AMD FirePro S9300 X2 vs AMD Radeon HD 7970 Comparison

# AMD Radeon HD 7970 vs AMD FirePro S9300 X2

The AMD Radeon HD 7970 and AMD FirePro S9300 X2 occupy very different corners of the GPU landscape, despite sharing the same 28 nm TSMC process node and GCN lineage. The HD 7970 is a desktop gaming card from early 2012, while the FirePro S9300 X2 is a server-oriented dual-GPU compute accelerator from 2016 with no display outputs. Their benchmark results tell a surprising story: in the single available head-to-head test, the older HD 7970 beats the newer FirePro S9300 X2 by 23.5% in Geekbench OpenCL, despite the FirePro having twice the shading units, double the memory bandwidth, and more than twice the FP32 throughput. This page breaks down where each card wins, what architectural differences explain the results, and who should pick which.

Where Each One Wins

Based on the available benchmark data, the AMD Radeon HD 7970 wins the only direct head-to-head comparison. In Geekbench OpenCL, the HD 7970 scores 34,541 points against the FirePro S9300 X2's 27,971 points, a 23.5% margin in favor of the older card. This is the sole head-to-head test in the data, and the FirePro S9300 X2 does not win any benchmark in the comparison set.

However, the FirePro S9300 X2 does have its own strengths in the broader benchmark landscape. It posts a Geekbench Vulkan score of 37,109 points, which is higher than its OpenCL score and demonstrates capability in Vulkan workloads. Its average benchmark score across all tests is 32,540 points, placing it in the 77th percentile of all GPUs. The HD 7970, by contrast, has an average benchmark score of 34,541 points (matching its single OpenCL result) and sits in the 79th percentile.

The use-case split is clear: for OpenCL compute tasks as measured by Geekbench, the HD 7970 is the better performer. The FirePro S9300 X2's Vulkan score suggests it may handle Vulkan-based workloads better than OpenCL ones, but without a head-to-head Vulkan comparison, that remains an inference from the data rather than a direct result.

Architecture Differences

The two cards represent two generations of Graphics Core Next architecture. The Radeon HD 7970 uses GCN 1.0, built on the Tahiti chip, while the FirePro S9300 X2 uses GCN 3.0, built on the Capsaicin chip. Both are fabricated on TSMC's 28 nm process, but the chip designs diverge significantly.

The Tahiti chip in the HD 7970 contains 4,313 million transistors on a 352 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 12.3 million transistors per square millimeter. The Capsaicin chip in the FirePro S9300 X2 is substantially larger, packing 8,900 million transistors onto a 596 mm² die, for a density of 14.9 million transistors per square millimeter. The FirePro's chip is more than double the transistor count and nearly 70% larger in die area.

The FirePro S9300 X2 uses HBM memory with a 4096-bit bus and 512.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the HD 7970 uses GDDR5 with a 384-bit bus and 264.0 GB/s bandwidth. The memory clock rates differ dramatically: the HD 7970's memory runs at 1375 MHz (5.5 Gbps effective), while the FirePro's memory runs at just 500 MHz (1000 Mbps effective) — the HBM design trades higher clock speed for a much wider bus. The FirePro also has 4 GB of memory versus 3 GB on the HD 7970.

Compute resources are doubled on the FirePro: 4096 shading units, 256 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs, versus 2048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 32 ROPs on the HD 7970. This translates to 7.987 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 249.6 GTexel/s texture rate on the FirePro, compared to 3.789 TFLOPS and 118.4 GTexel/s on the HD 7970. Pixel rate is 62.40 GPixel/s on the FirePro versus 29.60 GPixel/s on the HD 7970.

The FirePro supports DirectX 12 (12_0), while the HD 7970 supports DirectX 12 (11_1). Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.2.170. The FirePro has no display outputs, while the HD 7970 offers 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 2x mini-DisplayPort 1.2.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only head-to-head benchmark in the data is Geekbench OpenCL, and it produces a decisive result. The AMD Radeon HD 7970 scores 34,541 points, while the AMD FirePro S9300 X2 scores 27,971 points. The delta is 23.5% in favor of the HD 7970.

This result is striking because the FirePro S9300 X2 has double the shading units, double the TMUs, double the ROPs, and roughly double the FP32 throughput (7.987 TFLOPS versus 3.789 TFLOPS). It also has nearly double the memory bandwidth (512.0 GB/s versus 264.0 GB/s). Yet in this OpenCL workload, the older, less powerful card wins by a wide margin.

The HD 7970's nearest rivals in the benchmark database include the NVIDIA T1000 8 GB at 34,561 points (0.1% ahead), the NVIDIA A2 at 34,690 points (0.4% ahead), the NVIDIA TITAN V at 34,355 points (0.5% behind), and the NVIDIA RTX A1000 at 34,207 points (1.0% behind). This places the HD 7970 in a tight cluster around 34,200–34,700 points, with all four rivals within 1% of its score.

The FirePro S9300 X2's nearest rivals, based on its average score of 32,540, include the AMD Radeon RX 590 GME at 32,601 points (0.2% ahead), the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE at 32,456 points (0.3% behind), the AMD FirePro S10000 at 32,388 points (0.5% behind), and the NVIDIA T600 Mobile at 32,849 points (0.9% ahead). The FirePro sits in a cluster around 32,400–32,900 points, roughly 1,600–1,800 points below the HD 7970's cluster.

