AMD FirePro S10000 vs NVIDIA RTX A4000 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The benchmark data available for this comparison is limited to two compute-oriented tests, but the results are decisive. In Geekbench OpenCL, the NVIDIA RTX A4000 scores 105,739, while the AMD FirePro S10000 scores 30,631. That represents a 71% deficit for the AMD card, meaning the RTX A4000 delivers more than three times the raw compute throughput in this workload. The gap is even wider in Geekbench Vulkan, where the RTX A4000 posts 127,645 against the FirePro S10000's 34,145, a 73.3% difference. These are not marginal improvements; they are generational leaps in performance.

Looking at the aggregate data, the AMD FirePro S10000 has an average benchmark score of 32,388 across its recorded tests, placing it in the 77th percentile of all GPUs in the database. The NVIDIA RTX A4000, by contrast, averages 26,683 across a much larger set of benchmarks, but sits in the 72nd percentile. This apparent contradiction, a lower average score but a better head-to-head result, stems from the fact that the RTX A4000 has been tested in far more demanding workloads, including DirectX 9 through 12 and 3DMark Steel Nomad, where it posts scores like 19,459 in Passmark G3D and 9,760 in Passmark GPU Compute. The FirePro S10000 simply has no comparable data in those tests, so its average reflects only its two Geekbench runs.

The nearest rivals for the FirePro S10000, based on average score, include the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE at 32,456 (0.2% ahead), the AMD FirePro S9300 X2 at 32,540 (0.5% ahead), the AMD Radeon Pro 570X at 32,176 (0.7% behind), and the AMD Radeon RX 590 GME at 32,601 (0.7% ahead). This clustering shows the FirePro S10000 sits right in the middle of a tight pack of older and mid-range cards, all within a single percentage point of each other. For the RTX A4000, its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT 50th Anniversary at 26,553 (0.5% behind), the NVIDIA GeForce MX550 at 26,421 (1% behind), the AMD Radeon 860M at 26,401 (1.1% behind), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 at 26,331 (1.3% behind). The RTX A4000 leads this group, but the margins are slim, suggesting that its average score is dragged down by older DirectX tests where newer architectures do not necessarily excel.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two cards is vast, reflecting nearly a decade of GPU evolution. The AMD FirePro S10000 uses the Tahiti chip, built on GCN 1.0 architecture, fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC. It packs 4,313 million transistors into a 352 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 12.3 million per square millimeter. The NVIDIA RTX A4000 uses the GA104 chip, based on Ampere architecture, fabricated on an 8 nm process at Samsung. It contains 17,400 million transistors in a 392 mm² die, for a density of 44.4 million per square millimeter. That is over 3.5 times the transistor density, which explains how NVIDIA fits so much more compute into a similar physical footprint.

The core configurations diverge sharply. The FirePro S10000 has 1,792 shading units, 112 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. The RTX A4000 has 6,144 shading units, 192 TMUs, and 96 ROPs. The NVIDIA card also adds dedicated hardware that the AMD card lacks entirely: 48 ray tracing cores and 192 tensor cores. These are not present on the FirePro S10000, which predates both ray tracing and AI acceleration in consumer and workstation GPUs. Clock speeds tell a similar story. The FirePro S10000 runs at a base of 825 MHz and boosts to 950 MHz, while the RTX A4000 has a lower base of 735 MHz but boosts much higher to 1,560 MHz. The result is a pixel rate of 30.40 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 106.4 GTexel/s for AMD, versus 149.8 GPixel/s and 299.5 GTexel/s for NVIDIA. Floating point performance is equally lopsided: 3.405 TFLOPS for the FirePro S10000 versus 19.17 TFLOPS for the RTX A4000, with the NVIDIA card also offering 19.17 TFLOPS of FP16 at a 1:1 ratio, a feature the AMD card does not advertise.

