AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT vs AMD Radeon Vega 11 Comparison

The Verdict

The recorded data places the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT as the dominant performer in the majority of shared benchmarks. In the three directly comparable tests, it wins two: Geekbench Metal and Geekbench Vulkan. The Geekbench Metal result shows a 329.2% advantage for the RX 5700 XT, while the Geekbench Vulkan result shows a 456.6% advantage. These are not marginal differences; they represent a multi-generational gap in raw compute capability.

The AMD Radeon Vega 11, an integrated graphics processor, claims a single victory in Geekbench OpenCL. Its score of 13392 surpasses the RX 5700 XT's 9524, a delta of -28.9% from the RX 5700 XT's perspective. This is a notable outcome, as it indicates the OpenCL workload favors the Vega 11's architecture or driver path despite its far lower transistor count and shading unit count.

The average benchmark score in the database places the RX 5700 XT at 16361, against 14352 for the Vega 11. The RX 5700 XT sits at the 59th percentile of all GPUs, while the Vega 11 sits at the 56th percentile. The RX 5700 XT's nearest rivals by average score include the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M at 16351 (0.1% ahead), the NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell at 16408 (0.3% behind), and the AMD Radeon PRO W7500 at 16415 (0.3% behind). The Vega 11's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN at 14373 (0.1% behind), the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 at 14385 (0.2% behind), and the Intel Iris Xe MAX Graphics at 14315 (0.3% ahead).

For the user choosing between these two, the data is clear. The RX 5700 XT is the choice for any workload that relies on Metal or Vulkan APIs, which covers most modern gaming and compute scenarios. The Vega 11 is only preferable in the specific OpenCL workload where it actually wins. There is no scenario in the recorded benchmarks where the Vega 11 outperforms the RX 5700 XT in more than one test. The RX 5700 XT is a discrete add-in board with its own memory and power delivery, while the Vega 11 is an IGP with system-shared memory. The benchmark results reflect this fundamental positioning.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT has an average benchmark score of 16361, compared to the AMD Radeon Vega 11's 14352.

Q: In which benchmark does the Vega 11 outperform the RX 5700 XT?

A: The Vega 11 wins Geekbench OpenCL with a score of 13392, while the RX 5700 XT scores 9524 in the same test.

Q: How large is the RX 5700 XT's lead in Geekbench Vulkan?

A: The RX 5700 XT scores 68310 in Geekbench Vulkan, which is 456.6% higher than the Vega 11's 12273.

Q: What are the percentile rankings of these two GPUs?

A: The RX 5700 XT is in the 59th percentile of all GPUs, and the Vega 11 is in the 56th percentile.

Q: Does the RX 5700 XT support a newer DirectX version than the Vega 11?

A: No, both support DirectX 12 (12_1). They also both support OpenGL 4.6, while the RX 5700 XT supports Vulkan 1.4 and the Vega 11 supports Vulkan 1.3.

Q: What is the nearest rival to the RX 5700 XT by average score?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 5600M has an average score of 16351, which is 0.1% away from the RX 5700 XT's 16361.

Architecture Differences

The RX 5700 XT uses the Navi 10 chip built on the RDNA 1.0 architecture, fabricated on a 7 nm process at TSMC. The Vega 11 uses the Picasso chip built on the GCN 5.0 architecture, fabricated on a 12 nm process at GlobalFoundries. The RX 5700 XT belongs to the Navi (RX 5000) generation, while the Vega 11 belongs to the Vega IGP (Picasso) generation.

The transistor counts differ substantially. The RX 5700 XT integrates 10,300 million transistors on a 251 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 41.0M per mm². The Vega 11 integrates 4,940 million transistors on a 210 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 23.5M per mm². The RX 5700 XT packs more than twice the transistors into a slightly larger die, reflecting the denser 7 nm process.

Shading unit counts show a wide gap. The RX 5700 XT has 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 raster operation units. The Vega 11 has 704 shading units, 44 texture mapping units, and only 8 raster operation units. Neither GPU includes dedicated ray tracing cores or tensor cores.

The memory subsystems are fundamentally different. The RX 5700 XT uses 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The Vega 11 uses system-shared memory, with the memory type, bus width, and bandwidth all listed as system dependent. This architecture difference explains much of the performance gap in memory-heavy workloads.

The RX 5700 XT is a dual-slot discrete card with a 272 mm length, while the Vega 11 is an IGP with no physical dimensions recorded. The RX 5700 XT uses a PCIe 4.0 x16 bus interface, while the Vega 11 uses an IGP bus interface. Display outputs on the RX 5700 XT include 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, while the Vega 11's outputs are motherboard dependent.

