AMD FirePro W5170M vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost Comparison

# FAQ

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

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost wins both shared benchmarks. It scores 9302 in Geekbench OpenCL versus 8140 for the AMD FirePro W5170M, and 10041 in Geekbench Vulkan versus 9050. That gives the NVIDIA card a 12.5% lead in OpenCL and a 9.9% lead in Vulkan.

Q: How do the two cards rank against all other GPUs?

A: The AMD FirePro W5170M sits at the 44th percentile, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost sits at the 42nd percentile. Despite the NVIDIA card winning their direct head-to-head, the AMD part has a higher overall percentile ranking — a result of different benchmark pools across the two products.

Q: What is the average benchmark score for each card?

A: The AMD FirePro W5170M averages 8595 across its benchmark results, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost averages 8067. The AMD card's average is higher because its two scores (8140 OpenCL and 9050 Vulkan) are both above the NVIDIA card's Metal-only result of 4858, which drags the NVIDIA average down.

Q: How does the NVIDIA card compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The GTX 650 Ti Boost's average score of 8067 is nearly identical to the NVIDIA GRID K2 (8080, -0.2%), the GTX 650 Ti (8053, +0.2%), the GTX 880M (8040, +0.3%), and the Quadro P5000 (8039, +0.3%). It is a tightly clustered group where the Boost model edges out three of the four by a fraction of a percent.

Q: What is the closest rival to the AMD FirePro W5170M?

A: The NVIDIA Quadro P2200 is the closest, averaging 8686 versus 8595 for the AMD card, a 1.1% gap. The Intel Arc A380 trails by just 0.4% at 8558, while the AMD Radeon HD 8870M and NVIDIA GeForce MX330 both sit 1.6% behind at 8462 and 8458 respectively.

Q: Which card has the higher pixel and texture throughput?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost wins both categories. It delivers 16.51 GPixel/s pixel rate and 66.05 GTexel/s texture rate, versus 14.80 GPixel/s and 37.00 GTexel/s for the AMD FirePro W5170M. The NVIDIA card's 64 texture mapping units and 24 ROPs outnumber the AMD part's 40 TMUs and 16 ROPs.

# Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost is the clear winner in raw compute benchmarks. It takes both head-to-head tests, with a 12.5% advantage in Geekbench OpenCL (9302 vs 8140) and a 9.9% edge in Geekbench Vulkan (10041 vs 9050). The NVIDIA card also dominates in memory bandwidth, offering 144.2 GB/s across a 192-bit bus, nearly double the AMD card's 72.00 GB/s over a 128-bit interface. This bandwidth advantage, combined with higher clock speeds (1032 MHz boost versus 925 MHz boost), makes the GTX 650 Ti Boost the stronger choice for compute-heavy workloads.

The AMD FirePro W5170M wins on efficiency and form factor considerations. It is an MXM module with no power connectors and no TDP listed, whereas the NVIDIA card is a dual-slot 134 W board requiring a 6-pin power connector and a 300 W power supply. For mobile workstations where power and space are constrained, the AMD part's lower power envelope and compact MXM-A (3.0) interface are clear advantages. Additionally, the AMD card supports DirectX 12 (11_1) and Vulkan 1.2.170, while the NVIDIA card supports DirectX 12 (11_0) and Vulkan 1.2.175 — the AMD part has a slightly higher DirectX feature level.

The AMD FirePro W5170M also posts a higher average benchmark score (8595 vs 8067) and a higher percentile ranking (44th vs 42nd). This suggests that in a broader range of workloads beyond the two shared tests, the AMD card performs more consistently. The NVIDIA card's Metal benchmark score of 4858 is substantially lower than its OpenCL and Vulkan scores, indicating platform-specific weakness that the AMD card does not exhibit in its benchmark results.

# Architecture Differences

The AMD FirePro W5170M 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, yielding a transistor density of 12.2M per mm². The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost uses the GK106 chip on Kepler architecture, also built on TSMC's 28 nm process, but with 2,540 million transistors across a 221 mm² die for a density of 11.5M per mm². The NVIDIA chip is substantially larger and denser in absolute transistor count, though the AMD chip achieves slightly higher transistor density per square millimeter.

The AMD card features 640 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 16 ROPs. The NVIDIA card counters with 768 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 24 ROPs. This gives the NVIDIA card a 20% advantage in shader count, 60% more TMUs, and 50% more ROPs. These differences directly explain the NVIDIA card's lead in texture rate (66.05 vs 37.00 GTexel/s) and pixel rate (16.51 vs 14.80 GPixel/s).

Memory architectures differ significantly. The AMD FirePro W5170M uses 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus, delivering 72.00 GB/s bandwidth. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost also has 2 GB of GDDR5 but on a wider 192-bit bus, delivering exactly double the bandwidth at 144.2 GB/s. The NVIDIA card's memory clock runs at 1502 MHz (6 Gbps effective), versus 1125 MHz (4.5 Gbps effective) for the AMD card.

API support shows subtle differences. The AMD card supports DirectX 12 (11_1), while the NVIDIA card supports DirectX 12 (11_0) — the AMD part has a higher feature level. Both cards support OpenGL 4.6, but the NVIDIA card supports Vulkan 1.2.175 versus 1.2.170 for the AMD part, a minor version difference. Neither card has ray tracing or tensor cores, as both predate those technologies.

# Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD FirePro W5170M | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost |

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

| Chip | Tropo | GK106 |

| Architecture | GCN 1.0 | Kepler |

| Transistors | 1,500 million | 2,540 million |

| Die Size | 123 mm² | 221 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 12.2M / mm² | 11.5M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 900 MHz | 980 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 925 MHz | 1032 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 1125 MHz (4.5 Gbps effective) | 1502 MHz (6 Gbps effective) |

| Memory Bus Width | 128 bit | 192 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 72.00 GB/s | 144.2 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 640 | 768 |

| TMUs | 40 | 64 |

| ROPs | 16 | 24 |

| Pixel Rate | 14.80 GPixel/s | 16.51 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 37.00 GTexel/s | 66.05 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 1,184.0 GFLOPS | 1.585 TFLOPS |

| TDP | Not listed | 134 W |

| Slot Width | MXM Module | Dual-slot |

| Power Connectors | None | 1x 6-pin |

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

| Display Outputs | Portable Device Dependent | 2x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, 1x DisplayPort 1.2 |

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

| Vulkan | 1.2.170 | 1.2.175 |

| Length | Not listed | 241 mm (9.5 inches) |

| Release Date | 2014-08-24 | 2013-03-25 |

| Launch MSRP | Not listed | 169 USD |

# Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The Geekbench OpenCL test shows a decisive NVIDIA victory. The GTX 650 Ti Boost scores 9302 against 8140 for the FirePro W5170M, a 12.5% margin. This aligns with the NVIDIA card's hardware advantages: 768 shading units versus 640, 64 TMUs versus 40, and double the memory bandwidth at 144.2 GB/s versus 72.00 GB/s. The NVIDIA card also runs at higher clocks — 1032 MHz boost versus 925 MHz boost — which compounds the architectural lead.

The Geekbench Vulkan test narrows the gap but still favors NVIDIA. The GTX 650 Ti Boost scores 10041 versus 9050 for the AMD card, a 9.9% difference. Notably, both cards score higher in Vulkan than in OpenCL, suggesting the Vulkan API benefits both architectures. The AMD card improves from 8140 to 9050 (an 11.2% gain), while the NVIDIA card improves from 9302 to 10041 (a 7.9% gain). The AMD card closes slightly more ground in Vulkan, but the NVIDIA card maintains a comfortable lead.

The NVIDIA card also has an additional benchmark result that the AMD card lacks: Geekbench Metal, where it scores 4858. This is significantly lower than its OpenCL and Vulkan scores, indicating that Metal is not a strength for this Kepler-based card. This low score drags the NVIDIA average down to 8067, below the AMD card's average of 8595.

The AMD card's average benchmark score of 8595 is 6.5% higher than the NVIDIA card's 8067 average. This divergence between head-to-head results and average scores occurs because the AMD card has only two benchmark results, both respectable, while the NVIDIA card's three results include the weak Metal score. The percentile rankings reflect this: AMD at 44th, NVIDIA at 42nd.

# The Verdict

Choose the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost if raw compute performance is the priority. The data is unambiguous: it wins both shared benchmarks by double-digit margins, offers double the memory bandwidth, and has more shaders, TMUs, and ROPs. Its 16.51 GPixel/s pixel rate and 66.05 GTexel/s texture rate are substantially higher than the AMD card's 14.80 GPixel/s and 37.00 GTexel/s. For OpenCL and Vulkan workloads, the NVIDIA card is simply the faster GPU.

Choose the AMD FirePro W5170M if the deployment environment is a mobile workstation. The AMD card is an MXM module with no power connectors and no listed TDP, while the NVIDIA card is a dual-slot desktop board requiring 134 W and a 6-pin connector. The AMD card's form factor is designed for portable devices, whereas the NVIDIA card's 241 mm length and PCIe 3.0 x16 interface target desktop systems. The AMD card also supports DirectX 12 (11_1) versus 11_0 for the NVIDIA card, a higher feature level that may matter for certain applications.

The average benchmark scores tell a more nuanced story. The AMD card's 8595 average exceeds the NVIDIA card's 8067, and its 44th percentile ranking beats the NVIDIA card's 42nd. This suggests that outside the two shared tests, the AMD card may be more consistent. However, the NVIDIA card's average is dragged down by a single Metal score of 4858, which is not a workload the AMD card was tested on. If Metal is irrelevant to your use case, the NVIDIA card's OpenCL and Vulkan superiority is the more relevant data.

The nearest-rival comparisons reinforce the NVIDIA card's positioning. The GTX 650 Ti Boost sits within 0.3% of the GRID K2, GTX 880M, and Quadro P5000, showing it competes with much higher-tier products. The AMD FirePro W5170M's closest rival is the Quadro P2200 at 1.1% ahead, with the Intel Arc A380 nearly tied at 0.4% behind. Neither card is a performance outlier in its peer group, but the NVIDIA card's head-to-head dominance over the AMD part is consistent across both shared benchmarks.

In practical terms, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost is the faster GPU for compute tasks, while the AMD FirePro W5170M is the more portable and power-efficient option with a higher DirectX feature level. The choice depends entirely on whether raw performance or mobile form factor matters more.