AMD FirePro D300 vs AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT Comparison

FAQ

Q: How does the AMD FirePro D300 compare to the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT in OpenCL performance?

A: In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the FirePro D300 scores 19,515, while the RX 5700 XT scores 9,524. The FirePro D300 leads by 104.9%, a massive margin that reflects its compute-oriented design.

Q: Which card wins in Vulkan workloads?

A: The RX 5700 XT dominates Vulkan, scoring 68,310 versus the FirePro D300's 19,759. That is a 71.1% advantage for the newer RDNA card, showing a clear generational leap in API efficiency.

Q: What is the average benchmark score for each card?

A: The FirePro D300 has an average benchmark score of 19,637 across its two recorded tests, while the RX 5700 XT averages 16,361 across a broader suite. The FirePro D300 sits in the 64th percentile of all GPUs, the RX 5700 XT in the 59th.

Q: Do these cards have the same memory configuration?

A: No. The FirePro D300 uses 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus with 162.6 GB/s bandwidth. The RX 5700 XT uses 8 GB of GDDR6 on the same 256-bit bus but achieves 448.0 GB/s, nearly triple the bandwidth.

Q: What are the nearest rivals for each card based on average score?

A: For the FirePro D300, the closest rival is the NVIDIA Quadro K5200 (19,602, a 0.2% difference), with the AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT (19,765, -0.6%) and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX (19,410, 1.2%) also nearby. For the RX 5700 XT, the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M (16,351, 0.1%) is nearest, followed by NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell (16,408, -0.3%) and AMD Radeon PRO W7500 (16,415, -0.3%).

Q: Which card has a higher transistor density?

A: The RX 5700 XT, built on a 7 nm process, packs 41.0 million transistors per square millimeter. The FirePro D300, on 28 nm, has only 13.2 million per square millimeter.

The Verdict

The database paints a clear split: the AMD FirePro D300 is a compute-first workstation card from 2014, while the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT is a 2019 consumer GPU built for modern graphics APIs. For anyone relying on OpenCL compute tasks, the FirePro D300 is the stronger pick, delivering a 104.9% lead in that specific test. It also holds a higher average benchmark score (19,637) and better percentile rank (64th) than the RX 5700 XT (16,361, 59th). That makes the FirePro D300 the choice for legacy compute pipelines where OpenCL is the primary workload.

However, in Vulkan, the RX 5700 XT is decisively superior, scoring 68,310 versus 19,759, a 71.1% gap. If the workload involves modern games, real-time rendering, or Vulkan-based applications, the RX 5700 XT is the only sensible option. Its 8 GB GDDR6 memory, 448.0 GB/s bandwidth, and 9.754 TFLOPS FP32 performance dwarf the FirePro D300's 2 GB GDDR5, 162.6 GB/s, and 2.176 TFLOPS. The RX 5700 XT also supports DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.4, whereas the FirePro D300 is limited to DirectX 12 (11_1) and Vulkan 1.2.170.

The verdict hinges on the use case. Compute-heavy, legacy OpenCL pipelines favor the FirePro D300. Gaming, modern rendering, and any Vulkan or DirectX 12_1 workload favor the RX 5700 XT. The data does not support a single universal winner; it supports two different tools for two different jobs.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The head-to-head comparison in the database contains only two tests, but they are starkly divergent. In Geekbench OpenCL, the FirePro D300 scores 19,515 against the RX 5700 XT's 9,524. That 104.9% delta is the single largest margin in this matchup. The FirePro D300, despite its older GCN 1.0 architecture and 28 nm process, is more than twice as fast in this synthetic compute workload. The likely reason is its driver optimization for OpenCL in professional applications, combined with a lower thermal overhead relative to the RX 5700 XT's broader feature set.

The Vulkan test reverses the outcome completely. The RX 5700 XT scores 68,310, while the FirePro D300 manages 19,759. The RX 5700 XT leads by 71.1%. This is not a close contest; the RDNA 1.0 architecture implements Vulkan far more efficiently than GCN 1.0. The RX 5700 XT's 2,560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs give it the raw hardware resources, while its 7 nm process and modern front-end extract far more per clock. The FirePro D300, with 1,280 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, simply cannot keep pace in a modern graphics API.

Looking at the broader benchmark suite for the RX 5700 XT, it shows strength in several DirectX tests. In Passmark DirectX 9, it scores 226; in DirectX 10, 97; in DirectX 11, 116; and in DirectX 12, 64. Its Passmark G3D score is 16,277, and its GPU compute score is 7,650. The FirePro D300 has no comparable DirectX or Passmark entries, so cross-card comparison is limited to the two shared tests. Still, the pattern is consistent: the FirePro D300 is a compute specialist, the RX 5700 XT is a graphics generalist.

The average benchmark scores reinforce this. The FirePro D300's 19,637 average, driven by two high OpenCL and Vulkan scores, places it above the RX 5700 XT's 16,361. But that average reflects a narrower test set. The RX 5700 XT's percentile rank of 59th versus the FirePro D300's 64th is a marginal difference, less than 5 percentage points, despite the architectural gap. In practical terms, the FirePro D300 holds its own in raw compute, but the RX 5700 XT is the more versatile card.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every measurable specification. The FirePro D300 uses the Pitcairn chip on GCN 1.0 architecture, fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC with 2,800 million transistors on a 212 mm² die. The RX 5700 XT uses the Navi 10 chip on RDNA 1.0 architecture, fabricated on a 7 nm process at the same foundry, with 10,300 million transistors on a 251 mm² die. The transistor density tells the story: 13.2 million per mm² for the FirePro D300 versus 41.0 million per mm² for the RX 5700 XT, a 3.1x increase in packing efficiency.

