AMD FirePro D500 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Comparison

The AMD FirePro D500 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 occupy drastically different eras of GPU design, and the benchmark data reflects a generational gulf. The only direct head-to-head test available is Geekbench Vulkan, where the RTX 4060 scores 48,643 against the FirePro D500’s 18,533. That is a 162% advantage for the NVIDIA card, a massive margin that defines the entire comparison. The FirePro D500 is an end-of-life workstation part from a legacy GCN architecture, while the RTX 4060 is a modern consumer GPU with features the older card simply lacks.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The single shared benchmark, Geekbench Vulkan, tells a one-sided story. The RTX 4060 posts 48,643 points, while the FirePro D500 manages only 18,533. The deltaPct of -61.9% for the AMD card means it scores roughly 62% lower than its rival. In practical terms, this is not a close contest; the RTX 4060 delivers more than 2.6 times the compute throughput in this API workload. This outcome aligns with the raw specification gap: the RTX 4060 has 3,072 shading units versus 1,536 on the FirePro D500, and its FP32 rating of 15.11 TFLOPS dwarfs the older card’s 2.227 TFLOPS.

Beyond the direct comparison, the RTX 4060’s other benchmarks reinforce its position. Its Passmark G3D score of 19,545 and Geekbench OpenCL score of 95,057 show a card that excels across different testing methodologies. The FirePro D500 has no comparable data in those tests, so the Vulkan result stands as the only equal-footing metric. Looking at the nearest rivals for each card provides context: the FirePro D500 sits within 0.9% of cards like the AMD Radeon RX 460 and Intel Arc A770M, while the RTX 4060 trades blows with the AMD Radeon 780M and Radeon Pro 560. The RTX 4060’s percentile rank of 61 versus the FirePro’s 62 is nearly identical, but that percentile is computed against different benchmark suites, so the head-to-head score remains the decisive evidence.

The RTX 4060 also wins on memory bandwidth efficiency. Its 272.0 GB/s bandwidth exceeds the FirePro D500’s 243.8 GB/s, despite using a narrower 128-bit bus versus the older card’s 384-bit interface. This is a direct consequence of faster GDDR6 memory at 17 Gbps effective versus GDDR5 at 5.1 Gbps effective. In workloads that stress memory throughput, the newer card’s higher bandwidth and larger 8 GB frame buffer give it an insurmountable edge over the 3 GB FirePro D500.

The Verdict

The data points to one clear conclusion: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 is the superior GPU for any modern workload. Its Vulkan score is 162% higher, its pixel rate of 118.1 GPixel/s is over five times the FirePro D500’s 23.20 GPixel/s, and its texture rate of 236.2 GTexel/s more than triples the older card’s 69.60 GTexel/s. If you need a card that can handle current gaming, DirectX 12 Ultimate features, or compute tasks requiring more than 3 GB of memory, the RTX 4060 is the only rational pick. The FirePro D500’s era of relevance ended with its 2014 release; its GCN 1.0 architecture cannot compete with Ada Lovelace.

For someone specifically targeting legacy workstation software that relies on OpenGL 4.6 or Vulkan 1.2, the FirePro D500 technically supports those APIs, but its performance ceiling is so low that it will bottleneck any serious workload. The RTX 4060 supports Vulkan 1.4 and DirectX 12 Ultimate, offering forward compatibility that the FirePro lacks. The older card’s only advantage is its 6x mini-DisplayPort 1.2 outputs and SDI connector, which suited multi-display professional setups of its time. But that niche is narrow, and the RTX 4060’s 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a outputs cover most modern multi-monitor needs.

The RTX 4060’s launch MSRP is 299 USD. That single fact, combined with its benchmark dominance, makes the FirePro D500 a poor choice unless you have a specific legacy hardware requirement. The data shows no scenario where the FirePro D500 wins a performance comparison against the RTX 4060 in the available tests. Buy the RTX 4060.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher Vulkan benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 scores 48,643 in Geekbench Vulkan, while the AMD FirePro D500 scores 18,533. The RTX 4060 is 61.9% higher, as indicated by the deltaPct of -61.9% for the FirePro.

Q: How much memory does each card have, and does it matter?

A: The RTX 4060 has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, while the FirePro D500 has 3 GB of GDDR5. The RTX 4060 also has higher bandwidth at 272.0 GB/s versus 243.8 GB/s, so it can handle larger textures and datasets without running out of VRAM.

Q: What are the power requirements?

A: The RTX 4060 has a TDP of 115 W and a suggested PSU of 300 W. The FirePro D500 has a TDP of 274 W and a suggested PSU of 600 W. The newer card draws less power while delivering far more performance.

Q: Does the FirePro D500 support ray tracing or DLSS-like features?

A: No. The FirePro D500 has no RT cores or tensor cores listed in its specifications. The RTX 4060 includes 24 RT cores and 96 tensor cores, enabling hardware-accelerated ray tracing and AI-based features.

Q: Which card is better for DirectX 12 gaming?

A: The RTX 4060 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the FirePro D500 only supports DirectX 12 (11_1). The RTX 4060’s Passmark DirectX 12 score is 76, and its overall G3D score of 19,545 indicates far stronger gaming performance.

