AMD FirePro D300 vs AMD Radeon Pro 5700 XT Comparison

The AMD FirePro D300 and AMD Radeon Pro 5700 XT represent two distinct eras of AMD professional graphics, separated by over six years of architectural evolution. The benchmark data reveals a decisive generational gap, but the specifics of how each card performs—and where the older FirePro still holds relevance—paint a more nuanced picture than a simple score comparison.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The two cards share only two directly comparable benchmark results, and in both, the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 XT delivers a dominant performance. In Geekbench OpenCL, the Pro 5700 XT scores 59,467 against the FirePro D300’s 19,515, a delta of -67.2% from the perspective of the older card. This means the Radeon Pro 5700 XT is roughly three times faster in raw compute throughput as measured by this workload. The Vulkan result tells a similar story: the Pro 5700 XT posts 56,593 versus the FirePro’s 19,759, a -65.1% delta. Again, the newer card is nearly three times as fast.

These deltas are not marginal improvements; they represent a complete paradigm shift in performance. The FirePro D300’s scores hover near those of its nearest rivals, including the NVIDIA Quadro K5200 (19,602, +0.2% delta) and the AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT (19,765, -0.6% delta). This places the D300 in a performance class where it is competitive with mid-range consumer and professional cards from its own generation. Conversely, the Radeon Pro 5700 XT’s average benchmark score of 18,685 is dragged down by its Passmark results, but its Geekbench scores align it with high-end contenders like the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (18,789, -0.6% delta) and the NVIDIA Tesla K80 (18,866, -1% delta). The Pro 5700 XT’s Geekbench OpenCL score alone is 3.2 times higher than its own average, suggesting that its compute-oriented architecture excels in OpenCL while its DirectX performance is comparatively modest.

The head-to-head data shows zero wins for the FirePro D300 and two wins for the Radeon Pro 5700 XT. However, the FirePro D300 does hold a marginal edge in one statistical category: its percentile rank among all GPUs is 64, compared to the Pro 5700 XT’s 63. This 1-point difference is negligible in practical terms but highlights that the older card’s consistent performance across its limited benchmark set (only two measurements) yields a slightly higher relative standing than the newer card’s broader but more variable profile.

FAQ

Q: Which card has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD FirePro D300 has an average benchmark score of 19,637, while the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 XT averages 18,685. This is misleading, however, as the FirePro’s average is based on only two Geekbench tests, whereas the Radeon Pro’s average includes ten tests spanning DirectX, OpenCL, and compute workloads.

Q: Is the Radeon Pro 5700 XT always faster in every test?

A: In the two tests where both cards were measured—Geekbench OpenCL and Geekbench Vulkan—the Radeon Pro 5700 XT wins decisively. However, the FirePro D300 has no Passmark results to compare, so its performance in DirectX 9, 10, 11, or 12 scenarios remains unquantified in this data.

Q: How does the Radeon Pro 5700 XT compare to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070?

A: The Radeon Pro 5700 XT’s average score of 18,685 is 0.6% lower than the RTX 2070’s 18,789, making them statistically equivalent in overall performance. The delta of -0.6% indicates a near tie, with the NVIDIA card holding a razor-thin advantage.

Q: What does the FirePro D300’s 64th percentile ranking mean?

A: The 64th percentile indicates that the FirePro D300 outperforms 64% of all GPUs tracked in the database. This is slightly better than the Radeon Pro 5700 XT’s 63rd percentile, despite the latter’s vastly superior raw scores in compute benchmarks.

Q: Are these cards still in production?

A: No. Both the AMD FirePro D300 and the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 XT are marked as end-of-life products. The FirePro D300 was released in January 2014, while the Radeon Pro 5700 XT launched in August 2020.

Q: Does the Radeon Pro 5700 XT support the latest DirectX version?

A: Yes, the Radeon Pro 5700 XT supports DirectX 12 (12_1), whereas the FirePro D300 only supports DirectX 12 (11_1). This means the newer card can handle more advanced DirectX 12 features, though both cards support OpenGL 4.6.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 XT is the superior performer in every directly comparable benchmark. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 59,467 is more than three times the FirePro D300’s 19,515, and its Vulkan score of 56,593 similarly dwarfs the older card’s 19,759. For any workload that leverages OpenCL or Vulkan—common in compute, rendering, and modern game engines—the Radeon Pro 5700 XT is the only rational choice.

The FirePro D300’s sole statistical advantage is its 64th percentile ranking versus the Pro 5700 XT’s 63rd, but this is an artifact of the older card’s narrow benchmark profile. The D300’s nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Quadro K5200 and the AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT, with deltas of 0.2% and -0.6% respectively, indicating it sits in a mid-range performance tier. The Radeon Pro 5700 XT, by contrast, trades blows with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (delta -0.6%) and the NVIDIA Tesla K80 (delta -1%), placing it in a much higher performance class.

