GPU Comparison

The AMD FirePro S7150 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile represent two distinct eras of GPU design, separated by seven years of architectural evolution. The benchmark data reveals a decisive performance gap, yet the FirePro S7150’s legacy as a compute-focused server part offers a different set of trade-offs than the mobile gaming flagship. This analysis examines the raw scores, architectural foundations, and practical implications of each card based strictly on the provided data.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The two available head-to-head tests, Geekbench OpenCL and Geekbench Vulkan, show a sweeping victory for the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile. In the OpenCL test, the RTX 4070 Mobile scores 109,197 against the FirePro S7150’s 26,543, a delta of -75.7% for the AMD part. That is not a marginal win; it is a 4.1x advantage in raw compute throughput as measured by this workload. The Vulkan result is similarly lopsided: the NVIDIA card posts 108,367 versus 29,690 for the FirePro, a -72.6% delta. In both cases, the FirePro S7150 delivers less than a third of the NVIDIA’s score.

These numbers carry weight given the context of the rivals list. The FirePro S7150’s average benchmark score of 28,117 places it within 0.3% of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti (28,020) and 0.5% of the AMD Radeon Pro W5500X (27,973). It is effectively a peer of those older, high-end desktop cards. The RTX 4070 Mobile, however, sits in a different tier entirely. Its average score of 27,435 is nearly identical to the AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT (27,425) and just 0.5% below the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 (27,565). That means the mobile chip is trading blows with a desktop flagship from the previous generation, while the FirePro matches a desktop card that is now several generations old.

The deltaPct figures in the head-to-head table are stark: -75.7% and -72.6% for the FirePro. No benchmark in the provided data shows a single win for the AMD card. Its winsA count is 0, while the NVIDIA card holds winsB at 2. The magnitude of the loss suggests a fundamental gap in compute capability, not just a minor clock-speed difference. The FirePro S7150’s best showing, the Vulkan score of 29,690, still falls short of the RTX 4070 Mobile’s lowest score in the head-to-head set (108,367) by a factor of 3.6. This is a generational chasm in raw throughput.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide between these two GPUs explains the benchmark results far better than any single specification. The FirePro S7150 uses the Tonga chip, built on GCN 3.0 architecture, fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC. The RTX 4070 Mobile uses the AD106 chip, based on Ada Lovelace, on a 5 nm process, also from TSMC. The process node difference alone is massive: 28 nm versus 5 nm. That translates into transistor density numbers that are nearly an order of magnitude apart. The FirePro packs 5,000 million transistors onto a 366 mm² die, yielding a density of 13.7M transistors per mm². The RTX 4070 Mobile crams 22,900 million transistors onto a much smaller 188 mm² die, achieving 121.8M transistors per mm². The NVIDIA chip is smaller physically but holds 4.5x more transistors.

Core counts tell a similar story. The FirePro S7150 has 2,048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. The RTX 4070 Mobile has 4,608 shading units, 144 TMUs, and 48 ROPs. That is 2.25x the shading units and a 1.5x increase in ROPs. More importantly, the NVIDIA chip introduces hardware that the AMD card lacks entirely: 36 ray tracing cores and 144 tensor cores. Those features enable the RTX 4070 Mobile to handle workloads that the FirePro cannot accelerate at all, ray-traced rendering and AI-based operations like DLSS. The FirePro S7150, with its GCN 3.0 architecture, predates those specialized units.

Memory subsystems differ in bandwidth and type. The FirePro uses 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 160.0 GB/s. The RTX 4070 Mobile also has 8 GB, but it is GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, yet it achieves 256.0 GB/s due to a much higher effective memory clock (16 Gbps versus 5 Gbps). The NVIDIA card’s narrower bus is compensated by faster memory, yielding 60% more bandwidth. Clock speeds are not directly comparable because the FirePro lists no base or boost clock, only a memory clock of 1250 MHz (5 Gbps effective). The RTX 4070 Mobile has a base clock of 1395 MHz and a boost of 1695 MHz, with memory at 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective).

The feature set also diverges. The FirePro S7150 supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The RTX 4070 Mobile supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The newer Vulkan version and DirectX 12 Ultimate tier reflect the architectural advances in the Ada Lovelace part. The FirePro has no display outputs, marking it as a pure compute server card, while the RTX 4070 Mobile’s outputs are listed as “Portable Device Dependent,” meaning it drives laptop displays. The FirePro also has a single-slot form factor with a 6-pin power connector and a 150 W TDP, whereas the RTX 4070 Mobile is an IGP (integrated for mobile) with no power connectors and a 115 W TDP.

FAQ

Q: Why does the RTX 4070 Mobile score so much higher in Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan?

A: The data points to a 2.25x advantage in shading units (4,608 versus 2,048), a 60% higher memory bandwidth (256.0 GB/s versus 160.0 GB/s), and a far denser transistor layout (121.8M / mm² versus 13.7M / mm²). The newer 5 nm process and Ada Lovelace architecture enable these gains.

Q: Does the FirePro S7150 have any benchmark win over the RTX 4070 Mobile?

A: No. In the provided head-to-head results, the FirePro S7150 wins 0 tests, while the RTX 4070 Mobile wins 2. The FirePro’s best score (29,690 in Vulkan) is less than 30% of the RTX 4070 Mobile’s lowest head-to-head score.

Q: Are these two GPUs even in the same performance class?

