AMD FirePro S7150 vs NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile Comparison

The Verdict

The data paints a clear picture: the NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile is the dominant performer in this comparison, winning both recorded head-to-head benchmarks decisively. The AMD FirePro S7150 is an older, end-of-life server part from 2016, while the RTX A5000 Mobile is a 2021 mobile workstation GPU. If your workload depends on compute performance, specifically OpenCL or Vulkan, the RTX A5000 Mobile is the only rational choice based on the recorded scores.

The FirePro S7150 retains one niche: it is a single-slot, 150 W server card with no display outputs, designed for dense server installations. The RTX A5000 Mobile, by contrast, is a portable device dependent GPU, meaning it is built into laptops and its output capabilities vary by the host system. For a static server deployment where the card sits in a rack and never moves, the FirePro S7150's form factor has merit, but its performance deficit is massive. The benchmark results show a 76.1% gap in OpenCL and a 66.3% gap in Vulkan, both favoring NVIDIA. There is no scenario where the AMD card wins on raw compute. Pick the RTX A5000 Mobile for any performance-sensitive task; pick the FirePro S7150 only if you have a legacy server slot requirement and the performance penalty is acceptable.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different eras and design philosophies. The AMD FirePro S7150 uses the Tonga chip built on GCN 3.0 architecture, fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC. It packs 5,000 million transistors into a 366 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 13.7 million per square millimeter. The NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile uses the GA104 chip on Ampere architecture, built on an 8 nm Samsung process. It contains 17,400 million transistors on a 392 mm² die, for a density of 44.4 million per square millimeter. That is more than triple the transistor density, which explains the generational leap in capability.

Memory architecture also differs fundamentally. The FirePro S7150 uses 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, with a memory clock of 1250 MHz (5 Gbps effective) and bandwidth of 160.0 GB/s. The RTX A5000 Mobile uses 16 GB of GDDR6 on the same 256-bit bus, but with a 1750 MHz clock (14 Gbps effective) and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth. The NVIDIA card has 2x the capacity and 2.8x the bandwidth. The core configurations are equally lopsided: the FirePro has 2048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, while the RTX A5000 Mobile has 6144 shading units, 192 TMUs, and 96 ROPs. NVIDIA also adds 48 RT cores and 192 tensor cores, features entirely absent from the AMD part, which has neither. The FirePro's FP32 throughput is 3.768 TFLOPS, and its FP16 is 7.537 TFLOPS (2:1 ratio). The RTX A5000 Mobile delivers 19.35 TFLOPS for both FP32 and FP16 (1:1 ratio), a 5.1x advantage in FP32 and a 2.6x advantage in FP16. The NVIDIA card also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), Vulkan 1.4, and PCIe 4.0 x16, while the AMD card is limited to DirectX 12 (12_0), Vulkan 1.2.170, and PCIe 3.0 x16. Both support OpenGL 4.6.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has higher memory bandwidth?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile has 448.0 GB/s, compared to 160.0 GB/s for the AMD FirePro S7150. That is a 2.8x difference.

Q: Does the AMD FirePro S7150 support ray tracing?

A: No. The FirePro S7150 has no RT cores. The NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile has 48 RT cores dedicated to ray tracing workloads.

Q: Can the FirePro S7150 be used for display output?

A: No. The FirePro S7150 has no display outputs. The RTX A5000 Mobile's display outputs are portable device dependent, meaning they vary by the laptop it is installed in.

Q: What is the transistor density difference between the two?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile has a density of 44.4M transistors per square millimeter, while the AMD FirePro S7150 has 13.7M per square millimeter. This is a 3.2x difference.

Q: Which card has a higher OpenCL score?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile scores 110,877 in Geekbench OpenCL, compared to 26,543 for the AMD FirePro S7150. The NVIDIA card is 76.1% faster in this test.

Q: Are both cards still in production?

A: No. Both are end-of-life products. The AMD FirePro S7150 was released in 2016, and the NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile was released in 2021.

Specification Differences

The following fields differ between the two GPUs:

