AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT vs NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile Comparison

# NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile vs AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT

The recorded data presents a clear picture of two mobile GPUs targeting different workloads. The NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile, built on the Ampere architecture, and the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT, using RDNA 2.0, both carry a 165 W TDP but diverge sharply in compute philosophy. Across the two shared benchmark tests, the NVIDIA part wins both, yet the margin in Vulkan is narrow while the OpenCL gap is substantial. The database places the RTX A5500 Mobile at the 94th percentile of all GPUs, with the RX 6850M XT at the 92nd, indicating both are high-end parts, but their strengths target different application types.

Where Each One Wins

The head-to-head results show that the NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile dominates in compute-heavy OpenCL workloads. Its score of 124,287 in Geekbench OpenCL versus the AMD's 85,040 represents a 46.2% advantage. This is a decisive victory, and the data suggests the A5500 Mobile is built for professional compute tasks such as rendering, simulation, and data processing where OpenCL is common.

The Vulkan test tells a different story. The NVIDIA part scores 103,601 against the AMD's 99,483, a margin of only 4.1%. While still a win for NVIDIA, this close result indicates that in gaming-oriented or graphics-API workloads, the RX 6850M XT is highly competitive. The AMD card also has a Geekbench Metal score of 128,981, which is higher than either card's OpenCL or Vulkan scores, though no direct comparison exists for that API. Additionally, the RX 6850M XT has a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2,257, further confirming its strength in modern graphics APIs.

The wins break down as follows: NVIDIA wins 2 benchmarks, AMD wins 0 in direct comparison. However, the AMD card's additional benchmark results in Metal and DX12, while not directly comparable, suggest it holds advantages in specific API environments. For users prioritizing raw compute throughput, the A5500 Mobile is the clear choice. For those focused on Vulkan or DX12 gaming workloads, the RX 6850M XT is nearly on par.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide between these two GPUs is significant. The NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile uses the GA103 chip on an 8 nm Samsung process, with 22,000 million transistors on a 496 mm² die. This yields a transistor density of 44.4M per mm². The AMD RX 6850M XT uses the Navi 22 chip on a 7 nm TSMC process, packing 17,200 million transistors into a 335 mm² die, achieving a higher density of 51.3M per mm².

The NVIDIA part features 7,424 shading units, 232 texture mapping units, and 96 ROPs. It also includes 58 RT cores and 232 tensor cores, making it a full-featured Ampere implementation. The AMD card has 2,560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, with 40 RT cores and no tensor cores. This fundamental difference in core count explains the NVIDIA card's massive lead in FP32 compute: 22.27 TFLOPS versus 13.21 TFLOPS for AMD.

Memory configurations also differ. The NVIDIA card offers 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, providing 512.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The AMD card has 12 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, delivering 432.0 GB/s. Both use PCIe 4.0 x16 interfaces and support DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

Clock speeds favor AMD heavily. The RX 6850M XT runs at a 2,321 MHz base and 2,581 MHz boost, with a game clock of 2,463 MHz. The A5500 Mobile runs at 975 MHz base and 1,500 MHz boost. AMD's higher clocks help it achieve a higher pixel rate (165.2 GPixel/s versus 144.0 GPixel/s) and texture rate (413.0 GTexel/s versus 348.0 GTexel/s) despite fewer cores.

In FP16 compute, the tables turn. AMD achieves 26.43 TFLOPS with a 2:1 ratio, while NVIDIA manages 22.27 TFLOPS with a 1:1 ratio. This means the AMD card is actually faster in FP16 workloads, which can matter for AI inferencing or certain compute tasks.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The Geekbench OpenCL test is the most lopsided comparison. The NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile scores 124,287, while the AMD RX 6850M XT scores 85,040. The 46.2% delta places NVIDIA far ahead. This result aligns with the NVIDIA card's 22.27 TFLOPS FP32 throughput, which is 68.5% higher than AMD's 13.21 TFLOPS. The database also shows the A5500 Mobile has an average benchmark score of 113,944, placing it near the NVIDIA Tesla V100 SXM2 16 GB (114,395, 0.4% behind) and the RTX 4000 SFF Ada Generation (117,088, 2.7% behind).

In Geekbench Vulkan, the margin narrows to 4.1%. NVIDIA scores 103,601 against AMD's 99,483. This closer result suggests that Vulkan's driver overhead or the AMD card's higher clock speeds partially compensate for its lower core count. The RX 6850M XT's average benchmark score is 78,940, which places it near the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB (79,396, 0.6% behind) and the GeForce RTX 5090 (79,842, 1.1% behind). These rival comparisons show that while the AMD card trails the NVIDIA mobile part, it still sits in a competitive tier against other high-end GPUs.

