AMD Radeon RX 590 GME vs AMD Radeon RX 7800M Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The benchmark data shows a decisive performance gap between the AMD Radeon RX 590 GME and the AMD Radeon RX 7800M. Across all three head-to-head tests, the RX 7800M wins outright, with the RX 590 GME failing to claim a single victory. The most significant margin appears in Geekbench OpenCL, where the RX 7800M scores 120,778 against 36,294 for the RX 590 GME, a delta of 69.9% in favor of the newer part. This is a massive generational leap, reflecting both architectural improvements and a substantially different specification profile.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the RX 7800M again dominates, scoring 126,668 compared to 60,508 for the RX 590 GME, representing a 52.2% advantage. This test often reflects driver efficiency and hardware feature utilization, and the RX 7800M's RDNA 3.0 architecture with dedicated ray tracing cores clearly provides a significant boost in this workload. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test shows the narrowest relative gap, but still a decisive win for the RX 7800M: 2,994 versus 1,001, a 66.6% delta. This suggests that even in a modern DirectX 12 workload, the RX 590 GME's older GCN 4.0 design is severely outmatched.

The average benchmark score for the RX 590 GME is 32,601, while the RX 7800M averages 27,883. Interestingly, the RX 590 GME holds a higher percentile rank (77th) compared to the RX 7800M (73rd), but this reflects the distribution of scores across all GPUs in the database, not the direct comparison between these two. The RX 590 GME's nearest rivals include the AMD FirePro S9300 X2 (average score 32,540, delta 0.2%), the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE (32,456, delta 0.4%), and the AMD FirePro S10000 (32,388, delta 0.7%), while the NVIDIA T600 Mobile sits just above at 32,849 (delta -0.8%). For the RX 7800M, its closest competitor is the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 (27,839, delta 0.2%), with the AMD Radeon Pro W5500X slightly ahead at 27,973 (delta -0.3%) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti at 28,020 (delta -0.5%). These rival deltas are small, indicating that both GPUs sit in tightly contested performance brackets for their respective generations.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide between these two GPUs is stark. The RX 590 GME is built on the Polaris 20 chip using GCN 4.0 architecture, manufactured on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. It packs 5,700 million transistors on a 232 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 24.6 million per mm². The RX 7800M, by contrast, uses the Navi 32 chip with RDNA 3.0 architecture, produced on a 5 nm process at TSMC. This newer part contains 28,100 million transistors on a 346 mm² die, with a transistor density of 81.2 million per mm², more than three times higher. This density advantage is a direct result of the advanced process node, enabling far more compute resources in a similar physical footprint.

The RX 590 GME features 2,304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 32 render output units. It has no ray tracing cores. The RX 7800M, meanwhile, offers 3,840 shading units, 240 TMUs, and 96 ROPs, and includes 60 dedicated ray tracing cores. This is a fundamental architectural shift, not just a clock speed improvement. The RX 7800M also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the RX 590 GME is limited to DirectX 12 (12_0). Both support OpenGL 4.6, but the RX 7800M runs Vulkan 1.4 versus 1.3 on the older card. The RX 590 GME belongs to the Polaris (RX 500) generation with a predecessor of Arctic Islands and a successor of Vega, while the RX 7800M is part of the Navi Mobile (RX 7000M) series, succeeding Polaris Mobile.

Clock speeds also differ significantly. The RX 590 GME has a base clock of 1,257 MHz and a boost clock of 1,420 MHz, with no game clock specified. The RX 7800M starts at 1,295 MHz base, boosts to 2,335 MHz, and has a game clock of 2,145 MHz. That boost clock advantage of over 900 MHz, combined with the larger shader count, produces dramatically higher theoretical throughput. The pixel rate jumps from 45.44 GPixel/s on the RX 590 GME to 224.2 GPixel/s on the RX 7800M, and texture rate scales from 204.5 GTexel/s to 560.4 GTexel/s. FP32 compute is particularly telling: 6.543 TFLOPS for the RX 590 GME versus 35.87 TFLOPS for the RX 7800M, a 5.5x increase. FP16 performance follows the same 1:1 ratio on both cards, meaning there is no half-precision acceleration advantage on either.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins in the Geekbench Vulkan benchmark?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7800M scores 126,668 versus 60,508 for the RX 590 GME, a 52.2% advantage for the RX 7800M.

Q: Does the RX 590 GME have any ray tracing capability?

A: No, the RX 590 GME has no ray tracing cores, while the RX 7800M includes 60 dedicated RT cores.

Q: How do the memory bandwidth figures compare?

A: The RX 7800M offers 432.0 GB/s bandwidth from its 12 GB GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, while the RX 590 GME provides 256.0 GB/s from 8 GB GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus.

Q: What is the process node difference between the two?

