AMD FirePro D500 vs AMD Radeon Pro 5700 Comparison

FAQ

Q: How does the AMD FirePro D500 compare to the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 in the single available shared benchmark?

A: In Geekbench Vulkan, the Radeon Pro 5700 scores 51,289 versus the FirePro D500's 18,533. That is a delta of -63.9% for the FirePro, meaning the Radeon Pro 5700 is roughly 2.8x faster in this test.

Q: Which GPU has the higher transistor density?

A: The Radeon Pro 5700 packs 41.0M transistors per mm² on a 7 nm node, while the FirePro D500 achieves 12.3M / mm² on a 28 nm node. The density advantage is substantial, reflecting the two generations of process technology between them.

Q: What are the memory size and type differences?

A: The FirePro D500 has 3 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus with 243.8 GB/s bandwidth. The Radeon Pro 5700 has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus with 384.0 GB/s bandwidth. Despite the narrower bus, the newer memory delivers 57% more bandwidth.

Q: Which card supports more modern API versions?

A: The Radeon Pro 5700 supports DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.4, while the FirePro D500 supports DirectX 12 (11_1) and Vulkan 1.2.170. Both support OpenGL 4.6.

Q: What is the TDP difference between these two GPUs?

A: The FirePro D500 has a TDP of 274 W with a suggested PSU of 600 W, while the Radeon Pro 5700 has a TDP of 130 W and a suggested PSU of 300 W. The Radeon Pro 5700 uses less than half the power.

Q: Are there differences in physical form factor?

A: Yes. The FirePro D500 is a dual-slot, 279 mm (11 inches) card with 6x mini-DisplayPort 1.2 and 1x SDI outputs. The Radeon Pro 5700 is an IGP (integrated graphics processor) with no display outputs and no power connectors.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs represent fundamentally different architectural eras from AMD. The FirePro D500 uses the Tahiti chip built on GCN 1.0 architecture, fabricated on TSMC's 28 nm process. In contrast, the Radeon Pro 5700 uses the Navi 10 chip built on RDNA 1.0 architecture, fabricated on TSMC's 7 nm process. This process shrink is dramatic: the FirePro D500 packs 4,313 million transistors across a 352 mm² die, while the Radeon Pro 5700 fits 10,300 million transistors into a smaller 251 mm² die. The transistor density jumps from 12.3M / mm² to 41.0M / mm².

The memory subsystems differ fundamentally. The FirePro D500 uses 3 GB of GDDR5 with a 384-bit bus, achieving 243.8 GB/s bandwidth. The Radeon Pro 5700 moves to 8 GB of GDDR6 with a 256-bit bus, yet delivers 384.0 GB/s bandwidth — a 57% improvement. Memory clock speeds also differ: the FirePro runs at 1270 MHz (5.1 Gbps effective), while the Radeon Pro 5700 runs at 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective).

Compute resources scale significantly. The FirePro D500 has 1536 shading units, 96 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The Radeon Pro 5700 increases these to 2304 shading units, 144 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. This translates to raw throughput differences: pixel rate rises from 23.20 GPixel/s to 86.40 GPixel/s, texture rate from 69.60 GTexel/s to 194.4 GTexel/s, and FP32 compute from 2.227 TFLOPS to 6.221 TFLOPS. The Radeon Pro 5700 additionally supports FP16 at 12.44 TFLOPS (2:1 rate), a feature absent from the FirePro D500's specification list.

The Radeon Pro 5700 also supports newer PCIe 4.0 x16, versus PCIe 3.0 x16 on the FirePro D500. API support differs: the Radeon Pro 5700 reaches DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.4, while the FirePro D500 tops out at DirectX 12 (11_1) and Vulkan 1.2.170. The FirePro D500 is from the FirePro Data Center (Dx00) generation, released in January 2014, while the Radeon Pro 5700 belongs to the Radeon Pro Mac (Navi Series) generation, released in August 2020. The FirePro D500's predecessor was FirePro Terascale and its successor was Radeon Instinct; the Radeon Pro 5700 lists no predecessor or successor.

The Verdict

The data presents a clear generational divide. The Radeon Pro 5700 wins the only shared benchmark (Geekbench Vulkan) by a margin of 63.9% over the FirePro D500. It also dominates in every architectural metric: 2.8x the FP32 throughput, 3.7x the pixel rate, 2.8x the texture rate, and 57% more memory bandwidth. The Radeon Pro 5700 achieves this while consuming less than half the power (130 W versus 274 W) and requiring a 300 W PSU instead of 600 W.

For users seeking maximum compute performance, power efficiency, and modern API support, the Radeon Pro 5700 is the only rational choice from this data. Its 8 GB GDDR6 memory and 256-bit bus provide more capacity and bandwidth than the FirePro D500's 3 GB GDDR5. The Radeon Pro 5700 also offers FP16 support, which the FirePro D500 lacks entirely.

