AMD FirePro W5130M vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The benchmark data delivers a decisive result in this comparison. In the single shared test—Geekbench OpenCL—the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M scores 18,946, while the AMD FirePro W5130M scores 4,904. That works out to a 74.1% deficit for the AMD part, meaning the GTX 970M is roughly 3.9 times faster in raw compute throughput. This is not a close contest; it is a generational and architectural gap made visible in one number.

The GTX 970M’s OpenCL score is its strongest showing. It also posts a Vulkan score of 18,292, which is nearly identical to its OpenCL result, suggesting consistent compute performance across APIs. In contrast, the FirePro W5130M has no Vulkan benchmark entry in the data, so its API scaling cannot be assessed. The GTX 970M also produces a Passmark G3D score of 5,704 and a Passmark GPU Compute score of 2,289, indicating solid DirectX-era performance. The FirePro W5130M’s only other datapoint is its average benchmark score of 4,904, which is entirely derived from that single OpenCL run.

Looking at the percentile ranks, the story is nuanced. The GTX 970M sits at the 27th percentile of all GPUs, while the FirePro W5130M sits at the 29th percentile. Despite the massive OpenCL delta, the AMD part actually ranks slightly higher overall. This is likely because the GTX 970M’s average benchmark score (4,628) is dragged down by its many Passmark sub-scores—including a 28 in DirectX 10, 42 in DirectX 11, and 24 in DirectX 12—which are not representative of its compute strength. The FirePro W5130M’s percentile benefits from having fewer, higher-scoring entries.

The nearest rivals for each card reinforce this split. The FirePro W5130M’s closest competitor is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB, which scores 4,901—a 0.1% delta. It also trades blows with the AMD Radeon R7 M265 (4,929, -0.5%) and the AMD Radeon R7 M360 (4,931, -0.5%). The GTX 970M’s nearest rival is the NVIDIA Quadro M3000M at 4,621, with a 0.2% delta. It is also within 1.1% of the AMD Radeon R5 M230 (4,577) and within 0.6% of the AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 16 GB (4,657). Notably, the GTX 970M’s average score of 4,628 is lower than its own OpenCL score, so the direct head-to-head comparison overstates its real-world advantage in mixed workloads.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins the only direct benchmark comparison in the data?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M wins the Geekbench OpenCL test with a score of 18,946 versus the AMD FirePro W5130M’s 4,904, a delta of -74.1% from the AMD card’s perspective.

Q: How do the two cards compare in overall GPU percentile ranking?

A: The AMD FirePro W5130M ranks at the 29th percentile of all GPUs, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M ranks at the 27th percentile. This is despite the GTX 970M’s far higher OpenCL score, indicating that its average benchmark score of 4,628 is pulled down by lower Passmark sub-scores.

Q: What is the GTX 970M’s best benchmark result besides OpenCL?

A: Its Vulkan score of 18,292 is nearly as high as its OpenCL score of 18,946. In Passmark tests, its best result is the G3D score of 5,704, followed by the GPU Compute score of 2,289.

Q: Are the two cards evenly matched against their nearest rivals?

A: No. The FirePro W5130M’s nearest rival is the RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB with a 0.1% delta, and it is within 0.5% of two Radeon R7 parts. The GTX 970M’s nearest rival is the Quadro M3000M with a 0.2% delta, but it also trails the RX 9060 XT 16 GB by 0.6% and beats the R5 M230 by 1.1%. Neither card dominates its competitive set.

Q: Which card has more memory, and does it matter in the data?

A: The GTX 970M has 6 GB of GDDR5 on a 192-bit bus, yielding 120.3 GB/s bandwidth. The FirePro W5130M has 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus, yielding 64.00 GB/s. The bandwidth difference is nearly 2x, which aligns with the GTX 970M’s superior compute scores, though no memory-specific benchmark is present.

Q: Are both cards still in production?

A: No. Both are marked as End-of-life. The FirePro W5130M was released on 2015-10-01, and the GTX 970M was released on 2014-10-06.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from completely different design philosophies. The AMD FirePro W5130M uses the Tropo chip built on GCN 1.0 architecture, manufactured on a 28 nm process at TSMC. It packs 1,500 million transistors into a 123 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 12.2M per mm². The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M uses the GM204 chip on Maxwell 2.0 architecture, also on a 28 nm process at TSMC. However, it is a much larger chip: 5,200 million transistors on a 398 mm² die, with a density of 13.1M per mm². That is nearly 3.5x the transistor count and over 3.2x the die area.

