AMD FirePro W5100 vs AMD Radeon RX 6600S Comparison

# AMD FirePro W5100 vs AMD Radeon RX 6600S: Benchmark Analysis

The AMD FirePro W5100 and the AMD Radeon RX 6600S occupy very different positions in the GPU landscape. The W5100 is a professional workstation card built on the older GCN architecture, while the RX 6600S is a modern mobile gaming GPU. The benchmark data confirms this is not a close contest. Across the recorded tests, the RX 6600S wins decisively, with the only head-to-head result showing an 82.1% performance advantage for the Radeon part.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database includes a single direct comparison between these two cards, using the Geekbench OpenCL test. Here, the AMD Radeon RX 6600S scores 66,435 points, while the FirePro W5100 manages 11,888 points. The delta is a massive 82.1% in favor of the RX 6600S. This is not a marginal difference; it represents a generational leap in compute capability.

Looking at the nearest rivals for each card provides context. The FirePro W5100 sits in a field of cards with an average benchmark score of 12,847. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon Pro 455 (12,831, 0.1% faster), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590 (12,830, 0.1% faster), and the AMD Radeon 740M (12,870, 0.2% slower). This places the W5100 right at the midpoint of the database: its performance percentile versus all GPUs is 52, meaning it is squarely average, not a standout in any compute metric.

The AMD Radeon RX 6600S, by contrast, has a much higher average benchmark score of 10,629 across its recorded tests. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon R9 M275X (10,582, 0.4% slower) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti (10,690, 0.6% slower). The RX 6600S sits at the 49th percentile, a touch below the median, but its headline OpenCL score is far above what the older FirePro card can deliver.

Architecture Differences

The two cards come from completely different eras of AMD GPU design. The FirePro W5100 uses the Bonaire chip on the GCN 2.0 architecture. It is built on a 28 nm process at TSMC, containing 2,080 million transistors on a 160 mm² die, for a density of 13.0 million per mm². Its memory clock operates at 1500 MHz.

The Radeon RX 6600S uses the Navi 23 chip on the RDNA 2.0 architecture. It is fabbed at 7 nm, packing 11,060 million transistors into a 237 mm² die, resulting in a much higher density of 46.7 million per mm². The memory clock on this card is 1750 MHz.

The architectural leap from GCN to RDNA 2.0 explains much of the performance gulf. The newer design doubles the shading units: 1792 versus 768. Texture mapping units are also up, from 48 to 112, and render output units increased from 16 to 64. The W5100 has 48 texture mapping units. The Radeon part does not have ray tracing cores, the FirePro does not list them either. The FP32 throughput tells the story: the W5100 lists 1,428.5 GFLOPS, while the RX 6600S lists 7,168 GFLOPS.

The Verdict

Strictly from the data, the AMD Radeon RX 6600S is the clear pick for anyone who needs compute performance. It wins the only direct head-to-head benchmark by a huge margin, has roughly 5 times the FP32 throughput, and is built on a much more modern architecture. The FirePro W5100 is an end-of-life product from a legacy architecture. Its one saving grace is its display output: four DisplayPort 1.2 connections, which can drive multiple displays. But for raw GPU compute, there is no contest.

For a builder assembling a new system today, the RX 6600S is the sensible purchase. The FirePro W5100 belongs to a workstation niche that has been superseded by newer mobile designs.

Specification Differences

| Field | AMD FirePro W5100 | AMD Radeon RX 6600S |

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

| Chip | Bonaire | Navi 23 |

| Architecture | GCN 2.0 | RDNA 2.0 |

| Process | 28 nm | 7 nm |

| Transistors | 2,080 million | 11,060 million |

| Die Size | 160 mm² | 237 mm² |

| Memory | 4 GB GDDR5 | 4 GB GDDR6 |

| Memory Bus | 128 bit | 128 bit |

| Memory Clock | 1500 MHz | 1750 MHz |

| Bandwidth | 96.00 GB/s | 224.0 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 768 | 1792 |

| TMUs | 48 | 112 |

| ROPs | 16 | 64 |

| Pixel Rate | 14.88 GPixel/s | 128.0 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 44.64 GTexel/s | 224.0 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 1,428.5 GFLOPS | 7,168 GFLOPS |

| FP16 | (not listed) | 14.34 TFLOPS (2:1) |

| TDP | 50 W | 80 W |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | PCIe 4.0 x8 |

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

| DirectX | 12 (12_0) | 12 Ultimate (12_2) |

| OpenGL | 4.6 | 4.6 |

| Vulkan | 1.2.170 | 1.4 |

FAQ

Q: Which card has the higher memory bandwidth?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6600S has more than double the bandwidth: 224.0 GB/s versus 96.00 GB/s for the FirePro W5100.

Q: Are these cards compatible with the same PCIe generation?

A: No. The FirePro W5100 uses PCIe 3.0 x16, while the RX 6600S uses the newer PCIe 4.0 x8 interface.

Q: Which card has more shading units?

A: The Radeon RX 6600S has 1792 shading units, compared to 768 on the FirePro W5100.

Q: What is the TDP of each card?

A: The FirePro W5100 is rated at 50 W, while the Radeon RX 6600S is rated at 80 W.

Q: Which card supports DirectX 12 Ultimate?

A: Only the Radeon RX 6600S supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2). The FirePro W5100 is limited to DirectX 12 (12_0).

Q: What is the manufacturing process for each?

A: The FirePro W5100 uses a 28 nm process, while the RX 6600S is built on a 7 nm process at TSMC.

Where Each One Wins

AMD FirePro W5100: This card has a clear niche. It is the only one of the two with a portable DisplayPort 1.2 output and a single-slot, no power connector design. Its 50 W TDP makes it easy to deploy in systems with modest power delivery. The FirePro is also the older card with the more mature driver ecosystem, at the time of its release was for the FirePro GCN series. If the workload is a legacy 2D or OpenCL 1.2 application, or if the system has only a PCIe 3.0 slot, the W5100 is the one that will work.

AMD Radeon RX 6600S: This is the winner for everything that is compute heavy. It wins the only head-to-head benchmark by 82.1%, has higher memory bandwidth, more shading units, more TDP, and newer API support for Vulkan 1.4 and DirectX 12 Ultimate. It is the right pick for a current mobile or compact desktop build, especially if the workload uses the GPU for rendering or modern compute tasks. The W5100 is a legacy product; the RX 6600S is the future.