AMD Radeon RX 5600M vs NVIDIA A2 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data shows a clear and consistent advantage for the AMD Radeon RX 5600M across the two benchmark tests where both products have comparable measurements. In Geekbench OpenCL, the AMD part scores 59,589, while the NVIDIA A2 manages 35,357. That translates to a 68.5% lead for the RX 5600M, a substantial margin that indicates a fundamental difference in raw compute throughput for general-purpose workloads. The result is not a narrow win; it is a decisive gap that places the AMD mobile GPU in a different performance tier.

The Vulkan results tell a similar story, though the margin narrows slightly. The RX 5600M posts 48,843, against 34,023 for the A2. The delta here is 43.6% in favor of AMD. While the advantage is smaller than in OpenCL, it remains overwhelming in practical terms. The RX 5600M's lead in both APIs suggests that the architecture scales well across different driver stacks and workload types, whereas the A2 appears optimized for a narrower set of tasks, likely related to its workstation and datacenter positioning.

Looking at the broader benchmark context, the RX 5600M also holds a higher average benchmark score of 46,601 across all recorded tests, compared to the A2's 34,690. This aggregate figure reinforces the head-to-head findings. The RX 5600M sits at the 85th percentile among all GPUs in the database, while the A2 lands at the 79th percentile. The percentile difference is modest, but the raw score gap is significant. The RX 5600M's nearest rivals in the database include the Intel Arc A530M (average score 46,614, a 0% delta) and the AMD Radeon RX 6550M (46,702, a -0.2% delta), placing it in a competitive mid-range bracket. The NVIDIA A2, by contrast, sits near the NVIDIA T1000 8 GB (34,561, a 0.4% delta) and the AMD Radeon HD 7970 (34,541, a 0.4% delta), indicating it competes with older and less powerful parts.

The wins tally is unambiguous: the RX 5600M takes both head-to-head matchups, with the A2 recording zero victories. No single benchmark in the shared test set flips the result in NVIDIA's favor. This is not a case of trade-offs or workload-specific strengths; the AMD product is simply faster in every measured category where direct comparison exists.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from fundamentally different design philosophies. The AMD Radeon RX 5600M is built on RDNA 1.0 architecture, using the Navi 10 chip, and belongs to the Radeon RX 5000 series. It is fabricated on a 7 nm process at TSMC, with a die size of 251 mm² and 10,300 million transistors. The transistor density works out to 41.0 million per square millimeter. This is a mobile-oriented part from the Navi Mobile generation, released in July 2020.

The NVIDIA A2 uses the Ampere architecture, built around the GA107 chip. It is manufactured on an 8 nm process at Samsung, with a die size of 200 mm² and 8,700 million transistors, giving a density of 43.5 million per square millimeter. The A2 belongs to the Workstation Ampere generation and was released in November 2021. It is a low-profile, single-slot accelerator with no display outputs, clearly designed for server or edge inference tasks rather than traditional graphics rendering.

The core configurations diverge sharply. The RX 5600M packs 2,304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 64 raster operation units. The A2 has just 1,280 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. However, the A2 compensates with dedicated hardware: 10 ray tracing cores and 40 tensor cores. The RX 5600M has none of either. This is a defining architectural split. The AMD part relies on raw shader throughput, while the NVIDIA part brings specialized accelerators for ray tracing and AI workloads.

Clock speeds also differ. The RX 5600M runs at a base clock of 1035 MHz, with a boost clock of 1265 MHz and a game clock of 1190 MHz. The A2 starts higher at 1440 MHz base and boosts to 1770 MHz. Despite the lower clocks, the RX 5600M achieves higher fill rates: 80.96 GPixel/s pixel rate and 182.2 GTexel/s texture rate, versus 56.64 GPixel/s and 70.80 GTexel/s for the A2. The FP32 compute is also in AMD's favor at 5.829 TFLOPS, compared to 4.531 TFLOPS for NVIDIA. In FP16, the RX 5600M reaches 11.66 TFLOPS using a 2:1 ratio, while the A2 stays at 4.531 TFLOPS with a 1:1 ratio.

Memory subsystems are another major differentiator. The RX 5600M uses 6 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, delivering 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The A2 offers 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, but bandwidth drops to 200.1 GB/s. The A2's memory clock is 1563 MHz (12.5 Gbps effective), slightly higher than the RX 5600M's 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective), but the narrower bus limits overall throughput. The A2 also runs on PCIe 4.0 x8, while the RX 5600M uses PCIe 4.0 x16.

