AMD FirePro W5170M vs AMD Radeon Pro 5300M Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data shows a decisive performance gap between the AMD Radeon Pro 5300M and the AMD FirePro W5170M, with the newer mobile part winning both head-to-head comparisons outright. In Geekbench OpenCL, the Radeon Pro 5300M scores 29,252 against 8,140 for the FirePro W5170M, a delta of 259.4%. That is not a marginal improvement; the Radeon Pro 5300M delivers more than three and a half times the compute throughput in this workload. The Vulkan result tells a similar story, with the Radeon Pro 5300M posting 27,912 versus 9,050, a 208.4% advantage. Across the two shared benchmarks, the Radeon Pro 5300M wins 2 and the FirePro W5170M wins 0.

These deltas are far larger than anything seen in the nearest-rival comparisons for either card. The Radeon Pro 5300M sits within 0.3% of the NVIDIA Quadro K5100M (average score 10,043 versus 10,013) and within 0.5% of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 870M (9,959). Its lead over the FirePro W5170M is therefore not a reflection of the FirePro being a weak outlier relative to its own peers; rather, the two cards occupy entirely different performance tiers. The FirePro W5170M's nearest rivals include the Intel Arc A380 at 8,558 (0.4% ahead), the NVIDIA Quadro P2200 at 8,686 (1.1% behind), and the AMD Radeon HD 8870M at 8,462 (1.6% behind). Its average benchmark score of 8,595 places it near those cards, while the Radeon Pro 5300M averages 10,013. The gap between the two AMD parts is roughly 16.5% in average score, but the compute-heavy Geekbench tests show the true scale of the architectural leap.

The average benchmark score for the Radeon Pro 5300M, 10,013, also lands it at the 48th percentile of all GPUs in the database. The FirePro W5170M, with an average of 8,595, sits at the 44th percentile. The percentile difference is modest, but the head-to-head deltas are not. This suggests that the Radeon Pro 5300M's advantage is concentrated in specific workloads, particularly those that exercise raw compute and modern API paths, rather than uniformly across every test. The database records additional scores for the Radeon Pro 5300M in Passmark suites: DirectX 9 at 80, DirectX 10 at 36, DirectX 11 at 37, DirectX 12 at 25, G2D at 582, G3D at 5,918, and GPU compute at 2,658. The FirePro W5170M has no recorded Passmark scores, so a full cross-test comparison is impossible from the available data.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are separated by five years of design evolution, and the architecture changes are substantial. The Radeon Pro 5300M uses the Navi 14 chip built on RDNA 1.0, fabricated on TSMC's 7 nm process. The FirePro W5170M uses the Tropo chip based on GCN 1.0, on a 28 nm process from the same foundry. The process shrink alone is a major factor: 7 nm versus 28 nm allows the Radeon Pro 5300M to pack 6,400 million transistors into a 158 mm² die, while the FirePro W5170M fits 1,500 million transistors into 123 mm². Transistor density tells the story clearly, 40.5 million per square millimeter for the Radeon Pro 5300M versus 12.2 million for the FirePro W5170M. The newer part crams more than four times the transistors into only 28% more die area.

Shader resources follow the same pattern. The Radeon Pro 5300M carries 1,280 shading units, 80 texture mapping units, and 32 render output units. The FirePro W5170M has 640 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. In every category, the Radeon Pro 5300M doubles the FirePro W5170M's count. Clock speeds also favor the newer card: the Radeon Pro 5300M runs at a 1000 MHz base and 1250 MHz boost, whereas the FirePro W5170M operates at 900 MHz base and 925 MHz boost. The combination of double the execution resources and roughly 35% higher boost clock explains why the compute deltas are so large.

Memory configurations diverge as well. The Radeon Pro 5300M comes with 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, delivering 192.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The FirePro W5170M offers 2 GB of GDDR5 on the same 128-bit bus, but only 72.00 GB/s. Memory clocks are 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective) for the Radeon Pro 5300M versus 1125 MHz (4.5 Gbps effective) for the FirePro W5170M. The newer card has 2.67 times the memory bandwidth, which matters for texture-heavy and large-buffer workloads. The Radeon Pro 5300M also supports PCIe 4.0 x8, while the FirePro W5170M uses the MXM-A (3.0) interface, reflecting the older mobile module standard.

API support differs in notable ways. The Radeon Pro 5300M supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The FirePro W5170M supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. Both are end-of-life products, but the Radeon Pro 5300M's newer architecture brings fuller DirectX 12 feature support and a more recent Vulkan revision. The Radeon Pro 5300M also has a power rating of 85 W, while the FirePro W5170M's TDP is not recorded in the database. The FirePro W5170M is listed as an MXM module, whereas the Radeon Pro 5300M is a portable-device-dependent part with no slot width specified.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in Geekbench OpenCL?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro 5300M scores 29,252 versus 8,140 for the AMD FirePro W5170M, a 259.4% advantage.

Q: How do the two compare in Vulkan performance?

A: The Radeon Pro 5300M scores 27,912 in Geekbench Vulkan, while the FirePro W5170M scores 9,050, giving the Radeon Pro 5300M a 208.4% lead.

Q: What process nodes are used?

