AMD FirePro D500 vs NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data presents a direct comparison challenge: the AMD FirePro D500 and the NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell have no shared benchmark tests in the database. The FirePro D500 has a single Geekbench Vulkan score of 18,533, placing it in the 62nd percentile of all GPUs. The RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell has a single 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 16,408, placing it in the 59th percentile. Because these tests measure entirely different workloads, a direct numeric comparison is not possible. However, the data does reveal how each card positions itself relative to its own peer group.

The FirePro D500's Vulkan score of 18,533 sits within 1% of several rivals. It trails the AMD Radeon RX 560X by 0.5% and the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 XT by 0.8%. It edges out the Intel Arc A770M by 0.8% and the AMD Radeon RX 460 by 0.9%. This clustering indicates that, in Vulkan compute and graphics workloads, the FirePro D500 performs essentially at parity with a group of cards from both older and newer generations. The 62nd percentile ranking confirms it is a mid-pack performer, not a class leader, even within its own test category.

The RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell's Steel Nomad DX12 score of 16,408 shows a similar kind of parity with its nearest rivals. It is effectively tied with the AMD Radeon PRO W7500, with a delta of 0%, and is only 0.3% behind the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT. It trails the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M by 0.4% and sits 0.6% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D V2. The 59th percentile ranking suggests that, within the specific Steel Nomad workload, this flagship card does not dominate its closest measured competitors. The data shows a tightly grouped field, with all four rivals within a 0.6% band.

The lack of head-to-head results means the database cannot declare a winner on a shared test. The wins count sits at zero for both cards. What the data does show is two very different products, from different eras, each holding its own within its respective benchmark environment. The FirePro D500 is an older architecture competing effectively with mid-range cards from several generations later. The RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell is a current flagship that, in this one DX12 test, trades blows with a set of cards that are far less expensive and less powerful on paper.

The Verdict

The verdict from the recorded data is clear: these two cards are not direct competitors, and the benchmark evidence does not support a head-to-head comparison. The AMD FirePro D500 is a 2014-era workstation card that, in Vulkan, performs at a level comparable to cards like the Radeon RX 560X and Radeon RX 460. Its 62nd percentile score indicates it was a solid mid-range performer in its time, and it remains competitive in that specific legacy workload.

The NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell is a 2025 flagship with a 59th percentile ranking in Steel Nomad DX12. Its performance in that test is surprisingly close to much lower-tier cards like the Radeon PRO W7500 and Radeon RX 5700 XT. This suggests that the Steel Nomad workload may not be representative of the card's overall capabilities, or that the benchmark environment is heavily driver or resolution dependent. The data does not show the RTX PRO 6000 as a dominant force in this particular test.

For the user, the choice depends entirely on workload. If the task requires the specific capabilities of the RTX PRO 6000, such as its massive memory pool or ray tracing hardware, the benchmark scores in the database do not capture those advantages. If the task is legacy Vulkan compute, the FirePro D500 holds its own against much newer hardware. The data does not support a blanket recommendation for either card. It supports a workload-specific decision based on the features each card brings to the table.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two GPUs is generational and massive. The AMD FirePro D500 uses the Tahiti chip, built on GCN 1.0 architecture, manufactured on a 28 nm process at TSMC. It contains 4,313 million transistors on a 352 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 12.3 million per square millimeter. This is a first-generation Graphics Core Next design, focused on compute and traditional rasterization.

The NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell uses the GB202 chip, built on Blackwell 2.0 architecture, also at TSMC but on a 5 nm process. It contains 92,200 million transistors on a 750 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 122.9 million per square millimeter. That is roughly a 10x increase in transistor density and a 21x increase in total transistor count. The Blackwell design introduces dedicated hardware that the FirePro D500 lacks entirely: 188 ray tracing cores and 752 tensor cores.

The memory architectures are equally divergent. The FirePro D500 uses 3 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus, delivering 243.8 GB/s of bandwidth. The RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell uses 96 GB of GDDR7 on a 512-bit bus, delivering 1.79 TB/s. The Blackwell card also supports a 1:1 FP16 to FP32 ratio, with both at 126.0 TFLOPS, while the FirePro D500 has no recorded FP16 capability. The API support differs as well: the FirePro D500 supports DirectX 12 (11_1), while the RTX PRO 6000 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2). Vulkan support on the FirePro is 1.2.170, while the RTX PRO supports Vulkan 1.4.

