AMD Radeon RX 5600M vs AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE Comparison

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE and the AMD Radeon RX 5600M occupy opposite ends of the Radeon spectrum: one is a current-generation desktop card aimed at high-refresh 1440p and entry-level 4K, while the other is a five-year-old mobile GPU designed for thin gaming laptops. The database’s benchmark records show a decisive performance gap, but the comparison is more nuanced than a simple scoreboard, as each card targets a different use case and platform.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The two recorded head-to-head tests show a dominant win for the RX 9070 GRE. In the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, the RX 9070 GRE scores 5424, while the RX 5600M manages only 1320. That is a 310.9% difference, meaning the desktop card delivers more than four times the raw graphics performance in this modern DirectX 12 workload. Steel Nomad is designed to stress GPU compute and memory throughput, so this result reflects the massive architectural and hardware gap between the two.

The second test, Geekbench OpenCL, tells a similar story but with a smaller margin. The RX 9070 GRE scores 109309, and the RX 5600M scores 59589, a delta of 83.4%. OpenCL measures general-purpose compute performance, and while the RX 9070 GRE still wins comfortably, the RX 5600M’s result is relatively closer. That is because the older card’s RDNA 1.0 architecture, despite its lower raw throughput, still offers competitive compute per clock in certain workloads. Still, the RX 9070 GRE nearly doubles the mobile chip’s OpenCL output.

The database records two wins for the RX 9070 GRE and zero for the RX 5600M in these head-to-head tests. There is no single benchmark where the older mobile GPU comes out ahead. The closest the RX 5600M gets is in the OpenCL test, where the gap shrinks to under double, but it never flips the result.

Looking at the broader benchmark averages, the RX 9070 GRE sits at 57367 points across all recorded tests, placing it in the 87th percentile of all GPUs in the database. The RX 5600M, by contrast, has an average score of 46601 and sits in the 85th percentile. That percentile difference is surprisingly small, given the massive head-to-head deltas. The explanation is that the RX 5600M benefits from a wider set of benchmark submissions, including older DirectX 11 and Vulkan tests where it performs relatively well for its class, while the RX 9070 GRE’s average is dragged down by its limited test set, which includes the very demanding Steel Nomad workload.

For context on the RX 9070 GRE’s standing, its nearest rivals in the database are the Intel Arc A580 (average score 57756, delta -0.7%), the AMD Radeon RX 5600 OEM (58085, -1.2%), the Intel Arc A570M (58239, -1.5%), and the AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT (58392, -1.8%). All four of these cards score slightly higher on average, meaning the RX 9070 GRE is essentially tied with a mid-range Intel desktop card and a previous-generation AMD flagship. The RX 5600M’s nearest rivals are the Intel Arc A530M (46614, delta 0%), the AMD Radeon RX 6550M (46702, -0.2%), the NVIDIA RTX A2000 (46043, 1.2%), and the NVIDIA RTX 5880 Ada Generation (45972, 1.4%). The RX 5600M is perfectly matched with the A530M, slightly ahead of the RTX A2000, and slightly behind the RX 6550M.

Where Each One Wins

The RX 9070 GRE wins in every scenario that demands high frame rates at modern resolutions. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 5424 indicates it can handle DirectX 12 games with ray tracing and heavy compute effects, making it suitable for 1440p high-refresh monitors and even 4K at medium settings. The card’s 12 GB of GDDR6 memory, paired with a 432.0 GB/s bandwidth, provides enough headroom for modern texture-heavy titles. Its boost clock of 2790 MHz and 34.28 TFLOPS of FP32 throughput give it the raw processing power to sustain high settings in demanding titles.

The RX 5600M, with its 6 GB of GDDR6 memory and 288.0 GB/s bandwidth, is better suited for 1080p gaming at medium to high settings in titles from the 2020 era. Its 5.829 TFLOPS FP32 performance is less than one-fifth of the RX 9070 GRE’s, but it is still capable of running esports titles like CS:GO or Overwatch at high frame rates. The card’s 80.96 GPixel/s pixel rate and 182.2 GTexel/s texture rate are adequate for 1080p, but they will struggle with modern AAA releases. The RX 5600M also has no ray tracing cores, so any game with mandatory ray tracing will fall back to compute-based rendering, which is much slower.

For compute workloads, the RX 9070 GRE’s OpenCL score of 109309 is nearly double the RX 5600M’s 59589. The newer card’s RDNA 4.0 architecture improves shader efficiency and supports FP16 at a 1:1 ratio, whereas the RX 5600M’s RDNA 1.0 offers FP16 at a 2:1 ratio. That means the RX 9070 GRE is better for AI inference, video encoding, and scientific simulations that use half-precision math. The RX 5600M still works for basic compute, but its 11.66 TFLOPS FP16 output is halved in practice for many workloads.

In terms of platform compatibility, the RX 9070 GRE uses PCIe 5.0 x16, while the RX 5600M uses PCIe 4.0 x16. The newer interface provides double the bandwidth for data transfer, which helps with large textures and GPU-accelerated storage. The RX 9070 GRE also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the RX 5600M only supports DirectX 12 (12_1). That means the newer card can use mesh shaders, variable rate shading, and other DirectX 12 Ultimate features, while the older card cannot.

FAQ

Q: Which card has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The RX 9070 GRE has an average score of 57367, while the RX 5600M averages 46601. The RX 9070 GRE is ahead by about 23%.

Q: How large is the performance gap in the 3DMark Steel Nomad test?

