AMD Radeon RX 5600M vs AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE Comparison

The AMD Radeon RX 5600M and AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE represent two distinct generations of AMD graphics, separated by nearly five years of architectural evolution. The data shows a decisive performance advantage for the newer RX 7650 GRE, which wins both head-to-head benchmark comparisons, but the RX 5600M still holds relevance in specific legacy contexts. This analysis breaks down the benchmark results, architectural shifts, and practical implications for each card based strictly on the provided facts.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The benchmark results are unambiguous: the AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE outperforms the RX 5600M in every recorded test. In the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, the RX 7650 GRE scores 2336 points against the RX 5600M’s 1320 points. This translates to a 43.5% delta, meaning the newer card delivers nearly 77% more raw graphics performance in this synthetic DirectX 12 workload. This is not a marginal improvement; it is a generational leap that reflects the fundamental changes in compute architecture between RDNA 1.0 and RDNA 3.0.

The gap narrows somewhat in the Geekbench OpenCL test, where the RX 7650 GRE scores 83109 compared to the RX 5600M’s 59589. The delta here is 28.3%, which still represents a substantial advantage for the newer card. OpenCL workloads often scale differently than gaming-focused benchmarks, and the RX 5600M’s higher shading unit count (2304 vs 2048) helps it close some of the gap. However, the RX 7650 GRE’s much higher clock speeds and architectural efficiency still carry it to a clear victory.

Notably, the RX 5600M also has a Geekbench Metal score of 76653 and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 48843, while the RX 7650 GRE has no recorded scores for those specific tests in the data. This means the comparison is limited to only two shared benchmarks, but in both of those, the RX 7650 GRE wins decisively. The average benchmark scores tell a similar story: the RX 5600M averages 46601 across all its tests, while the RX 7650 GRE averages 42723 — though this aggregate figure is skewed by the RX 5600M having more recorded benchmark entries.

Looking at the percentile rankings, the RX 5600M sits at the 85th percentile of all GPUs, while the RX 7650 GRE sits at the 83rd percentile. This is a noteworthy inversion: despite losing every head-to-head test, the RX 5600M ranks slightly higher overall in the database. This can be attributed to the RX 5600M’s performance in additional benchmarks like Metal and Vulkan, where its scores of 76653 and 48843 respectively contribute to a higher average. The RX 7650 GRE’s nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER (1.2% higher average score), NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB (1.2% higher), and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile (1.3% higher). The RX 5600M, by contrast, is nearly tied with the Intel Arc A530M (0% delta) and sits just 0.2% below the AMD Radeon RX 6550M.

The Verdict

The choice between these two cards is clear for almost any use case: the AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE is the superior performer. In the two benchmarks where they can be directly compared, the RX 7650 GRE wins by margins of 43.5% and 28.3%. For anyone building a system for modern gaming or compute workloads, the RX 7650 GRE delivers dramatically better performance in DirectX 12 and OpenCL scenarios.

The RX 5600M’s only argument is its higher percentile ranking (85th vs 83rd) and its additional benchmark coverage in Metal and Vulkan. If a user specifically needs a GPU with verified Metal performance — which is relevant for macOS compatibility scenarios — the RX 5600M has recorded scores while the RX 7650 GRE does not. However, this is a narrow edge that does not overcome the massive performance deficit in shared workloads.

The RX 7650 GRE also comes with modern features that the RX 5600M lacks entirely. It has 32 ray tracing cores, supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), and has a higher boost clock of 2695 MHz versus the RX 5600M’s 1265 MHz. The newer card is also currently in active production, while the RX 5600M is end-of-life. For a new build, the RX 7650 GRE is the only sensible choice. For an existing RX 5600M system, the data strongly suggests an upgrade is worthwhile if performance is a priority.

FAQ

Q: Which card is faster in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE is significantly faster, scoring 2336 points versus the RX 5600M’s 1320 points, a 43.5% advantage.

Q: Does the RX 5600M have any benchmark where it beats the RX 7650 GRE?

A: No. In the two shared benchmarks (3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 and Geekbench OpenCL), the RX 7650 GRE wins both. The RX 5600M does have additional scores in Geekbench Metal and Vulkan that the RX 7650 GRE lacks.

Q: How does the RX 7650 GRE compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RX 7650 GRE sits 1.2% below the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER and NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB in average benchmark score, and 1.3% below the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile and Quadro M6000.

Q: What is the memory configuration difference?

A: The RX 5600M has 6 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, while the RX 7650 GRE has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus. Both achieve identical bandwidth at 288.0 GB/s.

Q: Which card has a higher transistor density?

A: The RX 7650 GRE has a much higher transistor density at 65.2M / mm², compared to the RX 5600M’s 41.0M / mm².

Q: Does the RX 7650 GRE support ray tracing?

A: Yes, it has 32 ray tracing cores. The RX 5600M has no ray tracing cores listed.

