AMD FirePro W5000 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 Comparison

The AMD FirePro W5000 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 represent two distinct philosophies from the same 28 nm era, yet the benchmark data reveals a clear performance hierarchy. While the FirePro W5000 targets professional workflows with its single-slot design and robust API support, the GeForce GTX 660 leverages a wider shader array and higher clock speeds to deliver superior raw compute performance. The numbers show a decisive win for the NVIDIA card in the only shared benchmark, but the AMD card’s feature set tells a more nuanced story for specific use cases.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The sole direct comparison available in the data is the Geekbench OpenCL test, and the results are unambiguous. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 scores 11,347 points, while the AMD FirePro W5000 trails at 9,803 points. This represents a 13.6% delta in favor of the GTX 660, a substantial margin that underscores the NVIDIA card’s compute advantage. The GTX 660’s 1.981 TFLOPS of FP32 performance versus the FirePro W5000’s 1,267.2 GFLOPS explains this gap, as the NVIDIA card delivers roughly 56% more floating-point throughput.

Looking at the broader competitive landscape, both cards sit in similar percentiles among all GPUs, with the FirePro W5000 at the 47th percentile and the GTX 660 at the 45th percentile. However, the average benchmark scores tell a different story. The FirePro W5000 averages 9,803 points across its single benchmark, while the GTX 660 averages 9,022 points across three benchmarks (OpenCL, Metal, and Vulkan). This discrepancy occurs because the GTX 660’s OpenCL score of 11,347 is its best result, while its Metal score of 4,305 and Vulkan score of 11,415 pull the average down. The FirePro W5000’s nearest rival, the NVIDIA Quadro M2000M, scores 9,832 points, just 0.3% higher, indicating the AMD card is competitive within its professional niche.

The GTX 660’s nearest rivals include the NVIDIA TITAN V CEO Edition at 9,037 points (0.2% lower) and the GeForce GTX 560 at 9,058 points (0.4% lower). This positioning shows the GTX 660 outperforms its immediate predecessors and even edges out a high-end enthusiast card in this specific metric. The FirePro W5000, conversely, sits within a tight cluster of professional cards, with the Quadro 6000 at 9,846 points (0.4% higher) and the Tesla M10 at 9,724 points (0.8% lower).

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark data gives the GeForce GTX 660 a clear victory in raw compute performance. Its OpenCL score of 11,347 versus the FirePro W5000’s 9,803 makes it the better choice for compute-heavy workloads that leverage OpenCL acceleration. The GTX 660 also shows versatility across multiple APIs, with its Vulkan score of 11,415 nearly matching its OpenCL result, suggesting strong cross-platform compute capabilities. The card’s 960 shading units, 80 texture mapping units, and 82.56 GTexel/s texture rate provide substantial parallel processing power for graphics-intensive applications.

The AMD FirePro W5000 wins in professional feature support and efficiency. Its DirectX 12 (11_1) support is one revision ahead of the GTX 660’s DirectX 12 (11_0), offering better compatibility with modern graphics APIs. The FirePro W5000 also draws just 75 W compared to the GTX 660’s 140 W, making it a far more power-efficient solution for multi-GPU workstation configurations. The single-slot design with no power connectors further enhances its suitability for dense professional environments where space and power are at a premium. The AMD card’s 102.4 GB/s memory bandwidth, while lower than the GTX 660’s 144.2 GB/s, is paired with a wider 256-bit bus, which can benefit certain memory-intensive professional applications.

The GTX 660 counters with superior memory bandwidth and pixel throughput. Its 144.2 GB/s bandwidth, achieved on a 192-bit bus with 6 Gbps effective memory speed, exceeds the FirePro W5000’s 102.4 GB/s. The NVIDIA card also boosts to 1,032 MHz, providing dynamic clock scaling that the AMD card lacks entirely, as its base and boost clocks are not specified. For gaming or consumer workloads, the GTX 660’s dual-slot cooler and 1x 6-pin power connector indicate a design optimized for sustained performance rather than power conservation.

Architecture Differences

The two cards stem from the same 28 nm TSMC manufacturing process but employ fundamentally different architectures. The AMD FirePro W5000 uses the Pitcairn chip based on GCN 1.0 architecture, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 uses the GK106 chip based on Kepler architecture. Both integrate approximately 2.5 billion transistors, with the AMD chip at 2,800 million and the NVIDIA chip at 2,540 million, but their die sizes differ slightly at 212 mm² and 221 mm², respectively. The AMD chip achieves a higher transistor density of 13.2M per mm² versus NVIDIA’s 11.5M per mm².

