shading units, 288 texture mapping units, and 128 ROPs. The RX 5600M has 2,304 shading units, 144 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. This doubling extends to the raw throughput figures: the RX 6800 XT delivers 20.74 TFLOPS FP32 and 41.47 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1), while the RX 5600M manages 5.829 TFLOPS FP32 and 11.66 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1). The desktop card is 3.56 times faster in FP32 and 3.56 times faster in FP16.

Clock speeds amplify the architectural advantage. The RX 6800 XT runs at a base of 1825 MHz, a game clock of 2015 MHz, and a boost of 2250 MHz. The RX 5600M operates at 1035 MHz base, 1190 MHz game, and 1265 MHz boost. Even at base clocks, the desktop chip runs 76% higher than the mobile chip's boost. The memory clocks also diverge sharply: the RX 6800 XT uses 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective) versus 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective) on the RX 5600M.

The RX 6800 XT's transistor density is 51.5M per mm², notably denser than the RX 5600M's 41.0M per mm², reflecting the newer RDNA 2.0 design. The desktop card also features a PCIe 4.0 x16 interface with display outputs including 1x HDMI 2.1, 2x DisplayPort 1.4a, and 1x USB Type-C; the mobile part is "Portable Device Dependent" for outputs and consumes no external power connectors, being an IGP-class solution.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The data shows a complete sweep for the RX 6800 XT across all four shared tests, with the smallest margin still exceeding 136%. In Geekbench Metal, the RX 6800 XT scores 181,337 against 76,653 for the RX 5600M — a 136.6% lead. This is the closest contest between the two, suggesting the Metal API narrows the gap slightly, though the desktop card still nearly triples the mobile result.

The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test shows a 179.5% advantage, with scores of 3,689 and 1,320 respectively. This is a pure rasterization workload at DX12, and the RX 6800 XT's 72 RT cores and higher pixel rate (288.0 GPixel/s versus 80.96 GPixel/s) drive the massive separation. The texture rate tells a similar story: 648.0 GTexel/s versus 182.2 GTexel/s.

Geekbench OpenCL produces the largest delta at 187.5% — the RX 6800 XT scores 171,304 versus 59,589. This compute-heavy test rewards the desktop card's 20.74 TFLOPS FP32 and 16 GB memory buffer, which allows far larger working sets than the 6 GB mobile frame buffer. Geekbench Vulkan follows closely at 180.2%, with scores of 136,875 versus 48,843, again reflecting the same compute and bandwidth advantages.

The pattern is consistent: the RX 6800 XT wins by roughly 1.4 to 1.9 times in every API, with OpenCL and Vulkan showing the largest gaps due to compute intensity. The RX 5600M's closest result (Metal at 136.6% behind) still represents a monumental performance deficit. Notably, the RX 6800 XT's nearest rivals in the database (NVIDIA RTX A1000 Mobile at +1.5%, Intel Arc A550M at -2.5%) are all desktop or high-end mobile parts, while the RX 5600M trades blows with Intel Arc A530M (0%) and AMD Radeon RX 6550M (-0.2%).

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT | AMD Radeon RX 5600M |

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

| Architecture | RDNA 2.0 | RDNA 1.0 |

| Chip | Navi 21 | Navi 10 |

| Transistors | 26,800 million | 10,300 million |

| Die Size | 520 mm² | 251 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 51.5M / mm² | 41.0M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1825 MHz | 1035 MHz |

| Game Clock | 2015 MHz | 1190 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 2250 MHz | 1265 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 2000 MHz (16 Gbps) | 1500 MHz (12 Gbps) |

| Memory Size | 16 GB | 6 GB |

| Memory Bus | 256 bit | 192 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 512.0 GB/s | 288.0 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 4608 | 2304 |

| TMUs | 288 | 144 |

| ROPs | 128 | 64 |

| RT Cores | 72 | None |

| Pixel Rate | 288.0 GPixel/s | 80.96 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 648.0 GTexel/s | 182.2 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 20.74 TFLOPS | 5.829 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 41.47 TFLOPS (2:1) | 11.66 TFLOPS (2:1) |

| TDP | 300 W | 150 W |

| Slot Width | Dual-slot | IGP |

| Power Connectors | 2x 8-pin | None |

| Suggested PSU | 700 W | None |

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

| Release Date | 2020-10-27 | 2020-07-06 |

| Launch MSRP | 649 USD | None |

The Verdict

The RX 6800 XT is the clear performance winner in every measurable way, but the RX 5600M serves a fundamentally different purpose. The desktop card's 300 W TDP and dual-slot cooler demand a 700 W power supply and 2x 8-pin connectors, while the mobile IGP draws 150 W with no external power. The RX 6800 XT is 3.56 times faster in FP32 and offers 2.67 times the memory capacity, making it the obvious choice for high-resolution gaming, ray tracing, or compute workloads. The RX 5600M, despite being 136.6% to 187.5% slower in head-to-head tests, still achieves the same 85th percentile ranking among all GPUs — a signal of how well it performs for a mobile part released in mid-2020.

For desktop users with a 700 W PSU and space for a 267 mm dual-slot card, the RX 6800 XT's 72 RT cores and 512.0 GB/s bandwidth deliver transformative performance in DX12 Ultimate titles and compute-heavy applications. For laptop buyers, the RX 5600M's 6 GB GDDR6 and 150 W envelope provide a capable 1080p experience without the power or thermal requirements of the desktop flagship. The launch MSRP of 649 USD for the RX 6800 XT is the only price data available; the RX 5600M has no listed MSRP.

Where Each One Wins

AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT: The desktop card wins every single benchmark category. Its largest margin comes in Geekbench OpenCL (187.5% ahead), making it the preferred choice for compute-heavy workloads like rendering, scientific simulation, or machine learning inference. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 result (179.5% ahead) confirms dominance in modern rasterized gaming. The 16 GB memory buffer and 512.0 GB/s bandwidth enable 4K texture sets and large dataset processing that the 6 GB mobile card cannot accommodate. The 72 RT cores provide hardware ray tracing that the RX 5600M lacks entirely, making the RX 6800 XT the only option for DX12 Ultimate titles with ray-traced effects.

AMD Radeon RX 5600M: The mobile card wins in portability and power efficiency by default — it has no external power connectors, consumes exactly half the TDP (150 W versus 300 W), and is classified as an IGP rather than a dual-slot expansion card. Its 46,601 average benchmark score places it within 1.4% of the NVIDIA RTX A2000 and 0.2% behind the AMD Radeon RX 6550M, showing that it competes well within its mobile segment despite being generations old. The closest head-to-head result (Geekbench Metal at 136.6% behind) suggests Apple's Metal API narrows the gap slightly, making it the least unfavorable workload for the mobile chip. For users needing a discrete-level GPU in a thin laptop with no power connector, the RX 5600M is the functional choice, though it cannot match the desktop card's raw throughput in any scenario.