GPU Comparison

The AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT and AMD FirePro D500 occupy opposite ends of the GPU timeline and performance spectrum. The RX 6650 XT is a modern RDNA 2.0 part with a 65th percentile rank among all GPUs, while the FirePro D500 is a 2014-era GCN 1.0 workstation card sitting at the 62nd percentile. The data shows a decisive generational gap, with the RX 6650 XT outperforming the FirePro D500 by 338.7% in the only directly comparable benchmark.

The Verdict

From the benchmark data, the AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT is the clear performance winner in every measurable category. Its average benchmark score of 19,765 dwarfs the FirePro D500's 18,533, placing it 6.6% higher overall. The single head-to-head result reinforces this: in Geekbench Vulkan, the RX 6650 XT scores 81,306 against the FirePro D500's 18,533, a 338.7% advantage. This is not a close contest. The RX 6650 XT also holds a higher percentile rank (65th vs 62nd), indicating it sits above more of the GPU population.

For gamers and general compute users, the RX 6650 XT is the only rational choice. It delivers modern API support with DirectX 12 Ultimate and Vulkan 1.4, along with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 10.79 TFLOPS of FP32 compute. The FirePro D500, with its 3 GB GDDR5 frame buffer and 2.227 TFLOPS, is a legacy product whose only advantage is its 384-bit memory bus, which provides 243.8 GB/s of bandwidth, still 13% less than the RX 6650 XT's 280.3 GB/s.

The FirePro D500 is only suitable for scenarios where the data suggests a specific legacy requirement. Its 6x mini-DisplayPort 1.2 and 1x SDI outputs are unique among the two, making it potentially useful for multi-display professional setups that predate modern connectivity. However, its 274 W TDP is higher than the RX 6650 XT's 176 W, and it lacks any ray tracing hardware. For anyone seeking current performance, the RX 6650 XT is the definitive pick. The FirePro D500 is a relic.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT has an average benchmark score of 19,765, while the AMD FirePro D500 has an average score of 18,533. This makes the RX 6650 XT approximately 6.6% faster on average.

Q: How much faster is the RX 6650 XT in the head-to-head Vulkan test?

A: In the Geekbench Vulkan test, the RX 6650 XT scores 81,306 compared to the FirePro D500's 18,533. This represents a 338.7% performance advantage for the RX 6650 XT.

Q: What are the memory capacities and types of these two cards?

A: The RX 6650 XT has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus with 280.3 GB/s bandwidth. The FirePro D500 has 3 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 384-bit bus with 243.8 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which card has ray tracing support?

A: Only the AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT has ray tracing support, featuring 32 dedicated RT cores as part of its RDNA 2.0 architecture. The FirePro D500 has no RT cores listed.

Q: What is the transistor count difference between the two?

A: The RX 6650 XT uses 11,060 million transistors on a 237 mm² die, while the FirePro D500 has 4,313 million transistors on a larger 352 mm² die. The RX 6650 XT achieves a much higher transistor density of 46.7M per mm² versus 12.3M per mm².

Q: What is the release date gap between these products?

A: The AMD FirePro D500 was released on 2014-01-17, while the AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT was released on 2022-05-09. That is a gap of over eight years between their launch dates.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two GPUs is fundamental and explains the performance disparity. The RX 6650 XT is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture using the Navi 23 chip, fabricated on a 7 nm TSMC process. The FirePro D500 uses the older GCN 1.0 architecture with the Tahiti chip, produced on a 28 nm TSMC process. This process difference alone, 7 nm versus 28 nm, enables the RX 6650 XT to pack 11,060 million transistors into a 237 mm² die, achieving a density of 46.7M per mm². The FirePro D500, by contrast, fits only 4,313 million transistors into a larger 352 mm² die, with a density of 12.3M per mm².

The RX 6650 XT includes 32 RT cores for hardware-accelerated ray tracing, a feature entirely absent from the FirePro D500. The newer card also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, while the FirePro D500 is limited to DirectX 12 (11_1) and Vulkan 1.2.170. Both support OpenGL 4.6. The RX 6650 XT has a PCIe 4.0 x8 interface, whereas the FirePro D500 uses the older PCIe 3.0 x16 standard.

The FirePro D500's generational classification as "FirePro Data Center (Dx00)" and its predecessor "FirePro Terascale" position it as a professional workstation part from a different era. The RX 6650 XT belongs to the Radeon RX 6000 series, with its predecessor listed as Navi and successor as Navi III. The RX 6650 XT also supports FP16 compute at 21.59 TFLOPS (2:1 ratio), while the FirePro D500 has no FP16 data listed, indicating limited half-precision capability.

