AMD Radeon RX 5600M vs AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT Comparison

# AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT vs AMD Radeon RX 5600M

The AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT is a desktop flagship built on RDNA 2.0, while the AMD Radeon RX 5600M is a mobile part based on the older RDNA 1.0 architecture. Across every shared benchmark in the data, the RX 6900 XT dominates, posting leads ranging from 130.9% to 214.9%. The RX 6900 XT holds an 86th percentile ranking among all GPUs, while the RX 5600M sits at the 85th percentile — a surprisingly close overall standing given the massive per-test deltas, explained by the RX 5600M’s competitive average score of 46,601 against the RX 6900 XT’s 50,951. The RX 6900 XT wins all four head-to-head tests; the RX 5600M wins none.

The Verdict

The data presents a clear split: the RX 6900 XT is for desktop users who need maximum compute throughput and ray tracing capability, while the RX 5600M serves laptop buyers who accept far lower performance in exchange for an integrated form factor. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, the RX 6900 XT scores 4,079 versus the RX 5600M’s 1,320 — a 209% advantage. That gap widens in Geekbench OpenCL, where the desktop card leads 187,673 to 59,589, a 214.9% margin. For Geekbench Vulkan, the RX 6900 XT’s 148,525 score beats the RX 5600M’s 48,843 by 204.1%. Even in Geekbench Metal, the smallest delta of the set, the RX 6900 XT’s 177,021 outpaces the mobile GPU’s 76,653 by 130.9%.

The RX 6900 XT’s nearest rivals include the NVIDIA CMP 50HX (average score 51,790, 1.6% ahead) and the AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 (50,001, 1.9% behind). The RX 5600M sits essentially level with the Intel Arc A530M (46,614, 0% delta) and trails the AMD Radeon RX 6550M (46,702, -0.2%). These rival positions confirm that the RX 6900 XT competes in the upper mid-range desktop tier, while the RX 5600M is a mainstream mobile part. Buyers should choose the RX 6900 XT for any workload where raw frame rates or compute throughput matter; the RX 5600M is only sensible where the IGP form factor is mandatory.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different architectural generations. The RX 6900 XT uses the Navi 21 chip on RDNA 2.0, while the RX 5600M uses Navi 10 on RDNA 1.0. Both are fabricated on TSMC’s 7 nm process, but the transistor counts diverge sharply: the RX 6900 XT packs 26,800 million transistors on a 520 mm² die (transistor density 51.5M per mm²), whereas the RX 5600M has 10,300 million transistors on a 251 mm² die (41.0M per mm²). That density difference reflects architectural improvements in RDNA 2.0.

Ray tracing is a key differentiator. The RX 6900 XT includes 80 dedicated RT cores; the RX 5600M has none. This means the desktop card can handle hardware-accelerated ray tracing workloads, while the mobile part relies on traditional rasterization only. The RX 6900 XT also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), whereas the RX 5600M is limited to DirectX 12 (12_1). Both cards support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4, and both use PCIe 4.0 x16 interfaces.

The memory subsystems are fundamentally different in scale. The RX 6900 XT has 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus (512.0 GB/s bandwidth), while the RX 5600M has 6 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus (288.0 GB/s). Clock speeds also differ: the RX 6900 XT runs at 1825 MHz base, 2015 MHz game, and 2250 MHz boost, versus the RX 5600M’s 1035 MHz base, 1190 MHz game, and 1265 MHz boost. Memory clocks are 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective) on the desktop card versus 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective) on the mobile part.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has more shading units?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT has 5,120 shading units, while the AMD Radeon RX 5600M has 2,304. That is more than double the compute units.

Q: Does the RX 5600M support ray tracing?

A: No. The RX 6900 XT has 80 RT cores, but the RX 5600M lists no RT cores at all. The RX 6900 XT also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the RX 5600M is capped at DirectX 12 (12_1).

Q: How do the two compare in Geekbench Vulkan?

A: The RX 6900 XT scores 148,525 in Geekbench Vulkan versus the RX 5600M’s 48,843. That is a 204.1% advantage for the desktop card.