A: The RX 9070 GRE scores 5424 versus the RX 5600M’s 1320, a 310.9% difference. The RX 9070 GRE delivers over four times the performance in this DirectX 12 workload.

Q: Does the RX 5600M have any ray tracing capability?

A: No. The RX 5600M has no dedicated ray tracing cores, while the RX 9070 GRE has 48. The RX 9070 GRE supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, which includes ray tracing features, while the RX 5600M is limited to DirectX 12 (12_1).

Q: What is the memory configuration of each card?

A: The RX 9070 GRE has 12 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus with 432.0 GB/s bandwidth. The RX 5600M has 6 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus with 288.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which card is more power-efficient per frame?

A: The database does not record power consumption per frame, but the RX 9070 GRE has a 220 W TDP, while the RX 5600M has a 150 W TDP. The RX 9070 GRE delivers 310.9% more performance in Steel Nomad at only 46.7% higher TDP.

Q: Are these cards comparable for laptop use?

A: No. The RX 5600M is an integrated GPU for mobile platforms, while the RX 9070 GRE is a dual-slot desktop card requiring two 8-pin power connectors and a 550 W power supply.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every specification category. The RX 9070 GRE uses a 4 nm process, while the RX 5600M uses a 7 nm process. The RX 9070 GRE has 53,900 million transistors on a 357 mm² die, while the RX 5600M has 10,300 million transistors on a 251 mm² die. Transistor density is 151.0 million per mm² for the RX 9070 GRE versus 41.0 million per mm² for the RX 5600M.

Clock speeds diverge sharply. The RX 9070 GRE has a base clock of 1420 MHz, a boost clock of 2790 MHz, and a game clock of 2220 MHz. The RX 5600M has a base clock of 1035 MHz, a boost clock of 1265 MHz, and a game clock of 1190 MHz. Memory clocks are 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective) for the RX 9070 GRE and 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective) for the RX 5600M.

The RX 9070 GRE has 3072 shading units, 192 TMUs, 96 ROPs, and 48 ray tracing cores. The RX 5600M has 2304 shading units, 144 TMUs, 64 ROPs, and no ray tracing cores. Pixel rate is 267.8 GPixel/s for the RX 9070 GRE versus 80.96 GPixel/s for the RX 5600M. Texture rate is 535.7 GTexel/s versus 182.2 GTexel/s. FP32 performance is 34.28 TFLOPS versus 5.829 TFLOPS.

Power requirements differ: 220 W TDP for the RX 9070 GRE versus 150 W for the RX 5600M. The RX 9070 GRE is dual-slot with two 8-pin connectors and a suggested 550 W PSU. The RX 5600M is an IGP with no power connectors and no suggested PSU. Bus interface is PCIe 5.0 x16 for the newer card, PCIe 4.0 x16 for the older one. Display outputs are 1x HDMI 2.1b and 3x DisplayPort 2.1a for the RX 9070 GRE, while the RX 5600M is portable device dependent.

Architecture Differences

The RX 9070 GRE is built on RDNA 4.0, the fourth-generation Radeon architecture, while the RX 5600M uses RDNA 1.0, the first generation. This two-generation jump explains most of the performance delta. RDNA 4.0 brings improvements in instruction scheduling, cache hierarchy, and compute unit efficiency. The 4 nm process from TSMC allows for a much higher transistor count (53,900 million versus 10,300 million) and a higher transistor density (151.0M per mm² versus 41.0M per mm²).

RDNA 4.0 adds dedicated ray tracing cores, a feature entirely absent from RDNA 1.0. The RX 9070 GRE’s 48 RT cores handle BVH traversal and ray intersection in hardware, while the RX 5600M must compute these operations on shader units, which is far slower. The RX 9070 GRE also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, which includes DXR ray tracing and mesh shaders, while the RX 5600M is capped at DirectX 12 (12_1).

Shader architecture differs as well. The RX 9070 GRE executes FP16 at a 1:1 ratio with FP32, meaning it can process half-precision data at the same rate as full precision. The RX 5600M executes FP16 at a 2:1 ratio, meaning it takes twice as long for half-precision operations. This makes the newer card significantly better for machine learning and compute workloads that rely on FP16.

The memory subsystem has also evolved. Both cards use 192-bit GDDR6 buses, but the RX 9070 GRE runs its memory at 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective) versus 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective) for the RX 5600M. This yields 432.0 GB/s versus 288.0 GB/s, a 50% bandwidth advantage. The RX 9070 GRE also has 12 GB of memory versus 6 GB, which matters for high-resolution textures and larger datasets.

The RX 9070 GRE supports PCIe 5.0, doubling the transfer rate of the RX 5600M’s PCIe 4.0 interface. This allows faster data exchange with the CPU and system memory, which can reduce stutter in open-world games and improve loading times for GPU-accelerated storage. The RX 9070 GRE also supports DisplayPort 2.1a, which enables higher refresh rates at 4K and 8K, while the RX 5600M’s display outputs are dependent on the host laptop.

The RX 9070 GRE is currently in active production, while the RX 5600M is end-of-life. The newer card was released on May 7, 2025, while the RX 5600M launched on July 6, 2020. The RX 9070 GRE has a launch MSRP of 549 USD. The RX 5600M has no recorded launch MSRP. The RX 9070 GRE succeeds the Navi III generation, while the RX 5600M succeeds Polaris Mobile. Neither card has a recorded successor in the database.