AMD FirePro D500 vs AMD Radeon RX 7700 Comparison

The Verdict

The AMD FirePro D500 and the AMD Radeon RX 7700 occupy completely different eras of GPU design, and the recorded data makes the separation stark. The FirePro D500, built on GCN 1.0 and released in early 2014, delivers a single Vulkan benchmark score of 18533, placing it in the 62nd percentile of all GPUs in the database. The Radeon RX 7700, built on RDNA 3.0 and released in late 2025, shows a much wider benchmark footprint: its average benchmark score is 15852, which lands in the 58th percentile, but that average masks a spread from a Passmark DirectX 9 score of 261 to a Geekbench OpenCL score of 106028. The RX 7700 is clearly the modern performer, but the data does not show a single head-to-head benchmark between the two, so the comparison must rely on their respective benchmark suites and architectural capabilities.

The FirePro D500 makes sense for legacy workstation environments where its specific feature set, including 6x mini-DisplayPort outputs and SDI connectivity, is required. Its Vulkan score of 18533 is competitive with the AMD Radeon RX 560X, which sits 0.5% higher, and the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 XT, which sits 0.8% higher. The RX 7700, meanwhile, is the obvious pick for anyone needing current API support, including DirectX 12 Ultimate, ray acceleration, and a much larger memory buffer, 16 GB of GDDR6 memory versus the FirePro's 3 GB of GDDR5. The RX 7700's Passmark G3D score of 20974 and Geekbench OpenCL score of 106028 dwarf the FirePro's single recorded benchmark, though the lack of overlapping tests means a direct numerical comparison is impossible from the database.

Data suggests the RX 7700 is the only rational choice for modern workloads, but the FirePro D500 retains relevance in a narrow niche: its end-of-life status and older architecture do not diminish its recorded Vulkan performance, which remains within 1% of several contemporary midrange cards.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are separated by more than a decade of design philosophy. The FirePro D500 uses the Tahiti chip on GCN 1.0 architecture, fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC. It packs 4,313 million transistors into a 352 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 12.3M per mm². The RX 7700 uses the Navi 32 chip on RDNA 3.0 architecture, fabricated on a 5 nm process, also at TSMC. It contains 28,100 million transistors in a 346 mm² die, achieving a density of 81.2M per mm². The density difference, roughly 6.6 times higher on the RX 7700, is the clearest signal of the manufacturing gap.

The FirePro D500 has 1536 shading units, 96 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. It has no dedicated ray tracing cores. The RX 7700 has 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 96 ROPs, and it includes 40 ray tracing cores. The RX 7700 also reports FP16 performance at 25.18 TFLOPS with a 1:1 ratio to FP32, indicating a fully rate-matched half-precision path, while the FirePro D500 lists no FP16 capability. The RX 7700's pixel rate is 236.1 GPixel/s versus the FirePro's 23.20 GPixel/s, and its texture rate is 393.4 GTexel/s versus 69.60 GTexel/s.

The memory subsystems reflect the generational shift. The FirePro D500 uses 3 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus, with memory clocked at 1270 MHz, or 5.1 Gbps effective, delivering 243.8 GB/s of bandwidth. The RX 7700 uses 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, with memory at 2438 MHz, or 19.5 Gbps effective, delivering 624.1 GB/s. Despite a narrower bus, the RX 7700 achieves more than 2.5 times the bandwidth.

The API support tells a similar story. The FirePro D500 supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The RX 7700 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The RX 7700 also moves to PCIe 4.0 x16, while the FirePro D500 is on PCIe 3.0 x16. Power requirements differ as well: the FirePro D500 is rated at 274 W with a suggested 600 W PSU, while the RX 7700 is rated at 200 W with a suggested 550 W PSU.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database contains no direct head-to-head benchmark entries between the FirePro D500 and the RX 7700. This means the wins must be inferred from each card's own benchmark suite and its position relative to the nearest rivals in the database.

The FirePro D500's only recorded benchmark is Geekbench Vulkan, where it scores 18533. That score places it 0.5% behind the AMD Radeon RX 560X (18626), 0.8% ahead of the Intel Arc A770M (18383), 0.8% behind the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 XT (18685), and 0.9% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 460 (18373). These are tight margins, all within a single percentage point, which suggests the FirePro D500's Vulkan performance is squarely midrange by modern standards.

The RX 7700 has a much richer benchmark profile. Its Geekbench OpenCL score is 106028, which is the standout figure in its suite and indicates strong compute throughput. Its Passmark G3D score is 20974, its Passmark GPU Compute score is 10963, and its Passmark G2D score is 1206. The DirectX-specific Passmark scores are lower: 261 for DirectX 9, 186 for DirectX 11, 96 for DirectX 12, and 92 for DirectX 10. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 2865.

The RX 7700's nearest rivals in the database include the AMD Radeon R9 370X, which is 0.1% higher in average score, the AMD Radeon RX 9060 at 1% higher, the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 at 1.1% lower, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti at 1.7% higher. All of these deltas are small, placing the RX 7700's average score of 15852 within a narrow band of its peers.

