AMD Radeon RX 5600M vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile Comparison

The AMD Radeon RX 5600M and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile represent two vastly different eras of mobile graphics. The RX 5600M is an end-of-life product from the Radeon RX 5000 series, built on the RDNA 1.0 architecture, while the RTX 5090 Mobile is an active, flagship-tier part from NVIDIA's GeForce 50-series, based on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture. Benchmark data shows a decisive performance gap, with the RTX 5090 Mobile winning all three head-to-head tests, yet the RX 5600M holds a slight edge in the aggregate percentile ranking. This analysis breaks down where each GPU excels, the architectural chasm between them, and what the numbers mean for potential use cases.

Where Each One Wins

The performance split is stark, with NVIDIA's RTX 5090 Mobile dominating every single benchmark in the head-to-head comparison. The data shows a clean sweep: 3 wins for the RTX 5090 Mobile, 0 wins for the RX 5600M. This is not a case of one card winning in some workloads and losing in others; the NVIDIA part is uniformly faster across DirectX 12, OpenCL, and Vulkan tests.

The RX 5600M's most notable "win" is not in raw speed but in its aggregate percentile ranking. It sits at the 85th percentile of all GPUs, while the RTX 5090 Mobile sits at the 84th percentile. This is a narrow but real distinction. It suggests that while the RTX 5090 Mobile is faster in the specific tests recorded, the RX 5600M's overall profile across a broader average benchmark score places it slightly higher in the global distribution. The RX 5600M's average benchmark score is 46,601, while the RTX 5090 Mobile's is 45,152, a difference of about 3.2%.

For real-world use, the RTX 5090 Mobile is the clear winner for any performance-intensive task. The RX 5600M's only advantage lies in its legacy status and the fact that it draws less power, with a 150 W TDP compared to the RTX 5090 Mobile's 95 W TDP. This makes the RTX 5090 Mobile more efficient per watt, but the RX 5600M is the only one of the two that is end-of-life, which might appeal to those seeking a specific legacy configuration.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two GPUs is generational. The RX 5600M uses the Navi 10 chip, built on TSMC's 7 nm process, with a die size of 251 mm² and 10,300 million transistors. This yields a transistor density of 41.0 million per mm². In contrast, the RTX 5090 Mobile uses the GB203 chip, fabricated on a 5 nm process, with a significantly larger die size of 378 mm² and a massive 45,600 million transistors, achieving a density of 120.6 million per mm².

The core configurations are equally divergent. The RX 5600M packs 2,304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs. It has no dedicated ray tracing cores and no tensor cores, reflecting its RDNA 1.0 architecture which predates hardware-accelerated ray tracing in AMD's mobile lineup. The RTX 5090 Mobile, by contrast, features 10,496 shading units, 328 TMUs, and 112 ROPs. It also includes 82 ray tracing cores and 328 tensor cores, marking a complete feature set for modern workloads.

Clock speeds tell a different story. The RX 5600M has a higher base clock of 1035 MHz compared to the RTX 5090 Mobile's 990 MHz, and a higher game clock of 1190 MHz. However, the RTX 5090 Mobile has a much higher boost clock of 1515 MHz versus 1265 MHz. The memory subsystems are also worlds apart: the RX 5600M uses 6 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus with 288.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the RTX 5090 Mobile uses 24 GB of GDDR7 on a 256-bit bus with 896.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The head-to-head results show a consistent and massive advantage for the RTX 5090 Mobile. In the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, the RTX 5090 Mobile scores 5,871 against the RX 5600M's 1,320, a delta of -77.5%. This is the largest relative gap of the three tests, indicating that the NVIDIA card is over 4.4 times faster in this particular DirectX 12 workload.

In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX 5090 Mobile scores 201,834, while the RX 5600M scores 59,589, a delta of -70.5%. This test shows the NVIDIA card is roughly 3.4 times faster, reflecting its massive advantage in raw compute throughput. The FP32 performance figures corroborate this: the RTX 5090 Mobile delivers 31.80 TFLOPS, while the RX 5600M delivers 5.829 TFLOPS.

The Vulkan test shows a similar story. The RTX 5090 Mobile scores 198,405, versus the RX 5600M's 48,843, a delta of -75.4%. This is a 4-fold advantage for the NVIDIA part. Interestingly, the RX 5600M's Geekbench Metal score is 76,653, but there is no comparable Metal test for the RTX 5090 Mobile in the data, so a direct comparison cannot be made there.

The Verdict

From the data, the verdict is unambiguous for performance: the RTX 5090 Mobile is the superior GPU. It wins every single head-to-head benchmark by a wide margin, offers more than 4 times the FP32 compute, and has 4 times the memory capacity with more than 3 times the bandwidth. Anyone prioritizing raw performance in DX12, OpenCL, or Vulkan should choose the RTX 5090 Mobile without hesitation.

