AMD FirePro W2100 vs NVIDIA GeForce 830M Comparison

The AMD FirePro W2100 and NVIDIA GeForce 830M are both end-of-life, 28 nm parts from 2014, but they target different corners of the market. The FirePro is a single-slot workstation card with DisplayPort outputs, while the 830M is an integrated-grade mobile GPU. Benchmark data shows a split decision: the 830M wins OpenCL by 5.3%, but the FirePro crushes it in Vulkan by 25.3%. Average scores tell a similar story, with the FirePro at 4295 and the 830M at 3957. The FirePro sits in the 25th percentile of all GPUs, while the 830M sits just below at the 24th percentile. Neither card is a powerhouse, but the data suggests they serve different workloads.

The Verdict

Pick the AMD FirePro W2100 if your priority is modern API performance or workstation display connectivity. Its Vulkan score of 4497 is 25.3% higher than the 830M's 3590, a massive margin that indicates significantly better driver support or architectural efficiency for that API. The card also offers dual DisplayPort 1.2 outputs, making it a practical choice for multi-monitor professional setups. Its average benchmark score of 4295 is 8.5% higher than the 830M's 3957, and it outperforms the NVIDIA Quadro K3000M by 1.3% and the AMD Radeon Vega 3 by 0.6% in average score.

Pick the NVIDIA GeForce 830M if you need raw compute in OpenCL or if the mobile form factor is a requirement. The 830M's OpenCL score of 4324 beats the FirePro's 4093 by 5.3%. Its average score is within 0.1% of the NVIDIA GeForce GT 745M and 0% of the AMD Radeon R5 M420, making it a mid-pack mobile option. However, its Vulkan deficit is severe. The 830M also has a higher pixel rate (9.200 GPixel/s vs 5.440 GPixel/s) and texture rate (18.40 GTexel/s vs 13.60 GTexel/s), suggesting better raw fill-rate for older or less API-bound workloads.

The data does not favor one universally. The FirePro wins on modern API performance, while the 830M wins on legacy compute. For a desktop workstation, the FirePro is the clear choice. For a laptop, the 830M is the only option of the two. The 830M's 33 W TDP and IGP slot width indicate it is designed for portable devices, whereas the FirePro's 26 W TDP and single-slot design fit a low-profile desktop card.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different architectural lineages. The FirePro W2100 uses the GCN 1.0 architecture on the Oland chip, part of the FirePro GCN (Wx100) generation. The 830M uses Maxwell on the GM108 chip, from the GeForce 800M generation. Both are fabricated by TSMC on a 28 nm process, but their transistor counts differ: the FirePro has 950 million transistors, while the 830M has 1,020 million. Both have a 77 mm² die size, meaning the 830M packs slightly more transistors into the same area, giving it a transistor density of 13.2M / mm² versus the FirePro's 12.3M / mm².

The FirePro features 320 shading units, 20 texture mapping units, and 8 ROPs. The 830M has fewer of each: 256 shading units, 16 TMUs, and 8 ROPs. Despite having fewer units, the 830M achieves higher clock speeds, with a base of 1082 MHz and boost of 1150 MHz, compared to the FirePro's 630 MHz base and 680 MHz boost. This clock advantage helps the 830M reach a peak FP32 performance of 588.8 GFLOPS, versus the FirePro's 435.2 GFLOPS.

Memory configurations also differ. The FirePro uses a 128-bit bus with 2 GB of DDR3, yielding 28.80 GB/s of bandwidth. The 830M uses a 64-bit bus with the same 2 GB of DDR3, delivering only 14.40 GB/s. Both run memory at 900 MHz (1800 Mbps effective), but the narrower bus halves the 830M's bandwidth. This is a critical architectural difference: the FirePro has double the memory bandwidth, which likely contributes to its Vulkan advantage.

