GPU Comparison

The AMD FirePro W4170M and AMD FirePro W5130M are both end-of-life mobile workstation GPUs from the same FirePro Mobile (Wx100M) generation, built on TSMC’s 28 nm process. Despite the newer release date of the W5130M, benchmark results show a closer contest than the hardware specifications might suggest, with the older W4170M taking a narrow lead in the single available test.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct comparison available is the Geekbench OpenCL test, where the AMD FirePro W4170M scores 5034 against the AMD FirePro W5130M’s 4904. That gives the W4170M a 2.7% advantage, a modest but measurable lead. The W4170M’s score places it in the 30th percentile of all GPUs, while the W5130M sits at the 29th percentile, a one-point gap that underscores how close these two parts really are in raw compute performance.

Looking at the nearest rivals for each card reinforces this picture. The W4170M’s closest competitor is the AMD Radeon R7 M340, which averages 5063 and trails the W4170M by just 0.6%. The AMD Radeon R7 240 matches that 5063 average, also 0.6% behind. On the other side, the W5130M’s nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB at 4901, a 0.1% delta, meaning the W5130M effectively trades blows with that card. The NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 is also close at 4893, just 0.2% behind the W5130M.

The W4170M’s 2.7% win over the W5130M is larger than the delta between the W5130M and any of its top four rivals, which maxes out at 0.5%. In other words, the gap between these two FirePro parts is meaningful in context, even if it is small in absolute terms. The W4170M also edges out the AMD Radeon R5 M430 (5018) by 0.3% and the AMD Radeon R7 Graphics (4998) by 0.7%, showing it sits comfortably above that cluster of integrated and entry-level discrete parts. The W5130M, by contrast, falls just short of the AMD Radeon R7 M265 (4929) and AMD Radeon R7 M360 (4931), both 0.5% ahead.

Architecture Differences

Both GPUs are built on the same GCN 1.0 architecture, but they use different physical chips. The W4170M uses the Opal chip, while the W5130M uses the Tropo chip. This distinction matters because the silicon is substantially different in size and complexity. The W5130M’s Tropo chip packs 1,500 million transistors on a 123 mm² die, compared to the W4170M’s Opal chip with 950 million transistors on a 77 mm² die. Transistor density is nearly identical, 12.3M / mm² for the W4170M versus 12.2M / mm² for the W5130M, so the larger chip is simply scaled up rather than being more tightly packed.

The W5130M puts that extra silicon to work with a wider execution configuration. It has 512 shading units, 32 texture mapping units, and 16 raster operation units. The W4170M, by contrast, comes with 384 shading units, 24 TMUs, and just 8 ROPs. That is a 33% increase in shading units and TMUs, and a 100% increase in ROPs for the W5130M. Clock speeds also favor the newer card: the W5130M runs at a 900 MHz base clock with a 925 MHz boost, while the W4170M is clocked at 825 MHz base and 900 MHz boost.

Despite the W5130M’s clear architectural advantages, the benchmark results do not reflect them. The W4170M wins the OpenCL test, which suggests that the W5130M’s higher theoretical throughput is not translating into real-world compute wins in this particular workload. Memory configurations are identical: both cards feature 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus with 64.00 GB/s of bandwidth and 4 Gbps effective memory speed. The W5130M does offer a wider PCIe interface, using PCIe 3.0 x16 versus the W4170M’s PCIe 3.0 x8, but that does not appear to influence the benchmark outcome.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD FirePro W4170M wins the only benchmark test available, the Geekbench OpenCL workload, with a 2.7% margin over the W5130M. That makes it the better choice for tasks that resemble this OpenCL compute test, at least based on the data at hand. Its percentile ranking of 30 versus the W5130M’s 29 also gives it a slight edge when positioned against the broader GPU landscape.

The AMD FirePro W5130M, despite losing the benchmark, has clear structural advantages that could matter in other scenarios. Its 512 shading units, 32 TMUs, and 16 ROPs represent a substantially more capable geometry and pixel-processing pipeline. The pixel rate of 14.80 GPixel/s is more than double the W4170M’s 7.200 GPixel/s, and the texture rate of 29.60 GTexel/s exceeds the W4170M’s 21.60 GTexel/s by 37%. The FP32 throughput of 947.2 GFLOPS is also 37% higher than the W4170M’s 691.2 GFLOPS.

For workloads that are fill-rate bound or that scale well with raw shader count, the W5130M’s architecture suggests it should pull ahead. The fact that it does not win the OpenCL test indicates that this particular benchmark is not sensitive to the W5130M’s strengths, or that other factors such as driver optimization or memory latency are playing a role. The W5130M also has the wider PCIe 3.0 x16 interface, which could benefit data-transfer-heavy tasks in a way that the OpenCL score does not capture.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in the Geekbench OpenCL test?

A: The AMD FirePro W4170M scores 5034, which is 2.7% higher than the AMD FirePro W5130M’s 4904.

Q: How do these cards compare to their nearest rivals?

A: The W4170M is 0.6% behind the AMD Radeon R7 M340 and R7 240, and 0.3% ahead of the AMD Radeon R5 M430. The W5130M is 0.1% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB, 0.2% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450, and 0.5% behind both the AMD Radeon R7 M265 and R7 M360.

Q: Do both cards have the same memory configuration?

A: Yes, both have 2 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus with 64.00 GB/s bandwidth and 4 Gbps effective speed.

Q: What is the main architectural difference between the two?

A: The W5130M uses the larger Tropo chip with 1,500 million transistors on 123 mm², while the W4170M uses the Opal chip with 950 million transistors on 77 mm². The W5130M also has 512 shading units versus 384, and 16 ROPs versus 8.

Q: Which card has a higher boost clock?

A: The W5130M has a 925 MHz boost clock, compared to the W4170M’s 900 MHz boost clock.

Q: Are both GPUs from the same architecture generation?

A: Yes, both are GCN 1.0 parts from the FirePro Mobile (Wx100M) generation, and both support DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD FirePro W4170M | AMD FirePro W5130M |

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

| Chip | Opal | Tropo |

| Transistors | 950 million | 1,500 million |

| Die Size | 77 mm² | 123 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 12.3M / mm² | 12.2M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 825 MHz | 900 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 900 MHz | 925 MHz |

| Shading Units | 384 | 512 |

| TMUs | 24 | 32 |

| ROPs | 8 | 16 |

| Pixel Rate | 7.200 GPixel/s | 14.80 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 21.60 GTexel/s | 29.60 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 691.2 GFLOPS | 947.2 GFLOPS |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 3.0 x8 | PCIe 3.0 x16 |

| Slot Width | MXM Module | Not specified |

| Power Connectors | None | Not specified |

| Display Outputs | Portable Device Dependent | Not specified |

| Release Date | 2015-04-22 | 2015-10-01 |

| Geekbench OpenCL Score | 5034 | 4904 |

| Percentile vs All GPUs | 30 | 29 |