Q: What is the form factor difference?

A: The RX 6900 XT is a triple-slot desktop card with two 8-pin power connectors and a 267 mm length. The RX 5600M is listed as an IGP (integrated graphics processor) with no power connectors and dimensions dependent on the portable device.

Q: Which card has higher pixel and texture rates?

A: The RX 6900 XT achieves 288.0 GPixel/s pixel rate and 720.0 GTexel/s texture rate. The RX 5600M achieves 80.96 GPixel/s and 182.2 GTexel/s, respectively.

Q: How does the RX 6900 XT compare to its nearest rival, the NVIDIA CMP 50HX?

A: The RX 6900 XT’s average benchmark score is 50,951 versus the CMP 50HX’s 51,790, a 1.6% deficit. The RX 6900 XT is 1.9% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 (50,001) and 2% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti (49,957).

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT | AMD Radeon RX 5600M |

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

| Architecture | RDNA 2.0 | RDNA 1.0 |

| Chip | Navi 21 | Navi 10 |

| Generation | Navi II (RX 6000) | Navi Mobile (RX 5000M) |

| 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 effective) | 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective) |

| Memory Size | 16 GB | 6 GB |

| Memory Bus Width | 256 bit | 192 bit |

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

| Shading Units | 5120 | 2304 |

| TMUs | 320 | 144 |

| ROPs | 128 | 64 |

| RT Cores | 80 | None |

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

| Texture Rate | 720.0 GTexel/s | 182.2 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 23.04 TFLOPS | 5.829 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 46.08 TFLOPS (2:1) | 11.66 TFLOPS (2:1) |

| TDP | 300 W | 150 W |

| Slot Width | Triple-slot | IGP |

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

| Suggested PSU | 700 W | None |

| Display Outputs | 1x HDMI 2.1, 2x DisplayPort 1.4a, 1x USB Type-C | Portable Device Dependent |

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

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

| Launch MSRP | 999 USD | None |

| Predecessor | Navi | Polaris Mobile |

| Successor | Navi III | None |

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most decisive result in the shared test set is Geekbench OpenCL, where the RX 6900 XT scores 187,673 against the RX 5600M’s 59,589. That 214.9% delta is the largest of any comparison, reflecting the desktop card’s 23.04 TFLOPS FP32 throughput versus the mobile part’s 5.829 TFLOPS — a nearly 4x raw compute advantage that OpenCL exercises directly.

In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, the RX 6900 XT posts 4,079 versus 1,320 for the RX 5600M, a 209% lead. This test stresses modern DX12 rendering paths, where the RX 6900 XT’s RDNA 2.0 architecture and 80 RT cores provide a substantial edge over the RDNA 1.0 part with no ray tracing hardware. The desktop card’s 16 GB of memory and 512.0 GB/s bandwidth also help avoid bottlenecks that the 6 GB / 288.0 GB/s configuration might encounter.

Geekbench Vulkan shows a 204.1% gap: 148,525 for the RX 6900 XT versus 48,843 for the RX 5600M. Vulkan workloads benefit from the RX 6900 XT’s higher shading unit count (5,120 vs 2,304) and faster clocks (2250 MHz boost vs 1265 MHz). The smaller margin in Geekbench Metal — 130.9% (177,021 vs 76,653) — is still decisive, though the narrower delta suggests Metal may not fully utilize the desktop card’s extra compute resources.

The RX 6900 XT’s nearest rival data provides context: it trails the NVIDIA CMP 50HX by 1.6% (50,951 vs 51,790) and leads the RX Vega 64 by 1.9% (50,951 vs 50,001). The RX 5600M, by contrast, is statistically tied with the Intel Arc A530M (46,601 vs 46,614, 0% delta) and marginally behind the AMD Radeon RX 6550M (46,601 vs 46,702, -0.2%). These rival positions show that despite the RX 6900 XT’s overwhelming head-to-head wins, its average benchmark score places it only 8.9% above the RX 5600M’s average — a compressed overall distribution that highlights how differently the two cards perform across varied workloads not captured in the shared test subset.