The RX 5600M, however, is not without a case. Its higher percentile ranking (85th vs 84th) and higher average benchmark score (46,601 vs 45,152) suggest that in a broader context, it holds its own against a wider field of GPUs. Its lower TDP of 150 W versus 95 W is a specification detail, not a performance metric, but it does indicate a different power profile. The RX 5600M is end-of-life, meaning it is a legacy product, which could be relevant for specific compatibility requirements.

For a user building a new system today, the RTX 5090 Mobile is the clear choice based on performance data. For a user looking at a specific legacy laptop configuration, the RX 5600M's 85th percentile ranking shows it was a capable part in its era, but it cannot compete with the newer Blackwell architecture in any measured test.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 benchmark?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile wins decisively, scoring 5,871 compared to the AMD Radeon RX 5600M's 1,320, a delta of -77.5%.

Q: Is the AMD Radeon RX 5600M faster than the RTX 5090 Mobile in any head-to-head test?

A: No. The data shows the RTX 5090 Mobile wins all three head-to-head tests: 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, Geekbench OpenCL, and Geekbench Vulkan.

Q: What is the difference in memory bandwidth between the two GPUs?

A: The RTX 5090 Mobile has 896.0 GB/s of bandwidth with 24 GB of GDDR7 on a 256-bit bus, while the RX 5600M has 288.0 GB/s with 6 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus.

Q: How do the two GPUs compare in ray tracing capabilities?

A: The RTX 5090 Mobile has 82 dedicated ray tracing cores, while the RX 5600M has none, as its RDNA 1.0 architecture does not include hardware ray tracing.

Q: Which GPU has a higher transistor density?

A: The RTX 5090 Mobile has a much higher transistor density at 120.6 million per mm², compared to the RX 5600M's 41.0 million per mm².

Q: What are the TDP ratings for each GPU?

A: The RX 5600M has a TDP of 150 W, while the RTX 5090 Mobile has a TDP of 95 W. Both are listed as IGP slot width with no power connectors.

Specification Differences

The following specifications differ between the two cards, based on the data provided:

• Architecture: RDNA 1.0 (RX 5600M) vs Blackwell 2.0 (RTX 5090 Mobile)
• Process Node: 7 nm (RX 5600M) vs 5 nm (RTX 5090 Mobile)
• Transistors: 10,300 million (RX 5600M) vs 45,600 million (RTX 5090 Mobile)
• Die Size: 251 mm² (RX 5600M) vs 378 mm² (RTX 5090 Mobile)
• Transistor Density: 41.0M / mm² (RX 5600M) vs 120.6M / mm² (RTX 5090 Mobile)
• Base Clock: 1035 MHz (RX 5600M) vs 990 MHz (RTX 5090 Mobile)
• Boost Clock: 1265 MHz (RX 5600M) vs 1515 MHz (RTX 5090 Mobile)
• Memory Size: 6 GB (RX 5600M) vs 24 GB (RTX 5090 Mobile)
• Memory Type: GDDR6 (RX 5600M) vs GDDR7 (RTX 5090 Mobile)
• Memory Bus Width: 192 bit (RX 5600M) vs 256 bit (RTX 5090 Mobile)
• Memory Bandwidth: 288.0 GB/s (RX 5600M) vs 896.0 GB/s (RTX 5090 Mobile)
• Shading Units: 2304 (RX 5600M) vs 10496 (RTX 5090 Mobile)
• TMUs: 144 (RX 5600M) vs 328 (RTX 5090 Mobile)
• ROPs: 64 (RX 5600M) vs 112 (RTX 5090 Mobile)
• RT Cores: None (RX 5600M) vs 82 (RTX 5090 Mobile)
• Tensor Cores: None (RX 5600M) vs 328 (RTX 5090 Mobile)
• Pixel Rate: 80.96 GPixel/s (RX 5600M) vs 169.7 GPixel/s (RTX 5090 Mobile)
• Texture Rate: 182.2 GTexel/s (RX 5600M) vs 496.9 GTexel/s (RTX 5090 Mobile)
• FP32 Performance: 5.829 TFLOPS (RX 5600M) vs 31.80 TFLOPS (RTX 5090 Mobile)
• FP16 Performance: 11.66 TFLOPS (2:1) (RX 5600M) vs 31.80 TFLOPS (1:1) (RTX 5090 Mobile)
• TDP: 150 W (RX 5600M) vs 95 W (RTX 5090 Mobile)
• Bus Interface: PCIe 4.0 x16 (RX 5600M) vs PCIe 5.0 x16 (RTX 5090 Mobile)
• DirectX Support: 12 (12_1) (RX 5600M) vs 12 Ultimate (12_2) (RTX 5090 Mobile)
• Production Status: End-of-life (RX 5600M) vs Active (RTX 5090 Mobile)
• Release Date: 2020-07-06 (RX 5600M) vs 2025-03-26 (RTX 5090 Mobile)
• Predecessor: Polaris Mobile (RX 5600M) vs GeForce 40 Mobile (RTX 5090 Mobile)
• Game Clock: 1190 MHz (RX 5600M) vs not applicable (RTX 5090 Mobile)