AMD FirePro M5100 vs AMD Radeon HD 8690M Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark data splits cleanly between these two mobile graphics parts. The AMD FirePro M5100 wins the sole recorded head-to-head test, the Geekbench OpenCL benchmark, by a margin of 11.3 percent. That single result gives it a 1-0 win record in direct comparisons. The AMD Radeon HD 8690M does not take a single win in any recorded benchmark category.

Looking at the percentile rankings, the FirePro M5100 sits at the 38th percentile among all GPUs in the database, while the Radeon HD 8690M sits at the 36th percentile. The two-point percentile gap reflects a modest but consistent performance advantage for the FirePro part across the entire database population. The FirePro M5100 delivers an average benchmark score of 6830, while the Radeon HD 8690M scores 6137.

The use-case split is straightforward: the FirePro M5100 is the stronger compute performer in OpenCL workloads, which typically correlate with general-purpose GPU compute tasks. The Radeon HD 8690M, despite its higher clock speeds, cannot overcome its reduced hardware resources. For users running OpenCL-accelerated applications, the data points firmly toward the FirePro M5100.

Architecture Differences

Both GPUs share the same fundamental architecture: GCN 1.0, manufactured on TSMC's 28 nm process. This places them in the same architectural generation, and both support identical API feature sets: DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The similarity ends at the chip level.

The FirePro M5100 uses the Venus chip, which packs 1,500 million transistors onto a 123 mm² die. The Radeon HD 8690M uses the Sun chip, a much smaller design with 690 million transistors on a 56 mm² die. The transistor density is nearly identical at 12.2 million transistors per square millimeter for Venus versus 12.3 million for Sun, confirming that the two chips are scaled versions of the same design philosophy rather than fundamentally different approaches.

The FirePro M5100 doubles the Radeon HD 8690M in nearly every compute resource category. It has 640 shading units versus 320, 40 texture mapping units versus 20, and 16 raster operation pipelines versus 8. This doubling of execution resources is the primary architectural differentiator.

Clock speeds tell the opposite story. The Radeon HD 8690M runs at 925 MHz base and 975 MHz boost, while the FirePro M5100 runs at 725 MHz base and 775 MHz boost. The Radeon part holds a 200 MHz advantage at both base and boost clocks. Despite this frequency advantage, the FirePro M5100 still wins in raw throughput because its doubled resource count more than compensates.

Memory architecture diverges significantly. The FirePro M5100 uses a 128-bit memory bus with GDDR5 running at 1125 MHz, yielding 4.5 Gbps effective and 72.00 GB/s bandwidth. The Radeon HD 8690M uses a 64-bit bus with GDDR5 at 1000 MHz, yielding 4 Gbps effective and 32.00 GB/s bandwidth. The FirePro M5100 offers exactly double the memory bandwidth, a critical advantage for bandwidth-sensitive workloads.

Both cards carry 2 GB of GDDR5 memory, so capacity is identical. The FirePro M5100 connects via MXM-A (3.0) and uses an MXM Module slot width, while the Radeon HD 8690M uses PCIe 3.0 x8. The FirePro M5100 belongs to the FirePro Mobile (Mx100) generation, while the Radeon HD 8690M belongs to the Solar System (HD 8600M) generation.

The Verdict

The data supports a clear conclusion for OpenCL compute workloads: the AMD FirePro M5100 is the faster GPU. Its 6830 score versus 6137 for the Radeon HD 8690M represents an 11.3 percent advantage in the only direct benchmark recorded. The FirePro M5100 also sits higher in the overall database percentile ranking at 38 versus 36.

The FirePro M5100 achieves this win through architectural superiority rather than clock speed. It doubles the shading units, texture units, ROPs, and memory bus width of the Radeon HD 8690M. The 128-bit memory bus and 72.00 GB/s bandwidth give it a substantial edge in memory throughput, and the doubled FP32 throughput of 992.0 GFLOPS versus 624.0 GFLOPS confirms the raw compute advantage.

The Radeon HD 8690M does have one meaningful advantage: clock speed. Its 925 MHz base and 975 MHz boost clocks are substantially higher than the FirePro M5100's 725 MHz and 775 MHz. For workloads that are latency-bound rather than throughput-bound, this could partially offset the resource deficit, but no benchmark data in the database confirms such a scenario.

Users who need maximum OpenCL compute performance should choose the FirePro M5100. Users who are constrained to the Radeon HD 8690M form factor or bus interface (PCIe 3.0 x8) will still receive a capable GCN 1.0 GPU with 320 shading units, but the data shows they will be leaving measurable performance on the table.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in OpenCL benchmarks?

A: The AMD FirePro M5100 scores 6830 in Geekbench OpenCL, while the AMD Radeon HD 8690M scores 6137, giving the FirePro M5100 an 11.3 percent advantage.

Q: Do both GPUs support the same APIs?

A: Yes, both support DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170.

Q: How do the memory systems compare?