However, the FirePro D500 retains a niche advantage: it is a dual-slot card with 6x mini-DisplayPort 1.2 and 1x SDI outputs, making it suitable for multi-display or broadcast applications. The Radeon Pro 5700 has no display outputs and is classified as an IGP. Users requiring direct video output connectivity would need the FirePro D500, despite its older architecture and lower performance.

The percentile rankings show both GPUs sit at the 62nd percentile versus all GPUs, indicating they occupy similar overall performance tiers in the broader database. Yet the benchmark distribution differs: the FirePro D500 has only a single Vulkan result (18,533), while the Radeon Pro 5700 has ten benchmarks spanning Metal (60,126), OpenCL (52,787), Vulkan (51,289), and multiple Passmark tests. The Radeon Pro 5700's average benchmark score is 18,189, slightly lower than the FirePro D500's 18,533, but this average includes a broader range of tests.

The verdict is straightforward: choose the Radeon Pro 5700 for compute workloads, power efficiency, and modern features. Choose the FirePro D500 only if display outputs and its specific form factor are mandatory requirements.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD FirePro D500 | AMD Radeon Pro 5700 |

|---|---|---|

| Chip | Tahiti | Navi 10 |

| Architecture | GCN 1.0 | RDNA 1.0 |

| Generation | FirePro Data Center (Dx00) | Radeon Pro Mac (Navi Series) |

| Process Node | 28 nm | 7 nm |

| Transistors | 4,313 million | 10,300 million |

| Die Size | 352 mm² | 251 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 12.3M / mm² | 41.0M / mm² |

| Memory Clock | 1270 MHz (5.1 Gbps effective) | 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective) |

| Memory Size | 3 GB | 8 GB |

| Memory Type | GDDR5 | GDDR6 |

| Memory Bus Width | 384 bit | 256 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 243.8 GB/s | 384.0 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 1536 | 2304 |

| TMUs | 96 | 144 |

| ROPs | 32 | 64 |

| Pixel Rate | 23.20 GPixel/s | 86.40 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 69.60 GTexel/s | 194.4 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 2.227 TFLOPS | 6.221 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | null | 12.44 TFLOPS (2:1) |

| TDP | 274 W | 130 W |

| Slot Width | Dual-slot | IGP |

| Power Connectors | null | None |

| Suggested PSU | 600 W | 300 W |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | PCIe 4.0 x16 |

| Display Outputs | 6x mini-DisplayPort 1.2, 1x SDI | No outputs |

| DirectX | 12 (11_1) | 12 (12_1) |

| Vulkan | 1.2.170 | 1.4 |

| Release Date | 2014-01-17 | 2020-08-03 |

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The single direct comparison available in the data is Geekbench Vulkan. The Radeon Pro 5700 scores 51,289 against the FirePro D500's 18,533. The delta of -63.9% indicates the FirePro D500 trails by nearly two-thirds. This is a decisive victory for the Radeon Pro 5700, aligning with its architectural advantages in shading units, clock speeds, and memory bandwidth.

Beyond the direct head-to-head, the Radeon Pro 5700's broader benchmark suite provides additional context. Its Geekbench Metal score is 60,126, and OpenCL score is 52,787 — both exceeding its Vulkan result. Passmark tests show G3D at 11,583, GPU Compute at 4,961, and older DirectX tests ranging from 48 (DirectX 12) to 143 (DirectX 9). These numbers indicate the Radeon Pro 5700 performs strongly across multiple API workloads, not just Vulkan.

The FirePro D500 has no other benchmark results in the data, limiting comparison to a single test. Its nearest rivals in the database include the AMD Radeon RX 560X (18,626, delta -0.5%), Intel Arc A770M (18,383, delta 0.8%), AMD Radeon Pro 5700 XT (18,685, delta -0.8%), and AMD Radeon RX 460 (18,373, delta 0.9%). The FirePro D500 sits within 1% of all these cards, placing it in a tight performance cluster.

The Radeon Pro 5700's nearest rivals are different: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile (18,159, delta 0.2%), NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER (18,093, delta 0.5%), AMD Radeon RX 460 (18,373, delta -1%), and Intel Arc A770M (18,383, delta -1.1%). The Radeon Pro 5700's average score of 18,189 is slightly below its rivals, but this average includes Passmark results, which are not comparable to Geekbench scores.

The performance gap between the two GPUs is not subtle. The Radeon Pro 5700 delivers 2.8x the FP32 throughput (6.221 TFLOPS versus 2.227 TFLOPS), 3.7x the pixel rate, and 2.8x the texture rate. Memory bandwidth increases by 57% despite a narrower bus. The Radeon Pro 5700 also doubles the ROP count (64 versus 32) and increases shading units by 50% (2304 versus 1536). Every measurable compute metric favors the Radeon Pro 5700, and the benchmark data confirms this with the 63.9% Vulkan lead.