AMD FirePro S9300 X2 vs NVIDIA RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell Comparison

The data presents a stark generational contrast. In the only directly comparable benchmark, the NVIDIA RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell delivers a decisive victory, scoring 221768 in Geekbench Vulkan against the AMD FirePro S9300 X2’s 37109, a difference of 83.3%. This places the AMD part, despite its age, in a competitive percentile bracket (77th vs. 76th), but the raw performance gap underscores a fundamental shift in compute capabilities.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The sole head-to-head result is a landslide. The NVIDIA RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell’s Geekbench Vulkan score of 221768 is nearly six times higher than the AMD FirePro S9300 X2’s 37109. The deltaPct of -83.3% (from NVIDIA’s perspective) quantifies the AMD card’s massive deficit in this modern API workload. This is not a marginal improvement; it is a complete overhaul of graphics processing power.

Looking at broader synthetic averages, the FirePro S9300 X2 holds an average benchmark score of 32540, while the RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell averages 31532. This puts the older AMD card slightly ahead in overall average, but this is misleading. The AMD card’s average is buoyed by its two Geekbench scores (OpenCL: 27971, Vulkan: 37109), while the NVIDIA card’s average includes a wider spread of tests, including a Passmark G3D score of 33360 and a Passmark GPU Compute score of 19255. The RTX PRO 4500’s Vulkan score alone (221768) dwarfs the AMD card’s entire benchmark suite, indicating that the NVIDIA part excels in compute-heavy, modern workloads where the FirePro cannot compete.

In terms of peer positioning, the FirePro S9300 X2’s nearest rival is the AMD Radeon RX 590 GME, with a deltaPct of -0.2%, meaning the FirePro is essentially tied with that card in average score. The RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell’s closest competitor is the NVIDIA TITAN RTX, with a deltaPct of -0.5%, again showing a near-tie. This indicates that while both cards are positioned similarly within their respective historical contexts, the absolute performance ceiling for the NVIDIA Blackwell architecture is vastly higher, as evidenced by its Vulkan result.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide is immense, spanning two eras of GPU design. The AMD FirePro S9300 X2 is built on the GCN 3.0 architecture (chip codename "Capsaicin") using a 28 nm process at TSMC, housing 8,900 million transistors on a 596 mm² die. In contrast, the NVIDIA RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell uses the Blackwell 2.0 architecture (chip GB203) on a 5 nm process, also at TSMC, packing 45,600 million transistors into a smaller 378 mm² die. This results in a transistor density of 120.6M / mm² for NVIDIA versus 14.9M / mm² for AMD, highlighting the sheer efficiency and complexity of the newer node.

Memory configurations could not be more different. The FirePro S9300 X2 features 4 GB of HBM memory on a 4096-bit bus, delivering 512.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell ships with 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus, achieving 896.0 GB/s. While the AMD card’s bus width is enormous, the NVIDIA card’s higher bandwidth and eight times the memory capacity make it vastly more suitable for large datasets and modern workloads. The NVIDIA card also features 82 RT cores and 328 Tensor cores, which are entirely absent from the AMD specification, enabling ray tracing and AI acceleration that the FirePro cannot perform.

Compute resources favor NVIDIA overwhelmingly. The RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell has 10496 shading units, 328 TMUs, and 112 ROPs, compared to the FirePro’s 4096 shading units, 256 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. This translates to a peak FP32 throughput of 50.53 TFLOPS for NVIDIA versus 7.987 TFLOPS for AMD. The NVIDIA card also supports FP16 at a 1:1 ratio (50.53 TFLOPS), a feature not listed for the AMD card. Pixel and texture rates follow suit, with the NVIDIA card achieving 269.6 GPixel/s and 789.5 GTexel/s, compared to 62.40 GPixel/s and 249.6 GTexel/s for AMD.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the NVIDIA RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell is the superior product for any modern, compute-intensive task. Its 83.3% lead in Vulkan performance, combined with a 6.3x advantage in FP32 throughput (50.53 vs 7.987 TFLOPS) and a 8x memory capacity advantage (32 GB vs 4 GB), makes it the only rational choice for current workloads. The FirePro S9300 X2 is a relic of a past era, its 4 GB of HBM being a severe bottleneck for any contemporary application.

The only area where the AMD card shows relevance is in its average benchmark score (32540 vs 31532), which is a statistical artifact of the limited test suite available for it. However, this does not offset the catastrophic Vulkan deficit. Users seeking maximum performance in modern APIs, ray tracing, or AI-accelerated tasks should choose the NVIDIA part without hesitation. The FirePro S9300 X2 is only suitable for legacy applications that do not leverage modern APIs and are constrained by its memory limitations.

