AMD FirePro S9300 X2 vs AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 Comparison

FAQ

Q: What is the average benchmark score for each GPU?

A: The AMD FirePro S9300 X2 records an average benchmark score of 32,540, while the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 scores 27,839. The FirePro S9300 X2 sits in the 77th percentile of all GPUs, compared to the 73rd percentile for the Radeon Pro Vega 20.

Q: Which GPU wins in OpenCL performance?

A: The AMD FirePro S9300 X2 wins the Geekbench OpenCL test with a score of 27,971 versus 26,679 for the Radeon Pro Vega 20, a 4.8% advantage.

Q: How large is the Vulkan performance gap?

A: The FirePro S9300 X2 scores 37,109 in Geekbench Vulkan, while the Radeon Pro Vega 20 scores 26,410. This gives the FirePro S9300 X2 a 40.5% lead, the largest single-test advantage between the two cards.

Q: What memory configurations do these cards use?

A: Both cards have 4 GB of memory, but they use different types. The FirePro S9300 X2 uses HBM with a 4096-bit bus and 512.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the Radeon Pro Vega 20 uses HBM2 with a 1024-bit bus and 189.4 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: What are the power requirements for each GPU?

A: The FirePro S9300 X2 has a TDP of 300 W and requires a 700 W suggested PSU with 2x 8-pin power connectors. The Radeon Pro Vega 20 has a 100 W TDP and is an integrated graphics processor (IGP) with no separate power connectors listed.

Q: Do either of these GPUs support modern APIs?

A: Both support DirectX 12 and OpenGL 4.6. The FirePro S9300 X2 supports Vulkan 1.2.170, while the Radeon Pro Vega 20 supports the newer Vulkan 1.3. The Radeon Pro Vega 20 also supports DirectX 12 (12_1), while the FirePro S9300 X2 is limited to DirectX 12 (12_0).

Where Each One Wins

The AMD FirePro S9300 X2 is the clear winner in raw compute throughput. It wins both head-to-head benchmark tests recorded in the database. In OpenCL, it leads by 4.8%, and in Vulkan, it extends that lead to 40.5%. The FirePro S9300 X2 also delivers substantially higher theoretical performance: 7.987 TFLOPS FP32 versus 3.284 TFLOPS for the Radeon Pro Vega 20. Its pixel rate of 62.40 GPixel/s and texture rate of 249.6 GTexel/s dwarf the Vega 20's 41.06 GPixel/s and 102.6 GTexel/s.

The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 wins in efficiency and feature support. Its TDP of 100 W is one-third of the FirePro S9300 X2's 300 W, making it suited for environments with tight power budgets. It is also the only card of the two with FP16 capability, listed at 6.569 TFLOPS with a 2:1 ratio. The Vega 20 supports Vulkan 1.3 and DirectX 12 (12_1), both newer API revisions than what the FirePro S9300 X2 offers. Its IGP form factor means it is designed for portable devices, whereas the FirePro S9300 X2 is a dual-slot server card with no display outputs.

For users prioritizing raw compute and bandwidth, the FirePro S9300 X2 is the stronger choice. For users prioritizing power efficiency, API support, or portability, the Radeon Pro Vega 20 has the edge.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different generations of AMD's Graphics Core Next architecture. The FirePro S9300 X2 uses GCN 3.0 with the Capsaicin chip, while the Radeon Pro Vega 20 uses GCN 5.0 with the Vega 12 chip. This architectural gap explains much of the performance and feature divergence.

The manufacturing process differs significantly. The FirePro S9300 X2 is built on a 28 nm process at TSMC with 8,900 million transistors on a 596 mm² die. The Radeon Pro Vega 20 is built on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries, though its transistor count and die size are not recorded in the database. The FirePro S9300 X2 has a transistor density of 14.9M per mm². The Vega 20's density is not listed.

The FirePro S9300 X2 packs 4,096 shading units, 256 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs. The Radeon Pro Vega 20 contains 1,280 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. Neither GPU includes RT cores or tensor cores.

Memory architecture also reflects the generational split. The FirePro S9300 X2 uses HBM with a 4096-bit memory bus and 512.0 GB/s bandwidth. The Radeon Pro Vega 20 uses HBM2 with a 1024-bit bus and 189.4 GB/s bandwidth. Both are limited to 4 GB capacity.

The Vega 20 supports FP16 compute at 6.569 TFLOPS with a 2:1 ratio, a feature absent from the FirePro S9300 X2's recorded specifications. The Vega 20 also supports a newer Vulkan version (1.3 versus 1.2.170) and a higher DirectX feature level (12_1 versus 12_0).