The biggest win for the RX 7700 is the sheer breadth of its benchmark coverage and the magnitude of its OpenCL compute score. The FirePro D500 cannot match that in any recorded metric, but its Vulkan score of 18533 is higher than the RX 7700's average of 15852, though comparing a single Vulkan test to an average of nine different tests is not a fair apples-to-apples comparison.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every measurable specification field. The FirePro D500 has no listed base or boost clock, while the RX 7700 has a base clock of 1900 MHz, a boost clock of 1900 MHz, a boost clock of 2459 MHz, and a game clock of 2041 MHz. The FirePro D500 lists only a memory clock of 1270 MHz, while the RX 7700 lists a memory clock of 2438 MHz and 19.5 Gbps effective, alongside a base clock of 1900 MHz, boost clock of 2459 MHz, and game clock of 2041 MHz.

The FirePro D500 uses GCN 1.0 architecture, the RX 7700 uses RDNA 3.0. The FirePro D500 is on a 28 nm process, the RX 7700 is on 5 nm. Transistor counts are 4,313 million versus 28,100 million. Die size is 352 mm² versus 346 mm². Transistor density is 12.3M per mm² versus 81.2M per mm². Memory size is 3 GB versus 16 GB. Memory type is GDDR5 versus GDDR6. Bus width is 384 bit versus 256 bit. Bandwidth is 243.8 GB/s versus 624.1 GB/s. Shading units are 1536 versus 2560. TMUs are 96 versus 160. ROPs are 32 versus 96. The RX 7700 has 40 ray tracing cores; the FirePro D500 has none. Pixel rate is 23.20 GPixel/s versus 236.1 GPixel/s. Texture rate is 69.60 GTexel/s versus 393.4 GTexel/s. FP32 is 2.227 TFLOPS versus 25.18 TFLOPS. The RX 7700 lists FP16 at 25.18 TFLOPS; the FirePro D500 lists none. TDP is 274 W versus 200 W. The FirePro D500 is dual-slot with no power connector data; the RX 7700 is dual-slot with 2x 8-pin connectors. Suggested PSU is 600 W versus 550 W. Bus interface is PCIe 3.0 x16 versus PCIe 4.0 x16. Display outputs are 6x mini-DisplayPort 1.2 and 1x SDI versus 1x HDMI 2.1a, 2x DisplayPort 2.1, and 1x USB Type-C. DirectX support is 12 (11_1) versus 12 Ultimate (12_2). Vulkan is 1.2.170 versus 1.4. The FirePro D500 is 279 mm long; the RX 7700 is 267 mm long, 135 mm high, and 50 mm wide. Production status is end-of-life versus active.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher memory bandwidth?

A: The Radeon RX 7700 has a bandwidth of 624.1 GB/s, while the FirePro D500 has 243.8 GB/s.

Q: Does the FirePro D500 support ray tracing?

A: No, the FirePro D500 has no ray tracing cores, while the RX 7700 includes 40 ray tracing cores.

Q: What DirectX versions do the two cards support?

A: The FirePro D500 supports DirectX 12 (11_1), while the RX 7700 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2).

Q: How do the transistor densities compare?

A: The RX 7700 has a transistor density of 81.2M per mm², while the FirePro D500 has 12.3M per mm².

Q: What is the power consumption difference?

A: The FirePro D500 is rated at 274 W with a suggested 600 W PSU, while the RX 7700 is rated at 200 W with a suggested 550 W PSU.

Q: Which card has more shading units?

A: The RX 7700 has 2560 shading units, compared to the FirePro D500's 1536.

Where Each One Wins

The RX 7700 wins in every compute-heavy scenario. Its FP32 throughput of 25.18 TFLOPS is more than 11 times the FirePro D500's 2.227 TFLOPS. Its texture rate of 393.4 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 236.1 GPixel/s dwarf the FirePro's 69.60 GTexel/s and 23.20 GPixel/s. The RX 7700's Geekbench OpenCL score of 106028 and Passmark GPU Compute score of 10963 indicate strong general-purpose compute, and its 16 GB memory buffer is more than five times the FirePro's 3 GB. The RX 7700 also wins on efficiency: it delivers higher performance at 200 W TDP versus 274 W for the FirePro D500.

The RX 7700 is the winner for modern gaming and modern APIs. DirectX 12 Ultimate support, Vulkan 1.4 support, 40 ray tracing cores, PCIe 4.0 connectivity, and 1x HDMI 2.1a plus 2x DisplayPort 2.1 outputs give it the feature set expected of an active product in 2025.

The FirePro D500 wins in one narrow niche: legacy workstation connectivity. Its 6x mini-DisplayPort 1.2 outputs plus 1x SDI are unique in this comparison. No other GPU in this matchup offers SDI output. Its Vulkan score of 18533 is respectable and places it in the 62nd percentile, slightly higher than the RX 7700's 58th percentile, though that percentile reflects the RX 7700's average across many tests rather than a single Vulkan run.

For users with older infrastructure requiring SDI or multi-display mini-DisplayPort setups, the FirePro D500 remains a functional option, despite its end-of-life status. For everyone else, the data points squarely to the RX 7700 as the more capable, more efficient, and more future-proof card.