Specification Differences

• Process Node: AMD uses a 28 nm process, while NVIDIA uses a 5 nm process.
• Transistors: AMD has 8,900 million, NVIDIA has 45,600 million.
• Die Size: AMD’s die is 596 mm², NVIDIA’s is 378 mm².
• Transistor Density: AMD has 14.9M / mm², NVIDIA has 120.6M / mm².
• Base Clock: AMD has no listed base clock, NVIDIA has 1635 MHz.
• Boost Clock: AMD has no listed boost clock, NVIDIA has 2407 MHz.
• Memory Size: AMD has 4 GB HBM, NVIDIA has 32 GB GDDR7.
• Memory Bus Width: AMD has 4096 bit, NVIDIA has 256 bit.
• Memory Bandwidth: AMD has 512.0 GB/s, NVIDIA has 896.0 GB/s.
• Shading Units: AMD has 4096, NVIDIA has 10496.
• TMUs: AMD has 256, NVIDIA has 328.
• ROPs: AMD has 64, NVIDIA has 112.
• RT Cores: AMD has none, NVIDIA has 82.
• Tensor Cores: AMD has none, NVIDIA has 328.
• Pixel Rate: AMD has 62.40 GPixel/s, NVIDIA has 269.6 GPixel/s.
• Texture Rate: AMD has 249.6 GTexel/s, NVIDIA has 789.5 GTexel/s.
• FP32 Performance: AMD has 7.987 TFLOPS, NVIDIA has 50.53 TFLOPS.
• FP16 Performance: AMD has none listed, NVIDIA has 50.53 TFLOPS (1:1).
• TDP: AMD is 300 W, NVIDIA is 200 W.
• Power Connectors: AMD requires 2x 8-pin, NVIDIA requires 1x 16-pin.
• Suggested PSU: AMD suggests 700 W, NVIDIA suggests 550 W.
• Bus Interface: AMD uses PCIe 3.0 x16, NVIDIA uses PCIe 5.0 x16.
• Display Outputs: AMD has no outputs, NVIDIA has 4x DisplayPort 2.1b.
• DirectX Support: AMD supports 12 (12_0), NVIDIA supports 12 Ultimate (12_2).
• Vulkan Support: AMD supports 1.2.170, NVIDIA supports 1.4.
• Production Status: AMD is end-of-life, NVIDIA is active.
• Release Date: AMD was released 2016-03-30, NVIDIA was released 2025-03-17.
• Launch MSRP: AMD was 5,999 USD, NVIDIA has none listed.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has higher raw compute performance?

A: The NVIDIA RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell is overwhelmingly faster, with 50.53 TFLOPS FP32 performance compared to the AMD FirePro S9300 X2’s 7.987 TFLOPS.

Q: How do the two cards compare in Vulkan gaming or compute workloads?

A: The NVIDIA card scores 221768 in Geekbench Vulkan, which is 83.3% higher than the AMD card’s score of 37109, indicating a massive performance advantage for NVIDIA.

Q: What is the difference in memory capacity and type?

A: The AMD card has 4 GB of HBM memory, while the NVIDIA card has 32 GB of GDDR7 memory, giving the NVIDIA card an 8x capacity advantage and higher bandwidth (896.0 GB/s vs 512.0 GB/s).

Q: Does the AMD card support ray tracing or AI acceleration?

A: No. The AMD FirePro S9300 X2 has no RT cores or Tensor cores, while the NVIDIA RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell includes 82 RT cores and 328 Tensor cores.

Q: Which card is more power-efficient based on the data?

A: The NVIDIA card is more efficient, delivering significantly higher performance at a lower TDP of 200 W compared to the AMD card’s 300 W, and it requires a less powerful suggested PSU (550 W vs 700 W).

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

A: The AMD card has an average benchmark score of 32540, while the NVIDIA card has an average of 31532. However, the NVIDIA card’s score is based on a wider range of tests, including a Vulkan score that is far higher.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell wins in every modern, compute-intensive scenario. Its dominance in Vulkan (221768 vs 37109) makes it the clear choice for any application leveraging this API. Its 82 RT cores enable hardware-accelerated ray tracing, a feature entirely absent on the AMD card. The 328 Tensor cores provide AI acceleration capabilities, and the 32 GB of GDDR7 memory allows for loading massive models and datasets that would be impossible on the 4 GB FirePro. Its higher pixel rate (269.6 GPixel/s) and texture rate (789.5 GTexel/s) also make it superior for high-resolution rendering and texture-heavy workloads.

The AMD FirePro S9300 X2 has no clear wins in modern applications. Its only statistical advantage is a slightly higher average benchmark score (32540 vs 31532) and a higher percentile rank (77th vs 76th), but these are based on a limited set of older tests. Its 4096-bit memory bus is a unique architectural feature, but it does not compensate for the lack of memory capacity (4 GB) and compute throughput. For legacy compute workloads that are not optimized for modern architectures and do not require large memory footprints, the FirePro could still function, but it offers no performance benefit over the NVIDIA card. The data firmly positions the RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell as the only viable option for future-proofing and high-performance tasks.