Compute resources diverge sharply. The FirePro W5130M has 512 shading units, 32 texture mapping units (TMUs), and 16 ROPs. The GTX 970M has 1,280 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 48 ROPs. That is 2.5x the shaders, 2.5x the TMUs, and 3x the ROPs. The pixel rate tells the same story: 14.80 GPixel/s for the AMD part versus 49.82 GPixel/s for the NVIDIA part. Texture rate is 29.60 GTexel/s versus 83.04 GTexel/s. FP32 compute is 947.2 GFLOPS for the FirePro and 2.657 TFLOPS for the GTX 970M—a 2.8x advantage.

Clock speeds are closer than the compute gap suggests. The FirePro W5130M runs at a 900 MHz base and 925 MHz boost, while the GTX 970M runs at 924 MHz base and 1,038 MHz boost. Memory clocks differ: the AMD card uses 1000 MHz (4 Gbps effective) and the NVIDIA card uses 1253 MHz (5 Gbps effective). The bus interface also differs: the FirePro uses PCIe 3.0 x16, while the GTX 970M uses MXM-B (3.0) with a slot width of "MXM Module" and no power connectors.

API support is a differentiator. The FirePro W5130M supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The GTX 970M supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The NVIDIA card has a higher DirectX feature level and a newer Vulkan version. Neither card has ray tracing cores or tensor cores, so those fields are null for both.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear winner for compute-heavy workloads: the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M. Its OpenCL score of 18,946 is 74.1% higher than the FirePro W5130M’s 4,904, and its Vulkan score of 18,292 confirms this is not a fluke. The GTX 970M also has more memory (6 GB vs 2 GB), more bandwidth (120.3 GB/s vs 64.00 GB/s), and significantly more shading units, TMUs, and ROPs. For any task that scales with raw compute—rendering, physics, or GPGPU-style workloads—the GTX 970M is the superior part.

However, the AMD FirePro W5130M holds a small percentile advantage (29th vs 27th), which suggests it may be more consistent across a broader set of legacy workloads. Its nearest rival is the RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB, a modern card, which indicates that its single OpenCL score is not far off the pace of a much newer product. The GTX 970M’s average score of 4,628 is lower than its OpenCL score, meaning its real-world mixed workload performance is less stellar than the headline number implies.

For a buyer choosing between these two end-of-life mobile GPUs, the decision hinges on workload. If the priority is pure compute performance, the GTX 970M is the only rational choice. If the priority is compatibility with older APIs or a more balanced score across diverse tests, the FirePro W5130M is not without merit. But the data does not support the AMD card winning any compute-intensive benchmark.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD FirePro W5130M | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M |

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

| Chip | Tropo | GM204 |

| Architecture | GCN 1.0 | Maxwell 2.0 |

| Process Node | 28 nm | 28 nm |

| Transistors | 1,500 million | 5,200 million |

| Die Size | 123 mm² | 398 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 12.2M / mm² | 13.1M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 900 MHz | 924 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 925 MHz | 1038 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 1000 MHz (4 Gbps effective) | 1253 MHz (5 Gbps effective) |

| Memory Size | 2 GB | 6 GB |

| Memory Type | GDDR5 | GDDR5 |

| Memory Bus Width | 128 bit | 192 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 64.00 GB/s | 120.3 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 512 | 1280 |

| TMUs | 32 | 80 |

| ROPs | 16 | 48 |

| Pixel Rate | 14.80 GPixel/s | 49.82 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 29.60 GTexel/s | 83.04 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 947.2 GFLOPS | 2.657 TFLOPS |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | MXM-B (3.0) |

| Slot Width | N/A | MXM Module |

| Power Connectors | N/A | None |

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

| OpenGL | 4.6 | 4.6 |

| Vulkan | 1.2.170 | 1.4 |

| Release Date | 2015-10-01 | 2014-10-06 |

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M wins in every compute-heavy category. Its OpenCL score (18,946 vs 4,904) is the definitive metric. Its Vulkan score of 18,292 is nearly as strong, meaning it will handle modern API workloads well. Its Passmark G3D score of 5,704 and GPU Compute score of 2,289 further support its use case for DirectX-era gaming and general GPU compute. The 6 GB memory capacity and 120.3 GB/s bandwidth make it suitable for large textures or datasets. If you need raw throughput, the GTX 970M is the pick.

The AMD FirePro W5130M wins in the narrow category of percentile ranking (29th vs 27th). Its average benchmark score of 4,904 is higher than the GTX 970M’s average of 4,628, which means in a mixed set of undefined workloads, the AMD card may perform more consistently. Its nearest rivals include modern cards like the RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB, which suggests its single-score performance is not embarrassing. For a legacy mobile workstation doing light 2D or older DirectX 11 tasks, the FirePro W5130M could be adequate. But there is no benchmark in the data where the AMD part wins outright.

The head-to-head table shows one win for the GTX 970M and zero for the FirePro W5130M. That is the sum of the evidence. Choose the GTX 970M for any serious compute task; choose the FirePro W5130M only if the workload is unknown and you value the slightly higher percentile rank.