GPU Comparison

The NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile and AMD FirePro W5100 represent two very different eras of professional mobile graphics. The data shows a decisive generational gap, with the RTX A2000 Mobile leading in both available head-to-head benchmarks by a massive margin. In Geekbench OpenCL, the NVIDIA card scores 56,518 against the AMD’s 11,888, a 375.4% advantage. In Geekbench Vulkan, the lead narrows slightly but remains overwhelming: 53,146 versus 13,805, a 285% difference. While the FirePro W5100 was a capable workstation card in its day, these results place it firmly in a lower performance tier.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only two directly comparable benchmark results in the data are Geekbench OpenCL and Geekbench Vulkan, and NVIDIA wins both outright. The OpenCL result is particularly lopsided. The RTX A2000 Mobile’s score of 56,518 is not just a modest win; it is 375.4% higher than the FirePro W5100’s 11,888. This indicates a fundamental difference in compute throughput, likely stemming from the architectural and specification gaps discussed later. For any OpenCL-accelerated workload, the RTX A2000 Mobile is in a different league.

The Vulkan result tells a similar story, though with a slightly smaller delta. The RTX A2000 Mobile scores 53,146, while the FirePro W5100 manages 13,805. The 285% delta still represents a near-tripling of performance. This is significant because Vulkan is a modern, low-overhead API; the fact that the older GCN 2.0 architecture can even run it, and score 13,805, shows some degree of longevity. However, the RTX A2000 Mobile’s Ampere architecture is clearly better optimized for this API, delivering far higher frame throughput and compute efficiency.

Looking at the average benchmark scores, the gap persists. The RTX A2000 Mobile has an average benchmark score of 13,821 across all its tests, while the FirePro W5100 averages 12,847. While this overall average difference is a much smaller 7.6%, it is skewed because the FirePro W5100 only has two benchmark results in the pack. The RTX A2000 Mobile’s average also includes older DirectX and Passmark tests where its lead is less pronounced. In the modern compute and graphics APIs where both are tested, the NVIDIA part is categorically faster. The data shows no benchmark in the head-to-head list where the AMD FirePro W5100 wins.

Where Each One Wins

Given the benchmark data, the use-case split is stark. The NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile wins in every scenario where performance is the primary metric. For compute tasks like OpenCL-based rendering, physics simulation, or data processing, the 375.4% lead in Geekbench OpenCL makes it the only rational choice. Similarly, for any modern graphics workload using Vulkan, the 285% advantage in Geekbench Vulkan ensures a smoother, higher-fidelity experience.

The AMD FirePro W5100’s strengths are not in raw performance but in its physical and power profile. With a TDP of 50 W compared to the RTX A2000 Mobile’s 95 W, the FirePro W5100 draws significantly less power. This makes it suitable for systems with stricter thermal budgets or smaller power supplies, as indicated by its suggested PSU of 250 W. It is also a single-slot card with dimensions of 173 mm in length and 111 mm in height, whereas the RTX A2000 Mobile is an IGP (integrated graphics processor) with no slot width. For a legacy system upgrade where power delivery is limited, the FirePro W5100’s lower draw is an advantage. However, this is a niche scenario; for nearly all professional work, the performance deficit is too large to ignore.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two GPUs is immense. The NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile is built on the Ampere architecture using a GA107 chip, fabricated on an 8 nm process at Samsung. It packs 8,700 million transistors into a 200 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 43.5M per mm². In contrast, the AMD FirePro W5100 uses the GCN 2.0 architecture with a Bonaire chip, built on a much older 28 nm process at TSMC. It contains only 2,080 million transistors on a 160 mm² die, resulting in a density of just 13.0M per mm². This process advantage alone explains a large portion of the performance difference.

The feature sets are also generations apart. The RTX A2000 Mobile includes 20 RT cores and 80 tensor cores, enabling hardware-accelerated ray tracing and AI-based features like DLSS. The FirePro W5100 has none of these, as they did not exist in GCN 2.0. The NVIDIA card supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the AMD card is limited to DirectX 12 (12_0). Vulkan support is also newer on the NVIDIA side, at version 1.4 versus 1.2.170 on the AMD. The RTX A2000 Mobile’s shading units are also far more numerous at 2,560, compared to 768 on the FirePro, and it has 80 TMUs versus 48, and 48 ROPs versus 16. These are not incremental differences; they are structural ones.

