AMD FirePro W4300 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The single recorded head-to-head benchmark between the AMD FirePro W4300 and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M is Geekbench OpenCL, and the results show a decisive victory for the AMD workstation card. The FirePro W4300 scored 11225 points against 9821 points for the GTX 850M, a delta of 14.3% in favor of AMD. This is a substantial margin for a compute-focused workload, placing the FirePro W4300 clearly ahead in raw OpenCL throughput.

Context from the nearest rivals reinforces this gap. The FirePro W4300’s 11225 score sits within 0.3% of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M (11261) and is effectively tied with the AMD Radeon Pro WX 3200 (11228, delta 0%). Meanwhile, the GTX 850M’s 9821 OpenCL score is closely matched by the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 465 (9294, delta 0.1%) and the AMD Radeon R7 M380 (9313, delta -0.1%). In other words, the FirePro W4300 performs like a high-end mobile GPU from the previous generation, while the GTX 850M lands in the mid-range mobile tier.

The GTX 850M does have one additional benchmark in the database: Geekbench Vulkan, where it scores 8782. No Vulkan score is recorded for the FirePro W4300, so no direct comparison is possible on that API. However, the FirePro W4300 supports Vulkan 1.2.170, while the GTX 850M lists Vulkan 1.4, indicating that NVIDIA’s driver stack offers a newer Vulkan revision.

Looking at the average benchmark scores, the FirePro W4300’s average is 11225 (identical to its single OpenCL result), while the GTX 850M’s average is 9302, computed from its two benchmark entries. That difference is 20.7% in favor of AMD, though the comparison is not apples-to-apples because the averages cover different test suites. The percentile rankings tell a similar story: the FirePro W4300 sits at the 50th percentile of all GPUs, while the GTX 850M rests at the 46th percentile. That 4-percentile gap may seem small, but in a crowded field of hundreds of GPUs, it places the AMD card meaningfully higher in the overall distribution.

The wins tally is 1 for the FirePro W4300 and 0 for the GTX 850M. The OpenCL result is the only shared benchmark, and AMD wins it outright. No other head-to-head tests exist in the database, so conclusions must be drawn from this single data point, supplemented by the nearest-rival comparisons for each card.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins in Geekbench OpenCL performance?

A: The AMD FirePro W4300 wins decisively with a score of 11225 versus 9821 for the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M, a 14.3% margin.

Q: How does the FirePro W4300 compare to its closest rivals?

A: The FirePro W4300’s 11225 score is within 0.3% of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M (11261) and tied with the AMD Radeon Pro WX 3200 (11228). It is 1.2% ahead of both the NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q and the RTX PRO 6000D Blackwell Max-Q (both at 11088).

Q: What about the GTX 850M’s nearest competitors?

A: The GTX 850M’s OpenCL score of 9821 places it 0.1% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 465 (9294) and 0.1% behind the AMD Radeon R7 M380 (9313). It is 0.3% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 (9273) and 0.9% ahead of the AMD Radeon Vega 8 (9221).

Q: Does the GTX 850M have any benchmark where it is not compared?

A: Yes, the GTX 850M has a Geekbench Vulkan score of 8782. The FirePro W4300 has no recorded Vulkan benchmark, so no direct comparison exists for that API.

Q: What do the percentile rankings indicate?

A: The FirePro W4300 falls at the 50th percentile of all GPUs, while the GTX 850M sits at the 46th percentile. This means the AMD card ranks higher in the global distribution of graphics processors.

Q: How many benchmark wins does each card have in head-to-head testing?

A: The AMD FirePro W4300 has 1 win, and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M has 0 wins. The only shared test is Geekbench OpenCL, which AMD takes by 14.3%.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different architectural lineages. The AMD FirePro W4300 uses the Bonaire chip built on GCN 2.0 architecture, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M uses the GM107 chip on Maxwell architecture. Both are manufactured by TSMC on a 28 nm process node, and both use the same foundry. The transistor counts are close: AMD packs 2,080 million transistors into a 160 mm² die, yielding a density of 13.0 million transistors per square millimeter. NVIDIA’s GM107 has 1,870 million transistors on a 148 mm² die, which comes to 12.6 million per square millimeter. The AMD chip is slightly larger and denser.

The FirePro W4300 belongs to the FirePro GCN (Wx300) generation, with a predecessor in FirePro Terascale and a successor in Radeon Pro GCN. The GTX 850M belongs to the GeForce 800M generation, following GeForce 700M and leading to GeForce 900M. The FirePro W4300 was released on 2015-11-30, while the GTX 850M came earlier on 2014-03-11. Both are now end-of-life products.

