Radeon RX 6500 XT vs RX 5600M

Place in the ranking	248	221
Place by popularity	not in top-100	75
Cost-effectiveness evaluation	no data	58.76
Power efficiency	10.52	16.03
Architecture	RDNA 1.0 (2019−2020)	RDNA 2.0 (2020−2024)
GPU code name	Navi 10	Navi 24
Market segment	Laptop	Desktop
Release date	7 July 2020 (4 years ago)	19 January 2022 (3 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)	no data	$199

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

Performance to price ratio. The higher, the better.

no data

Detailed specifications

General parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.

Pipelines / CUDA cores	2304	1024
Core clock speed	1035 MHz	2610 MHz
Boost clock speed	1265 MHz	2815 MHz
Number of transistors	10,300 million	5,400 million
Manufacturing process technology	7 nm	6 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	150 Watt	107 Watt
Texture fill rate	182.2	180.2
Floating-point processing power	5.829 TFLOPS	5.765 TFLOPS
ROPs	64	32
TMUs	144	64
Ray Tracing Cores	no data	16

Form factor & compatibility

Information on compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop graphics cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility).

Laptop size	medium sized	no data
Interface	PCIe 4.0 x16	PCIe 4.0 x4
Width	no data	2-slot
Supplementary power connectors	None	1x 6-pin

VRAM capacity and type

Parameters of VRAM installed: its type, size, bus, clock and resulting bandwidth. Integrated GPUs have no dedicated video RAM and use a shared part of system RAM.

Memory type	GDDR6	GDDR6
Maximum RAM amount	6 GB	8 GB
Memory bus width	192 Bit	64 Bit
Memory clock speed	1500 MHz	2248 MHz
Memory bandwidth	288.0 GB/s	143.9 GB/s
Shared memory	-	-

Connectivity and outputs

Types and number of video connectors present on the reviewed GPUs. As a rule, data in this section is precise only for desktop reference ones (so-called Founders Edition for NVIDIA chips). OEM manufacturers may change the number and type of output ports, while for notebook cards availability of certain video outputs ports depends on the laptop model rather than on the card itself.

Display Connectors	No outputs	1x HDMI 2.1, 1x DisplayPort 1.4a
HDMI	-	+

API compatibility

List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.

DirectX	12 (12_1)	12 Ultimate (12_2)
Shader Model	6.5	6.6
OpenGL	4.6	4.6
OpenCL	2.0	2.2
Vulkan	1.2	1.3

Synthetic benchmark performance

Non-gaming benchmark results comparison. The combined score is measured on a 0-100 point scale.

Combined synthetic benchmark score

This is our combined benchmark score. We are regularly improving our combining algorithms, but if you find some perceived inconsistencies, feel free to speak up in comments section, we usually fix problems quickly.

RX 5600M 22.87

RX 6500 XT 24.86
+8.7%

Passmark

This is the most ubiquitous GPU benchmark. It gives the graphics card a thorough evaluation under various types of load, providing four separate benchmarks for Direct3D versions 9, 10, 11 and 12 (the last being done in 4K resolution if possible), and few more tests engaging DirectCompute capabilities.

RX 5600M 8795

RX 6500 XT 9558
+8.7%

3DMark 11 Performance GPU

3DMark 11 is an obsolete DirectX 11 benchmark by Futuremark. It used four tests based on two scenes, one being few submarines exploring the submerged wreck of a sunken ship, the other is an abandoned temple deep in the jungle. All the tests are heavy with volumetric lighting and tessellation, and despite being done in 1280x720 resolution, are relatively taxing. Discontinued in January 2020, 3DMark 11 is now superseded by Time Spy.

RX 5600M 24213
+5.5%

RX 6500 XT 22954

3DMark Vantage Performance

3DMark Vantage is an outdated DirectX 10 benchmark using 1280x1024 screen resolution. It taxes the graphics card with two scenes, one depicting a girl escaping some militarized base located within a sea cave, the other displaying a space fleet attack on a defenseless planet. It was discontinued in April 2017, and Time Spy benchmark is now recommended to be used instead.

RX 5600M 18582

RX 6500 XT 76445
+311%

3DMark Fire Strike Graphics

Fire Strike is a DirectX 11 benchmark for gaming PCs. It features two separate tests displaying a fight between a humanoid and a fiery creature made of lava. Using 1920x1080 resolution, Fire Strike shows off some realistic graphics and is quite taxing on hardware.

RX 5600M 17653
+12.4%

RX 6500 XT 15712

3DMark Cloud Gate GPU

Cloud Gate is an outdated DirectX 11 feature level 10 benchmark that was used for home PCs and basic notebooks. It displays a few scenes of some weird space teleportation device launching spaceships into unknown, using fixed resolution of 1280x720. Just like Ice Storm benchmark, it has been discontinued in January 2020 and replaced by 3DMark Night Raid.

RX 5600M 72335

RX 6500 XT 91909
+27.1%

Gaming performance

Let's see how good the compared graphics cards are for gaming. Particular gaming benchmark results are measured in FPS.

