GPU Comparison

FAQ

Q: How do the two cards compare in raw compute benchmarks?

A: In Geekbench OpenCL, the AMD Radeon RX 470 scores 33,568 against the FirePro S7150's 26,543, a 26.5% advantage. In Geekbench Vulkan, the RX 470 posts 39,884 versus 29,690, extending its lead to 34.3%. The RX 470 wins both head-to-head tests.

Q: What is the performance context of each card relative to the broader GPU market?

A: The RX 470 sits at the 74th percentile of all GPUs, while the FirePro S7150 is at the 73rd percentile. Their average benchmark scores are 28,996 and 28,117 respectively, placing them within 3.1% of each other overall.

Q: Which card has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The Radeon RX 470 averages 28,996 across its benchmark suite, compared to 28,117 for the FirePro S7150. That is a difference of 879 points, or roughly 3.1% in favor of the RX 470.

Q: How does the FirePro S7150 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The FirePro S7150's average score of 28,117 puts it 0.3% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti (28,020), 0.5% ahead of the Radeon Pro W5500X (27,973), and 1% ahead of the Radeon Pro Vega 20 (27,839). Its closest competitor is the Radeon RX 7800M at 27,883, which it leads by 0.8%.

Q: What are the closest rivals to the Radeon RX 470?

A: The RX 470's nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6800M (28,874, just 0.4% behind), the Intel Arc A370M (29,175, 0.6% ahead), the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GH (29,197, 0.7% ahead), and the AMD FirePro W8000 (29,211, 0.7% ahead).

Q: Are both cards still in production?

A: No. Both the AMD Radeon RX 470 and the AMD FirePro S7150 are marked as end-of-life products. The RX 470 was released on 2016-08-03, while the FirePro S7150 came earlier on 2016-01-31.

The Verdict

The data points to a straightforward choice for most users: the AMD Radeon RX 470. It wins both available head-to-head benchmarks, posting a 26.5% lead in OpenCL and a 34.3% lead in Vulkan. Its average benchmark score of 28,996 edges out the FirePro S7150's 28,117, and it sits one percentile higher in the global GPU ranking.

That said, the FirePro S7150 is not without purpose. It carries 8 GB of GDDR5 memory versus 4 GB on the RX 470, making it the better option for workloads that exceed 4 GB of frame buffer. It also runs in a single-slot form factor, which is attractive for dense server environments. However, it has no display outputs, meaning it is strictly a compute accelerator. If the task requires rendering to a screen, the FirePro S7150 cannot do it.

The RX 470 is the more versatile card. It offers display outputs (1x HDMI 2.0b, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a), a lower TDP of 120 W versus 150 W, and a suggested PSU of 300 W instead of 450 W. For a system builder seeking a balance of compute, graphics output, and efficiency, the RX 470 is the rational pick. The FirePro S7150's larger memory pool is its only clear advantage, and that matters only for specific server-side compute tasks.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The head-to-head results are lopsided. In Geekbench OpenCL, the Radeon RX 470 scores 33,568 against the FirePro S7150's 26,543. That is a delta of 26.5%, a substantial margin that reflects the RX 470's higher FP32 throughput of 4.940 TFLOPS versus 3.768 TFLOPS. The gap is not marginal; it is a decisive win for the consumer card.

The Vulkan test widens the divide further. The RX 470 scores 39,884, while the FirePro S7150 manages 29,690. The 34.3% delta is notable, suggesting the RX 470's architecture handles modern API workloads more efficiently. The RX 470 also supports Vulkan 1.3, while the FirePro S7150 is limited to 1.2.170, which may explain part of the performance gulf.

Neither test appears in the FirePro S7150's favor. The wins tally is 2 for the RX 470 and 0 for the FirePro S7150. The average benchmark scores reinforce this: 28,996 versus 28,117, a 3.1% difference. While the average gap is modest, the individual benchmark deltas are large, indicating that the RX 470's advantage is concentrated in compute-heavy workloads.

The FirePro S7150's nearest rivals provide context for its standing. It sits 0.3% above the GTX 980 Ti and 0.5% above the Radeon Pro W5500X, showing it holds its own against older high-end parts. But the RX 470's nearest rivals include the RX 6800M and Arc A370M, both more recent architectures, and it still holds a near-identical average score. The RX 470 is competitive with newer hardware; the FirePro S7150 is not.

Specification Differences

The two cards diverge significantly in their specifications. The Radeon RX 470 uses a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries, while the FirePro S7150 uses a 28 nm process at TSMC. The RX 470's die is 232 mm² with 5,700 million transistors, giving a density of 24.6M per mm². The FirePro S7150's die is larger at 366 mm² but packs fewer transistors (5,000 million), yielding a lower density of 13.7M per mm².