Specification Differences

The process node differs: 7 nm for the RX 5700 XT versus 12 nm for the Vega 11. The foundry also differs: TSMC for the RX 5700 XT, GlobalFoundries for the Vega 11. The RX 5700 XT has a base clock of 1605 MHz and a boost clock of 1905 MHz, with a game clock of 1755 MHz. The Vega 11 has a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 1400 MHz, with no game clock recorded.

The RX 5700 XT's memory runs at 1750 MHz with 14 Gbps effective speed. The Vega 11's memory clock is listed as system shared. The RX 5700 XT has a pixel rate of 121.9 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 304.8 GTexel/s. The Vega 11 has a pixel rate of 11.20 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 61.60 GTexel/s.

The FP32 compute figures show a large gap: 9.754 TFLOPS for the RX 5700 XT versus 1.971 TFLOPS for the Vega 11. FP16 figures are 19.51 TFLOPS (2:1) for the RX 5700 XT and 3.942 TFLOPS (2:1) for the Vega 11. The TDP differs dramatically: 225 W for the RX 5700 XT versus 15 W for the Vega 11. The RX 5700 XT requires a 550 W suggested PSU and uses 1x 6-pin plus 1x 8-pin power connectors. The Vega 11 has no power connectors and no suggested PSU.

The RX 5700 XT supports Vulkan 1.4, while the Vega 11 supports Vulkan 1.3. Both support DirectX 12 (12_1) and OpenGL 4.6. The RX 5700 XT was released on 2019-07-06, while the Vega 11 was released on 2019-09-29. The RX 5700 XT has a launch MSRP of 399 USD. The Vega 11 has no recorded launch MSRP. Both are end-of-life products. The RX 5700 XT's predecessor is Vega and its successor is Navi II. The Vega 11's predecessor is GCN 3.0 IGP and its successor is Vega II IGP.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

Three benchmarks have direct head-to-head data for both GPUs. The Geekbench Metal test shows the RX 5700 XT scoring 74647 against the Vega 11's 17392. This is a 329.2% lead for the RX 5700 XT. The Metal API is Apple's graphics interface, and the RX 5700 XT's RDNA 1.0 architecture delivers a massive advantage in this workload.

The Geekbench Vulkan test shows an even larger gap. The RX 5700 XT scores 68310, while the Vega 11 scores 12273. The delta is 456.6% in favor of the RX 5700 XT. Vulkan is a cross-platform graphics and compute API, and the RX 5700 XT's modern architecture and dedicated GDDR6 memory clearly benefit this workload.

The Geekbench OpenCL test is the only one the Vega 11 wins. The Vega 11 scores 13392, while the RX 5700 XT scores 9524. The delta is -28.9% from the RX 5700 XT's perspective. This is an unusual result, as the RX 5700 XT has far higher raw compute specifications. The OpenCL score may reflect driver optimization differences or the specific workload characteristics of the test, but the recorded data shows the Vega 11 ahead here.

The RX 5700 XT has additional benchmark scores not recorded for the Vega 11. These include 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 at 2134, Passmark DirectX 10 at 97, Passmark DirectX 11 at 116, Passmark DirectX 12 at 64, Passmark DirectX 9 at 226, Passmark G2D at 922, Passmark G3D at 16277, and Passmark GPU Compute at 7650. The Vega 11 has no recorded scores for these tests in the database.

Where Each One Wins

The RX 5700 XT wins decisively in Metal and Vulkan workloads. Its Geekbench Metal score of 74647 and Geekbench Vulkan score of 68310 place it far ahead of the Vega 11. These APIs are commonly used in gaming and high-performance compute applications. The RX 5700 XT's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth, combined with its 2560 shading units, delivers the throughput these workloads require.

The RX 5700 XT also has the advantage of dedicated graphics memory. The Vega 11 relies on system-shared memory, which is system dependent and cannot match the bandwidth of dedicated GDDR6. The RX 5700 XT's 64 ROPs versus the Vega 11's 8 ROPs means the discrete card handles rasterization-heavy tasks far more efficiently.

The Vega 11 wins in Geekbench OpenCL, scoring 13392 against the RX 5700 XT's 9524. This is the sole benchmark where the integrated GPU comes out ahead. OpenCL is used for general-purpose GPU computing, and the Vega 11's GCN 5.0 architecture shows strength in this specific workload. However, this single win does not offset the RX 5700 XT's dominance in the other two shared tests.

The RX 5700 XT is the appropriate choice for discrete gaming and compute workloads where Metal or Vulkan are the primary APIs. The Vega 11, as an integrated processor with a 15 W TDP, is appropriate for systems where the OpenCL workload is the primary use case and where a discrete GPU is not an option. The Vega 11's system-shared memory and motherboard-dependent outputs place it in the integrated graphics category, while the RX 5700 XT is a full-size PCIe 4.0 x16 card requiring a 550 W PSU. The data supports the RX 5700 XT as the higher-performing GPU in two of three direct comparisons, with a substantial average score advantage of 16361 versus 14352.