AMD FirePro W5100 vs AMD Radeon HD 7770M Comparison

The AMD Radeon HD 7770M and the AMD FirePro W5100 are two end-of-life mobile and workstation graphics solutions, respectively, that represent different eras and design goals within AMD’s GCN lineage. The data shows a clear split: the Radeon HD 7770M posts a higher Geekbench Metal score of 13536, while the FirePro W5100 counters with a Geekbench Vulkan score of 13805 and a Geekbench OpenCL score of 11888. The comparison is not a simple one-number race, as each chip excels in different API environments, with the FirePro’s average benchmark score of 12847 sitting below the Radeon’s 13536, yet both land within a narrow percentile band of all GPUs (54th for the Radeon, 52nd for the FirePro).

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most striking finding is that the Radeon HD 7770M wins the only directly comparable metric, the Geekbench Metal score, with 13536 points. This places it in the 54th percentile of all GPUs, a slight edge over the FirePro W5100’s 52nd percentile. The delta is razor-thin against its nearest rivals: the Radeon HD 7770M is just 0.1% behind the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT (which scores 13543) and 0.2% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 (13515). This suggests that the mobile Radeon’s Metal performance is remarkably competitive with much newer or higher-tier desktop parts, proof of its optimized driver support for Apple’s API. The FirePro W5100, by contrast, does not have a Metal score listed, so its 12847 average is derived from OpenCL and Vulkan tests only, making a direct Metal comparison impossible from the data.

In Vulkan, the FirePro W5100 takes a definitive lead with 13805 points, which is its strongest single benchmark. This score is 1.9% ahead of the Radeon HD 7770M’s Metal result, but more importantly, it demonstrates that the workstation card’s newer GCN 2.0 architecture handles modern low-level APIs with greater efficiency. The FirePro’s Vulkan result also places it in the 52nd percentile, and its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon 740M, scores 12870 (a 0.2% delta), showing that the W5100 outperforms that integrated part by 7.3%. Meanwhile, the Radeon HD 7770M’s lack of a Vulkan score in the data means its 54th percentile is entirely dependent on Metal, which could skew its overall standing.

The OpenCL benchmark further separates the two, with the FirePro W5100 scoring 11888, a figure that is 12.2% lower than its own Vulkan score. This gap between OpenCL and Vulkan on the same card highlights how driver maturity and API design can alter performance characteristics. Against the Radeon HD 7770M, the FirePro’s OpenCL result is 12.2% lower than the Radeon’s Metal score, but since the Radeon has no OpenCL number, the comparison is not apples-to-apples. The average benchmark score, which combines all available tests, gives the Radeon HD 7770M a 5.4% advantage (13536 vs 12847), but this is misleading because the Radeon’s average is a single Metal test, while the FirePro’s average spans two very different APIs. The data implies that in a pure Metal workload, the older Radeon wins, but in Vulkan, the FirePro is the clear victor.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two chips is the root cause of their divergent benchmark behavior. The Radeon HD 7770M uses the Chelsea chip built on GCN 1.0, fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC, with 1,500 million transistors on a 123 mm² die. This yields a transistor density of 12.2 million per mm². In contrast, the FirePro W5100 uses the Bonaire chip on GCN 2.0, also 28 nm at TSMC, but packs 2,080 million transistors into a 160 mm² die, achieving a density of 13.0 million per mm². The FirePro’s 38.7% higher transistor count and 30.1% larger die size directly translate into more compute resources, which is evident in its shading unit count: 768 versus the Radeon’s 512, a 50% increase. Texture mapping units also jump from 32 to 48 (a 50% increase), while both maintain 16 ROPs.

These architectural changes yield substantial theoretical throughput differences. The FirePro W5100 delivers 1,428.5 GFLOPS of FP32 compute, which is 106.7% higher than the Radeon HD 7770M’s 691.2 GFLOPS. Texture rate follows suit, with the FirePro hitting 44.64 GTexel/s versus 21.60 GTexel/s (a 106.7% advantage), while pixel rate improves to 14.88 GPixel/s from 10.80 GPixel/s (a 37.8% increase). The memory subsystem also differs, with the FirePro using 1500 MHz memory (6 Gbps effective) to reach 96.00 GB/s bandwidth, compared to the Radeon’s 1000 MHz (4 Gbps effective) for 64.00 GB/s. Both use a 128-bit bus and GDDR5, but the FirePro’s 50% higher memory clock gives it a 50% bandwidth advantage. The FirePro also doubles the frame buffer to 4 GB from 1 GB, a critical difference for workstation workloads. The FirePro’s newer GCN 2.0 architecture supports DirectX 12 (12_0), while the Radeon is limited to DirectX 12 (11_1), and the FirePro also boasts a PCIe 3.0 x16 interface versus the Radeon’s PCIe 2.0 x16.

