AMD FirePro W5130M vs NVIDIA GeForce 930A Comparison

NVIDIA’s GeForce 930A and AMD’s FirePro W5130M are both end-of-life mobile graphics solutions from 2015, aimed at very different jobs despite their similar vintage. The data shows a close contest in raw compute, but the architectures and memory systems tell a more nuanced story. The 930A wins the only head-to-head benchmark, yet the FirePro counters with superior memory bandwidth and a wider bus, making the choice dependent on workload rather than a single score.

Where Each One Wins

Based strictly on benchmark outcomes, the NVIDIA GeForce 930A wins the sole recorded test: Geekbench OpenCL. It scores 5317 against the FirePro’s 4904, a delta of 8.4%. This makes the 930A the pick for OpenCL-accelerated compute tasks that scale with shader throughput and driver optimization. Its percentile rank of 31 versus the FirePro’s 29 also places it slightly higher in the overall GPU landscape.

The AMD FirePro W5130M does not win any benchmark in the head-to-head data, but that does not mean it has no territory. Its memory subsystem is dramatically stronger: 64.00 GB/s of bandwidth versus 16.02 GB/s, on a 128-bit bus versus 64-bit. This points to wins in memory-bound workloads—texture-heavy rendering, large dataset processing, or any task where data movement, not compute, is the bottleneck. The FirePro also has more shading units (512 vs 384), more TMUs (32 vs 24), and double the ROPs (16 vs 8), giving it a theoretical edge in pixel fill and texture filtering.

In practical terms, the 930A is the compute-focused part, winning the only measurable test. The W5130M is the bandwidth-focused part, winning on paper where memory throughput matters. The benchmark data does not capture that second scenario, so its "win" is inferred from specifications rather than a recorded test.

Architecture Differences

The two chips come from fundamentally different design philosophies. The NVIDIA GeForce 930A uses the GM108 chip, built on the Maxwell architecture, fabricated by TSMC on a 28 nm process. It packs 1,020 million transistors into a 77 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 13.2M per mm². Maxwell is known for efficiency, and the 930A’s 33 W TDP reflects that, though the FirePro’s TDP is not listed.

The AMD FirePro W5130M uses the Tropo chip, based on the older GCN 1.0 architecture, also on TSMC’s 28 nm node. It has 1,500 million transistors on a 123 mm² die, with a lower density of 12.2M per mm². GCN 1.0 is a compute-first design, which explains the higher shader count but also the larger die and transistor budget. The FirePro’s architecture supports DirectX 12 (11_1) versus the 930A’s DirectX 12 (11_0), a small but notable API feature difference. OpenGL is identical at 4.6, but Vulkan support differs: NVIDIA lists 1.4, AMD lists 1.2.170.

Memory is where the architectures diverge most sharply. The 930A uses 2 GB of DDR3 on a 64-bit bus, with memory clocks at 1001 MHz (2 Gbps effective). The FirePro uses 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus, clocked at 1000 MHz (4 Gbps effective). This is a four-fold difference in bandwidth (64.00 vs 16.02 GB/s), a gap that no driver optimization can close. The bus interface also differs: PCIe 3.0 x8 for NVIDIA, PCIe 3.0 x16 for AMD, which matters for data transfer from the host.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only recorded head-to-head test is Geekbench OpenCL, and it is a clear win for the NVIDIA GeForce 930A. The 930A scores 5317, the FirePro W5130M scores 4904, giving NVIDIA an 8.4% advantage. This is a meaningful margin in compute workloads, likely driven by the 930A’s higher base clock (928 MHz vs 900 MHz) and boost clock (941 MHz vs 925 MHz), as well as Maxwell’s superior instruction scheduling. The 930A’s FP32 output is 722.7 GFLOPS, while the FirePro manages 947.2 GFLOPS—yet the NVIDIA part still wins the test, suggesting that raw FLOPs do not translate directly to OpenCL performance.

Looking at the nearest rivals for context, the 930A sits within 0.6% of the GeForce 940M (5284) and 0.2% of the GTX 980M (5308), which is remarkable for a lower-tier part. It is also 0.1% behind the GeForce 840M (5322) and 0.8% ahead of the Radeon R7 M445 (5358). The FirePro, meanwhile, is nearly tied with the GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB (4901, 0.1% behind) and the GTS 450 (4893, 0.2% ahead), showing it punches at a similar compute level to much newer or older discrete parts. The FirePro trails the Radeon R7 M265 (4929) by 0.5% and the R7 M360 (4931) by 0.5%.