Memory configurations also differ fundamentally. The FirePro S10000 has 3 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus, delivering 240.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The RTX A4000 has 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s. Despite a narrower bus, the newer memory type and higher effective speed (14 Gbps versus 5 Gbps) nearly double the bandwidth. The power envelopes are starkly different: the FirePro S10000 is rated at 375 W TDP with dual 8-pin power connectors and a suggested 750 W power supply, while the RTX A4000 sips 140 W with a single 6-pin connector and a 300 W suggested PSU. The FirePro S10000 is a dual-slot, 305 mm card, whereas the RTX A4000 is a single-slot, 241 mm card. Interface support also moves forward, from PCIe 3.0 x16 on AMD to PCIe 4.0 x16 on NVIDIA. Display outputs shift from 1x DVI and 4x mini-DisplayPort 1.2 to 4x DisplayPort 1.4a. API support shows the generational divide: the FirePro S10000 supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170, while the RTX A4000 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

The Verdict

The data points to an unambiguous winner for anyone needing raw compute performance. The NVIDIA RTX A4000 leads by 71% in OpenCL and 73.3% in Vulkan, and it does so while consuming 235 W less power, occupying half the slot width, and offering over five times the memory capacity. The FirePro S10000 has no benchmark wins at all in the recorded data, with a 0-2 record in head-to-head tests. Its only advantages are its higher percentile ranking (77th versus 72nd) and its higher average score, but that average is based on just two tests, both of which it loses decisively.

From a workload perspective, the RTX A4000 is the only viable choice for modern applications. Its 16 GB of GDDR6 memory, 448.0 GB/s bandwidth, and support for DirectX 12 Ultimate make it suitable for current gaming, rendering, and compute tasks. The FirePro S10000, with 3 GB of GDDR5 and DirectX 12 (11_1) support, is limited to legacy workloads and older API environments. Its 375 W TDP and dual-slot design also make it impractical for modern systems, whereas the RTX A4000's 140 W TDP and single-slot form factor fit into denser workstations. The RTX A4000's ray tracing and tensor cores provide hardware acceleration for features that the FirePro S10000 cannot handle at all, making the NVIDIA card the clear choice for any workload that leverages those capabilities.

FAQ

Q: Which card has higher raw compute performance?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A4000 is significantly faster. It scores 105,739 in Geekbench OpenCL versus 30,631 for the AMD FirePro S10000, a 71% lead, and 127,645 in Geekbench Vulkan versus 34,145, a 73.3% lead.

Q: How do their memory specifications compare?

A: The RTX A4000 has 16 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth. The FirePro S10000 has 3 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus with 240.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Does the FirePro S10000 support ray tracing?

A: No. The FirePro S10000 has no ray tracing cores. The RTX A4000 includes 48 ray tracing cores and 192 tensor cores.

Q: What are the power requirements for each card?

A: The FirePro S10000 has a 375 W TDP, requires 2x 8-pin power connectors, and suggests a 750 W power supply. The RTX A4000 has a 140 W TDP, requires 1x 6-pin power connector, and suggests a 300 W power supply.

Q: Which card has better API support?

A: The RTX A4000 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4. The FirePro S10000 supports DirectX 12 (11_1) and Vulkan 1.2.170. Both support OpenGL 4.6.

Q: How does the RTX A4000 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX A4000 leads its nearest rivals by small margins: 0.5% over the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT 50th Anniversary, 1% over the NVIDIA GeForce MX550, 1.1% over the AMD Radeon 860M, and 1.3% over the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 in average benchmark score.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD FirePro S10000 has no recorded benchmark wins against the RTX A4000. Its only statistical advantages are its 77th percentile ranking versus 72nd for NVIDIA, and its higher average score of 32,388 versus 26,683. However, these metrics are based on incomplete data: the FirePro S10000 has only two benchmark entries, both Geekbench tests, while the RTX A4000 has ten entries spanning multiple API generations. In the two tests where both cards appear, the RTX A4000 wins by massive margins.

The RTX A4000 wins in every measurable compute category. It dominates in OpenCL and Vulkan, and its hardware features give it capabilities the FirePro S10000 simply lacks. Ray tracing cores enable real-time ray-traced workloads, tensor cores accelerate AI inference and training, and 16 GB of memory allows larger datasets and textures to reside on the GPU. The RTX A4000 also wins on efficiency, with a 140 W TDP versus 375 W, and on form factor, occupying one slot instead of two. For any modern workstation task, from 3D rendering to machine learning to high-resolution video editing, the RTX A4000 is the only card in this comparison that can handle the workload. The FirePro S10000 remains relevant only for legacy applications that require its specific GCN 1.0 feature set or that cannot run on newer architectures, but the data shows that in any shared benchmark, it is outclassed by a factor of three or more.