Q: How do the two cards compare in terms of physical size?

A: The RTX 4060 is 240 mm (9.4 inches) long, 111 mm (4.4 inches) high, and 40 mm (1.6 inches) wide. The FirePro D500 is 279 mm (11 inches) long, with no height or width data provided. Both are dual-slot cards.

Specification Differences

The RTX 4060 and FirePro D500 differ in nearly every measurable specification. The RTX 4060 uses a 5 nm process node versus the FirePro D500’s 28 nm node, with the newer card packing 18,900 million transistors on a 159 mm² die versus 4,313 million on 352 mm². Transistor density jumps from 12.3M/mm² to 118.9M/mm². Clock speeds are starkly different: the RTX 4060 has a base clock of 1830 MHz and boost of 2460 MHz, while the FirePro D500 lists no base or boost clocks, only a memory clock of 1270 MHz (5.1 Gbps effective) versus the RTX 4060’s 2125 MHz (17 Gbps effective).

Memory configurations diverge completely: 3 GB GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus for the FirePro versus 8 GB GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus for the RTX 4060. The RTX 4060 has 3,072 shading units, 96 TMUs, and 48 ROPs, plus 24 RT cores and 96 tensor cores; the FirePro D500 has 1,536 shading units, 96 TMUs, and 32 ROPs with no RT or tensor cores. Pixel rate is 118.1 GPixel/s versus 23.20 GPixel/s, and texture rate is 236.2 GTexel/s versus 69.60 GTexel/s. FP32 performance is 15.11 TFLOPS versus 2.227 TFLOPS, with the RTX 4060 also offering FP16 at 15.11 TFLOPS (1:1) while the FirePro lists none.

Power and connectivity differ as well. The RTX 4060 has a 115 W TDP with a 300 W suggested PSU and a 1x 12-pin power connector; the FirePro D500 draws 274 W with a 600 W suggested PSU and no listed power connector. The RTX 4060 uses PCIe 4.0 x8, while the FirePro D500 uses PCIe 3.0 x16. Display outputs are 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a on the RTX 4060 versus 6x mini-DisplayPort 1.2 and 1x SDI on the FirePro. The RTX 4060 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, while the FirePro D500 supports DirectX 12 (11_1) and Vulkan 1.2.170. Both support OpenGL 4.6.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap is generational. The FirePro D500 uses the Tahiti chip built on GCN 1.0, AMD’s first-generation Graphics Core Next design from 2012. It is a 28 nm TSMC part with 4,313 million transistors. The RTX 4060 uses the AD107 chip on NVIDIA’s Ada Lovelace architecture, built on a 5 nm TSMC process with 18,900 million transistors. GCN 1.0 was designed for compute-heavy workloads but lacks dedicated ray tracing hardware, tensor cores, or modern feature sets like mesh shaders. Ada Lovelace introduces RT cores for ray tracing, tensor cores for AI acceleration, and a unified FP32/FP16 pipeline that achieves 1:1 throughput.

The cache hierarchies and scheduling differ fundamentally, though the FACT PACK does not list cache sizes. The RTX 4060’s 24 RT cores and 96 tensor cores enable hardware features absent entirely from the FirePro D500. The older card’s 1536 shading units operate at a lower clock, producing only 2.227 TFLOPS of FP32, while the RTX 4060’s 3072 shading units hit 15.11 TFLOPS. Memory architecture also reflects the gap: the FirePro uses a wide 384-bit GDDR5 bus to reach 243.8 GB/s, while the RTX 4060 uses a narrow 128-bit GDDR6 bus but achieves 272.0 GB/s through higher clock speeds. The RTX 4060’s transistor density of 118.9M/mm² versus 12.3M/mm² shows how far fabrication technology advanced in nine years.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 4060 wins every benchmark category where data exists. In Vulkan, it beats the FirePro D500 by 61.9%. Its compute capabilities are exponentially higher, with 15.11 TFLOPS FP32 versus 2.227 TFLOPS. The RTX 4060 is also the only card with tensor cores (96) and RT cores (24), making it the sole option for ray-traced gaming or AI-accelerated workloads. Its 8 GB memory and 272.0 GB/s bandwidth support larger models and higher resolutions. The 115 W TDP and 300 W PSU requirement make it far easier to integrate into a standard desktop build.

The FirePro D500 has only one area of practical advantage: its display output configuration. With 6x mini-DisplayPort 1.2 and 1x SDI, it was designed for multi-display professional setups, particularly in broadcast or video wall environments where SDI connectivity matters. Its 384-bit memory bus, while slower in effective bandwidth, might theoretically benefit certain legacy compute patterns, but the data shows no benchmark where it outperforms the RTX 4060. For anyone considering a modern GPU purchase, the RTX 4060 is the clear choice. For anyone maintaining legacy FirePro infrastructure, the D500 remains functional but is severely outclassed by even entry-level modern hardware. The verdict is unambiguous: the RTX 4060 wins on every measurable performance metric, and the FirePro D500’s only redeeming feature is its niche multi-display interface support.