AMD FirePro D700 vs NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile Comparison

The benchmark database places the NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile in a completely different performance class than the AMD FirePro D700. In the two recorded head-to-head tests, the RTX A4000 Mobile wins both, with a decisive lead in OpenCL and a substantial advantage in Vulkan. The FirePro D700, an end-of-life product from 2014, holds a higher percentile ranking in the overall database (71st vs. 66th), but that reflects its average across its limited benchmark suite, not its competitiveness against this specific modern rival. The data clearly shows that for any workload leveraging modern compute APIs, the RTX A4000 Mobile is the superior choice, while the FirePro D700 remains a legacy part with no recorded wins in this comparison.

The Verdict

The recorded data points to a single conclusion: choose the NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile for any compute or graphics task where performance matters. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 97178 is 309.8% higher than the FirePro D700's 23716, a difference that dwarfs any other comparison in this matchup. The RTX A4000 Mobile also wins the Vulkan test, scoring 73002 against 27968, a 161.0% advantage.

The AMD FirePro D700 is only viable if the workload explicitly requires its legacy feature set or if the system is locked into its specific architecture. Its average benchmark score of 25842 is actually higher than the RTX A4000 Mobile's average of 21379, but that average is misleading. The FirePro D700 has only two benchmarks in the database, both of which it loses to the RTX A4000 Mobile. The RTX A4000 Mobile's average is dragged down by its Passmark tests, which include DirectX 9, 10, 11, and 12 scores ranging from 66 to 157, all of which are far below its compute-oriented results. For pure compute and modern graphics, the RTX A4000 Mobile is the clear winner, and the data does not support choosing the FirePro D700 for any performance-based reason.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are separated by seven years of architectural evolution. The AMD FirePro D700 uses the Tahiti chip built on GCN 1.0 architecture, manufactured 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 NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile uses the GA104 chip with Ampere architecture, built on an 8 nm process at Samsung. It contains 17,400 million transistors in a 392 mm² die, achieving a density of 44.4M per mm², which is 3.6 times higher than the FirePro D700.

The shading resources are drastically different. The FirePro D700 has 2048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The RTX A4000 Mobile has 5120 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 80 ROPs, meaning it has 2.5 times the shaders, 1.25 times the texture units, and 2.5 times the raster units. The RTX A4000 Mobile also includes 40 RT cores and 160 tensor cores, which the FirePro D700 lacks entirely. The FirePro D700 supports DirectX 12 (11_1), while the RTX A4000 Mobile supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), and the RTX A4000 Mobile's Vulkan support is version 1.4 compared to the FirePro D700's 1.2.170.

Memory architecture also diverges. The FirePro D700 uses 6 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus, delivering 263.0 GB/s bandwidth. The RTX A4000 Mobile uses 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 384.0 GB/s bandwidth, which is 46.0% higher despite the narrower bus, due to the faster 12 Gbps effective memory speed versus 5.5 Gbps. The FirePro D700's memory clock is 1370 MHz base, and its power envelope is 274 W with a suggested 600 W PSU, while the RTX A4000 Mobile runs at 115 W with no power connectors required, using a base clock of 1140 MHz and boost of 1680 MHz. The FirePro D700 is a dual-slot, 279 mm card with 6x mini-DisplayPort 1.2 and 1x SDI outputs, whereas the RTX A4000 Mobile's outputs are portable device dependent, and it uses PCIe 4.0 x16 versus the FirePro D700's PCIe 3.0 x16.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The Geekbench OpenCL test shows the largest gap. The NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile scores 97178, while the AMD FirePro D700 scores 23716, resulting in a delta of -75.6% from the FirePro D700's perspective. This 73462-point difference means the RTX A4000 Mobile delivers over four times the OpenCL performance. The RTX A4000 Mobile's fp32 throughput of 17.20 TFLOPS, compared to the FirePro D700's 3.482 TFLOPS, explains this result, as does the RTX A4000 Mobile's 268.8 GTexel/s texture rate versus 108.8 GTexel/s.

The Geekbench Vulkan test narrows the gap but still favors the RTX A4000 Mobile. The RTX A4000 Mobile scores 73002 against the FirePro D700's 27968, a delta of -61.7% for the older card. The RTX A4000 Mobile's pixel rate of 134.4 GPixel/s versus 27.20 GPixel/s for the FirePro D700 is a key factor, as is the RTX A4000 Mobile's 160 tensor cores and 40 RT cores, which enable hardware-accelerated features that the FirePro D700 cannot access. The FirePro D700 has no recorded wins in the head-to-head data, and its best result is the Vulkan score, where it reaches 38.3% of the RTX A4000 Mobile's score. The RTX A4000 Mobile's Passmark scores, while not part of the head-to-head comparison, show a different pattern: it scores 14796 in G3D, 6394 in GPU compute, and 585 in G2D, but only 105 in DirectX 10, 127 in DirectX 11, 66 in DirectX 12, and 157 in DirectX 9, indicating that its legacy DirectX performance is not representative of its compute capability.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD FirePro D700 has an average benchmark score of 25842, which is higher than the NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile's average of 21379. However, this is due to the RTX A4000 Mobile's Passmark DirectX scores (ranging from 66 to 157) lowering its average, while the FirePro D700 only has two Geekbench scores (23716 and 27968) that are closer to its average.