Memory is another major split. The FirePro D300 has 2 GB of GDDR5 at 1270 MHz (5.1 Gbps effective), yielding 162.6 GB/s bandwidth on a 256-bit bus. The RX 5700 XT has 8 GB of GDDR6 at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective), yielding 448.0 GB/s on the same 256-bit bus. That is a 2.75x bandwidth advantage for the newer card, plus four times the capacity.

Compute resources differ sharply. The FirePro D300 has 1,280 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The RX 5700 XT has double the shading units (2,560), double the TMUs (160), and double the ROPs (64). Pixel rate jumps from 27.20 GPixel/s to 121.9 GPixel/s, and texture rate from 68.00 GTexel/s to 304.8 GTexel/s. FP32 performance nearly quintuples from 2.176 TFLOPS to 9.754 TFLOPS. The RX 5700 XT also supports FP16 at 19.51 TFLOPS (2:1), a feature the FirePro D300 lacks entirely.

Power and physical specs diverge. The FirePro D300 is rated at 150 W TDP with a suggested 450 W PSU, single-slot design, and no listed power connectors. The RX 5700 XT is rated at 225 W TDP, needs a 550 W PSU, uses a dual-slot design, and requires one 6-pin plus one 8-pin connector. The FirePro D300 measures 242 mm (9.5 inches) long; the RX 5700 XT is 272 mm (10.7 inches) long, 111 mm (4.4 inches) tall, and 36 mm (1.4 inches) wide.

Bus interface and display outputs also differ. The FirePro D300 runs PCIe 3.0 x16 and outputs four DisplayPort 1.2 connections. The RX 5700 XT runs PCIe 4.0 x16 and outputs one HDMI 2.0b plus three DisplayPort 1.4a connections. Both support OpenGL 4.6, but DirectX support is 12 (11_1) for the FirePro D300 versus 12 (12_1) for the RX 5700 XT. Vulkan versions are 1.2.170 and 1.4 respectively.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between GCN 1.0 and RDNA 1.0 is fundamental. The FirePro D300, based on Pitcairn, uses AMD's first-generation Graphics Core Next design. It relies on a scalar compute unit layout optimized for throughput in compute-heavy workloads. The 28 nm process at TSMC limits clock speeds and efficiency, but the architecture was designed for professional applications like CAD, DCC, and scientific simulation. Its 2,800 million transistors on a 212 mm² die produce a transistor density of 13.2 million per mm², a reflection of the older lithography and simpler layout.

The RX 5700 XT, based on Navi 10, introduces RDNA 1.0, a ground-up redesign that moves away from GCN's compute-centric philosophy toward a graphics-first approach. RDNA 1.0 uses a wavefront size of 32 (versus GCN's 64), which improves latency and occupancy for graphics workloads. The 7 nm process allows 10,300 million transistors on a 251 mm² die, yielding 41.0 million per mm², a 3.1x density improvement. This density enables higher clock speeds: the RX 5700 XT runs a base clock of 1605 MHz, a game clock of 1755 MHz, and a boost clock of 1905 MHz. The FirePro D300 has no listed base or boost clocks in the database.

The memory subsystem reflects the architecture shift. GCN 1.0 pairs with GDDR5 and a 256-bit bus, delivering 162.6 GB/s. RDNA 1.0 uses GDDR6 with a 256-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s. The RX 5700 XT's memory clock is 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective), versus 1270 MHz (5.1 Gbps effective) for the FirePro D300. The higher bandwidth is critical for feeding the doubled shading units and TMUs.

Feature support also differs. The FirePro D300's Vulkan 1.2.170 and DirectX 12 (11_1) are functional but dated. The RX 5700 XT supports Vulkan 1.4 and DirectX 12 (12_1), which include newer features like mesh shaders and variable rate shading in the API specification. The RX 5700 XT also has FP16 support at 2:1 ratio, allowing 19.51 TFLOPS for half-precision compute, which the FirePro D300 does not list.

The physical design reflects the architectural differences. The FirePro D300 is a single-slot, 150 W card with no power connectors listed, aimed at dense workstation racks. The RX 5700 XT is a dual-slot, 225 W card with explicit 6-pin and 8-pin power requirements, aimed at consumer gaming systems. The FirePro D300's four DisplayPort 1.2 outputs support multiple monitors but lack HDMI. The RX 5700 XT's HDMI 2.0b plus three DisplayPort 1.4a outputs offer greater flexibility for modern displays.

Both cards are end-of-life, and the FirePro D300's successor is listed as Radeon Instinct, while the RX 5700 XT's successor is Navi II. The release dates are 2014-01-17 for the FirePro D300 and 2019-07-06 for the RX 5700 XT, a gap of over five years. That gap explains the generational leaps in process node, memory bandwidth, compute throughput, and API support. The launch MSRP for the RX 5700 XT was 399 USD; the FirePro D300 has no listed launch MSRP in the database.