Average FPS across all PC games

Here are the average frames per second in a large set of popular games across different resolutions:

Full HD	86 +34.4%	64 −34.4%
1440p	55 +83.3%	30 −83.3%
4K	34 +113%	16 −113%

Cost per frame, $

1080p	no data	3.11
1440p	no data	6.63
4K	no data	12.44

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2	40−45 −52.4%	64 +52.4%
Cyberpunk 2077	45−50 −56.5%	72 +56.5%
Elden Ring	70−75 −6.8%	79 +6.8%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5	70−75 −7%	75−80 +7%
Counter-Strike 2	40−45 +5%	40 −5%
Cyberpunk 2077	28 +3.7%	27 −3.7%
Forza Horizon 4	95−100 −29.3%	128 +29.3%
Metro Exodus	77 −26%	97 +26%
Red Dead Redemption 2	76 +40.7%	50−55 −40.7%
Valorant	145 +45%	100−105 −45%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5	70−75 −7%	75−80 +7%
Counter-Strike 2	40−45 +50%	28 −50%
Cyberpunk 2077	23 +35.3%	17 −35.3%
Dota 2	36 −194%	106 +194%
Elden Ring	70−75 +17.5%	63 −17.5%
Far Cry 5	34 −26.5%	43 +26.5%
Fortnite	110−120 −6.8%	120−130 +6.8%
Forza Horizon 4	95−100 −8.1%	107 +8.1%
Grand Theft Auto V	75−80 −8.9%	86 +8.9%
Metro Exodus	59 −5.1%	62 +5.1%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	140−150 −5.4%	150−160 +5.4%
Red Dead Redemption 2	40 −35%	50−55 +35%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	70−75 −11%	80−85 +11%
Valorant	66 −51.5%	100−105 +51.5%
World of Tanks	240−250 −3.6%	250−260 +3.6%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	70−75 −7%	75−80 +7%
Counter-Strike 2	40−45 +75%	24 −75%
Cyberpunk 2077	19 +26.7%	15 −26.7%
Dota 2	104 −5.8%	110 +5.8%
Far Cry 5	70−75 −4.1%	75−80 +4.1%
Forza Horizon 4	95−100 +19.3%	83 −19.3%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	140−150 −5.4%	150−160 +5.4%
Valorant	115 +15%	100−105 −15%

1440p
High Preset

Dota 2	35−40 +0%	37 +0%
Elden Ring	35−40 +105%	19 −105%
Grand Theft Auto V	35−40 +2.7%	37 −2.7%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	170−180 −0.6%	170−180 +0.6%
Red Dead Redemption 2	25 +8.7%	21−24 −8.7%
World of Tanks	150−160 −7.8%	160−170 +7.8%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	45−50 −8.7%	50−55 +8.7%
Counter-Strike 2	18−20 −10.5%	21−24 +10.5%
Cyberpunk 2077	11 +22.2%	9 −22.2%
Far Cry 5	65−70 −10.8%	70−75 +10.8%
Forza Horizon 4	60−65 +7.1%	56 −7.1%
Metro Exodus	50−55 −9.6%	57 +9.6%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	30−35 −9.1%	35−40 +9.1%
Valorant	60−65 −9.8%	65−70 +9.8%

4K
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2	20−22 +186%	7 −186%
Dota 2	35−40 +14.7%	34 −14.7%
Elden Ring	18−20 +200%	6 −200%
Grand Theft Auto V	35−40 +14.7%	34 −14.7%
Metro Exodus	16−18 +54.5%	11 −54.5%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS	65−70 −10.1%	75−80 +10.1%
Red Dead Redemption 2	14−16 −14.3%	16−18 +14.3%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	35−40 +14.7%	34 −14.7%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5	21−24 −13%	24−27 +13%
Counter-Strike 2	20−22 −10%	21−24 +10%
Cyberpunk 2077	5 +150%	2 −150%
Dota 2	35−40 −71.8%	67 +71.8%
Far Cry 5	30−33 −10%	30−35 +10%
Fortnite	27−30 −10.7%	30−35 +10.7%
Forza Horizon 4	35−40 +40%	25 −40%
Valorant	27−30 −10.3%	30−35 +10.3%

This is how RX 5600M and RX 6500 XT compete in popular games:

RX 5600M is 34% faster in 1080p
RX 5600M is 83% faster in 1440p
RX 5600M is 113% faster in 4K

Here's the range of performance differences observed across popular games:

in Elden Ring, with 4K resolution and the High Preset, the RX 5600M is 200% faster.
in Dota 2, with 1080p resolution and the High Preset, the RX 6500 XT is 194% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

RX 5600M is ahead in 24 tests (38%)
RX 6500 XT is ahead in 38 tests (60%)
there's a draw in 1 test (2%)

Pros & cons summary

Performance score	22.87	24.86
Recency	7 July 2020	19 January 2022
Maximum RAM amount	6 GB	8 GB
Chip lithography	7 nm	6 nm
Power consumption (TDP)	150 Watt	107 Watt

RX 6500 XT has a 8.7% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 1 year, a 33.3% higher maximum VRAM amount, a 16.7% more advanced lithography process, and 40.2% lower power consumption.

Given the minimal performance differences, no clear winner can be declared between Radeon RX 5600M and Radeon RX 6500 XT.

Be aware that Radeon RX 5600M is a notebook card while Radeon RX 6500 XT is a desktop one.

Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.