AMD FirePro S7150 vs AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 Comparison

The AMD FirePro S7150 and AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 represent two distinct approaches to professional GPU design, separated by nearly three years of architectural evolution. The benchmark data shows a near-perfect split, with each card claiming one decisive victory in the head-to-head tests. While their average benchmark scores are remarkably close—the FirePro S7150 at 28,117 and the Vega 20 at 27,839—the underlying performance profiles tell a story of divergent strengths that matter for specific workloads.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most striking result in the head-to-head comparison is the Vulkan performance gap. The AMD FirePro S7150 delivers a Geekbench Vulkan score of 29,690, which is 12.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20’s 26,410. This is a substantial margin in a modern graphics API, suggesting that the older Tonga-based card maintains a significant advantage in compute-oriented Vulkan workloads. The FirePro S7150’s Vulkan result also exceeds its own OpenCL score by roughly 11.9%, indicating particularly strong optimization for this API path.

In OpenCL, the tables turn, though by a much narrower margin. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 scores 26,679 in Geekbench OpenCL, edging out the FirePro S7150’s 26,543 by just 0.5%. This is essentially a statistical tie, but it does demonstrate that the Vega 20 can hold its own in general-purpose compute despite its lower raw FP32 throughput. The Vega 20 also shows a strong Metal result of 30,427 in Geekbench Metal—a benchmark the FirePro S7150 does not have a recorded score for, highlighting the Vega 20’s orientation toward Apple ecosystem workloads.

Looking at the broader competitive landscape, both cards sit at the 73rd percentile among all GPUs, reinforcing their status as direct peers in overall capability. The FirePro S7150’s average score of 28,117 places it 0.3% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti (28,020) and 0.5% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro W5500X (27,973). The Vega 20’s average of 27,839 puts it 0.2% behind the AMD Radeon RX 7800M (27,883) and 1% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 (27,565). These deltaPct values are small, but they establish that neither card is an outlier in its performance class.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD FirePro S7150 is the clear winner for Vulkan-based rendering and compute. Its 12.4% lead over the Vega 20 in this API is the single largest performance differential between the two cards. This makes the S7150 the preferable choice for applications that leverage Vulkan’s low-overhead compute capabilities, particularly in server-side rendering or virtualized graphics environments where the card’s "No outputs" design and server-oriented generation (FirePro Server Sx100) suggest deployment in headless compute nodes. The S7150’s higher FP32 throughput of 3.768 TFLOPS versus the Vega 20’s 3.284 TFLOPS likely contributes to its Vulkan advantage, as that API can more directly harness raw shader compute.

The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 wins in OpenCL, albeit marginally, and additionally offers a Metal benchmark score that the S7150 cannot match. The Vega 20’s Metal result of 30,427 is its strongest benchmark showing, exceeding its OpenCL score by 14% and its Vulkan score by 15.2%. This positions the Vega 20 as the superior choice for macOS environments where Metal is the primary graphics and compute API. The card’s generation label—Radeon Pro Mac (Vega Series)—and its "Portable Device Dependent" display outputs further confirm its intended role in Apple laptops and all-in-one systems. For users running OpenCL workloads on such platforms, the 0.5% edge over the S7150 is negligible, but the Metal support is a decisive differentiator.

In terms of raw throughput metrics, the S7150 holds advantages in texture rate (117.8 GTexel/s vs 102.6 GTexel/s) and FP32 compute, while the Vega 20 counters with a higher pixel rate (41.06 GPixel/s vs 29.44 GPixel/s) and greater memory bandwidth (189.4 GB/s vs 160.0 GB/s). These specification-level differences reinforce the S7150’s compute-oriented character and the Vega 20’s more balanced output pipeline.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide between these two GPUs is substantial. The AMD FirePro S7150 is built on the Tonga chip using GCN 3.0 architecture, fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 uses the Vega 12 chip with GCN 5.0 architecture, manufactured on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. This represents a full two-generation leap in GCN design, from the 3.0 iteration to the 5.0 iteration, and a corresponding shrink in process technology.

The transistor counts tell a complex story. The S7150 packs 5,000 million transistors into a 366 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 13.7M per mm². The Vega 20’s transistor count and die size are not listed in the available data, but its 14 nm process node from GlobalFoundries would typically allow for higher density. The S7150’s larger die and higher transistor count at an older node explain its higher TDP of 150 W compared to the Vega 20’s 100 W.

