AMD FirePro D500 vs AMD Radeon RX 6700S Comparison

The Verdict

The AMD Radeon RX 6700S and AMD FirePro D500 belong to entirely different eras of GPU design, and the benchmark data reflects that divide clearly. The RX 6700S is the decisive winner in the only head-to-head test recorded, posting a Geekbench Vulkan score of 76,150 against the FirePro D500's 18,533, a 310.9% advantage. That is not a marginal gap; it is a generational chasm. The RX 6700S also holds a higher percentile ranking at 67 versus the FirePro D500's 62, and its average benchmark score of 22,154 dwarfs the older card's 18,533.

For anyone choosing between these two today, the RX 6700S is the only sensible pick for modern workloads. Its RDNA 2.0 architecture, 7 nm process, and 8 GB of GDDR6 memory place it in a different performance class. The FirePro D500, with its 28 nm GCN 1.0 design, 3 GB of GDDR5, and 274 W power draw, is a relic from a workstation era that has passed. The data suggests the RX 6700S delivers roughly four times the Vulkan performance while consuming less than a third of the power. There is no workload category in the recorded benchmarks where the FirePro D500 comes out ahead.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two GPUs is stark. The RX 6700S uses the Navi 23 chip built on RDNA 2.0 architecture, fabricated on a 7 nm process at TSMC. The FirePro D500 uses the Tahiti chip with GCN 1.0 architecture, produced on a 28 nm process, also at TSMC. That process difference alone explains much of the efficiency gap: the RX 6700S crams 11,060 million transistors into a 237 mm² die for a density of 46.7 million transistors per square millimeter, while the FirePro D500 holds just 4,313 million transistors on a much larger 352 mm² die, yielding only 12.3 million per square millimeter.

The memory subsystems tell a similar story. The RX 6700S features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The FirePro D500 counters with 3 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus, providing 243.8 GB/s. Despite having a wider bus, the older card's slower memory clock (1270 MHz, 5.1 Gbps effective versus 1750 MHz, 14 Gbps effective) barely edges out the newer card in raw bandwidth. The RX 6700S compensates with far higher compute throughput.

Render output and texture capabilities also diverge sharply. The RX 6700S offers 1,792 shading units, 112 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs, while the FirePro D500 has 1,536 shaders, 96 TMUs, and only 32 ROPs. The RX 6700S also adds 28 ray tracing cores, a feature entirely absent from the older GCN design. Pixel rate favors the RX 6700S at 128.0 GPixel/s versus 23.20 GPixel/s, and texture rate favors it at 224.0 GTexel/s versus 69.60 GTexel/s. Floating-point performance shows a 7.168 TFLOPS figure for the RX 6700S against 2.227 TFLOPS for the FirePro D500.

Power and physical design differ just as fundamentally. The RX 6700S is an integrated graphics package (IGP) with a 80 W TDP and no power connectors, designed for portable devices. The FirePro D500 is a dual-slot workstation card with a 274 W TDP, a 279 mm (11 inch) length, and a suggested 600 W power supply. The RX 6700S connects via PCIe 4.0 x8, while the FirePro D500 uses PCIe 3.0 x16. Display outputs also differ: the RX 6700S is portable-device dependent, whereas the FirePro D500 offers 6x mini-DisplayPort 1.2 and 1x SDI.

API support reveals the generational leap. The RX 6700S supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The FirePro D500 manages DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The newer card's higher Vulkan revision and DirectX feature level matter for modern game engines and compute workloads.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only directly comparable benchmark in the database is Geekbench Vulkan, and the result is lopsided. The RX 6700S scores 76,150, while the FirePro D500 scores 18,533. That translates to a 310.9% delta in favor of the RX 6700S. In practical terms, the newer card delivers more than four times the Vulkan compute performance of the older workstation part.

Beyond the head-to-head, the broader benchmark sets reinforce this picture. The RX 6700S has eleven recorded benchmark scores spanning DirectX 9 through DirectX 12, OpenCL, Metal, Vulkan, and Passmark suites. Its strongest results include a 72,864 Geekbench Metal score, a 70,965 Geekbench OpenCL score, and a 15,066 Passmark G3D score. The FirePro D500 has only a single recorded benchmark, the Geekbench Vulkan score already noted, which limits direct comparison but also signals how few modern workloads have been validated on it.

The average benchmark scores place the RX 6700S at 22,154, which sits within its nearest rival cluster: the RX 5700 at 22,170 (0.1% ahead), the RTX 5060 Mobile at 22,435 (1.3% ahead), the GTX 1060 6 GB at 21,856 (1.4% behind), and the RX 7700 XT at 22,549 (1.7% ahead). The FirePro D500's average of 18,533 aligns with a much lower tier: the RX 560X at 18,626 (0.5% ahead), the Arc A770M at 18,383 (0.8% behind), the Radeon Pro 5700 XT at 18,685 (0.8% ahead), and the RX 460 at 18,373 (0.9% behind). The RX 6700S competes with modern midrange and upper-midrange GPUs, while the FirePro D500 sits alongside entry-level parts from several generations ago.