Specification Differences

Beyond the benchmarks, the specification sheets reveal a clear hierarchy. The most striking difference is in memory technology and bandwidth. Both cards have 4 GB of VRAM, but the RTX A2000 Mobile uses GDDR6 with a 128-bit bus and delivers 192.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The FirePro W5100 uses GDDR5 on the same 128-bit bus but achieves only 96.00 GB/s. This doubling of memory bandwidth is critical for high-resolution textures and compute workloads. The memory clock is the same at 1500 MHz, but the effective data rate differs: 12 Gbps on the NVIDIA versus 6 Gbps on the AMD.

Compute throughput numbers reinforce the performance gap. The RTX A2000 Mobile delivers 8.637 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and an equal 8.637 TFLOPS of FP16 (1:1). The FirePro W5100 manages only 1,428.5 GFLOPS of FP32 and has no listed FP16 capability. Pixel and texture rates also favor NVIDIA heavily: 80.98 GPixel/s versus 14.88 GPixel/s, and 135.0 GTexel/s versus 44.64 GTexel/s. The bus interface differs as well, with the RTX A2000 Mobile using PCIe 4.0 x16 and the FirePro using PCIe 3.0 x16. The NVIDIA card is an IGP with no power connectors, while the AMD card is single-slot with no power connectors but a suggested PSU of 250 W. Display outputs are portable-device-dependent on the RTX A2000 Mobile, whereas the FirePro has 4x DisplayPort 1.2.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in OpenCL compute?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile is drastically faster, scoring 56,518 in Geekbench OpenCL versus 11,888 for the AMD FirePro W5100. This represents a 375.4% performance lead.

Q: Does the AMD FirePro W5100 have any modern features like ray tracing?

A: No. The FirePro W5100 has no RT cores or tensor cores in its GCN 2.0 architecture. The NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile includes 20 RT cores and 80 tensor cores, enabling hardware ray tracing and AI acceleration.

Q: What are the power consumption differences?

A: The AMD FirePro W5100 has a TDP of 50 W, while the NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile has a TDP of 95 W. The AMD card also has a suggested PSU of 250 W, which is not listed for the NVIDIA card.

Q: Which card has higher memory bandwidth?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile has double the bandwidth at 192.0 GB/s, compared to 96.00 GB/s on the AMD FirePro W5100. Both use a 128-bit bus, but the NVIDIA card uses GDDR6 at 12 Gbps effective, versus GDDR5 at 6 Gbps.

Q: How do their DirectX versions compare?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the AMD FirePro W5100 is limited to DirectX 12 (12_0). This means the NVIDIA card supports the latest rendering features.

Q: What is the transistor density difference?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile has a transistor density of 43.5M per mm² on an 8 nm process, while the AMD FirePro W5100 has a density of 13.0M per mm² on a 28 nm process. This reflects the newer manufacturing technology.

The Verdict

The data is unequivocal: the NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile is the superior performer in every measurable benchmark. It wins both head-to-head tests with deltas of 375.4% and 285%, and it offers more than triple the shading units, double the memory bandwidth, and four times the ROPs. Any professional user prioritizing compute, rendering, or modern API support should choose the RTX A2000 Mobile without hesitation. Its architecture is simply in a different generation.

The AMD FirePro W5100 is only a reasonable pick in a very specific scenario: a system that cannot handle the 95 W TDP of the NVIDIA card. With its 50 W TDP and lower power requirements, it might fit into older or power-constrained chassis. Additionally, its single-slot form factor and 4x DisplayPort 1.2 outputs could be advantageous for multi-display setups that do not require high performance. However, the benchmark results indicate that this is a legacy part. Its average benchmark score of 12,847 places it near rivals like the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590, while the RTX A2000 Mobile’s average of 13,821 sits close to the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT in the percentile rankings. The choice is clear: for any modern workload, the RTX A2000 Mobile is the only viable option from this comparison.