The 23.5% delta in the head-to-head test is far larger than the differences between each card and its nearest rivals, indicating that the HD 7970's advantage over the FirePro S9300 X2 is not a marginal one but a substantial gap in this specific workload.

Specification Differences

The specifications that differ between the two cards are extensive, reflecting their different design goals and generations.

| Specification | AMD Radeon HD 7970 | AMD FirePro S9300 X2 |

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

| Architecture | GCN 1.0 | GCN 3.0 |

| Chip | Tahiti | Capsaicin |

| Transistors | 4,313 million | 8,900 million |

| Die Size | 352 mm² | 596 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 12.3M / mm² | 14.9M / mm² |

| Memory Size | 3 GB | 4 GB |

| Memory Type | GDDR5 | HBM |

| Memory Bus Width | 384 bit | 4096 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 264.0 GB/s | 512.0 GB/s |

| Memory Clock | 1375 MHz (5.5 Gbps effective) | 500 MHz (1000 Mbps effective) |

| Shading Units | 2048 | 4096 |

| TMUs | 128 | 256 |

| ROPs | 32 | 64 |

| Pixel Rate | 29.60 GPixel/s | 62.40 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 118.4 GTexel/s | 249.6 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 3.789 TFLOPS | 7.987 TFLOPS |

| TDP | 250 W | 300 W |

| Power Connectors | 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin | 2x 8-pin |

| Suggested PSU | 600 W | 700 W |

| Display Outputs | 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, 2x mini-DisplayPort 1.2 | No outputs |

| DirectX Support | 12 (11_1) | 12 (12_0) |

| Length | 275 mm (10.8 inches) | 267 mm (10.5 inches) |

| Launch MSRP | 549 USD | 5,999 USD |

The FirePro S9300 X2 is a dual-slot card with 2x 8-pin power connectors and a 300 W TDP, compared to the HD 7970's dual-slot design with 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin connectors and a 250 W TDP. Both use PCIe 3.0 x16 interfaces. The FirePro has no width dimension listed, while the HD 7970 is 38 mm (1.5 inches) wide. Both cards are end-of-life products, with the HD 7970 releasing in January 2012 and the FirePro S9300 X2 in March 2016. The HD 7970's predecessor is Northern Islands and its successor is Sea Islands; the FirePro's predecessor is FirePro Terascale and its successor is Radeon Pro GCN.

FAQ

Q: Which card has a higher Geekbench OpenCL score?

A: The AMD Radeon HD 7970 scores 34,541 points, which is 23.5% higher than the AMD FirePro S9300 X2's 27,971 points in the head-to-head benchmark.

Q: Does the FirePro S9300 X2 have any benchmark where it outperforms the HD 7970?

A: The data includes no head-to-head benchmark where the FirePro S9300 X2 wins. It does have a Geekbench Vulkan score of 37,109 points, but no comparable Vulkan score is listed for the HD 7970.

Q: How do the two cards compare in memory bandwidth?

A: The FirePro S9300 X2 has 512.0 GB/s bandwidth via HBM memory on a 4096-bit bus, while the HD 7970 has 264.0 GB/s bandwidth via GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus. The FirePro's bandwidth is nearly double.

Q: What is the FP32 performance difference?

A: The FirePro S9300 X2 delivers 7.987 TFLOPS FP32, while the HD 7970 delivers 3.789 TFLOPS. The FirePro has roughly 2.1 times the FP32 throughput.

Q: Which card has more shading units?

A: The FirePro S9300 X2 has 4096 shading units, exactly double the HD 7970's 2048 shading units. It also has double the TMUs (256 vs 128) and double the ROPs (64 vs 32).

Q: Can the FirePro S9300 X2 output video?

A: No, the FirePro S9300 X2 has no display outputs. The HD 7970, by contrast, has 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 2x mini-DisplayPort 1.2 outputs.

The Verdict

The benchmark data delivers a counterintuitive verdict: the AMD Radeon HD 7970 is the better choice for OpenCL compute performance, despite being older, smaller, and less powerful on paper. Its 34,541 Geekbench OpenCL score beats the FirePro S9300 X2's 27,971 by 23.5%, and its 79th percentile ranking among all GPUs edges out the FirePro's 77th percentile. The HD 7970 also has a lower TDP (250 W vs 300 W) and requires a less powerful PSU (600 W vs 700 W).

The FirePro S9300 X2, however, is not without justification. Its 37,109 Geekbench Vulkan score suggests it handles Vulkan workloads better than OpenCL ones, and its massive compute resources — 4096 shading units, 7.987 TFLOPS FP32, 512.0 GB/s memory bandwidth — make it a more capable compute accelerator on paper. Its 4 GB of HBM memory with a 4096-bit bus is a fundamentally different memory architecture from the HD 7970's 3 GB GDDR5.

For users running OpenCL workloads, the data clearly favors the HD 7970. For Vulkan-based tasks, the FirePro S9300 X2's higher Vulkan score (37,109 vs its own OpenCL score) hints at better performance, though no direct comparison exists. The FirePro's lack of display outputs makes it unsuitable for any desktop or gaming use, while the HD 7970's full display output suite makes it a functional graphics card. The HD 7970's launch MSRP was 549 USD, while the FirePro S9300 X2 launched at 5,999 USD, reflecting their vastly different market positions — but both are end-of-life products today. The verdict is straightforward: for OpenCL compute, the HD 7970 wins on demonstrated performance; for raw compute resources and Vulkan, the FirePro S9300 X2 has the specification advantage, even if it did not translate to OpenCL success in the head-to-head test.