A: Based on average benchmark scores, they are in different classes. The FirePro S7150 (28,117) sits near the GeForce GTX 980 Ti (28,020) and Radeon Pro W5500X (27,973). The RTX 4070 Mobile (27,435) is close to the GeForce RTX 3090 (27,565) and Radeon RX 6700 XT (27,425). Despite similar average scores, the RTX 4070 Mobile’s single-test results are far higher.

Q: What does the RTX 4070 Mobile offer in terms of specialized hardware that the FirePro lacks?

A: The NVIDIA part includes 36 ray tracing cores and 144 tensor cores. The FirePro S7150 has neither. This means hardware-accelerated ray tracing and tensor-based AI workloads are possible on the RTX 4070 Mobile, but not on the FirePro.

Q: How do the memory configurations compare despite both having 8 GB?

A: The FirePro uses GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus at 5 Gbps effective, yielding 160.0 GB/s. The RTX 4070 Mobile uses GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus at 16 Gbps effective, yielding 256.0 GB/s. The newer memory type and higher clock speed overcome the narrower bus.

Q: Which card has a longer production lifespan?

A: The FirePro S7150 is marked as end-of-life, released in January 2016. The RTX 4070 Mobile is active, released in January 2023. The FirePro’s predecessor is FirePro Terascale, and its successor is Radeon Pro GCN. The RTX 4070 Mobile’s predecessor is GeForce 30 Mobile, and its successor is GeForce 50 Mobile.

The Verdict

The benchmark data is unambiguous: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile is the superior performer in every measured test. It delivers 4.1x the OpenCL score and 3.6x the Vulkan score of the AMD FirePro S7150. The architectural gap, 5 nm versus 28 nm, 4,608 versus 2,048 shading units, and the presence of RT and tensor cores, explains the magnitude of the win. The FirePro S7150’s 73rd percentile ranking matches the RTX 4070 Mobile’s 73rd percentile, but that parity is misleading. The FirePro achieves that rank against a field of older GPUs, while the RTX 4070 Mobile does so against a field that includes the RTX 3090.

Who should pick the FirePro S7150? Strictly from the data, almost no one. It is end-of-life, has no display outputs, and loses by 70% or more in both available benchmarks. Its only potential niche would be legacy compute workloads that require GCN 3.0-specific behavior, but no benchmark in the pack supports that claim. The RTX 4070 Mobile is the clear choice for any application that relies on OpenCL or Vulkan performance, ray tracing, or tensor-based inference. Its 115 W TDP is lower than the FirePro’s 150 W, and it does not require a 6-pin power connector or a 450 W suggested PSU. The data says the NVIDIA card is faster, more efficient, and more feature-rich.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD FirePro S7150 | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile |

|---|---|---|

| Architecture | GCN 3.0 | Ada Lovelace |

| Process Node | 28 nm | 5 nm |

| Transistors | 5,000 million | 22,900 million |

| Die Size | 366 mm² | 188 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 13.7M / mm² | 121.8M / mm² |

| Base Clock | None listed | 1395 MHz |

| Boost Clock | None listed | 1695 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 1250 MHz (5 Gbps effective) | 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective) |

| Memory Type | GDDR5 | GDDR6 |

| Memory Bus Width | 256 bit | 128 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 160.0 GB/s | 256.0 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 2048 | 4608 |

| TMUs | 128 | 144 |

| ROPs | 32 | 48 |

| RT Cores | None listed | 36 |

| Tensor Cores | None listed | 144 |

| Pixel Rate | 29.44 GPixel/s | 81.36 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 117.8 GTexel/s | 244.1 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 3.768 TFLOPS | 15.62 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 7.537 TFLOPS (2:1) | 15.62 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 150 W | 115 W |

| Slot Width | Single-slot | IGP |

| Power Connectors | 1x 6-pin | None |

| Suggested PSU | 450 W | None listed |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | PCIe 4.0 x8 |

| Display Outputs | No outputs | Portable Device Dependent |

| DirectX Support | 12 (12_0) | 12 Ultimate (12_2) |

| Vulkan Support | 1.2.170 | 1.4 |

| Production Status | End-of-life | Active |

| Release Date | 2016-01-31 | 2023-01-02 |

| Launch MSRP | 2,399 USD | None listed |

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 4070 Mobile wins every measurable benchmark category in the provided data. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 109,197 and Vulkan score of 108,367 are definitive wins. It also has the only PassMark entries in the pack, with scores of 19,587 in G3D, 8,399 in GPU Compute, and 763 in G2D, though no FirePro equivalents exist for comparison. The NVIDIA card’s advantage in FP32 throughput (15.62 TFLOPS versus 3.768 TFLOPS) and FP16 (15.62 TFLOPS versus 7.537 TFLOPS) reinforces its compute dominance. Its pixel rate of 81.36 GPixel/s is 2.8x the FirePro’s 29.44 GPixel/s, and its texture rate of 244.1 GTexel/s is 2.1x the FirePro’s 117.8 GTexel/s.

The FirePro S7150 wins on paper in exactly one area: memory bus width, at 256 bit versus the RTX 4070 Mobile’s 128 bit. That wider bus does not translate into a bandwidth win, as the GDDR6 memory on the NVIDIA part is faster overall (256.0 GB/s versus 160.0 GB/s). The FirePro also has a higher launch MSRP of 2,399 USD, but the RTX 4070 Mobile has no listed MSRP, making a price comparison impossible. For any real-world workload, compute, graphics, or AI, the data places the RTX 4070 Mobile ahead by a wide margin. The FirePro’s only conceivable advantage is its single-slot server form factor, which the RTX 4070 Mobile cannot match as an IGP. But that form factor comes with no display outputs, limiting it to headless compute tasks where its lower performance is a severe handicap.