Specification Differences

The specification sheets reveal stark contrasts across nearly every field. The RX 6650 XT has a base clock of 2055 MHz, a boost clock of 2635 MHz, and a game clock of 2410 MHz. The FirePro D500 has no base, boost, or game clock data available, only a memory clock of 1270 MHz (5.1 Gbps effective). The RX 6650 XT's memory runs at 2190 MHz (17.5 Gbps effective), a substantial increase in transfer rate.

Memory configurations differ significantly: 8 GB GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus versus 3 GB GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus. The RX 6650 XT achieves 280.3 GB/s bandwidth despite the narrower bus, while the FirePro D500 manages 243.8 GB/s from its wider interface. The RX 6650 XT has 2048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, compared to the FirePro D500's 1536 shading units, 96 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The pixel rate of the RX 6650 XT is 168.6 GPixel/s, far above the FirePro D500's 23.20 GPixel/s, and its texture rate is 337.3 GTexel/s versus 69.60 GTexel/s.

FP32 compute favors the RX 6650 XT at 10.79 TFLOPS against 2.227 TFLOPS for the FirePro D500. Power requirements differ as well: the RX 6650 XT has a 176 W TDP with a suggested 450 W PSU and a single 8-pin connector, while the FirePro D500 has a 274 W TDP and a suggested 600 W PSU, with no power connector details listed. Both are dual-slot cards, but the FirePro D500 measures 279 mm (11 inches) in length, while the RX 6650 XT has no listed dimensions. Display outputs also diverge: the RX 6650 XT offers 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, while the FirePro D500 provides 6x mini-DisplayPort 1.2 and 1x SDI.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct benchmark comparison available is the Geekbench Vulkan test, and the result is lopsided. The RX 6650 XT scores 81,306, while the FirePro D500 scores 18,533, giving the RX 6650 XT a 338.7% advantage. This is not a marginal win; it is a multi-generational leap in graphics processing capability, reflecting the combined effects of newer architecture, higher clocks, more memory bandwidth, and superior compute throughput.

Beyond the head-to-head, the broader benchmark suites tell a similar story. The RX 6650 XT has 11 individual benchmark scores, including 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 at 1,859, Geekbench Metal at 97,969, Geekbench OpenCL at 10,111, and Passmark G3D at 17,166. Its Passmark GPU Compute score is 7,532. The FirePro D500 has only one benchmark entry, the Geekbench Vulkan score, so no additional direct comparisons are possible. However, the average benchmark scores (19,765 for the RX 6650 XT versus 18,533 for the FirePro D500) suggest that even in mixed workloads, the RX 6650 XT maintains a consistent lead.

The nearest rival data places the RX 6650 XT in the company of NVIDIA Tesla K40m (avg score 19,885, delta -0.6%), AMD FirePro W7000 (19,905, delta -0.7%), AMD FirePro D300 (19,637, delta +0.7%), and NVIDIA Quadro K5200 (19,602, delta +0.8%). The FirePro D500, meanwhile, sits near 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 RX 6650 XT's rivals are all higher-scoring cards, while the FirePro D500's rivals are lower-tier, confirming their different performance classes.

Where Each One Wins

The RX 6650 XT wins in every performance-oriented category. It dominates modern gaming workloads with DirectX 12 Ultimate support, ray tracing capability, and Vulkan 1.4 compatibility. Its 8 GB GDDR6 frame buffer is ample for contemporary titles, and its 10.79 TFLOPS FP32 compute makes it suitable for content creation, machine learning inference, and general GPU compute tasks. The 65th percentile ranking places it above the majority of all GPUs, and its 176 W TDP is power-efficient relative to its performance.

The FirePro D500 wins only in niche legacy scenarios. Its 6x mini-DisplayPort 1.2 and 1x SDI outputs are unique, making it potentially suited for older multi-monitor professional installations or broadcast environments that require SDI connectivity. Its 384-bit memory bus, while providing less total bandwidth than the RX 6650 XT, could still be advantageous in specific memory-latency-sensitive workloads from its era. The 62nd percentile rank shows it is not a weak card, but its 2.227 TFLOPS FP32 compute and 3 GB memory limit it to older professional applications.

For any modern use case, gaming, rendering, compute, or AI, the RX 6650 XT is the superior choice by a wide margin. The data shows no scenario where the FirePro D500's specifications offer a practical advantage beyond its unique display output configuration. The 338.7% Vulkan performance gap is the definitive metric: the RX 6650 XT is the card to select for current and future workloads.