The Passmark sub-scores for the RX 6700S show how it handles different API generations: 195 in DirectX 9, 87 in DirectX 10, 134 in DirectX 11, 58 in DirectX 12, 739 in G2D, and 5,990 in GPU compute. These numbers indicate that the card is strongest in compute-oriented tasks and older DirectX workloads, while its DirectX 12 Passmark score is comparatively modest. Still, every recorded metric for the RX 6700S exceeds the FirePro D500's lone Vulkan result in relative terms.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has higher Vulkan performance?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6700S scores 76,150 in Geekbench Vulkan, while the AMD FirePro D500 scores 18,533. The RX 6700S leads by 310.9%.

Q: How do their memory configurations compare?

A: The RX 6700S has 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus with 224.0 GB/s bandwidth. The FirePro D500 has 3 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus with 243.8 GB/s bandwidth. The older card has a slightly higher bandwidth figure but less capacity.

Q: What are the power requirements for each card?

A: The RX 6700S has an 80 W TDP and uses no power connectors. The FirePro D500 has a 274 W TDP and recommends a 600 W power supply.

Q: Do both cards support ray tracing?

A: No. The RX 6700S includes 28 ray tracing cores. The FirePro D500 has no ray tracing cores listed.

Q: Which card has better API support?

A: The RX 6700S supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The FirePro D500 supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170.

Q: How do their average benchmark scores compare?

A: The RX 6700S averages 22,154, while the FirePro D500 averages 18,533. The RX 6700S also ranks higher in the overall GPU percentile at 67 versus 62.

Where Each One Wins

The RX 6700S wins in every recorded benchmark category. Its 310.9% lead in Geekbench Vulkan makes it the clear choice for any Vulkan-based application, including modern game engines, compute frameworks, and cross-platform graphics workloads. Its 8 GB memory capacity supports larger textures and datasets than the FirePro D500's 3 GB, which matters for contemporary game assets and machine learning inference tasks. The 28 ray tracing cores give it a hardware path for ray-traced effects that the FirePro D500 cannot accelerate at all. The 7.168 TFLOPS FP32 throughput versus 2.227 TFLOPS means the RX 6700S handles general compute and shader workloads roughly three times faster. Its 80 W TDP makes it suitable for thin-and-light gaming laptops, whereas the FirePro D500's 274 W TDP requires a desktop workstation with substantial cooling and power delivery.

The FirePro D500 retains niche advantages from the recorded data. Its 243.8 GB/s memory bandwidth slightly exceeds the RX 6700S's 224.0 GB/s, which could benefit bandwidth-bound workloads that fit within its 3 GB capacity. Its 384-bit bus offers a wider memory path, and its six mini-DisplayPort outputs plus SDI connectivity make it suited for multi-display professional setups. Its PCIe 3.0 x16 interface provides more lanes than the RX 6700S's PCIe 4.0 x8, though the newer standard's higher per-lane bandwidth likely offsets this in practice. The card's 23.20 GPixel/s pixel rate and 69.60 GTexel/s texture rate are far below the RX 6700S's 128.0 GPixel/s and 224.0 GTexel/s, so any rasterization-heavy workload strongly favors the newer part.

Realistically, the FirePro D500's only meaningful advantage is its legacy workstation feature set: multiple DisplayPort outputs, SDI output, and compatibility with older FirePro software ecosystems. For anyone running modern Vulkan, DirectX 12 Ultimate, or compute workloads, the RX 6700S is categorically superior. The data does not support any scenario where the FirePro D500 wins on raw performance.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon RX 6700S | AMD FirePro D500 |

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

| Architecture | RDNA 2.0 | GCN 1.0 |

| Process Node | 7 nm | 28 nm |

| Transistors | 11,060 million | 4,313 million |

| Die Size | 237 mm² | 352 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 46.7M / mm² | 12.3M / mm² |

| Memory Size | 8 GB GDDR6 | 3 GB GDDR5 |

| Memory Bus Width | 128 bit | 384 bit |

| Memory Clock | 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) | 1270 MHz (5.1 Gbps effective) |

| Memory Bandwidth | 224.0 GB/s | 243.8 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 1792 | 1536 |

| TMUs | 112 | 96 |

| ROPs | 64 | 32 |

| Ray Tracing Cores | 28 | None |

| Pixel Rate | 128.0 GPixel/s | 23.20 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 224.0 GTexel/s | 69.60 GTexel/s |

| FP32 Performance | 7.168 TFLOPS | 2.227 TFLOPS |

| FP16 Performance | 14.34 TFLOPS (2:1) | None listed |

| TDP | 80 W | 274 W |

| Slot Width | IGP | Dual-slot |

| Power Connectors | None | Not listed |

| Suggested PSU | None listed | 600 W |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 4.0 x8 | PCIe 3.0 x16 |

| Display Outputs | Portable Device Dependent | 6x mini-DisplayPort 1.2, 1x SDI |

| DirectX Support | 12 Ultimate (12_2) | 12 (11_1) |

| Vulkan Support | 1.4 | 1.2.170 |

| Release Date | 2022-01-03 | 2014-01-17 |

| Length | Not listed | 279 mm (11 inches) |

| Successor | None listed | Radeon Instinct |

| Predecessor | Polaris Mobile | FirePro Terascale |

The specification table highlights how much changed in the eight years between their release dates. The RX 6700S achieves higher performance with a smaller die, fewer memory bus lanes, and dramatically lower power consumption. The FirePro D500's wider memory bus and slightly higher bandwidth are its only specification wins, and those do not translate into benchmark victories. The RX 6700S is newer, denser, faster, and more efficient on nearly every measurable axis.