AMD FirePro D500 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Comparison

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti is the dominant performer in this comparison. In the only directly measured head-to-head benchmark, Geekbench Vulkan, the GTX 1080 Ti scores 40,511 versus the FirePro D500's 18,533, a 54.3% deficit for the AMD card. Benchmark results indicate this is not a close contest; the GTX 1080 Ti is in a different performance tier.

The AMD FirePro D500, however, is not without a role. Its 62nd percentile ranking across all GPUs in the database places it above the GTX 1080 Ti's 58th percentile, a consequence of the GTX 1080 Ti's average benchmark score of 15,548 being pulled down by several lower-scoring tests. The FirePro D500 averages 18,533, which is higher than the GTX 1080 Ti's average, but this is an artifact of averaging across a different test suite. The FirePro D500 has a single Vulkan measurement that matches its average exactly, while the GTX 1080 Ti has eleven tests, including low DirectX 9 and DirectX 10 scores that depress its mean.

The verdict: the GTX 1080 Ti is the clear choice for anyone requiring raw graphical throughput across modern APIs, specifically DirectX 12 and Vulkan. The FirePro D500 is the choice only if the workload is exclusively Vulkan and the user prioritizes the higher percentile ranking, though the recorded data shows it loses that specific test by over half. The GTX 1080 Ti also offers a significantly larger memory pool, more shading units, and higher theoretical throughput, all detailed in the Specification Differences section. For any practical modern workload, the NVIDIA card wins on measured and derived performance.

Where Each One Wins

The data records a single benchmark win for the GTX 1080 Ti and none for the AMD FirePro D500. The GTX 1080 Ti wins the Geekbench Vulkan test, scoring 40,511 against the FirePro D500's 18,533. This is a dominant victory, with the NVIDIA card delivering more than double the score.

Beyond the head-to-head metric, the GTX 1080 Ti shows strength in a broad range of tests: it posts 67,929 in Geekbench OpenCL, 30,624 in Geekbench Metal, 18,600 in Passmark G3D, and 9,632 in Passmark GPU Compute. These results indicate substantial compute and graphics throughput across multiple APIs. The AMD FirePro D500 has no recorded results for those tests, so no comparison is possible.

The FirePro D500's only recorded benchmark is Geekbench Vulkan, where it scores 18,533. This places it in the 62nd percentile of all GPUs, slightly above the GTX 1080 Ti's 58th percentile, but that ranking is based on a single test. The GTX 1080 Ti's percentile includes all its varied benchmark results, many of which are not applicable to the FirePro D500. The data shows the GTX 1080 Ti wins the only direct comparison; any other "win" for the FirePro D500 is purely a percentile artifact, not a measured performance advantage.

Architecture Differences

The two cards use fundamentally different architectures from distinct eras. The AMD FirePro D500 is built on the GCN 1.0 architecture using the Tahiti chip, fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti uses the Pascal architecture with the GP102 chip, on a 16 nm process at the same foundry. The newer 16 nm node allows for a much higher transistor count: 11,800 million for the GTX 1080 Ti versus 4,313 million for the FirePro D500. The die sizes differ similarly, 471 mm² versus 352 mm², resulting in a transistor density of 25.1M per mm² for the NVIDIA card and 12.3M per mm² for the AMD.

The GTX 1080 Ti has a much larger GPU configuration: 3,584 shading units, 224 texture mapping units, and 88 ROPs. The FirePro D500 has 1,536 shading units, 96 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. These counts correlate directly with the theoretical throughput numbers: the GTX 1080 Ti reaches 11.34 TFLOPS FP32, 354.4 GTexel/s, and 139.2 GPixel/s, while the FirePro D500 delivers 2.227 TFLOPS, 69.60 GTexel/s, and 23.20 GPixel/s.

Memory configuration also differs drastically. The FirePro D500 has 3 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus with 243.8 GB/s bandwidth. The GTX 1080 Ti has 11 GB of GDDR5X on a 352-bit bus with 484.4 GB/s bandwidth. The NVIDIA card also supports a higher effective memory speed of 11 Gbps versus 5.1 Gbps. The GTX 1080 Ti has explicit clock speeds (base 1481 MHz, boost 1582 MHz) while the FirePro D500 has no base or boost clock recorded in the database.

The API support shows a generation gap. The GTX 1080 Ti supports DirectX 12 (12_1), Vulkan 1.4, and OpenGL 4.6. The FirePro D500 supports DirectX 12 (11_1), Vulkan 1.2.170, and OpenGL 4.6. The NVIDIA card also supports FP16 output at 177.16 GFLOPS (1:64) whereas the AMD card has no recorded FP16 capability. The GTX 1080 Ti is a dual-slot card with a 250 W TDP and 600 W suggested PSU, while the FirePro D500 is also dual-slot but has a 274 W TDP and the same 600 W suggested PSU. The FirePro D500 has a longer physical design at 279 mm, while the GTX 1080 Ti is 267 mm.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher Geekbench Vulkan score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti scores 40,511 in Geekbench Vulkan, which is 54.3% higher than the AMD FirePro D500's 18,533.

