AMD FirePro S9300 X2 vs NVIDIA RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded head-to-head data contains a single direct comparison between the AMD FirePro S9300 X2 and the NVIDIA RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell: the Geekbench Vulkan test. In this benchmark, the NVIDIA RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell scores 194,168 points, while the AMD FirePro S9300 X2 scores 37,109 points. The delta of -80.9% confirms that the AMD part trails by a substantial margin, with the NVIDIA card delivering roughly 5.2 times the Vulkan performance of the older FirePro. This is the only shared benchmark in the database, and it represents a decisive win for the NVIDIA card.

Beyond the shared test, the database includes separate benchmark suites for each card. The AMD FirePro S9300 X2 has an average benchmark score of 32,540 across its recorded tests, which places it at the 77th percentile of all GPUs. Its two recorded scores are 27,971 in Geekbench OpenCL and 37,109 in Geekbench Vulkan. The NVIDIA RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell has a lower average benchmark score of 27,135, placing it at the 72nd percentile, despite winning the Vulkan head-to-head. This apparent contradiction is explained by the NVIDIA card's additional benchmarks: its Passmark DirectX 9 score is 354, DirectX 10 is 173, DirectX 11 is 276, DirectX 12 is 97, G2D is 1,265, G3D is 28,427, and GPU compute is 14,805. The NVIDIA card also records a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 4,648. The AMD card, by contrast, has no recorded DirectX or 3DMark results, so its average is driven entirely by the two Geekbench tests.

When comparing the two cards through their nearest rivals, the AMD FirePro S9300 X2 sits within a tight cluster. Its average score of 32,540 is nearly identical to the AMD Radeon RX 590 GME (32,601, delta -0.2%), the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE (32,456, delta 0.3%), and the AMD FirePro S10000 (32,388, delta 0.5%). The NVIDIA T600 Mobile (32,849) is 0.9% ahead. This shows the FirePro S9300 X2 is a balanced performer in its peer group, neither dominating nor being dominated by its nearest rivals. The NVIDIA RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell, on the other hand, has a more varied competitive landscape. Its average score of 27,135 is 1.1% behind both the AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT (27,425) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile (27,435), and 1.6% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 (27,565). It is 1.7% ahead of the NVIDIA RTX A4000 (26,683). The NVIDIA card's percentile ranking of 72 is lower than the AMD card's 77, which reflects the broader benchmark suite pulling its average down, even though it wins the Vulkan test decisively.

The takeaway from the head-to-head data is straightforward: in Vulkan workloads, the RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell is far ahead of the FirePro S9300 X2. However, the overall average scores tell a different story, with the AMD card ranking higher in the global percentile distribution. This discrepancy highlights the importance of workload-specific testing over aggregate scores.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two cards is generational and fundamental. The AMD FirePro S9300 X2 uses the Capsaicin chip based on GCN 3.0 architecture, fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC. It contains 8,900 million transistors on a die size of 596 mm², yielding a transistor density of 14.9 million transistors per square millimeter. The NVIDIA RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell uses the GB203 chip based on Blackwell 2.0 architecture, also fabricated at TSMC but on a 5 nm process. It contains 45,600 million transistors on a 378 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 120.6 million per square millimeter. The density difference is roughly 8 times in favor of NVIDIA, which directly reflects the process node advantage.

Memory configurations diverge sharply. The AMD card has 4 GB of HBM memory on a 4096-bit bus, with a memory clock of 500 MHz (1000 Mbps effective) and a bandwidth of 512.0 GB/s. The NVIDIA card has 24 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus, with a memory clock of 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective) and a bandwidth of 672.0 GB/s. The NVIDIA card provides 6 times the capacity and 31% more bandwidth, despite having a much narrower bus. The AMD card's HBM implementation was advanced for its time, but the GDDR7 on the NVIDIA card offers higher total throughput in practice.

Compute resources are also vastly different. The AMD card has 4,096 shading units, 256 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs. It achieves a pixel rate of 62.40 GPixel/s, a texture rate of 249.6 GTexel/s, and a FP32 throughput of 7.987 TFLOPS. The NVIDIA card has 8,960 shading units, 280 TMUs, and 96 ROPs, along with 70 ray tracing cores and 280 tensor cores. Its pixel rate is 197.3 GPixel/s, texture rate is 575.4 GTexel/s, and FP32 throughput is 36.83 TFLOPS. The FP16 rate is also 36.83 TFLOPS (1:1). The NVIDIA card is roughly 4.6 times faster in FP32, 3.2 times faster in pixel fill, and 2.3 times faster in texture fill. The addition of dedicated ray tracing and tensor cores on the NVIDIA card is a feature set entirely absent from the AMD part.

Power and physical characteristics differ considerably. The AMD FirePro S9300 X2 has a TDP of 300 W, requires a 700 W suggested PSU, uses dual-slot cooling with two 8-pin power connectors, and has no display outputs. It measures 267 mm (10.5 inches) in length and 111 mm (4.4 inches) in height. The NVIDIA RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell has a TDP of 140 W, a 300 W suggested PSU, single-slot cooling with one 16-pin connector, and provides 4x DisplayPort 2.1b outputs. It is shorter at 241 mm (9.5 inches) and thinner at 20 mm (0.8 inches), with the same 111 mm height. The NVIDIA card consumes less than half the power while delivering higher performance and more features, including display output capability.

The API support reflects their respective eras. The AMD card supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The NVIDIA card supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The NVIDIA card's DirectX 12 Ultimate brings hardware ray tracing and mesh shaders, which are not available on the AMD part. The bus interface also differs: PCIe 3.0 x16 for AMD versus PCIe 5.0 x16 for NVIDIA, a 4-generation jump in interconnect bandwidth.