Specification Differences

The two cards diverge significantly across nearly every specification. The RX 5600M uses the Navi 10 chip on a 7 nm process, while the RX 7650 GRE uses Navi 33 on a 6 nm process. Transistor counts differ: the RX 5600M has 10,300 million transistors on a 251 mm² die, while the RX 7650 GRE has 13,300 million on a smaller 204 mm² die. This results in a transistor density of 41.0M / mm² for the RX 5600M versus 65.2M / mm² for the RX 7650 GRE.

Clock speeds show the biggest divergence. The RX 5600M operates at 1035 MHz base, 1190 MHz game, and 1265 MHz boost. The RX 7650 GRE runs at 1720 MHz base, 2350 MHz game, and 2695 MHz boost — more than double the boost clock of the older card. Memory clocks also differ: 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective) for the RX 5600M versus 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective) for the RX 7650 GRE.

The compute unit configurations are counterintuitive. The RX 5600M has more shading units (2304 vs 2048), more texture mapping units (144 vs 128), but the same number of raster operations units (64). However, the RX 7650 GRE compensates with its massive clock advantage, resulting in far higher throughput: its pixel rate is 172.5 GPixel/s versus 80.96 GPixel/s, and its texture rate is 345.0 GTexel/s versus 182.2 GTexel/s. The FP32 compute is 22.08 TFLOPS for the RX 7650 GRE versus 5.829 TFLOPS for the RX 5600M — a 3.8x difference.

Power and physical specifications also differ. The RX 5600M is rated at 150 W TDP with no power connectors and an IGP slot width, while the RX 7650 GRE is rated at 170 W TDP, uses a 1x 8-pin connector, a dual-slot design, and has a suggested PSU of 450 W. The RX 7650 GRE has physical dimensions of 204 mm length and 115 mm height, while the RX 5600M lists no dimensions. The bus interface differs: PCIe 4.0 x16 for the RX 5600M versus PCIe 4.0 x8 for the RX 7650 GRE. Display outputs are portable-device dependent for the RX 5600M, while the RX 7650 GRE offers 1x HDMI 2.1a and 3x DisplayPort 2.1.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide is generational. The RX 5600M is built on RDNA 1.0, the first implementation of AMD’s RDNA architecture, codenamed Navi Mobile within the RX 5000M series. The RX 7650 GRE uses RDNA 3.0, codenamed Hotpink Bonefish, within the Navi III (RX 7000) series. This represents a three-generation leap in microarchitecture.

Process technology improved from 7 nm to 6 nm at TSMC, enabling the RX 7650 GRE to pack more transistors (13,300 million vs 10,300 million) into a smaller die (204 mm² vs 251 mm²). The RX 7650 GRE also introduces 32 ray tracing cores, a feature entirely absent from the RX 5600M. The DirectX support reflects this: the RX 5600M supports DirectX 12 (12_1), while the RX 7650 GRE supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), which includes hardware ray tracing and mesh shaders.

The FP16 compute rates reveal a fundamental design change. The RX 5600M achieves 11.66 TFLOPS FP16 with a 2:1 ratio relative to FP32, meaning it uses shader packing for half-precision. The RX 7650 GRE achieves 22.08 TFLOPS FP16 with a 1:1 ratio, indicating a unified shader design that no longer requires rate conversion. Both cards share the same OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4 API support.

The generation lineage differs as well. The RX 5600M’s predecessor is Polaris Mobile, and it has no successor listed. The RX 7650 GRE’s predecessor is Navi II, and its successor is Navi IV. The RX 5600M released on 2020-07-06 and is end-of-life, while the RX 7650 GRE released on 2025-02-06 and remains active.

Where Each One Wins

The RX 7650 GRE wins in every directly comparable scenario. It is the clear choice for modern gaming, particularly DirectX 12 titles where its 43.5% lead in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 indicates strong raw rasterization performance. Its 22.08 TFLOPS FP32 compute makes it suitable for demanding compute workloads, and its 32 ray tracing cores enable hardware-accelerated ray tracing in supported games — something the RX 5600M cannot do. The 8 GB VRAM capacity is also more practical for current game installations.

The RX 5600M’s strengths are narrower but real. Its 85th percentile ranking versus the RX 7650 GRE’s 83rd percentile suggests it performs relatively better across the full spectrum of benchmarks in the database. Its recorded Geekbench Metal score of 76653 and Vulkan score of 48843 provide verified performance data in those APIs, which the RX 7650 GRE lacks. For scenarios involving Metal — typically macOS environments — the RX 5600M has proven performance while the RX 7650 GRE has no data. Its lower 150 W TDP and IGP form factor also make it suitable for compact or integrated systems where the 170 W, dual-slot RX 7650 GRE with its 8-pin connector and 450 W PSU requirement would not fit.

The RX 5600M’s 192-bit memory bus, despite the same 288.0 GB/s bandwidth as the RX 7650 GRE’s 128-bit bus, may offer better memory latency characteristics in certain workloads, though this is not reflected in the provided benchmark data. Ultimately, the RX 7650 GRE is the superior card for nearly all users, with the RX 5600M retaining niche relevance only in legacy systems or specific API-constrained environments.