Q: Which card has more memory and what is the bandwidth difference?

A: The GTX 1080 Ti has 11 GB of GDDR5X memory with 484.4 GB/s bandwidth, while the FirePro D500 has 3 GB of GDDR5 with 243.8 GB/s. The NVIDIA card has roughly double the bandwidth.

Q: What is the transistor count and process node for each?

A: The GTX 1080 Ti has 11,800 million transistors on a 16 nm TSMC process with a die size of 471 mm². The FirePro D500 has 4,313 million transistors on a 28 nm TSMC process with a die size of 352 mm².

Q: Does the FirePro D500 support DirectX 12 at the same level?

A: No. The FirePro D500 supports DirectX 12 (11_1), which is an earlier version of the API, while the GTX 1080 Ti supports DirectX 12 (12_1). The GTX 1080 Ti also supports Vulkan 1.4, while the FirePro D500 supports Vulkan 1.2.170.

Q: Which card has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The FirePro D500 has an average benchmark score of 18,533 across its single recorded test, which is higher than the GTX 1080 Ti's average of 15,548. However, the GTX 1080 Ti's average is computed from eleven tests, many of which have low scores that pull the average down.

Q: What are the measured pixel and texture rates?

A: The GTX 1080 Ti delivers 139.2 GPixel/s and 354.4 GTexel/s, while the FirePro D500 delivers 23.20 GPixel/s and 69.60 GTexel/s. The NVIDIA card is roughly six times faster in pixel rate and five times faster in texture rate.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database contains exactly one head-to-head benchmark result between these two GPUs: the Geekbench Vulkan test. The GTX 1080 Ti scores 40,511, and the FirePro D500 scores 18,533. The delta is 54.3% in favor of NVIDIA, meaning the AMD card is 54.3% slower in this workload. This is a decisive margin, more than a 2x performance gap.

Looking at the GTX 1080 Ti's other results provides context for its overall capabilities. It scores 67,904 in Geekbench OpenCL and 30,624 in Geekbench Metal, indicating strong compute and graphics performance across multiple APIs. Its Passmark G3D score of 18,600 and GPU Compute score of 9,632 show consistent performance across different benchmarking suites. The FirePro D500 has no such results, so comparisons beyond Vulkan are impossible from the recorded data.

The GTX 1080 Ti's percentile ranking of 58 is lower than the FirePro's 62, but this is because the NVIDIA card is tested across many different APIs. Its lowest scores, such as Passmark DirectX 9 at 231 and Passmark DirectX 10 at 118, are legacy tests that do not reflect modern workloads. In the one test where both cards are measured, the verdict is definitive: the GTX 1080 Ti is overwhelmingly faster.

Specification Differences

The table below lists only the fields where the two GPUs differ, as recorded in the database. Fields like bus interface, slot width, and suggested PSU are identical and are omitted.

| Specification | AMD FirePro D500 | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti |

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

| Architecture | GCN 1.0 | Pascal |

| Process Node | 28 nm | 16 nm |

| Transistors | 4,313 million | 11,800 million |

| Die Size | 352 mm² | 471 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 12.3M / mm² | 25.1M / mm² |

| Base Clock | Not recorded | 1481 MHz |

| Boost Clock | Not recorded | 1582 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 1270 MHz (5.1 Gbps effective) | 1376 MHz (11 Gbps effective) |

| Memory Size | 3 GB | 11 GB |

| Memory Type | GDDR5 | GDDR5X |

| Memory Bus Width | 128 bit | 352 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 243.8 GB/s | 484.4 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 1536 | 3584 |

| TMUs | 96 | 224 |

| ROPs | 32 | 88 |

| Pixel Rate | 23.20 GPixel/s | 139.2 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 69.60 GTexel/s | 354.4 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 2.227 TFLOPS | 11.34 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | Not recorded | 177.2 GFLOPS (1:64) |

| TDP | 274 W | 250 W |

| Power Connectors | Not recorded | 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin |

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

| Vulkan | 1.2.170 | 1.4 |

| Length | 279 mm (11 inches) | 267 mm (10.5 inches) |

| Release Date | 2014-01-17 | 2017-03-09 |

| Predecessor | FirePro Terascale | GeForce 900 |

| Successor | Radeon Instinct | GeForce 20 |

| Launch MSRP | Not recorded | 699 USD |

The GTX 1080 Ti is newer, with a more advanced process node, more silicon, more memory, and significantly higher throughput metrics. The FirePro D500 is an older professional card with a higher TDP and a longer board, but it cannot compete on any measured performance parameter.