The release timeline is significant. The AMD FirePro S9300 X2 launched on 2016-03-30, with a predecessor of FirePro Terascale and a successor of Radeon Pro GCN. It is now end-of-life. The NVIDIA RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell launched on 2025-03-17, with a predecessor of Workstation Ada and no successor recorded. It is currently active. The 9-year gap between releases explains the architectural leap.

The Verdict

The database shows a clear performance hierarchy, but the choice depends on the workload and system constraints. For Vulkan-based applications, the NVIDIA RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell is the undisputed winner, scoring 194,168 versus 37,109, a delta of -80.9% for the AMD card. The NVIDIA card also offers 24 GB of memory versus 4 GB, 36.83 TFLOPS of FP32 versus 7.987 TFLOPS, and support for ray tracing and tensor cores, none of which exist on the AMD part. It achieves these results at a TDP of 140 W versus 300 W, in a single-slot form factor with display outputs. For any modern compute, rendering, or AI workload, the RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell is the logical choice.

The AMD FirePro S9300 X2 retains a niche position. Its average benchmark score of 32,540 ranks at the 77th percentile, higher than the NVIDIA card's 72nd percentile. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 27,971 and Vulkan score of 37,109 are respectable for its era, and its 4096-bit HBM memory interface provides 512.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which was competitive at launch. However, the data shows it is end-of-life, has no display outputs, and cannot handle ray tracing or tensor workloads. It is also dual-slot, requires 700 W of PSU headroom, and has a launch MSRP of 5,999 USD. For legacy compatibility with GCN-era software, or for systems that cannot accommodate a newer card, the FirePro S9300 X2 may still function, but it is not competitive in any measured metric against the NVIDIA card except global percentile ranking.

The verdict from the recorded data is unambiguous: the RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell wins the head-to-head, wins on architecture, wins on power efficiency, and wins on feature set. The only scenario where the AMD card appears favorable is in aggregate benchmark ranking, but that ranking is based on a smaller and older test suite. The NVIDIA card's lower percentile is a result of including more demanding modern benchmarks like 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 and Passmark DirectX tests, which the AMD card never faced.

FAQ

Q: Which card wins the Geekbench Vulkan benchmark?

A: The NVIDIA RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell wins decisively with a score of 194,168, while the AMD FirePro S9300 X2 scores 37,109, a delta of -80.9% for the AMD card.

Q: How much memory does each card have?

A: The AMD FirePro S9300 X2 has 4 GB of HBM memory, while the NVIDIA RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell has 24 GB of GDDR7 memory.

Q: What is the FP32 throughput of each card?

A: The AMD FirePro S9300 X2 delivers 7.987 TFLOPS, while the NVIDIA RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell delivers 36.83 TFLOPS, roughly 4.6 times higher.

Q: Does either card support ray tracing?

A: The NVIDIA RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell includes 70 ray tracing cores and 280 tensor cores, while the AMD FirePro S9300 X2 has no ray tracing or tensor cores recorded.

Q: What are the power requirements?

A: The AMD FirePro S9300 X2 has a TDP of 300 W and a suggested PSU of 700 W, while the NVIDIA RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell has a TDP of 140 W and a suggested PSU of 300 W.

Q: Which card has display outputs?

A: The AMD FirePro S9300 X2 has no display outputs, while the NVIDIA RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell provides 4x DisplayPort 2.1b outputs.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell wins in every directly comparable workload and most measurable categories. Its Vulkan score of 194,168 is 5.2 times the AMD card's 37,109. It wins on memory capacity (24 GB versus 4 GB), memory bandwidth (672.0 GB/s versus 512.0 GB/s), FP32 compute (36.83 TFLOPS versus 7.987 TFLOPS), pixel rate (197.3 GPixel/s versus 62.40 GPixel/s), and texture rate (575.4 GTexel/s versus 249.6 GTexel/s). It also wins on power efficiency: 140 W versus 300 W TDP, and it fits in a single slot versus dual-slot. The NVIDIA card supports modern APIs including DirectX 12 Ultimate and Vulkan 1.4, has ray tracing and tensor cores, and provides display outputs. For any current generation application, from 3D rendering to AI inference to Vulkan-based games, the RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell is the only viable option between the two.

The AMD FirePro S9300 X2 wins in a narrower set of categories. Its average benchmark score of 32,540 is higher than the NVIDIA card's 27,135, and it ranks at the 77th percentile of all GPUs versus the NVIDIA card's 72nd percentile. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 27,971 has no direct counterpart on the NVIDIA card, as the NVIDIA card has no recorded OpenCL test. Its 4096-bit memory bus is wider than the NVIDIA card's 192-bit bus, though the NVIDIA card compensates with higher effective memory speed. The AMD card also has a recorded launch MSRP of 5,999 USD, while the NVIDIA card has no launch MSRP recorded. For workloads that rely specifically on GCN-era compute patterns or OpenCL execution, the FirePro S9300 X2 may still deliver acceptable results, but the database shows no benchmark where it outperforms the NVIDIA card in a head-to-head test.

In practical terms, the use-case split is stark. The RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell is for modern professional environments: real-time ray tracing, tensor-based machine learning, high-resolution video output, and DirectX 12 Ultimate games. The FirePro S9300 X2 is for legacy server installations where the card's 4 GB HBM and 512.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient, and where the absence of display outputs is acceptable. The NVIDIA card is active and current, while the AMD card is end-of-life. The data does not support any scenario where the AMD card is the better purchase for a new system, but it does retain a higher aggregate benchmark ranking, which may matter for specific historical comparisons.