Power characteristics could not be more different. The RX 5600M has a TDP of 150 W and is listed as an integrated graphics processor (IGP) with no power connectors, meaning it draws power through the motherboard or a proprietary mobile interface. The A2 has a TDP of 60 W, is single-slot, and also has no power connectors, but it lists a suggested PSU of 250 W for system integration. The A2 is clearly built for low-power, always-on deployment.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has higher raw compute performance?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 5600M has higher FP32 throughput at 5.829 TFLOPS, compared to 4.531 TFLOPS for the NVIDIA A2. The RX 5600M also leads in FP16 at 11.66 TFLOPS, while the A2 offers 4.531 TFLOPS.

Q: How much faster is the RX 5600M in OpenCL?

A: The RX 5600M scores 59,589 in Geekbench OpenCL, which is 68.5% higher than the A2's 35,357.

Q: Does the NVIDIA A2 support ray tracing?

A: Yes, the A2 includes 10 ray tracing cores and 40 tensor cores. The RX 5600M has no ray tracing or tensor cores.

Q: Which GPU has more memory?

A: The NVIDIA A2 has 16 GB of GDDR6, while the RX 5600M has 6 GB. However, the RX 5600M has higher memory bandwidth at 288.0 GB/s versus 200.1 GB/s.

Q: What is the power draw difference?

A: The RX 5600M has a TDP of 150 W, while the A2 is rated at 60 W. The A2 also lists a suggested PSU of 250 W.

Q: Which GPU has a higher percentile ranking?

A: The RX 5600M sits at the 85th percentile among all GPUs, while the A2 is at the 79th percentile.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon RX 5600M | NVIDIA A2 |

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

| Architecture | RDNA 1.0 | Ampere |

| Process Node | 7 nm | 8 nm |

| Foundry | TSMC | Samsung |

| Transistors | 10,300 million | 8,700 million |

| Die Size | 251 mm² | 200 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 41.0M / mm² | 43.5M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1035 MHz | 1440 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1265 MHz | 1770 MHz |

| Game Clock | 1190 MHz | N/A |

| Memory Size | 6 GB | 16 GB |

| Memory Bus Width | 192 bit | 128 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 288.0 GB/s | 200.1 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 2304 | 1280 |

| TMUs | 144 | 40 |

| ROPs | 64 | 32 |

| Ray Tracing Cores | None | 10 |

| Tensor Cores | None | 40 |

| Pixel Rate | 80.96 GPixel/s | 56.64 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 182.2 GTexel/s | 70.80 GTexel/s |

| FP32 Performance | 5.829 TFLOPS | 4.531 TFLOPS |

| FP16 Performance | 11.66 TFLOPS (2:1) | 4.531 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 150 W | 60 W |

| Slot Width | IGP | Single-slot |

| Suggested PSU | None | 250 W |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 4.0 x16 | PCIe 4.0 x8 |

| Display Outputs | Portable Device Dependent | No outputs |

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

| Release Date | 2020-07-06 | 2021-11-09 |

| Predecessor | Polaris Mobile | Quadro Turing |

| Successor | None | Workstation Ada |

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon RX 5600M is the clear winner in raw compute and traditional graphics workloads. Its 68.5% lead in OpenCL and 43.6% lead in Vulkan demonstrate that it is the faster part for general-purpose GPU computing, rendering, and any task that relies on shader throughput. The higher pixel rate (80.96 GPixel/s) and texture rate (182.2 GTexel/s) make it better suited for real-time graphics, especially in mobile gaming or content creation scenarios where frame rates and visual fidelity matter. The RX 5600M also wins on memory bandwidth, with 288.0 GB/s versus the A2's 200.1 GB/s, which benefits large data transfers and texture-heavy workloads.

The NVIDIA A2 wins on efficiency and specialized features. Its 60 W TDP is less than half the RX 5600M's 150 W, making it a far better fit for passive-cooled servers, edge devices, or any deployment where power draw is a constraint. The inclusion of 10 ray tracing cores and 40 tensor cores gives it capabilities the RX 5600M simply lacks, such as hardware-accelerated ray tracing and AI inference. The 16 GB memory capacity is also a significant advantage for large model loading or datasets that exceed the RX 5600M's 6 GB limit. The A2's single-slot form factor and lack of display outputs confirm its role as a compute accelerator rather than a graphics card.

In practical terms, the RX 5600M is the choice for mobile gaming laptops and portable workstations where performance per frame matters. The A2 is the choice for datacenter inference, AI workloads, or any headless server environment where low power and tensor core acceleration are prioritized. The A2 also has a successor in the Workstation Ada generation, while the RX 5600M is end-of-life with no direct replacement listed. Both parts are end-of-life in production status, but the A2's architecture is newer and more future-proof for specialized compute tasks.

The benchmark data is unambiguous: if the task is raw speed, the RX 5600M wins every measured test. If the task is efficiency, memory capacity, or AI acceleration, the A2 has the architectural edge. The correct choice depends entirely on the workload, and the database shows that these two products are not direct competitors in the traditional sense. They are different tools for different jobs, and the numbers reflect that divergence clearly.