AMD FirePro M6100 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile Comparison

The AMD FirePro M6100 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile represent two very different eras of mobile graphics, and the benchmark data reflects a generational chasm rather than a close contest. The FirePro M6100, a 2014-era workstation part, is decisively outclassed by the 2021 GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile in every measurable aspect, with the only shared benchmark showing the NVIDIA part delivering a staggering 76.9% higher score. While the FirePro M6100 is an end-of-life product, its data serves as a baseline for how far mobile GPUs have progressed in both raw compute and feature support.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile wins the only head-to-head benchmark available, and it does so by a massive margin. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile scores 57,915, compared to the FirePro M6100’s 13,354. This is a -76.9% delta from the NVIDIA card’s perspective, meaning the AMD part delivers less than a quarter of the compute performance in this particular workload. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile also sweeps every other benchmark in its own results list, including PassMark G3D (10,093), Geekbench Vulkan (55,812), and PassMark GPU Compute (4,305), showcasing its dominance in both traditional rasterization and compute-heavy tasks.

The AMD FirePro M6100 has no benchmark wins in this dataset. Its only recorded score is the Geekbench OpenCL result, which places it at the 54th percentile of all GPUs, while the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile sits at the 53rd percentile. This near-identical percentile ranking, despite the massive gap in raw scores, suggests that the FirePro M6100 was competitive in its own era but is now firmly in the lower tier of modern performance. For any use case involving modern gaming, content creation, or general compute, the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile is the clear winner. The FirePro M6100’s only theoretical advantage is its workstation heritage, but the data shows no scenario where it outperforms the newer card.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two GPUs is immense, spanning nearly a decade of design evolution. The FirePro M6100 uses AMD’s GCN 2.0 architecture on a 28 nm TSMC process, packing 2,080 million transistors into a 160 mm² die. In contrast, the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile is built on NVIDIA’s Ampere architecture, fabricated on Samsung’s 8 nm node, with 12,000 million transistors on a 276 mm² die. This translates to a transistor density of 43.5M per mm² for NVIDIA versus 13.0M per mm² for AMD, highlighting the efficiency gains of newer process technology.

The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile also introduces hardware features that the older FirePro M6100 completely lacks. It includes 20 ray tracing cores and 80 tensor cores, enabling hardware-accelerated ray tracing and AI-based features like DLSS. The FirePro M6100 has none of these, relying solely on its 896 shading units, 56 texture mapping units, and 16 ROPs. The NVIDIA card counters with 2,560 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, more than doubling the raw shader count. The memory subsystem also differs drastically: the FirePro M6100 uses 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus, while the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile uses 4 GB of GDDR6 on the same bus width but with double the effective speed (12 Gbps versus 6 Gbps), yielding 192.0 GB/s of bandwidth versus 96.00 GB/s.

API support tells a similar story. The FirePro M6100 supports DirectX 12_0, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, giving it access to newer rendering features like mesh shaders and variable rate shading. The NVIDIA card also has a formal TDP of 75 W, while the FirePro M6100’s TDP is not listed in the data.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct comparison available is the Geekbench OpenCL test, and the results are lopsided. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile scores 57,915, which is 4.34 times higher than the FirePro M6100’s 13,354. The deltaPct of -76.9% from the NVIDIA card’s perspective means the AMD card achieves only 23.1% of the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile’s score. This is not a marginal improvement; it is a generational leap in compute throughput.

To put this in context, consider the nearest rivals for each card. The FirePro M6100’s closest competitor is the AMD Radeon RX 5500M, which scores 13,356, a 0% deltaPct. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile’s nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER, scoring 12,986, a -0.4% deltaPct. This means the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile outperforms its own closest rivals by roughly the same margin that the FirePro M6100 matches its own. The absolute gap between the two test subjects is so large that they might as well be in different product categories.