For users who require only the specific compute capabilities measured in the Geekbench tests, the Radeon Pro 5700 XT is the clear winner. However, the FirePro D300’s higher percentile rank suggests that, within its own benchmark set, it delivers more consistent performance relative to all other GPUs. This is a narrow consolation, as the sheer magnitude of the Pro 5700 XT’s wins—67.2% in OpenCL and 65.1% in Vulkan—overwhelms any statistical nuance. The verdict is simple: choose the Radeon Pro 5700 XT for performance, and the FirePro D300 only if legacy compatibility or its specific 4x DisplayPort 1.2 outputs are non-negotiable requirements.

Specification Differences

The specifications reveal a generational chasm. The Radeon Pro 5700 XT features 2,560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, versus the FirePro D300’s 1,280 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The newer card doubles the FirePro’s pixel rate at 95.94 GPixel/s versus 27.20 GPixel/s, and its texture rate is 239.8 GTexel/s compared to 68.00 GTexel/s. FP32 compute is 7.675 TFLOPS versus 2.176 TFLOPS, and the Pro 5700 XT additionally offers FP16 at 15.35 TFLOPS (2:1), a feature the FirePro D300 lacks entirely.

Memory configurations could not be more different. The Radeon Pro 5700 XT carries 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus with 384.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the FirePro D300 has 2 GB of GDDR5 on the same bus width, yielding 162.6 GB/s. The memory clock is 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective) for the Pro 5700 XT versus 1270 MHz (5.1 Gbps effective) for the FirePro. The Radeon Pro 5700 XT also draws less power (130 W TDP versus 150 W) and has a lower suggested PSU rating (300 W versus 450 W), despite being vastly faster. The FirePro D300 is a single-slot card with 4x DisplayPort 1.2 outputs, whereas the Radeon Pro 5700 XT is listed as an IGP with no outputs. The bus interface also differs: PCIe 4.0 x16 for the newer card, PCIe 3.0 x16 for the older.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap is the root of the performance disparity. The FirePro D300 is built on GCN 1.0 architecture with the Pitcairn chip, manufactured on a 28 nm process at TSMC. It contains 2,800 million transistors on a 212 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 13.2M / mm². The Radeon Pro 5700 XT employs RDNA 1.0 architecture with the Navi 10 chip, fabricated on a 7 nm process, also at TSMC. This newer node packs 10,300 million transistors into a 251 mm² die, achieving a density of 41.0M / mm²—over three times the FirePro’s density. The RDNA architecture is designed for higher instructions-per-clock and improved energy efficiency, which explains how the Pro 5700 XT delivers over three times the FP32 throughput while consuming 20 W less power.

API support diverges as well. The Radeon Pro 5700 XT supports DirectX 12 (12_1), while the FirePro D300 is limited to DirectX 12 (11_1). Vulkan support is also newer on the RDNA card: version 1.4 versus 1.2.170. Both cards support OpenGL 4.6, but the Radeon Pro 5700 XT’s FP16 capability (15.35 TFLOPS) is a key architectural addition, enabling faster compute in workloads that can use half-precision arithmetic. The FirePro D300 has no FP16 data, indicating it lacks this feature. The FirePro D300’s predecessor is FirePro Terascale, and its successor is Radeon Instinct, while the Radeon Pro 5700 XT has neither listed, marking it as a standalone product in the Radeon Pro Mac (Navi Series) generation.

Where Each One Wins

The Radeon Pro 5700 XT wins decisively in every measured compute scenario. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 59,467 and Vulkan score of 56,593 are both roughly three times higher than the FirePro D300’s corresponding 19,515 and 19,759. For users running OpenCL-based rendering, machine learning inference, or Vulkan-enabled games, the Radeon Pro 5700 XT is categorically superior. Its 16 GB memory capacity also gives it a massive advantage in workloads that require large datasets or high-resolution textures, while its PCIe 4.0 interface offers double the bandwidth of the FirePro’s PCIe 3.0 connection. The Radeon Pro 5700 XT’s Passmark results, while not directly comparable, show strengths in DirectX 9 (153) and G2D (810), suggesting it handles legacy 2D and older DirectX workloads competently.

The FirePro D300’s wins are more subtle. Its 64th percentile rank versus the Pro 5700 XT’s 63rd indicates that, when normalized across all GPUs, it performs slightly better relative to the entire database. Its single-slot form factor and 4x DisplayPort 1.2 outputs make it a viable option for multi-display setups in legacy systems, whereas the Radeon Pro 5700 XT offers no display outputs at all, requiring a separate GPU for video output. The FirePro D300 also has a lower transistor count (2,800 million versus 10,300 million) and a smaller die (212 mm² versus 251 mm²), which could be advantageous in thermal-constrained environments, though its 150 W TDP is higher than the newer card’s 130 W. For users with older software that predates RDNA optimizations, the GCN 1.0 architecture may offer more mature driver compatibility, though this is qualitative inference from the data. In summary, the Radeon Pro 5700 XT wins on raw performance and modern features, while the FirePro D300 retains niche advantages in display connectivity and relative percentile standing.