AMD FirePro W2100 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Comparison

The Verdict

The recorded data separates these two end-of-life cards primarily by workload type, not by overall capability. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 wins both head-to-head benchmark comparisons, but the margins are wildly different. In Geekbench OpenCL, the GTX 650 scores 4545 against the FirePro W2100's 4093, a 9.9% advantage. In Geekbench Vulkan, the gap nearly vanishes: 4524 versus 4497, a mere 0.6% edge for NVIDIA. The FirePro W2100 actually posts a higher average benchmark score (4295) than the GTX 650 (3823), but that average is skewed by the GTX 650's additional Metal benchmark result of 2400, which pulls its mean downward. For buyers prioritizing compute throughput in OpenCL, the GTX 650 is the clear pick. For those working in Vulkan environments, the two cards are effectively interchangeable. The FirePro's lower power draw (26 W versus 65 W) and lack of external power connectors make it the better choice for constrained or low-power systems, provided the workload tolerates its slightly lower peak performance.

Architecture Differences

Both processors are built on the same 28 nm TSMC process, but the underlying designs diverge sharply. The AMD FirePro W2100 uses the Oland chip under the GCN 1.0 architecture, packing 950 million transistors into a 77 mm² die. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 uses the GK106 chip under the Kepler architecture, with 2,540 million transistors across a 221 mm² die. The transistor density tells the story: AMD achieves 12.3 million transistors per mm², while NVIDIA manages 11.5 million per mm². The FirePro's smaller die and lower transistor count explain its dramatically lower power envelope.

The compute resources differ in scale. The FirePro W2100 fields 320 shading units, 20 texture mapping units, and 8 raster operation units. The GTX 650 counters with 384 shading units, 32 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. That is 20% more shaders, 60% more TMUs, and double the ROPs for NVIDIA. Clock behavior also differs: the FirePro has a base clock of 630 MHz and a boost of 680 MHz, while the GTX 650's base and boost clocks are not recorded in the database. The memory subsystems are fundamentally different. The FirePro uses 2 GB of DDR3 on a 128-bit bus, yielding 28.80 GB/s of bandwidth. The GTX 650 uses 1024 MB of GDDR5 on the same 128-bit bus, but delivers 80.00 GB/s, nearly three times the bandwidth.

API support shows a subtle split. Both cards support DirectX 12 and OpenGL 4.6. The FirePro lists DirectX 12 (11_1) and Vulkan 1.2.170; the GTX 650 lists DirectX 12 (11_0) and Vulkan 1.2.175. The Vulkan version difference is minor but real. The FirePro has no recorded Metal benchmark, while the GTX 650 does, indicating Apple platform support for the NVIDIA card.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The Geekbench OpenCL test delivers the largest performance gap between the two cards. The GTX 650 scores 4545, beating the FirePro W2100's 4093 by 9.9%. This is a meaningful margin for compute workloads, but it is not a landslide. In context, the FirePro sits 0.3% above the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M (4282) and 0.6% above the AMD Radeon Vega 3 (4268) in its nearest rival group. The GTX 650, meanwhile, sits 0.3% below the NVIDIA GeForce MX110 (3834) and 0.8% above the Intel UHD Graphics 710 (3792) in its own nearest rival set. The OpenCL result aligns with the raw specs: the GTX 650's FP32 throughput of 812.5 GFLOPS versus the FirePro's 435.2 GFLOPS, a near doubling of compute capacity, though the actual benchmark gap is far smaller due to memory bandwidth and driver overhead.

The Geekbench Vulkan test is where the cards nearly tie. The GTX 650 scores 4524, only 0.6% ahead of the FirePro's 4497. This is within measurement noise for most real-world workloads. The FirePro's Vulkan score of 4497 is notably higher than its OpenCL score of 4093, suggesting the GCN architecture handles Vulkan drivers efficiently. The GTX 650's Vulkan score (4524) is nearly identical to its OpenCL score (4545), showing consistent performance across both APIs. The database records 0 wins for the FirePro and 2 wins for the GTX 650 in this head-to-head, but the Vulkan result carries far less weight than the OpenCL gap.