The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile also shows strong performance across its other benchmark results, even if they aren’t directly comparable to the FirePro. Its PassMark G3D score of 10,093 and Geekbench Vulkan score of 55,812 indicate that the OpenCL result isn’t an anomaly—the card is consistently fast across multiple APIs. The FirePro M6100 has no corresponding data, but its single OpenCL score places it in the 54th percentile, which is actually one point higher than the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile’s 53rd percentile. This quirk of the percentile system doesn’t change the fact that the NVIDIA card is overwhelmingly faster in absolute terms.

Specification Differences

The specification sheet tells a story of complete generational replacement. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile has 2,560 shading units versus 896 for the FirePro M6100, a 2.86x increase. Texture mapping units go from 56 to 80, and ROPs double from 16 to 32. The NVIDIA card’s FP32 throughput is 5.299 TFLOPS, while the AMD card manages 1.971 TFLOPS—a 2.69x advantage. Pixel rate is 33.12 GPixel/s versus 17.60 GPixel/s, and texture rate is 82.80 GTexel/s versus 61.60 GTexel/s.

Memory is another clear differentiator. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile has 4 GB of GDDR6 versus 2 GB of GDDR5, and its bandwidth of 192.0 GB/s is exactly double the FirePro’s 96.00 GB/s. The NVIDIA card also supports FP16 at a 1:1 ratio (5.299 TFLOPS), while the FirePro M6100 has no listed FP16 capability. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile is an IGP (integrated graphics processor) on a PCIe 4.0 x16 interface, while the FirePro M6100 is an MXM module using MXM-B (3.0). Both have no external power connectors, but the NVIDIA card lists a 75 W TDP, while the AMD card’s TDP is absent from the data.

Process node is a major differentiator: 8 nm Samsung for NVIDIA versus 28 nm TSMC for AMD. This explains the transistor density gap (43.5M/mm² versus 13.0M/mm²) and the fact that the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile fits 12,000 million transistors into a die that is only 72% larger (276 mm² versus 160 mm²). The release dates are also far apart: the FirePro M6100 launched in May 2014, while the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile launched in May 2021.

FAQ

Q: Is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile faster than the AMD FirePro M6100 in OpenCL?

A: Yes, decisively. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile scores 57,915 in Geekbench OpenCL, while the FirePro M6100 scores 13,354, a difference of -76.9% from the NVIDIA card’s perspective.

Q: Does the FirePro M6100 have any advantage in benchmark percentile?

A: The FirePro M6100 ranks at the 54th percentile of all GPUs, which is one point higher than the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile’s 53rd percentile. However, this does not translate to any performance win in actual benchmark scores.

Q: What memory configurations do these two GPUs use?

A: The FirePro M6100 uses 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus with 96.00 GB/s bandwidth. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile uses 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus with 192.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Does the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile support ray tracing?

A: Yes, it has 20 ray tracing cores. The FirePro M6100 has no ray tracing cores, as it predates this technology.

Q: What is the process node difference between the two?

A: The FirePro M6100 is fabricated on a 28 nm TSMC process, while the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile uses Samsung’s 8 nm node. This contributes to the NVIDIA card’s higher transistor density (43.5M/mm² versus 13.0M/mm²).

Q: Which card has more shading units?

A: The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile has 2,560 shading units, compared to 896 on the FirePro M6100, a 2.86x advantage.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile is the superior GPU in every benchmark and specification category. Its OpenCL score is 76.9% higher, its FP32 throughput is 2.69x greater, and it offers double the memory bandwidth. The RTX 3050 Ti Mobile also brings modern features like ray tracing cores, tensor cores, and DirectX 12 Ultimate support, none of which exist on the FirePro M6100.

The FirePro M6100’s only “win” is a one-point higher percentile ranking (54 versus 53), which is a statistical artifact of its era’s benchmark pool rather than a real performance advantage. For anyone choosing between these two, the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile is the only rational pick for gaming, compute, or any modern workload. The FirePro M6100 is a relic of the GCN 2.0 era, and while it was a competent workstation part in 2014, it cannot compete with a 2021 Ampere-based mobile GPU. If you have the choice, take the NVIDIA card without hesitation.