Radeon RX 5500 XT vs Vega Frontier Edition

Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon Vega Frontier Edition with Radeon RX 5500 XT, including specs and performance data.

Vega Frontier Edition
2017
16 GB HBM2, 300 Watt
29.10
+42.9%

Vega Frontier Edition outperforms RX 5500 XT by a considerable 43% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.

Place in the ranking164247
Place by popularitynot in top-10080
Cost-effectiveness evaluation19.2443.41
Power efficiency7.7212.48
ArchitectureGCN 5.0 (2017−2020)RDNA 1.0 (2019−2020)
GPU code nameVega 10Navi 14
Market segmentWorkstationDesktop
Release date27 June 2017 (7 years ago)12 December 2019 (5 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$999 $169

Cost-effectiveness evaluation

The higher the performance-to-price ratio, the better. We use the manufacturer's recommended prices for comparison.

RX 5500 XT has 126% better value for money than Vega Frontier Edition.

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 cores40961408
Core clock speed1382 MHz1607 MHz
Boost clock speed1600 MHz1845 MHz
Number of transistors12,500 million6,400 million
Manufacturing process technology14 nm7 nm
Power consumption (TDP)300 Watt130 Watt
Texture fill rate409.6162.4
Floating-point processing power13.11 TFLOPS5.196 TFLOPS
ROPs6432
TMUs25688

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).

InterfacePCIe 3.0 x16PCIe 4.0 x8
Length267 mm180 mm
Width2-slot2-slot
Supplementary power connectors2x 8-pin1x 8-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 typeHBM2GDDR6
Maximum RAM amount16 GB8 GB
Memory bus width2048 Bit128 Bit
Memory clock speed945 MHz14000 MHz
Memory bandwidth483.8 GB/s224.0 GB/s
Shared memory--
Resizable BAR-+

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 Connectors1x HDMI, 3x DisplayPort1x HDMI, 3x DisplayPort
HDMI++

API and SDK compatibility

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

DirectX12 (12_1)12 (12_1)
Shader Model6.46.5
OpenGL4.64.6
OpenCL2.02.0
Vulkan1.1.1251.2.131

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.

Vega Frontier Edition 29.10
+42.9%
RX 5500 XT 20.37

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.

Vega Frontier Edition 13013
+42.9%
RX 5500 XT 9107

GeekBench 5 OpenCL

Geekbench 5 is a widespread graphics card benchmark combined from 11 different test scenarios. All these scenarios rely on direct usage of GPU's processing power, no 3D rendering is involved. This variation uses OpenCL API by Khronos Group.

Vega Frontier Edition 75767
+70.2%
RX 5500 XT 44515

GeekBench 5 Vulkan

Geekbench 5 is a widespread graphics card benchmark combined from 11 different test scenarios. All these scenarios rely on direct usage of GPU's processing power, no 3D rendering is involved. This variation uses Vulkan API by AMD & Khronos Group.

Vega Frontier Edition 71947
+70.2%
RX 5500 XT 42261

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 HD110−120
+42.9%
77
−42.9%
1440p60−65
+36.4%
44
−36.4%
4K35−40
+40%
25
−40%

Cost per frame, $

1080p9.08
−314%
2.19
+314%
1440p16.65
−333%
3.84
+333%
4K28.54
−322%
6.76
+322%
  • RX 5500 XT has 314% lower cost per frame in 1080p
  • RX 5500 XT has 333% lower cost per frame in 1440p
  • RX 5500 XT has 322% lower cost per frame in 4K

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Atomic Heart 98
+0%
98
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 254
+0%
254
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 78
+0%
78
+0%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Atomic Heart 75
+0%
75
+0%
Battlefield 5 74
+0%
74
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 196
+0%
196
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 61
+0%
61
+0%
Far Cry 5 105
+0%
105
+0%
Fortnite 110−120
+0%
110−120
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 78
+0%
78
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 109
+0%
109
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 85−90
+0%
85−90
+0%
Valorant 150−160
+0%
150−160
+0%