The RX 6850M XT's additional benchmarks provide context. Its Metal score of 128,981 exceeds both cards' OpenCL and Vulkan results, though this API is Apple-specific. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2,257 indicates modern gaming capability. These results, while not directly comparable to the NVIDIA card (which has no such scores in the database), suggest the AMD part is well-rounded for graphics-heavy tasks.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has higher FP32 compute performance?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile achieves 22.27 TFLOPS FP32, while the AMD RX 6850M XT reaches 13.21 TFLOPS. This gives NVIDIA a 68.5% advantage in standard single-precision compute.

Q: How do the memory bandwidth figures compare?

A: The NVIDIA card offers 512.0 GB/s from 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus. The AMD card provides 432.0 GB/s from 12 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus. NVIDIA leads by about 18.5% in bandwidth.

Q: Which GPU is better for Vulkan-based gaming?

A: The NVIDIA card wins by only 4.1% in Geekbench Vulkan (103,601 versus 99,483). For practical gaming purposes, the AMD card is nearly equivalent, and its higher clock speeds may help in specific titles.

Q: Does the AMD card have tensor cores?

A: No, the RX 6850M XT has no tensor cores. The NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile includes 232 tensor cores, which are used for AI acceleration and certain compute workloads.

Q: What process node does each GPU use?

A: The NVIDIA card uses an 8 nm Samsung process with 22,000 million transistors on a 496 mm² die. The AMD card uses a 7 nm TSMC process with 17,200 million transistors on a 335 mm² die.

Q: How do the pixel and texture rates compare?

A: The AMD card has a higher pixel rate at 165.2 GPixel/s versus 144.0 GPixel/s for NVIDIA. AMD also leads in texture rate at 413.0 GTexel/s versus 348.0 GTexel/s, despite having fewer TMUs.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear split in use cases. The NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile is the choice for compute-intensive professional workloads. Its 46.2% lead in OpenCL, combined with 22.27 TFLOPS FP32 and 232 tensor cores, makes it suited for rendering, scientific computing, and AI-adjacent tasks. The 16 GB memory capacity and 512.0 GB/s bandwidth further support large datasets.

The AMD RX 6850M XT, while losing both direct comparisons, is not far behind in Vulkan and shows strengths in other metrics. Its higher pixel rate (165.2 GPixel/s) and texture rate (413.0 GTexel/s) indicate better performance in fill-rate-bound scenarios. The FP16 advantage (26.43 TFLOPS versus 22.27 TFLOPS) matters for half-precision compute. For gamers or users working in Vulkan or DX12 environments, the 4.1% gap in Vulkan is negligible.

The 92nd percentile ranking for AMD versus 94th for NVIDIA confirms both are top-tier parts. The AMD card's nearest rivals include the GeForce RTX 5090, which shows it competes with desktop-class hardware. The NVIDIA card's rivals include the Tesla V100 and RTX 4000 SFF Ada, indicating workstation positioning.

Ultimately, the RTX A5500 Mobile targets professionals needing maximum compute density. The RX 6850M XT targets users who prioritize graphics performance and are willing to trade compute throughput. Neither part is universally superior; the choice depends on whether the workload leans toward FP32-heavy tasks or graphics-API-specific performance.

Specification Differences

| Specification | NVIDIA RTX A5500 Mobile | AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT |

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

| Chip | GA103 | Navi 22 |

| Architecture | Ampere | RDNA 2.0 |

| Process Node | 8 nm (Samsung) | 7 nm (TSMC) |

| Transistors | 22,000 million | 17,200 million |

| Die Size | 496 mm² | 335 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 44.4M / mm² | 51.3M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 975 MHz | 2321 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1500 MHz | 2581 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective) | 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective) |

| Memory Size | 16 GB | 12 GB |

| Memory Bus Width | 256 bit | 192 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 512.0 GB/s | 432.0 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 7424 | 2560 |

| TMUs | 232 | 160 |

| ROPs | 96 | 64 |

| RT Cores | 58 | 40 |

| Tensor Cores | 232 | None |

| Pixel Rate | 144.0 GPixel/s | 165.2 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 348.0 GTexel/s | 413.0 GTexel/s |

| FP32 Compute | 22.27 TFLOPS | 13.21 TFLOPS |

| FP16 Compute | 22.27 TFLOPS (1:1) | 26.43 TFLOPS (2:1) |

| Release Date | 2022-03-21 | 2022-01-03 |

| Predecessor | Quadro Turing-M | Polaris Mobile |