The GTX 650 also has a Geekbench Metal score of 2400, which is not available for the FirePro. This lower score drags the GTX 650's average benchmark score down to 3823, even though its individual OpenCL and Vulkan scores are higher than the FirePro's. The FirePro's average of 4295 reflects only two benchmark entries, both above 4000. The percentile rankings reflect this: the FirePro sits at the 25th percentile of all GPUs, the GTX 650 at the 22nd percentile. Despite winning both head-to-head tests, the GTX 650 ranks slightly lower overall due to the Metal result.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ on nearly every measurable specification except process node, foundry, memory bus width, and slot width. Both use 28 nm TSMC fabrication and both are single-slot cards. Both have a 128-bit memory bus. Beyond that, the differences are substantial.

The FirePro W2100 has a 77 mm² die with 950 million transistors; the GTX 650 has a 221 mm² die with 2,540 million transistors. Transistor density is 12.3M per mm² versus 11.5M per mm². The FirePro's base clock is 630 MHz with a boost of 680 MHz; the GTX 650 has no recorded base or boost clocks. Memory clock differs: 900 MHz (1800 Mbps effective) for the FirePro versus 1250 MHz (5 Gbps effective) for the GTX 650.

Memory capacity and type diverge: 2 GB DDR3 versus 1024 MB GDDR5. Bandwidth is 28.80 GB/s versus 80.00 GB/s. Compute resources: 320 shading units, 20 TMUs, 8 ROPs versus 384 shading units, 32 TMUs, 16 ROPs. Pixel rate is 5.440 GPixel/s versus 8.464 GPixel/s. Texture rate is 13.60 GTexel/s versus 33.86 GTexel/s. FP32 is 435.2 GFLOPS versus 812.5 GFLOPS.

Power and cooling requirements differ significantly. The FirePro draws 26 W with no external power connectors and a suggested PSU of 200 W. The GTX 650 draws 65 W, requires one 6-pin connector, and suggests a 250 W PSU. The FirePro measures 168 mm in length; the GTX 650 measures 147 mm. The FirePro has a recorded height of 69 mm; the GTX 650 has no recorded height. The FirePro uses a PCIe 3.0 x8 interface, while the GTX 650 uses PCIe 3.0 x16. Display outputs: the FirePro has 2x DisplayPort 1.2; the GTX 650 has 1x DVI and 2x DisplayPort 1.2.

Release dates place the GTX 650 earlier (November 2013) than the FirePro (August 2014). The FirePro's predecessor is FirePro Terascale, successor Radeon Pro Polaris. The GTX 650's predecessor is GeForce 500, successor GeForce 700. Both are end-of-life. Neither card has a recorded launch MSRP.

FAQ

Q: Which card has better raw compute performance in OpenCL?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 scores 4545 in Geekbench OpenCL, beating the AMD FirePro W2100's 4093 by 9.9%. The GTX 650 also has more shading units (384 versus 320), more TMUs (32 versus 20), and more ROPs (16 versus 8).

Q: Is the FirePro W2100 competitive in Vulkan workloads?

A: Yes, nearly identical. The FirePro scores 4497 in Geekbench Vulkan, while the GTX 650 scores 4524, a difference of only 0.6%. For Vulkan-specific applications, the two cards are effectively equivalent.

Q: Why does the FirePro have a higher average benchmark score than the GTX 650?

A: The FirePro's average is 4295 based on two benchmark scores (OpenCL 4093, Vulkan 4497). The GTX 650's average is 3823, which is pulled down by its Geekbench Metal score of 2400, despite having higher OpenCL and Vulkan scores than the FirePro.

Q: What are the power requirements for each card?

A: The FirePro W2100 has a 26 W TDP, no external power connectors, and a suggested PSU of 200 W. The GTX 650 has a 65 W TDP, requires one 6-pin power connector, and suggests a 250 W PSU.

Q: How do the memory subsystems compare?

A: The FirePro uses 2 GB of DDR3 on a 128-bit bus with 28.80 GB/s bandwidth. The GTX 650 uses 1024 MB of GDDR5 on the same 128-bit bus but achieves 80.00 GB/s, nearly three times the bandwidth.

Q: Which card ranks higher in the overall GPU percentile?

A: The FirePro W2100 sits at the 25th percentile of all GPUs, while the GTX 650 sits at the 22nd percentile. Despite losing both head-to-head benchmark comparisons, the FirePro's higher average score places it three percentile points above the GTX 650.