Full HD
High Preset

Atomic Heart 43
+0%
43
+0%
Battlefield 5 71
+0%
71
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 98
+0%
98
+0%
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 240−250
+0%
240−250
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 45
+0%
45
+0%
Dota 2 149
+0%
149
+0%
Far Cry 5 96
+0%
96
+0%
Fortnite 110−120
+0%
110−120
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 66
+0%
66
+0%
Forza Horizon 5 94
+0%
94
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 94
+0%
94
+0%
Metro Exodus 52
+0%
52
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 85−90
+0%
85−90
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 95
+0%
95
+0%
Valorant 150−160
+0%
150−160
+0%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 68
+0%
68
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 40
+0%
40
+0%
Dota 2 143
+0%
143
+0%
Far Cry 5 89
+0%
89
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 56
+0%
56
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 85−90
+0%
85−90
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 58
+0%
58
+0%
Valorant 114
+0%
114
+0%

Full HD
Epic Preset

Fortnite 110−120
+0%
110−120
+0%

1440p
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2 55
+0%
55
+0%
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 150−160
+0%
150−160
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 44
+0%
44
+0%
Metro Exodus 31
+0%
31
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 170−180
+0%
170−180
+0%
Valorant 190−200
+0%
190−200
+0%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 55
+0%
55
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 20
+0%
20
+0%
Far Cry 5 60
+0%
60
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 41
+0%
41
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 35−40
+0%
35−40
+0%

1440p
Epic Preset

Fortnite 50−55
+0%
50−55
+0%

4K
High Preset

Atomic Heart 18−20
+0%
18−20
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 13
+0%
13
+0%
Grand Theft Auto V 42
+0%
42
+0%
Metro Exodus 19
+0%
19
+0%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 31
+0%
31
+0%
Valorant 120−130
+0%
120−130
+0%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 35
+0%
35
+0%
Counter-Strike 2 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%
Cyberpunk 2077 8
+0%
8
+0%
Dota 2 78
+0%
78
+0%
Far Cry 5 30
+0%
30
+0%
Forza Horizon 4 21
+0%
21
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 21−24
+0%
21−24
+0%

4K
Epic Preset

Fortnite 24−27
+0%
24−27
+0%

This is how Vega Frontier Edition and RX 5500 XT compete in popular games:

  • Vega Frontier Edition is 43% faster in 1080p
  • Vega Frontier Edition is 36% faster in 1440p
  • Vega Frontier Edition is 40% faster in 4K

All in all, in popular games:

  • there's a draw in 63 tests (100%)

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 29.10 20.37
Recency 27 June 2017 12 December 2019
Maximum RAM amount 16 GB 8 GB
Chip lithography 14 nm 7 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 300 Watt 130 Watt

Vega Frontier Edition has a 42.9% higher aggregate performance score, and a 100% higher maximum VRAM amount.

RX 5500 XT, on the other hand, has an age advantage of 2 years, a 100% more advanced lithography process, and 130.8% lower power consumption.

The Radeon Vega Frontier Edition is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon RX 5500 XT in performance tests.

Be aware that Radeon Vega Frontier Edition is a workstation graphics card while Radeon RX 5500 XT is a desktop one.

Vote for your favorite

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AMD Radeon Vega Frontier Edition
Radeon Vega Frontier Edition
AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT
Radeon RX 5500 XT

Other comparisons

We selected several comparisons of graphics cards with performance close to those reviewed, providing you with more options to consider.

Community ratings

Here you can see the user ratings of the compared graphics cards, as well as rate them yourself.


3.4 29 votes

Rate Radeon Vega Frontier Edition on a scale of 1 to 5:

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3.8 3054 votes

Rate Radeon RX 5500 XT on a scale of 1 to 5:

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Questions & comments

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