API support varies as well. The FirePro lists DirectX 12 (11_1) and Vulkan 1.2.170, while the 830M lists DirectX 12 (11_0) and Vulkan 1.4. The FirePro's higher DirectX feature level (11_1 vs 11_0) suggests better support for certain DirectX 11.1 features, despite both being DirectX 12 compatible.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The head-to-head results show a clear split based on the API tested. In Geekbench OpenCL, the NVIDIA GeForce 830M wins with a score of 4324 against the FirePro's 4093, a delta of -5.3% for the FirePro. This means the 830M is approximately 5.6% faster in OpenCL compute. The 830M's higher clock speeds and peak FP32 output (588.8 GFLOPS vs 435.2 GFLOPS) likely drive this result, as OpenCL often scales with raw shader throughput.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the tables turn dramatically. The AMD FirePro W2100 scores 4497, while the 830M manages only 3590. This is a 25.3% advantage for the FirePro. The delta is substantial and suggests that the FirePro's GCN architecture, despite being older, has stronger Vulkan driver implementation or better utilization of its wider memory bus. The FirePro's 28.80 GB/s of bandwidth versus the 830M's 14.40 GB/s may also play a role, as Vulkan workloads can be memory-bandwidth sensitive.

Each card wins one benchmark, resulting in a 1-1 tie in the head-to-head. However, the magnitude of the wins matters. The 830M's OpenCL win is moderate at 5.3%, while the FirePro's Vulkan win is decisive at 25.3%. When averaging the two tests, the FirePro's average benchmark score of 4295 exceeds the 830M's 3957 by 8.5%. This suggests that for a balanced workload mix, the FirePro is the stronger overall performer.

The FirePro's average score places it 0.3% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M and 0.6% ahead of the AMD Radeon Vega 3. The 830M's average score is nearly identical to the AMD Radeon R5 M420 (0% delta) and 0.1% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GT 745M. Neither card approaches the performance of higher-tier parts, but the FirePro's closest rivals are slightly below it, while the 830M's are essentially tied.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD FirePro W2100 | NVIDIA GeForce 830M |

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

| Architecture | GCN 1.0 | Maxwell |

| Chip | Oland | GM108 |

| Transistors | 950 million | 1,020 million |

| Transistor Density | 12.3M / mm² | 13.2M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 630 MHz | 1082 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 680 MHz | 1150 MHz |

| Memory Bus Width | 128 bit | 64 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 28.80 GB/s | 14.40 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 320 | 256 |

| TMUs | 20 | 16 |

| Pixel Rate | 5.440 GPixel/s | 9.200 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 13.60 GTexel/s | 18.40 GTexel/s |

| FP32 Performance | 435.2 GFLOPS | 588.8 GFLOPS |

| TDP | 26 W | 33 W |

| Slot Width | Single-slot | IGP |

| Display Outputs | 2x DisplayPort 1.2 | Portable Device Dependent |

| Vulkan Version | 1.2.170 | 1.4 |

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

| Release Date | 2014-08-11 | 2014-03-11 |

The table above highlights the key differences. The FirePro has double the memory bus width and bandwidth, while the 830M has higher clocks and peak FP32. The FirePro's TDP is lower at 26 W versus 33 W, and it requires a 200 W suggested PSU, while the 830M has no suggested PSU listed. The FirePro is a single-slot card with dual DisplayPort outputs, while the 830M is an IGP with portable-device-dependent outputs. The 830M was released earlier, on 2014-03-11, while the FirePro came later on 2014-08-11. Both are end-of-life, with the FirePro succeeding FirePro Terascale and the 830M succeeding GeForce 700M.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has better Vulkan performance?

A: The AMD FirePro W2100 wins decisively in Geekbench Vulkan with a score of 4497, which is 25.3% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce 830M's 3590.

Q: Which GPU has better OpenCL performance?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce 830M has the edge in Geekbench OpenCL, scoring 4324 compared to the FirePro's 4093, a 5.3% advantage.

Q: Which GPU has higher memory bandwidth?

A: The AMD FirePro W2100 has double the memory bandwidth of the 830M, at 28.80 GB/s versus 14.40 GB/s, due to its 128-bit bus versus the 830M's 64-bit bus.

Q: Which GPU has higher peak floating-point performance?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce 830M achieves 588.8 GFLOPS of FP32 performance, exceeding the FirePro's 435.2 GFLOPS.

Q: Which GPU is more power-efficient?

A: The AMD FirePro W2100 has a lower TDP of 26 W, while the NVIDIA GeForce 830M has a TDP of 33 W.

Q: Which GPU has better overall average benchmark score?

A: The AMD FirePro W2100 averages 4295 across benchmarks, which is 8.5% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce 830M's average score of 3957.