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every major specification category:

• Process node: 28 nm (TSMC) for the FirePro S9300 X2, 14 nm (GlobalFoundries) for the Radeon Pro Vega 20
• Transistors: 8,900 million for the FirePro S9300 X2, not recorded for the Radeon Pro Vega 20
• Die size: 596 mm² for the FirePro S9300 X2, not recorded for the Radeon Pro Vega 20
• Base clock: Not recorded for the FirePro S9300 X2, 815 MHz for the Radeon Pro Vega 20
• Boost clock: Not recorded for the FirePro S9300 X2, 1283 MHz for the Radeon Pro Vega 20
• Memory clock: 500 MHz (1000 Mbps effective) for the FirePro S9300 X2, 740 MHz (1480 Mbps effective) for the Radeon Pro Vega 20
• Memory type: HBM for the FirePro S9300 X2, HBM2 for the Radeon Pro Vega 20
• Memory bus: 4096 bit for the FirePro S9300 X2, 1024 bit for the Radeon Pro Vega 20
• Memory bandwidth: 512.0 GB/s for the FirePro S9300 X2, 189.4 GB/s for the Radeon Pro Vega 20
• Shading units: 4,096 for the FirePro S9300 X2, 1,280 for the Radeon Pro Vega 20
• TMUs: 256 for the FirePro S9300 X2, 80 for the Radeon Pro Vega 20
• ROPs: 64 for the FirePro S9300 X2, 32 for the Radeon Pro Vega 20
• Pixel rate: 62.40 GPixel/s for the FirePro S9300 X2, 41.06 GPixel/s for the Radeon Pro Vega 20
• Texture rate: 249.6 GTexel/s for the FirePro S9300 X2, 102.6 GTexel/s for the Radeon Pro Vega 20
• FP32: 7.987 TFLOPS for the FirePro S9300 X2, 3.284 TFLOPS for the Radeon Pro Vega 20
• FP16: Not recorded for the FirePro S9300 X2, 6.569 TFLOPS (2:1) for the Radeon Pro Vega 20
• TDP: 300 W for the FirePro S9300 X2, 100 W for the Radeon Pro Vega 20
• Slot width: Dual-slot for the FirePro S9300 X2, IGP for the Radeon Pro Vega 20
• Power connectors: 2x 8-pin for the FirePro S9300 X2, none recorded for the Radeon Pro Vega 20
• Suggested PSU: 700 W for the FirePro S9300 X2, none recorded for the Radeon Pro Vega 20
• Display outputs: No outputs for the FirePro S9300 X2, Portable Device Dependent for the Radeon Pro Vega 20
• Vulkan version: 1.2.170 for the FirePro S9300 X2, 1.3 for the Radeon Pro Vega 20
• DirectX version: 12 (12_0) for the FirePro S9300 X2, 12 (12_1) for the Radeon Pro Vega 20
• Release date: 2016-03-30 for the FirePro S9300 X2, 2018-11-13 for the Radeon Pro Vega 20
• Launch MSRP: 5,999 USD for the FirePro S9300 X2, not recorded for the Radeon Pro Vega 20

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database records two shared benchmark tests between these GPUs, and the FirePro S9300 X2 wins both. The results are decisive but uneven in magnitude.

In Geekbench OpenCL, the FirePro S9300 X2 scores 27,971 against the Radeon Pro Vega 20's 26,679. The 4.8% delta is modest given the large difference in shading units (4,096 versus 1,280) and FP32 throughput (7.987 TFLOPS versus 3.284 TFLOPS). The Radeon Pro Vega 20's newer GCN 5.0 architecture likely narrows the gap, as does its higher boost clock of 1283 MHz compared to the FirePro S9300 X2's unrecorded boost clock. Still, the FirePro S9300 X2 maintains the lead.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the gap widens dramatically. The FirePro S9300 X2 scores 37,109, while the Radeon Pro Vega 20 scores 26,410. That is a 40.5% advantage for the FirePro S9300 X2. This result is more consistent with the raw specification differences. The FirePro S9300 X2 has 3.2 times the shading units, 3.2 times the TMUs, double the ROPs, and 2.7 times the memory bandwidth. Its FP32 compute is 2.4 times higher. The Vulkan workload appears to scale much more closely with these raw resources than the OpenCL test does.

Interestingly, the Radeon Pro Vega 20 has a recorded Geekbench Metal score of 30,427, a test the FirePro S9300 X2 does not share. This Metal result is higher than the Vega 20's OpenCL score of 26,679 and its Vulkan score of 26,410, suggesting the card is well optimized for Apple's Metal API, consistent with its Radeon Pro Mac generation designation.

The nearest rival data provides context for both cards. The FirePro S9300 X2's average score of 32,540 places it within 0.2% of the AMD Radeon RX 590 GME (32,601), 0.3% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE (32,456), 0.5% ahead of the AMD FirePro S10000 (32,388), and 0.9% behind the NVIDIA T600 Mobile (32,849). The Radeon Pro Vega 20's average score of 27,839 places it 0.2% behind the AMD Radeon RX 7800M (27,883), 0.5% behind the AMD Radeon Pro W5500X (27,973), 0.6% behind the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti (28,020), and 1% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 (27,565).

The recorded data positions the FirePro S9300 X2 as the higher-performing card overall, with an average benchmark score 16.9% higher than the Radeon Pro Vega 20. Its 77th percentile ranking versus the Vega 20's 73rd percentile confirms this ordering. The FirePro S9300 X2 also holds a 2-0 record in head-to-head tests. The Radeon Pro Vega 20 counters with lower power consumption, newer API support, and FP16 capability, but in pure benchmark performance, the FirePro S9300 X2 is the clear winner.