The delta of 8.4% in the head-to-head is the single biggest data point. It is not a landslide, but it is consistent. The 930A wins the only test that exists, and that test is compute-focused. If a workload is OpenCL-bound, the 930A is the safer bet.

The Verdict

From the data, the NVIDIA GeForce 930A is the pick for anyone running OpenCL compute workloads. It wins the head-to-head, holds a higher percentile rank (31 vs 29), and does so with a simpler, lower-power design (33 W TDP vs unknown). Its nearest rivals include the GTX 980M, which is a high-end part—this suggests the 930A punches above its class in compute efficiency.

The AMD FirePro W5130M is the pick for memory-bound tasks, despite losing the benchmark. Its 64.00 GB/s bandwidth on a 128-bit bus is a massive advantage over the 930A’s 16.02 GB/s. If you are moving large textures, doing multi-sample anti-aliasing, or processing data sets that exceed the 64-bit bus’s capacity, the FirePro will likely outperform the NVIDIA part in real-world scenarios that the Geekbench test does not capture. Its higher FP32 (947.2 GFLOPS) and double the ROPs (16 vs 8) also suggest better pixel throughput.

Who should pick which? Choose the 930A if your application is compute-bound and OpenCL-accelerated—the benchmark proves it wins. Choose the W5130M if your workload is bandwidth-bound—the spec sheet proves it has four times the memory throughput. The 930A is the better all-rounder for general compute, while the FirePro is the specialist for memory-heavy graphics tasks. Neither is a modern part, but for legacy mobile systems, the data favors NVIDIA in compute and AMD in bandwidth.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins the only head-to-head benchmark?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce 930A wins Geekbench OpenCL with a score of 5317 against the AMD FirePro W5130M’s 4904, a delta of 8.4%.

Q: How much memory bandwidth does each GPU have?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce 930A has 16.02 GB/s, while the AMD FirePro W5130M has 64.00 GB/s—a four-fold difference in favor of AMD.

Q: What are the memory types and bus widths?

A: The 930A uses 2 GB of DDR3 on a 64-bit bus, while the W5130M uses 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus.

Q: How do their compute capabilities compare in terms of FP32?

A: The AMD FirePro W5130M has higher FP32 output at 947.2 GFLOPS, versus the NVIDIA GeForce 930A’s 722.7 GFLOPS.

Q: What are their DirectX and Vulkan support levels?

A: The 930A supports DirectX 12 (11_0) and Vulkan 1.4, while the W5130M supports DirectX 12 (11_1) and Vulkan 1.2.170.

Q: Which GPU has a higher percentile rank among all GPUs?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce 930A ranks at the 31st percentile, while the AMD FirePro W5130M ranks at the 29th percentile.

Specification Differences

| Field | NVIDIA GeForce 930A | AMD FirePro W5130M |

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

| Chip | GM108 | Tropo |

| Architecture | Maxwell | GCN 1.0 |

| Process Node | 28 nm | 28 nm |

| Transistors | 1,020 million | 1,500 million |

| Die Size | 77 mm² | 123 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 13.2M / mm² | 12.2M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 928 MHz | 900 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 941 MHz | 925 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 1001 MHz (2 Gbps effective) | 1000 MHz (4 Gbps effective) |

| Memory Size | 2 GB | 2 GB |

| Memory Type | DDR3 | GDDR5 |

| Memory Bus Width | 64 bit | 128 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 16.02 GB/s | 64.00 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 384 | 512 |

| TMUs | 24 | 32 |

| ROPs | 8 | 16 |

| Pixel Rate | 7.528 GPixel/s | 14.80 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 22.58 GTexel/s | 29.60 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 722.7 GFLOPS | 947.2 GFLOPS |

| TDP | 33 W | Not specified |

| Slot Width | IGP | Not specified |

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

| DirectX | 12 (11_0) | 12 (11_1) |

| OpenGL | 4.6 | 4.6 |

| Vulkan | 1.4 | 1.2.170 |

| Release Date | 2015-03-12 | 2015-10-01 |

| Predecessor | GeForce 800A | FirePro Mobility |

| Successor | None specified | Radeon Pro Mobile |

| Production Status | End-of-life | End-of-life |