Clock speeds tell a similar story. The RX 470 has a base clock of 926 MHz and a boost clock of 1206 MHz. The FirePro S7150 lists no base or boost clocks in the data, only a memory clock of 1250 MHz (5 Gbps effective). The RX 470's memory runs at 1650 MHz (6.6 Gbps effective), delivering 211.2 GB/s of bandwidth versus 160.0 GB/s for the FirePro S7150.

Memory capacity is the one spec where the FirePro S7150 leads: 8 GB versus 4 GB. Both use GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus. The RX 470 has a higher pixel rate (38.59 GPixel/s vs 29.44 GPixel/s) and texture rate (154.4 GTexel/s vs 117.8 GTexel/s). FP32 compute also favors the RX 470 at 4.940 TFLOPS versus 3.768 TFLOPS, though the FirePro S7150 counters with FP16 of 7.537 TFLOPS (2:1 ratio) versus the RX 470's 4.940 TFLOPS (1:1).

Power draw differs: the RX 470 is rated at 120 W with a 300 W suggested PSU, while the FirePro S7150 draws 150 W and suggests a 450 W PSU. The RX 470 is dual-slot; the FirePro S7150 is single-slot. Both use a single 6-pin power connector and PCIe 3.0 x16. The RX 470 has display outputs; the FirePro S7150 has none. Dimensions are close in length (240 mm vs 241 mm), but the FirePro S7150 is taller at 111 mm versus 95 mm.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide is clear. The Radeon RX 470 is built on GCN 4.0 with the Ellesmere chip, part of the Arctic Islands (RX 400) generation. The FirePro S7150 uses GCN 3.0 with the Tonga chip, belonging to the FirePro Server (Sx100) generation. This generational gap explains several performance differences.

The process node difference is stark: 14 nm for the RX 470 versus 28 nm for the FirePro S7150. This enables the RX 470 to pack 5,700 million transistors into a smaller 232 mm² die, whereas the FirePro S7150's 5,000 million transistors occupy a larger 366 mm² die. The RX 470's transistor density is nearly double (24.6M vs 13.7M per mm²), which contributes to its higher clock speeds and efficiency.

Shading units, TMUs, and ROPs are identical: 2048, 128, and 32 respectively. Yet the RX 470 achieves higher pixel and texture rates due to its faster clocks. The FP16 discrepancy is notable: the FirePro S7150 doubles its FP32 rate to reach 7.537 TFLOPS, while the RX 470 maintains a 1:1 ratio. This makes the FirePro S7150 potentially better suited for workloads leveraging FP16, though the RX 470 still wins in FP32.

API support differs slightly. Both support DirectX 12 (12_0) and OpenGL 4.6. The RX 470 supports Vulkan 1.3, while the FirePro S7150 is limited to Vulkan 1.2.170. The RX 470's newer Vulkan version may explain its 34.3% lead in the Vulkan benchmark. The FirePro S7150's lack of display outputs confirms its server-oriented design, while the RX 470's HDMI 2.0b and DisplayPort 1.4a outputs make it a consumer graphics card.

Where Each One Wins

The Radeon RX 470 wins in almost every measurable category. It dominates in OpenCL and Vulkan benchmarks, with 26.5% and 34.3% leads respectively. Its higher FP32 throughput, faster memory bandwidth, and lower TDP make it the better choice for general compute, gaming, and any workload requiring a display output. The 120 W power draw and 300 W PSU requirement also make it easier to integrate into standard desktop systems.

The FirePro S7150's primary advantage is memory capacity. Its 8 GB frame buffer is double the RX 470's 4 GB, which matters for large datasets, high-resolution textures, or compute tasks that exceed 4 GB. Its single-slot design is also a plus for dense server racks where space is at a premium. The FP16 performance of 7.537 TFLOPS (2:1) could benefit specific machine learning or scientific workloads that exploit half-precision arithmetic.

However, the FirePro S7150 has no display outputs, making it unusable as a standalone graphics card. Its higher TDP (150 W) and PSU requirement (450 W) add system cost. The Vulkan 1.2.170 support and older GCN 3.0 architecture limit its modern API performance, as evidenced by the 34.3% Vulkan deficit.

In summary, the RX 470 is the pick for anyone needing a versatile, efficient GPU with strong compute and display capabilities. The FirePro S7150 is a niche server accelerator for memory-heavy, FP16-oriented tasks where single-slot density and 8 GB capacity outweigh its benchmark deficits. The data consistently favors the RX 470, but the FirePro S7150's unique traits carve out a specific use case.