A: The Radeon Pro 5300M uses TSMC's 7 nm process with 6,400 million transistors on a 158 mm² die. The FirePro W5170M uses TSMC's 28 nm process with 1,500 million transistors on a 123 mm² die.

Q: How much memory does each card have?

A: The Radeon Pro 5300M has 4 GB of GDDR6 with 192.0 GB/s bandwidth. The FirePro W5170M has 2 GB of GDDR5 with 72.00 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Do both cards support DirectX 12?

A: Yes, but at different levels. The Radeon Pro 5300M supports DirectX 12 (12_1), while the FirePro W5170M supports DirectX 12 (11_1).

Q: What is the Radeon Pro 5300M's average benchmark score and percentile?

A: Its average benchmark score is 10,013, placing it at the 48th percentile of all GPUs. The FirePro W5170M averages 8,595, at the 44th percentile.

The Verdict

The data points to one clear conclusion: the AMD Radeon Pro 5300M is the stronger GPU in nearly every measured category. Its Geekbench OpenCL score is 259.4% higher, its Vulkan score is 208.4% higher, it has double the shading units, double the TMUs, double the ROPs, twice the memory capacity, and 2.67 times the memory bandwidth. The architectural differences are not incremental; they represent a full generational leap from GCN 1.0 on 28 nm to RDNA 1.0 on 7 nm. The Radeon Pro 5300M also supports PCIe 4.0 x8, a more recent Vulkan revision (1.4 versus 1.2.170), and fuller DirectX 12 feature level (12_1 versus 11_1).

The FirePro W5170M is not without context. Its average score of 8,595 places it within 1.6% of the AMD Radeon HD 8870M and within 1.1% of the NVIDIA Quadro P2200, so it was competitive within its own generation. But the Radeon Pro 5300M's nearest rivals, such as the NVIDIA Quadro K5100M (10,043, 0.3% ahead) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 870M (9,959, 0.5% behind), sit far above the FirePro W5170M's tier. For anyone choosing between these two specific cards, the Radeon Pro 5300M is the answer on performance grounds alone. The only scenario where the FirePro W5170M might be preferable is if a system requires an MXM-A (3.0) module form factor, since the Radeon Pro 5300M is not recorded as an MXM part.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon Pro 5300M | AMD FirePro W5170M |

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

| Chip | Navi 14 | Tropo |

| Architecture | RDNA 1.0 | GCN 1.0 |

| Process node | 7 nm | 28 nm |

| Transistors | 6,400 million | 1,500 million |

| Die size | 158 mm² | 123 mm² |

| Transistor density | 40.5M / mm² | 12.2M / mm² |

| Base clock | 1000 MHz | 900 MHz |

| Boost clock | 1250 MHz | 925 MHz |

| Memory clock | 1500 MHz, 12 Gbps effective | 1125 MHz, 4.5 Gbps effective |

| Memory size | 4 GB | 2 GB |

| Memory type | GDDR6 | GDDR5 |

| Memory bandwidth | 192.0 GB/s | 72.00 GB/s |

| Shading units | 1280 | 640 |

| TMUs | 80 | 40 |

| ROPs | 32 | 16 |

| Pixel rate | 40.00 GPixel/s | 14.80 GPixel/s |

| Texture rate | 100.0 GTexel/s | 37.00 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 3.200 TFLOPS | 1,184.0 GFLOPS |

| FP16 | 6.400 TFLOPS (2:1) | Not recorded |

| TDP | 85 W | Not recorded |

| Bus interface | PCIe 4.0 x8 | MXM-A (3.0) |

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

| Vulkan | 1.4 | 1.2.170 |

| Release date | 2019-11-12 | 2014-08-24 |

| Predecessor | Not recorded | FirePro Mobility |

| Successor | Not recorded | Radeon Pro Mobile |

Where Each One Wins

The Radeon Pro 5300M wins in every head-to-head benchmark recorded in the database. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 29,252 and Vulkan score of 27,912 are both more than triple the FirePro W5170M's corresponding results. The shading unit count of 1,280 versus 640, the texture rate of 100.0 GTexel/s versus 37.00 GTexel/s, and the pixel rate of 40.00 GPixel/s versus 14.80 GPixel/s all point to decisive advantages in compute, texturing, and rasterization. The 192.0 GB/s memory bandwidth versus 72.00 GB/s further supports workloads that are bandwidth-sensitive. The Radeon Pro 5300M also has the newer API stack, with Vulkan 1.4 and DirectX 12 (12_1), making it the better fit for modern applications.

The FirePro W5170M has no benchmark wins in the shared tests. Its strengths are limited to form factor and legacy context: it is explicitly an MXM-A (3.0) module, which may be the only relevant factor in systems designed around that interface. Its 28 nm GCN 1.0 architecture and 2 GB GDDR5 memory are dated by comparison. The FirePro W5170M's nearest rival data shows it was competitive with mid-range parts like the Intel Arc A380 and NVIDIA Quadro P2200, but those are not the cards being compared here. Within this specific matchup, the Radeon Pro 5300M is the clear choice for any workload where performance matters, while the FirePro W5170M retains relevance only for hardware compatibility with older MXM-based mobile workstations.