Specification Differences

The specification table shows a stark contrast in nearly every measurable field. The FirePro D500 has 1,536 shading units, 96 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The RTX PRO 6000 has 24,064 shading units, 752 TMUs, and 192 ROPs. The pixel rate difference is dramatic: 23.20 GPixel/s for the FirePro versus 502.5 GPixel/s for the RTX PRO. Texture rate is 69.60 GTexel/s versus 1,968.0 GTexel/s. FP32 compute is 2.227 TFLOPS versus 126.0 TFLOPS.

Clock speeds are recorded differently. The FirePro D500 has no base or boost clock listed, only a memory clock of 1270 MHz (5.1 Gbps effective). The RTX PRO 6000 has a base clock of 1590 MHz and a boost clock of 2617 MHz, with a memory clock of 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective). Power draw is 274 W for the FirePro versus 600 W for the RTX PRO. The suggested power supply is 600 W versus 1000 W. The FirePro uses PCIe 3.0 x16, while the RTX PRO uses PCIe 5.0 x16. Display outputs are 6x mini-DisplayPort 1.2 and 1x SDI for the FirePro, versus 4x DisplayPort 2.1b for the RTX PRO. Physical dimensions differ: the FirePro is 279 mm or 11 inches long, while the RTX PRO is 304 mm or 12 inches long, with a height of 137 mm or 5.4 inches and a width of 40 mm or 1.6 inches. The FirePro has no power connector listed, while the RTX PRO uses a single 16-pin connector. The FirePro is end-of-life, released on January 17, 2014. The RTX PRO is active, released on March 17, 2025, with a launch MSRP of 8,565 USD.

FAQ

Q: How does the AMD FirePro D500 compare to the AMD Radeon RX 560X in Vulkan performance?

A: The FirePro D500 scores 18,533 in Geekbench Vulkan, which is 0.5% lower than the RX 560X's average score of 18,626. The two cards are effectively at parity.

Q: What is the RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell's performance relative to the AMD Radeon PRO W7500?

A: In the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, the RTX PRO 6000 scores 16,408, which is exactly equal to the Radeon PRO W7500's average score of 16,415, representing a 0% delta.

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

A: The NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell has 96 GB of GDDR7 memory, while the AMD FirePro D500 has 3 GB of GDDR5. This is a 93 GB difference, with the RTX PRO also using a wider 512-bit bus compared to the 384-bit bus on the FirePro.

Q: Does the AMD FirePro D500 support ray tracing or tensor cores?

A: No. The database lists no ray tracing cores and no tensor cores for the FirePro D500. The NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell, by contrast, has 188 ray tracing cores and 752 tensor cores.

Q: What is the production status of each card?

A: The AMD FirePro D500 is listed as end-of-life, having been released on January 17, 2014. The NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell is listed as active, with a release date of March 17, 2025.

Q: How do the power requirements differ?

A: The FirePro D500 has a TDP of 274 W and a suggested power supply of 600 W. The RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell has a TDP of 600 W and a suggested power supply of 1000 W.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD FirePro D500 wins in the legacy Vulkan workload. Its Geekbench Vulkan score of 18,533 places it in the 62nd percentile, and it trades blows with cards like the Radeon RX 560X and Radeon Pro 5700 XT. For any user running Vulkan-based applications that do not require modern hardware features, the FirePro D500 delivers competitive results despite its age. It also wins on power efficiency in relative terms, with a 274 W TDP compared to the RTX PRO 6000's 600 W TDP, and a suggested 600 W power supply versus 1000 W.

The NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell wins in raw hardware capability across nearly every specification. It has 24,064 shading units versus 1,536, 752 TMUs versus 96, and 192 ROPs versus 32. Its FP32 compute of 126.0 TFLOPS is more than 56 times that of the FirePro D500. It has a 96 GB memory pool versus 3 GB, with 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth versus 243.8 GB/s. It supports ray tracing and tensor cores, which the FirePro does not. It uses PCIe 5.0 x16 versus PCIe 3.0 x16, and supports DirectX 12 Ultimate versus DirectX 12 (11_1). The data shows that for any modern workload that can leverage these features, the RTX PRO 6000 is the clear choice. However, in the one benchmark recorded for each, neither card outranks the other in percentile terms, with the FirePro at 62 and the RTX PRO at 59.