A: The RX 590 GME is fabricated on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries, while the RX 7800M uses a 5 nm process at TSMC.

Q: Which card has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The RX 590 GME has an average benchmark score of 32,601, which is higher than the RX 7800M's 27,883, despite losing every head-to-head test.

Q: What is the TDP difference?

A: The RX 590 GME has a TDP of 175 W, while the RX 7800M is rated at 180 W, a difference of only 5 W.

Specification Differences

The following specification fields differ between the two GPUs:

| Field | AMD Radeon RX 590 GME | AMD Radeon RX 7800M |

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

| Chip | Polaris 20 | Navi 32 |

| Architecture | GCN 4.0 | RDNA 3.0 |

| Codename | None | Wheat Nas |

| Generation | Polaris (RX 500) | Navi Mobile (RX 7000M) |

| Process Node | 14 nm | 5 nm |

| Foundry | GlobalFoundries | TSMC |

| Transistors | 5,700 million | 28,100 million |

| Die Size | 232 mm² | 346 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 24.6M / mm² | 81.2M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1257 MHz | 1295 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1420 MHz | 2335 MHz |

| Game Clock | None | 2145 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 2000 MHz, 8 Gbps effective | 2250 MHz, 18 Gbps effective |

| Memory Size | 8 GB | 12 GB |

| Memory Type | GDDR5 | GDDR6 |

| Memory Bus Width | 256 bit | 192 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 256.0 GB/s | 432.0 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 2304 | 3840 |

| TMUs | 144 | 240 |

| ROPs | 32 | 96 |

| RT Cores | None | 60 |

| Pixel Rate | 45.44 GPixel/s | 224.2 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 204.5 GTexel/s | 560.4 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 6.543 TFLOPS | 35.87 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 6.543 TFLOPS (1:1) | 35.87 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 175 W | 180 W |

| Slot Width | Dual-slot | IGP |

| Power Connectors | 1x 8-pin | None |

| Suggested PSU | 450 W | None |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | PCIe 4.0 x16 |

| Display Outputs | 1x HDMI 2.0b, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a | Portable Device Dependent |

| DirectX Support | 12 (12_0) | 12 Ultimate (12_2) |

| Vulkan Support | 1.3 | 1.4 |

| Production Status | End-of-life | Active |

| Release Date | 2020-03-08 | 2024-09-10 |

| Predecessor | Arctic Islands | Polaris Mobile |

| Successor | Vega | None |

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous. The AMD Radeon RX 7800M outperforms the RX 590 GME in every recorded head-to-head benchmark, with margins ranging from 52.2% to 69.9%. This is not a close contest; the RX 7800M is the superior choice for any workload that leverages modern DirectX 12 or Vulkan features, and its 60 ray tracing cores give it capability that the RX 590 GME simply lacks. The RX 7800M also offers more memory (12 GB versus 8 GB), higher bandwidth (432.0 GB/s versus 256.0 GB/s), and significantly higher compute throughput across the board. Its newer RDNA 3.0 architecture on a 5 nm process delivers 35.87 TFLOPS FP32, a 5.5x advantage over the RX 590 GME's 6.543 TFLOPS. For users who prioritize raw performance, particularly in recent titles that utilize ray tracing or DirectX 12 Ultimate features, the RX 7800M is the clear pick.

However, the RX 590 GME is not without its own merits in the database. It holds a higher percentile rank (77th versus 73rd) and a higher average benchmark score (32,601 versus 27,883). Its nearest rivals are notably stronger, including the RX 7900 GRE and NVIDIA T600 Mobile, suggesting that the RX 590 GME competes in a higher overall performance tier despite being older. The RX 7800M's nearest rivals, such as the GTX 980 Ti and Radeon Pro W5500X, are older or lower-tier parts, indicating that the RX 7800M sits in a more modest performance bracket relative to the entire GPU landscape. The RX 590 GME also has a lower TDP (175 W versus 180 W), a standard dual-slot form factor with a single 8-pin connector, and a suggested PSU of 450 W, making it easier to integrate into existing desktop systems. The RX 7800M, being an integrated graphics part (IGP) for portable devices, requires no power connectors and has display outputs that are dependent on the host device.

In summary, for desktop users seeking maximum performance in modern workloads, the RX 7800M is the definitive winner based on all recorded metrics. For those constrained by power delivery or system compatibility, the RX 590 GME remains a viable option, but it cannot match the RX 7800M's performance in any head-to-head test. The production status also matters: the RX 590 GME is end-of-life, while the RX 7800M is active, meaning the latter is likely to receive longer driver support and remain available for new systems. The choice is clear: the RX 7800M wins on performance, features, and longevity, while the RX 590 GME holds an edge only in overall database percentile ranking and average score, which do not translate to real-world superiority in direct comparison.