Shader configuration differs significantly. The S7150 deploys 2,048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. The Vega 20 reduces shading units to 1,280 and TMUs to 80, while maintaining the same 32 ROPs. Despite having fewer shaders, the Vega 20 achieves a higher pixel rate (41.06 GPixel/s vs 29.44 GPixel/s) thanks to its higher boost clock of 1,283 MHz versus the S7150’s unspecified boost clock—the S7150’s clocks are only partially listed, with memory at 1,250 MHz (5 Gbps effective) and no base or boost figures provided.

Memory architecture represents another fundamental divergence. The S7150 uses 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 160.0 GB/s bandwidth. The Vega 20 uses 4 GB of HBM2 on a 1024-bit bus, achieving 189.4 GB/s bandwidth. The Vega 20’s HBM2 implementation provides 18.4% more bandwidth despite having half the capacity, which is a hallmark of the high-bandwidth memory approach. The Vega 20’s memory clock is listed at 740 MHz (1,480 Mbps effective), while the S7150’s memory runs at 1,250 MHz (5 Gbps effective)—the GDDR5's higher per-pin data rate compensates for its narrower bus.

Both cards support PCIe 3.0 x16 and share the same ROP count and FP16 ratio (2:1). The S7150’s FP16 throughput is 7.537 TFLOPS, and the Vega 20’s FP16 is 6.569 TFLOPS, proportional to their FP32 figures. The directx support differs, with the S7150 at version 12 (12_0) and the Vega 20 at version 12 (12_1), indicating the newer card supports additional DirectX 12 features. Vulkan support also differs, with the S7150 at version 1.2.170 and the Vega 20 at version 1.3.

Specification Differences

The two cards diverge across nearly every major specification category. The S7150 is built on a 28 nm process at TSMC, while the Vega 20 uses 14 nm at GlobalFoundries. The S7150’s chip is Tonga with GCN 3.0 architecture; the Vega 20 uses Vega 12 with GCN 5.0. The S7150 has 5,000 million transistors on a 366 mm² die with 13.7M per mm² density; the Vega 20’s transistor data is not listed. The S7150’s memory is 8 GB GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus with 160.0 GB/s bandwidth; the Vega 20 uses 4 GB HBM2 on a 1024-bit bus with 189.4 GB/s bandwidth. Shading units differ at 2,048 versus 1,280, and TMUs at 128 versus 80, while both have 32 ROPs. The S7150’s pixel rate is 29.44 GPixel/s versus the Vega 20’s 41.06 GPixel/s, and its texture rate is 117.8 GTexel/s versus 102.6 GTexel/s. FP32 compute is 3.768 TFLOPS for the S7150 and 3.284 TFLOPS for the Vega 20. TDP is 150 W for the S7150 versus 100 W for the Vega 20. The S7150 is single-slot with a 1x 6-pin power connector and a suggested PSU of 450 W, while the Vega 20 is an IGP with no power connectors listed. Display outputs are "No outputs" for the S7150 and "Portable Device Dependent" for the Vega 20. DirectX support is 12 (12_0) for the S7150 and 12 (12_1) for the Vega 20; Vulkan support is 1.2.170 versus 1.3. The S7150 has a launch MSRP of 2,399 USD; the Vega 20 has no listed launch MSRP. Release dates are January 2016 for the S7150 and November 2018 for the Vega 20.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has higher raw compute throughput?

A: The AMD FirePro S7150 leads with 3.768 TFLOPS FP32 and 7.537 TFLOPS FP16, compared to the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20’s 3.284 TFLOPS FP32 and 6.569 TFLOPS FP16.

Q: How do their average benchmark scores compare?

A: The FirePro S7150 averages 28,117, which is 1% higher than the Vega 20’s 27,839. Both cards sit at the 73rd percentile among all GPUs.

Q: What is the largest performance gap in the head-to-head tests?

A: The FirePro S7150 wins the Geekbench Vulkan test by 12.4%, scoring 29,690 versus the Vega 20’s 26,410. The OpenCL test is nearly tied, with the Vega 20 ahead by only 0.5%.

Q: Why does the Vega 20 have higher memory bandwidth despite less capacity?

A: The Vega 20 uses 4 GB of HBM2 on a 1024-bit bus, achieving 189.4 GB/s. The FirePro S7150 uses 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, achieving 160.0 GB/s. The wider bus of HBM2 more than compensates for the lower effective memory clock.

Q: Which card supports newer API versions?

A: The Radeon Pro Vega 20 supports DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.3, while the FirePro S7150 supports DirectX 12 (12_0) and Vulkan 1.2.170.

Q: What is the TDP difference between the two cards?

A: The FirePro S7150 has a TDP of 150 W and requires a 450 W power supply with a single 6-pin connector. The Radeon Pro Vega 20 has a TDP of 100 W and is an integrated graphics processor with no power connectors listed.