The Verdict

The data presents a nuanced choice that depends entirely on the target application. For users prioritizing Metal-based performance, the Radeon HD 7770M is the stronger option, with its 13536 score placing it in the 54th percentile, one point ahead of the FirePro’s 52nd percentile. However, this comes with a severe caveat: the Radeon has only one benchmark result, making its standing less robust. For Vulkan workloads, the FirePro W5100 is unequivocally superior, scoring 13805, which is 2% higher than the Radeon’s best. The FirePro also offers 4 GB of memory, 768 shading units, and nearly double the FP32 compute (1,428.5 GFLOPS), making it the obvious choice for compute-heavy tasks that leverage OpenCL or Vulkan. The Radeon’s only winning metric is Metal, and its lower 32 W TDP suggests it is designed for power-constrained mobile environments, whereas the FirePro’s 50 W TDP and single-slot design with 4x DisplayPort 1.2 outputs indicate a professional workstation card meant for multi-display setups. Strictly from the data, the FirePro W5100 wins on raw compute, memory capacity, and modern API support, while the Radeon HD 7770M wins on Metal efficiency and overall percentile ranking.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher Geekbench Metal score?

A: The AMD Radeon HD 7770M scores 13536 in Geekbench Metal, placing it in the 54th percentile, while the AMD FirePro W5100 has no Metal benchmark listed.

Q: How does the FirePro W5100 perform in Vulkan compared to the Radeon HD 7770M?

A: The FirePro W5100 scores 13805 in Geekbench Vulkan, which is 2.0% higher than the Radeon HD 7770M’s Metal score of 13536. The Radeon has no Vulkan result in the data.

Q: What is the memory capacity difference between the two cards?

A: The FirePro W5100 has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory, while the Radeon HD 7770M has 1 GB of GDDR5 memory, a four-fold difference.

Q: Which card has more shading units and what is the FP32 compute difference?

A: The FirePro W5100 has 768 shading units versus the Radeon’s 512, and its FP32 compute of 1,428.5 GFLOPS is 106.7% higher than the Radeon’s 691.2 GFLOPS.

Q: Are both cards built on the same process node?

A: Yes, both are manufactured on a 28 nm process at TSMC, but the FirePro W5100 uses a larger 160 mm² die with 2,080 million transistors, compared to the Radeon’s 123 mm² die with 1,500 million transistors.

Q: What is the average benchmark score for each GPU?

A: The Radeon HD 7770M has an average benchmark score of 13536, while the FirePro W5100 averages 12847, a 5.4% difference in favor of the Radeon.

Where Each One Wins

The Radeon HD 7770M wins in the Metal API environment, where its 13536 score exceeds the FirePro’s average. This makes it the better choice for applications that rely on Metal, such as macOS-based creative software. Its lower 32 W TDP also suggests a power efficiency advantage, which is critical for laptops and portable devices. The Radeon’s 54th percentile ranking is higher than the FirePro’s 52nd, indicating that despite its older architecture, it holds up well in the overall GPU landscape. In contrast, the FirePro W5100 wins decisively in Vulkan, scoring 13805, and offers a massive compute advantage with 1,428.5 GFLOPS. Its 4 GB memory capacity is essential for large datasets or high-resolution textures, and its single-slot design with 4x DisplayPort 1.2 outputs makes it ideal for multi-monitor workstation setups. The FirePro also supports DirectX 12 (12_0) versus the Radeon’s 11_1, and uses a faster PCIe 3.0 interface, which benefits data transfer in professional workloads. The FirePro’s 96.00 GB/s bandwidth is 50% higher than the Radeon’s, giving it a clear edge in memory-intensive tasks.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ in nearly every core specification. The Radeon HD 7770M is built on GCN 1.0 with the Chelsea chip, while the FirePro W5100 uses GCN 2.0 with the Bonaire chip. The FirePro has 2,080 million transistors on a 160 mm² die, versus 1,500 million on 123 mm² for the Radeon, leading to a transistor density of 13.0M / mm² versus 12.2M / mm². Shading units are 768 for the FirePro and 512 for the Radeon, with TMUs at 48 versus 32, while both have 16 ROPs. Memory clocks are 1500 MHz (6 Gbps effective) for the FirePro and 1000 MHz (4 Gbps effective) for the Radeon, resulting in 96.00 GB/s versus 64.00 GB/s bandwidth. The FirePro has 4 GB GDDR5, the Radeon has 1 GB GDDR5. Pixel rates are 14.88 GPixel/s versus 10.80 GPixel/s, and texture rates are 44.64 GTexel/s versus 21.60 GTexel/s. FP32 compute is 1,428.5 GFLOPS versus 691.2 GFLOPS. The FirePro has a 50 W TDP versus 32 W, a single-slot design with no power connectors and a suggested PSU of 250 W, while the Radeon is portable-device dependent. The FirePro uses PCIe 3.0 x16, the Radeon uses PCIe 2.0 x16. Display outputs are 4x DisplayPort 1.2 for the FirePro, versus portable-device dependent for the Radeon. DirectX support is 12 (12_0) for the FirePro and 12 (11_1) for the Radeon, while both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.2.170. The FirePro measures 173 mm in length and 111 mm in height, while the Radeon’s dimensions are not listed.