• Chip: AMD uses Tonga; NVIDIA uses GA104.
• Architecture: AMD uses GCN 3.0; NVIDIA uses Ampere.
• Process Node: AMD uses 28 nm; NVIDIA uses 8 nm.
• Foundry: AMD uses TSMC; NVIDIA uses Samsung.
• Transistors: AMD has 5,000 million; NVIDIA has 17,400 million.
• Die Size: AMD is 366 mm²; NVIDIA is 392 mm².
• Transistor Density: AMD is 13.7M / mm²; NVIDIA is 44.4M / mm².
• Base Clock: AMD has none recorded; NVIDIA has 900 MHz.
• Boost Clock: AMD has none recorded; NVIDIA has 1575 MHz.
• Memory Clock: AMD is 1250 MHz (5 Gbps effective); NVIDIA is 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective).
• Memory Size: AMD has 8 GB; NVIDIA has 16 GB.
• Memory Type: AMD uses GDDR5; NVIDIA uses GDDR6.
• Bandwidth: AMD has 160.0 GB/s; NVIDIA has 448.0 GB/s.
• Shading Units: AMD has 2048; NVIDIA has 6144.
• TMUs: AMD has 128; NVIDIA has 192.
• ROPs: AMD has 32; NVIDIA has 96.
• RT Cores: AMD has none; NVIDIA has 48.
• Tensor Cores: AMD has none; NVIDIA has 192.
• Pixel Rate: AMD is 29.44 GPixel/s; NVIDIA is 151.2 GPixel/s.
• Texture Rate: AMD is 117.8 GTexel/s; NVIDIA is 302.4 GTexel/s.
• FP32: AMD is 3.768 TFLOPS; NVIDIA is 19.35 TFLOPS.
• FP16: AMD is 7.537 TFLOPS (2:1); NVIDIA is 19.35 TFLOPS (1:1).
• Slot Width: AMD is single-slot; NVIDIA has none recorded.
• Power Connectors: AMD uses 1x 6-pin; NVIDIA uses none.
• Suggested PSU: AMD specifies 450 W; NVIDIA has none recorded.
• Bus Interface: AMD is PCIe 3.0 x16; NVIDIA is PCIe 4.0 x16.
• Display Outputs: AMD has no outputs; NVIDIA is portable device dependent.
• DirectX Support: AMD is 12 (12_0); NVIDIA is 12 Ultimate (12_2).
• Vulkan Support: AMD is 1.2.170; NVIDIA is 1.4.
• Dimensions: AMD is 241 mm (9.5 inches) long and 111 mm (4.4 inches) high; NVIDIA has none recorded.
• Release Date: AMD is 2016-01-31; NVIDIA is 2021-04-11.
• Predecessor: AMD is FirePro Terascale; NVIDIA is Quadro Turing-M.
• Successor: AMD is Radeon Pro GCN; NVIDIA is Ada-MW.
• Launch MSRP: AMD is 2,399 USD; NVIDIA has none recorded.
• Average Benchmark Score: AMD is 28,117; NVIDIA is 24,763.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded head-to-head data covers two tests, and NVIDIA wins both by wide margins. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RTX A5000 Mobile scores 110,877 against the FirePro S7150's 26,543. The delta is -76.1%, meaning the AMD card is 76.1% slower. To put that in perspective, the AMD card's score is roughly a quarter of the NVIDIA card's output. In Geekbench Vulkan, the RTX A5000 Mobile scores 88,144 against 29,690 for the FirePro. The delta is -66.3%, meaning the AMD card is 66.3% slower. The NVIDIA card still more than triples the AMD score in this test.

The AMD card's average benchmark score across all recorded tests is 28,117, placing it in the 73rd percentile of all GPUs in the database. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti (average score 28,020, only 0.3% behind), the AMD Radeon Pro W5500X (27,973, 0.5% behind), the AMD Radeon RX 7800M (27,883, 0.8% behind), and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 (27,839, 1% behind). This tells us the FirePro S7150 sits in a tight cluster of mid-range GPUs from its era. The RTX A5000 Mobile, despite winning both head-to-head tests, has a lower average benchmark score of 24,763, putting it in the 70th percentile. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon RX 590 (24,744, 0.1% behind), Intel Arc A350M (24,647, 0.5% behind), AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT (24,442, 1.3% behind), and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1630 (24,277, 2% behind). The discrepancy between the head-to-head wins and the average score is explained by the passmark tests recorded for the NVIDIA card, which include low DirectX scores (115 in DirectX 10, 133 in DirectX 11, 72 in DirectX 12, 169 in DirectX 9) that pull its average down. The AMD card only has the two Geekbench scores recorded, which are both strong for its class.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX A5000 Mobile wins everywhere that matters for modern compute workloads. In OpenCL, a common API for general-purpose GPU computing, it is 76.1% faster. In Vulkan, a cross-platform graphics and compute API, it is 66.3% faster. The NVIDIA card also has a massive architectural advantage: 48 RT cores for ray tracing, 192 tensor cores for AI acceleration, and 16 GB of memory versus 8 GB. If your workload involves rendering, machine learning, or large dataset processing, the RTX A5000 Mobile is the clear pick. The data also shows it has 5.1x the FP32 throughput, which matters for scientific simulation and video processing.

The FirePro S7150 has one advantage from the recorded data: its form factor. It is a single-slot, 241 mm server card with a 1x 6-pin power connector and a 450 W suggested PSU. It has no display outputs, which is typical for a compute-only server accelerator. The RTX A5000 Mobile has no recorded slot width, no power connectors (it draws power from the laptop), and no suggested PSU. For a rack server where power delivery is already provisioned and the card must fit a specific slot, the FirePro S7150's physical design is a factor. The AMD card also has a higher average benchmark score (28,117 vs 24,763), but this is misleading because the NVIDIA card has more tests recorded, including low DirectX scores that drag its average down. The actual head-to-head results show the NVIDIA card is far superior.

In practical terms: choose the RTX A5000 Mobile for any laptop workstation or any workload where compute performance matters. Choose the FirePro S7150 only if you have a legacy server that requires a single-slot, 150 W card with a 6-pin connector and no display output, and your tasks are so old or so light that the 76.1% OpenCL deficit and 66.3% Vulkan deficit are acceptable. The data does not support any other conclusion.