Q: What is the performance difference in OpenCL?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile scores 97178 in Geekbench OpenCL, which is 75.6% higher than the AMD FirePro D700's score of 23716. The RTX A4000 Mobile's fp32 compute of 17.20 TFLOPS is 4.9 times the FirePro D700's 3.482 TFLOPS.

Q: Does the FirePro D700 support ray tracing?

A: No, the AMD FirePro D700 has no RT cores listed in the database. The NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile has 40 RT cores, which enable hardware ray tracing support that the FirePro D700 cannot provide.

Q: What are the memory bandwidth specifications?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile has a bandwidth of 384.0 GB/s using 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus. The AMD FirePro D700 has 263.0 GB/s bandwidth using 6 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus. The RTX A4000 Mobile has 46.0% more bandwidth.

Q: Which GPU has a higher transistor density?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile has a transistor density of 44.4M per mm², compared to the AMD FirePro D700's 12.3M per mm². This is a 3.6 times difference, reflecting the newer 8 nm process versus the older 28 nm process.

Q: How does power consumption compare?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile has a TDP of 115 W and requires no power connectors. The AMD FirePro D700 has a TDP of 274 W and requires a suggested 600 W power supply. The RTX A4000 Mobile consumes 58.0% less power.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile wins in every recorded head-to-head benchmark, so its domain is any workload that uses OpenCL or Vulkan. Its 17.20 TFLOPS fp32 and fp16 (1:1) performance makes it suitable for compute-heavy tasks, scientific simulations, and AI inference using its 160 tensor cores. The 40 RT cores enable real-time ray tracing for 3D rendering, a feature entirely absent from the FirePro D700. The 8 GB GDDR6 memory with 384.0 GB/s bandwidth supports larger datasets and faster data movement, while the 134.4 GPixel/s pixel rate and 268.8 GTexel/s texture rate handle high-resolution rasterization. Its 115 W TDP and lack of power connectors mean it can fit in portable devices, as indicated by its display output description.

The AMD FirePro D700 has no benchmark wins in this comparison, but its strengths lie in specific legacy scenarios. Its 6 GB GDDR5 memory on a 384-bit bus provides a wide memory path, and its 6x mini-DisplayPort 1.2 and 1x SDI outputs support multi-display professional setups that the RTX A4000 Mobile cannot match, since its outputs are portable device dependent. The FirePro D700's dual-slot design and 279 mm length are suited for stationary workstations, and its PCIe 3.0 x16 interface is compatible with older systems. Its 274 W TDP and suggested 600 W PSU indicate a desktop-only deployment, but for users with existing FirePro infrastructure, the D700's GCN 1.0 architecture and DirectX 12 (11_1) support may be the only option that fits their software stack. The RTX A4000 Mobile's Vulkan 1.4 and DirectX 12 Ultimate support are newer, but the FirePro D700's OpenGL 4.6 matches the RTX A4000 Mobile's OpenGL 4.6.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ in nearly every measurable specification. The process node is 28 nm for the AMD FirePro D700 versus 8 nm for the NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile. Transistor count is 4,313 million versus 17,400 million, and die size is 352 mm² versus 392 mm², with transistor density of 12.3M per mm² versus 44.4M per mm². The FirePro D700 has no base or boost clock listed, while the RTX A4000 Mobile has a base clock of 1140 MHz and boost of 1680 MHz. Memory speed is 5.5 Gbps effective for the FirePro D700 versus 12 Gbps effective for the RTX A4000 Mobile.

Memory capacity is 6 GB GDDR5 versus 8 GB GDDR6, with bus widths of 384 bit versus 256 bit, resulting in bandwidth of 263.0 GB/s versus 384.0 GB/s. Shading units are 2048 versus 5120, TMUs are 128 versus 160, and ROPs are 32 versus 80. The RTX A4000 Mobile has 40 RT cores and 160 tensor cores, which the FirePro D700 lacks. Pixel rate is 27.20 GPixel/s versus 134.4 GPixel/s, texture rate is 108.8 GTexel/s versus 268.8 GTexel/s, and fp32 is 3.482 TFLOPS versus 17.20 TFLOPS, with fp16 available only on the RTX A4000 Mobile at 17.20 TFLOPS (1:1).

TDP is 274 W versus 115 W, and the FirePro D700 is dual-slot with a 279 mm length, while the RTX A4000 Mobile has no slot width or length listed. Power connectors are none for the RTX A4000 Mobile, with no suggested PSU, while the FirePro D700 requires a 600 W PSU. The bus interface is PCIe 3.0 x16 versus PCIe 4.0 x16. Display outputs are 6x mini-DisplayPort 1.2 and 1x SDI for the FirePro D700, versus portable device dependent for the RTX A4000 Mobile. DirectX support is 12 (11_1) versus 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL is 4.6 for both, and Vulkan is 1.2.170 versus 1.4. The release dates are 2014-01-17 for the FirePro D700 and 2021-04-11 for the RTX A4000 Mobile. The predecessor for the FirePro D700 is FirePro Terascale, with successor Radeon Instinct, while the RTX A4000 Mobile's predecessor is Quadro Turing-M, with successor Ada-MW. Both are end-of-life products with no launch MSRP recorded in the database.