Radeon RX 6500M vs RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 4000/5000)

Aggregate performance score

We've compared Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 4000/5000) and Radeon RX 6500M, covering specs and all relevant benchmarks.

RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 4000/5000)
2020
15 Watt
9.01

RX 6500M outperforms RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 4000/5000) by a whopping 124% based on our aggregate benchmark results.

Primary details

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

Place in the ranking489277
Place by popularity28not in top-100
Power efficiency41.3527.78
ArchitectureVega (2017−2020)RDNA 2.0 (2020−2024)
GPU code nameVegaNavi 24
Market segmentLaptopLaptop
Release date7 January 2020 (5 years ago)4 January 2022 (3 years ago)

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 cores5121024
Core clock speedno data2000 MHz
Boost clock speed2100 MHz2400 MHz
Number of transistorsno data5,400 million
Manufacturing process technology7 nm6 nm
Power consumption (TDP)15 Watt50 Watt
Texture fill rateno data153.6
Floating-point processing powerno data4.915 TFLOPS
ROPsno data32
TMUsno data64
Ray Tracing Coresno data16

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 sizeno datamedium sized
Interfaceno dataPCIe 4.0 x4
Supplementary power connectorsno dataNone

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 typeno dataGDDR6
Maximum RAM amountno data4 GB
Memory bus widthno data64 Bit
Memory clock speedno data2250 MHz
Memory bandwidthno data144.0 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 Connectorsno dataNo outputs

API compatibility

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

DirectX12_112 Ultimate (12_2)
Shader Modelno data6.6
OpenGLno data4.6
OpenCLno data2.2
Vulkan-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 Vega 8 (Ryzen 4000/5000) 9.01
RX 6500M 20.18
+124%

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 Vega 8 (Ryzen 4000/5000) 5891
RX 6500M 17889
+204%

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 Vega 8 (Ryzen 4000/5000) 22428
RX 6500M 52161
+133%

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 Vega 8 (Ryzen 4000/5000) 3743
RX 6500M 14018
+275%

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 Vega 8 (Ryzen 4000/5000) 27084
RX 6500M 88601
+227%

3DMark Time Spy Graphics

RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 4000/5000) 1163
RX 6500M 4372
+276%

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 HD23
−170%
62
+170%
1440p17
−106%
35−40
+106%
4K9
−100%
18−21
+100%

FPS performance in popular games

Full HD
Low Preset

Counter-Strike 2 13
−246%
45
+246%
Cyberpunk 2077 19
−247%
66
+247%
Elden Ring 18
−261%
65
+261%

Full HD
Medium Preset

Battlefield 5 27−30
−121%
60−65
+121%
Counter-Strike 2 9
−333%
39
+333%
Cyberpunk 2077 15
−120%
33
+120%
Forza Horizon 4 32
−256%
114
+256%
Metro Exodus 27
−100%
50−55
+100%
Red Dead Redemption 2 33
−39.4%
45−50
+39.4%
Valorant 44
−130%
101
+130%

Full HD
High Preset

Battlefield 5 27−30
−121%
60−65
+121%
Counter-Strike 2 9
−211%
28
+211%
Cyberpunk 2077 11
−45.5%
16
+45.5%
Dota 2 29
−176%
80
+176%
Elden Ring 22
−150%
55
+150%
Far Cry 5 30
−16.7%
35
+16.7%
Fortnite 50−55
−100%
100−110
+100%
Forza Horizon 4 27
−252%
95
+252%
Grand Theft Auto V 19
−263%
69
+263%
Metro Exodus 19
+0%
19
+0%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 57
−137%
130−140
+137%
Red Dead Redemption 2 12
−283%
45−50
+283%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 27−30
−133%
60−65
+133%
Valorant 14
−307%
57
+307%
World of Tanks 48
−385%
230−240
+385%

Full HD
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 27−30
−121%
60−65
+121%
Counter-Strike 2 16−18
−112%
35−40
+112%
Cyberpunk 2077 9
−66.7%
15
+66.7%
Dota 2 48
−97.9%
95
+97.9%
Far Cry 5 35−40
−76.3%
65−70
+76.3%
Forza Horizon 4 23
−261%
83
+261%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 70−75
−90.1%
130−140
+90.1%
Valorant 37
−119%
80−85
+119%

1440p
High Preset

Dota 2 9
−256%
30−35
+256%
Elden Ring 12
−183%
30−35
+183%
Grand Theft Auto V 9
−256%
30−35
+256%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 22
−677%
170−180
+677%
Red Dead Redemption 2 7−8
−157%
18−20
+157%
World of Tanks 21
−552%
130−140
+552%

1440p
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 16−18
−141%
40−45
+141%
Counter-Strike 2 10−11
−70%
16−18
+70%
Cyberpunk 2077 2
−700%
16−18
+700%
Far Cry 5 18−20
−189%
55−60
+189%
Forza Horizon 4 16
−225%
50−55
+225%
Metro Exodus 17
−171%
45−50
+171%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 10−12
−155%
27−30
+155%
Valorant 39
−33.3%
50−55
+33.3%

4K
High Preset

Counter-Strike 2 3−4
−467%
16−18
+467%
Dota 2 10
−240%
30−35
+240%
Elden Ring 6
−150%
14−16
+150%
Grand Theft Auto V 10
−240%
30−35
+240%
Metro Exodus 6
−150%
14−16
+150%
PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS 13
−369%
60−65
+369%
Red Dead Redemption 2 6−7
−117%
12−14
+117%
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 10
−240%
30−35
+240%

4K
Ultra Preset

Battlefield 5 8−9
−150%
20−22
+150%
Counter-Strike 2 3−4
−467%
16−18
+467%
Cyberpunk 2077 2−3
−200%
6−7
+200%
Dota 2 18
−88.9%
30−35
+88.9%
Far Cry 5 10−12
−136%
24−27
+136%
Fortnite 9−10
−167%
24−27
+167%
Forza Horizon 4 9
−233%
30−33
+233%
Valorant 9−10
−167%
24−27
+167%

This is how RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 4000/5000) and RX 6500M compete in popular games:

  • RX 6500M is 170% faster in 1080p
  • RX 6500M is 106% faster in 1440p
  • RX 6500M is 100% faster in 4K

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

  • in Cyberpunk 2077, with 1440p resolution and the Ultra Preset, the RX 6500M is 700% faster.

All in all, in popular games:

  • RX 6500M is ahead in 62 tests (98%)
  • there's a draw in 1 test (2%)

Pros & cons summary


Performance score 9.01 20.18
Recency 7 January 2020 4 January 2022
Chip lithography 7 nm 6 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 15 Watt 50 Watt

RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 4000/5000) has 233.3% lower power consumption.

RX 6500M, on the other hand, has a 124% higher aggregate performance score, an age advantage of 1 year, and a 16.7% more advanced lithography process.

The Radeon RX 6500M is our recommended choice as it beats the Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 4000/5000) in performance tests.


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

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AMD Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 4000/5000)
Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 4000/5000)
AMD Radeon RX 6500M
Radeon RX 6500M

Other comparisons

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Community ratings

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


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Questions & comments

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