Shader configuration differs significantly between the two. The GTX 660 packs 960 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 24 ROPs, while the FirePro W5000 offers 768 shading units, 48 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. This means the NVIDIA card has 25% more shading units and 67% more texture units, but the AMD card has 33% more ROPs. The GTX 660’s higher pixel rate of 20.64 GPixel/s seems counterintuitive given fewer ROPs, but its higher clock speeds compensate. The AMD card’s texture rate of 39.60 GTexel/s is less than half of the GTX 660’s 82.56 GTexel/s, a direct consequence of having 48 TMUs versus 80.

Memory subsystems also diverge. Both cards feature 2 GB of GDDR5, but the GTX 660 uses a 192-bit bus with 6 Gbps effective memory speed for 144.2 GB/s bandwidth, while the FirePro W5000 uses a 256-bit bus with 3.2 Gbps effective speed for 102.4 GB/s. The wider bus on the AMD card provides better memory efficiency per clock, but the NVIDIA card’s higher speed wins on raw bandwidth. The GTX 660’s base clock of 980 MHz and boost clock of 1,032 MHz give it a frequency advantage, though the FirePro W5000’s clocks are unlisted.

API support shows the AMD card leading in DirectX version (12 (11_1) vs 12 (11_0)) but trailing in Vulkan (1.2.170 vs 1.2.175). Both support OpenGL 4.6. Physically, the FirePro W5000 is a single-slot, 183 mm card with no power connectors and a 250 W suggested PSU, while the GTX 660 is a dual-slot, 241 mm card requiring a 1x 6-pin connector and a 300 W PSU. The GTX 660 offers more display outputs with 2x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 1x DisplayPort 1.2, versus the FirePro W5000’s 1x DVI and 2x DisplayPort 1.2.

The Verdict

The data clearly favors the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 for general-purpose compute and consumer workloads. Its 13.6% lead in OpenCL performance, higher FP32 throughput of 1.981 TFLOPS, and superior memory bandwidth of 144.2 GB/s make it the stronger performer in raw computational tasks. The GTX 660 also demonstrates multi-API competence with strong Vulkan and OpenCL scores, suggesting broad software compatibility. Users prioritizing compute speed, texture-heavy workloads, or gaming should choose the GTX 660 without hesitation.

The AMD FirePro W5000 is the better choice for professional environments where power efficiency and form factor matter more than raw speed. Its 75 W TDP, single-slot design, and lack of power connectors make it ideal for multi-card workstations or systems with limited power delivery. The DirectX 12 (11_1) support provides a minor API advantage, and the 256-bit memory bus may benefit specific professional applications that favor wider buses over higher clock speeds. The W5000’s 47th percentile ranking, while slightly higher than the GTX 660’s 45th, does not translate into better performance in the shared benchmark.

For professional users requiring specific workstation features like display outputs tailored to multi-monitor setups, the FirePro W5000’s 2x DisplayPort 1.2 outputs offer advantages in display configuration. However, the GTX 660’s additional HDMI port and dual DVI outputs provide more immediate connectivity options for consumer setups. The GTX 660’s successor status as part of the GeForce 700 series and the FirePro W5000’s successor in Radeon Pro Polaris indicate both are end-of-life products, but the NVIDIA card’s performance edge makes it the more compelling choice for most users, while the AMD card remains relevant for specialized professional deployments.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher Geekbench OpenCL score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 scores 11,347 points, while the AMD FirePro W5000 scores 9,803 points, giving the GTX 660 a 13.6% advantage.

Q: How do the average benchmark scores compare between the two cards?

A: The FirePro W5000 averages 9,803 points across one benchmark, while the GTX 660 averages 9,022 points across three benchmarks (OpenCL, Metal, Vulkan), even though the GTX 660 wins the shared OpenCL test.

Q: What are the power consumption differences?

A: The AMD FirePro W5000 has a TDP of 75 W with no power connectors, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 has a TDP of 140 W and requires a 1x 6-pin power connector.

Q: Which card offers better memory bandwidth?

A: The GTX 660 provides 144.2 GB/s bandwidth via a 192-bit bus with 6 Gbps effective memory speed, compared to the FirePro W5000’s 102.4 GB/s via a 256-bit bus with 3.2 Gbps effective speed.

Q: How do the shading unit counts differ?

A: The GTX 660 has 960 shading units and 80 TMUs, while the FirePro W5000 has 768 shading units and 48 TMUs. The GTX 660 also has a higher texture rate of 82.56 GTexel/s versus 39.60 GTexel/s.

Q: What DirectX versions do the cards support?

A: The FirePro W5000 supports DirectX 12 (11_1), while the GTX 660 supports DirectX 12 (11_0). Both cards support OpenGL 4.6, with the GTX 660 offering Vulkan 1.2.175 and the FirePro W5000 offering Vulkan 1.2.170.