A: Both have 2 GB of GDDR5, but the FirePro M5100 uses a 128-bit bus with 72.00 GB/s bandwidth, while the Radeon HD 8690M uses a 64-bit bus with 32.00 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: What are the clock speed differences?

A: The Radeon HD 8690M runs at 925 MHz base and 975 MHz boost. The FirePro M5100 runs at 725 MHz base and 775 MHz boost.

Q: Which GPU has more shading units?

A: The FirePro M5100 has 640 shading units, exactly double the Radeon HD 8690M's 320 shading units.

Q: How do the GPUs rank against all other GPUs in the database?

A: The FirePro M5100 ranks at the 38th percentile, and the Radeon HD 8690M ranks at the 36th percentile.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database records one direct head-to-head benchmark between these two GPUs: Geekbench OpenCL. The FirePro M5100 scores 6830, and the Radeon HD 8690M scores 6137. The delta of 11.3 percent represents the full measured performance gap in this test.

This result aligns with the underlying hardware specifications. The FirePro M5100 produces a pixel rate of 12.40 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 31.00 GTexel/s. The Radeon HD 8690M produces 7.800 GPixel/s and 19.50 GTexel/s. The FirePro M5100 leads by roughly 59 percent in pixel rate and 59 percent in texture rate, though these figures are not directly benchmarked in the head-to-head data.

FP32 throughput follows the same pattern: 992.0 GFLOPS for the FirePro M5100 versus 624.0 GFLOPS for the Radeon HD 8690M, a 59 percent advantage. The 11.3 percent OpenCL score gap is smaller than the raw throughput gap would suggest, indicating that the Radeon HD 8690M's higher clock speeds help it close some of the distance in real-world execution.

The nearest rival data provides context for each GPU's standing. The FirePro M5100's closest competitors include the AMD Radeon R7 M370 at 6764 (1 percent slower), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675M at 6946 (1.7 percent faster), the NVIDIA GeForce GT 1010 at 6698 (2 percent slower), and the AMD Radeon R5 M240 at 6975 (2.1 percent faster). The FirePro M5100 sits in a tightly packed cluster where the entire rival spread is only about 4 percent.

The Radeon HD 8690M's nearest rivals are similarly close: the Intel Iris Pro Graphics 6200 at 6117 (0.3 percent slower), the NVIDIA RTX A400 at 6078 (1 percent slower), the NVIDIA GeForce MX230 at 6077 (1 percent slower), and the AMD Radeon HD 6950 at 6210 (1.2 percent faster). The Radeon HD 8690M also sits in a dense cluster, with a spread of about 2 percent among its nearest rivals.

The two GPUs occupy adjacent performance tiers, but the FirePro M5100 consistently holds the higher position. The 6830 score places it just above the 6764 Radeon R7 M370 and just below the 6946 GeForce GTX 675M. The Radeon HD 8690M's 6137 score places it just above the 6117 Iris Pro 6200 and just below the 6210 Radeon HD 6950. The gap between the two GPUs, 693 points, is larger than the gap between either GPU and its own nearest rivals.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ across nearly every hardware specification except memory capacity, architecture, process node, foundry, and API support.

Chip and Die: The FirePro M5100 uses the Venus chip with 1,500 million transistors on a 123 mm² die. The Radeon HD 8690M uses the Sun chip with 690 million transistors on a 56 mm² die. Transistor density is nearly identical at 12.2M per mm² versus 12.3M per mm².

Clocks: The FirePro M5100 runs at 725 MHz base and 775 MHz boost. The Radeon HD 8690M runs at 925 MHz base and 975 MHz boost, a 200 MHz advantage at both points.

Memory: Both have 2 GB GDDR5, but the FirePro M5100 uses a 128-bit bus with 1125 MHz memory clock, 4.5 Gbps effective, and 72.00 GB/s bandwidth. The Radeon HD 8690M uses a 64-bit bus with 1000 MHz memory clock, 4 Gbps effective, and 32.00 GB/s bandwidth.

Compute Resources: The FirePro M5100 has 640 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. The Radeon HD 8690M has 320 shading units, 20 TMUs, and 8 ROPs. Each resource is exactly halved in the Radeon part.

Throughput: The FirePro M5100 delivers 12.40 GPixel/s pixel rate, 31.00 GTexel/s texture rate, and 992.0 GFLOPS FP32. The Radeon HD 8690M delivers 7.800 GPixel/s, 19.50 GTexel/s, and 624.0 GFLOPS FP32.

Bus Interface: The FirePro M5100 uses MXM-A (3.0) with an MXM Module slot width. The Radeon HD 8690M uses PCIe 3.0 x8.

Generation and Succession: The FirePro M5100 belongs to the FirePro Mobile (Mx100) generation, with FirePro Mobility as predecessor and Radeon Pro Mobile as successor. The Radeon HD 8690M belongs to the Solar System (HD 8600M) generation, with London as predecessor and Gem System as successor.

Release Timing: The Radeon HD 8690M was released on 2013-02-28, while the FirePro M5100 was released on 2013-10-15. Both are marked as end-of-life production status.