Compute resources differ notably. The FirePro W4300 has 768 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 16 ROPs. The GTX 850M has 640 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. These counts translate into different peak throughput figures. The FirePro W4300 achieves 14.88 GPixel/s pixel rate and 44.64 GTexel/s texture rate, with FP32 performance of 1,428.5 GFLOPS. The GTX 850M reaches 14.43 GPixel/s and 36.08 GTexel/s, with FP32 at 1,154.6 GFLOPS. The AMD card leads in every throughput category, especially texture and compute performance.

Memory configurations are starkly different. The FirePro W4300 uses 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus, with memory clocked at 1500 MHz (6 Gbps effective) and a bandwidth of 96.00 GB/s. The GTX 850M uses 2 GB of DDR3 on the same 128-bit bus, with memory at 1001 MHz (2 Gbps effective) and a bandwidth of only 32.03 GB/s. That is a threefold difference in memory bandwidth, which heavily impacts workloads that saturate memory.

API support also diverges. The FirePro W4300 supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The GTX 850M lists DirectX 12 (11_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The Vulkan version difference is notable: NVIDIA’s card exposes a newer revision, even though the AMD card is the newer product by release date.

Physical and power characteristics differ as well. The FirePro W4300 is a single-slot card with a 50 W TDP, no power connectors, and a suggested PSU of 250 W. It measures 171 mm (6.7 inches) in length and 69 mm (2.7 inches) in height. The GTX 850M is an IGP (integrated graphics processor) with a 45 W TDP, no power connectors, and no suggested PSU rating. Its dimensions are listed as portable-device dependent. The FirePro W4300 has 4x mini-DisplayPort 1.2 outputs, while the GTX 850M’s display outputs are portable-device dependent. Both use a PCIe 3.0 x16 bus interface.

The Verdict

The data points to the AMD FirePro W4300 as the stronger performer in the only recorded head-to-head test. Its 14.3% lead in Geekbench OpenCL is significant, and its higher FP32 throughput, pixel rate, and texture rate support that result. The 4 GB GDDR5 memory with 96.00 GB/s bandwidth versus 2 GB DDR3 at 32.03 GB/s gives the FirePro a massive advantage in memory-bound workloads. For compute tasks, workstation applications, or any OpenCL-heavy usage, the FirePro W4300 is the clear choice from this dataset.

The GTX 850M, however, has its own justifications. It is a mobile IGP solution with a 45 W TDP, 5 W lower than the FirePro’s 50 W, and its dimensions are portable-device dependent, meaning it is designed to be soldered into laptops. Its Vulkan 1.4 support is newer than the FirePro’s 1.2.170, which may matter for applications that rely on the latest Vulkan features. Its OpenCL score of 9821 is still respectable, placing it near the GeForce GTX 465 and Radeon R7 M380 in the database.

The percentile gap is narrow: 50th versus 46th. This suggests that while the FirePro W4300 is ahead, neither card is a top-tier performer by modern standards. Both are end-of-life products, and the GTX 850M is older by roughly 20 months.

For a buyer prioritizing raw compute and memory bandwidth in a desktop workstation, the FirePro W4300 wins on all measured fronts. For a laptop user needing a low-power, integrated solution with newer Vulkan support, the GTX 850M is the only option of the two, as the FirePro is a single-slot desktop card. The choice hinges on form factor and API requirements rather than overall performance, where AMD leads.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD FirePro W4300 | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M |

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

| Architecture | GCN 2.0 | Maxwell |

| Generation | FirePro GCN (Wx300) | GeForce 800M |

| Process Node | 28 nm | 28 nm |

| Transistors | 2,080 million | 1,870 million |

| Die Size | 160 mm² | 148 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 13.0M / mm² | 12.6M / mm² |

| Memory Clock | 1500 MHz (6 Gbps effective) | 1001 MHz (2 Gbps effective) |

| Memory Size | 4 GB | 2 GB |

| Memory Type | GDDR5 | DDR3 |

| Memory Bandwidth | 96.00 GB/s | 32.03 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 768 | 640 |

| TMUs | 48 | 40 |

| ROPs | 16 | 16 |

| Pixel Rate | 14.88 GPixel/s | 14.43 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 44.64 GTexel/s | 36.08 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 1,428.5 GFLOPS | 1,154.6 GFLOPS |

| TDP | 50 W | 45 W |

| Slot Width | Single-slot | IGP |

| Suggested PSU | 250 W | None |

| Display Outputs | 4x mini-DisplayPort 1.2 | Portable Device Dependent |

| DirectX | 12 (12_0) | 12 (11_0) |

| Vulkan | 1.2.170 | 1.4 |

| Dimensions | 171 mm x 69 mm | Not specified |

| Release Date | 2015-11-30 | 2014-03-11 |

| Predecessor | FirePro Terascale | GeForce 700M |

| Successor | Radeon Pro GCN | GeForce 900M |