AMD FirePro W5170M vs NVIDIA Quadro P5000 Comparison

The AMD FirePro W5170M and NVIDIA Quadro P5000 represent two distinct eras of mobile and professional graphics, separated by over two years of architectural evolution. The data reveals a stark contrast: the Quadro P5000 is a computational powerhouse in OpenCL workloads, while the older FirePro W5170M unexpectedly claims victory in Vulkan performance. This head-to-head analysis draws exclusively from the benchmark results provided, focusing on the Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan scores to illustrate where each GPU excels.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most decisive result in the dataset is the Geekbench OpenCL comparison, where the NVIDIA Quadro P5000 delivers a crushing victory. The P5000 scores 52,509 points against the FirePro W5170M’s 8,140 points, a delta of -84.5% from the perspective of the AMD part. This means the Quadro P5000 is roughly 6.45 times faster in raw compute throughput as measured by OpenCL. The magnitude of this gap is not incremental; it reflects a fundamental difference in hardware capability, with the P5000’s 8.873 TFLOPS FP32 throughput dwarfing the W5170M’s 1,184.0 GFLOPS. In practical terms, any OpenCL-accelerated task—whether scientific simulation, video rendering, or data processing—will show a massive performance advantage for the NVIDIA solution.

However, the story flips entirely in the Geekbench Vulkan test. Here, the AMD FirePro W5170M takes the win with a score of 9,050, compared to the Quadro P5000’s 6,342 points. This represents a 42.7% advantage for the AMD card. This is a surprising result given the P5000’s overwhelming compute lead, but the data is unambiguous. The Vulkan score suggests that the FirePro W5170M’s GCN 1.0 architecture, despite its age, handles the specific workloads in this test more efficiently than NVIDIA’s Pascal generation. The W5170M’s Vulkan support is listed as 1.2.170, while the P5000 supports Vulkan 1.4, yet the newer API version does not translate to better performance in this benchmark.

The overall win count is even at one victory apiece, but the nature of these wins could not be more different. The P5000’s OpenCL win is a landslide, while the W5170M’s Vulkan win is substantial but less dramatic. When examining the average benchmark score across all tests, the W5170M sits at 8,595, while the P5000 averages 8,039. This is counterintuitive given the OpenCL result, but it is heavily influenced by the P5000’s relatively low Vulkan score and the inclusion of other tests in its benchmark suite. The P5000’s percentile rank among all GPUs is 41, which is actually lower than the W5170M’s 44th percentile, indicating that the AMD part performs better relative to the broader GPU landscape despite its age and smaller specifications.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA Quadro P5000 is the clear choice for compute-heavy professional workloads. Its OpenCL dominance is absolute, and the underlying hardware—with 2,560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs—provides the raw resources needed for demanding tasks like 3D rendering, finite element analysis, and GPU-accelerated databases. The 16 GB of GDDR5X memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 288.5 GB/s of bandwidth, further cements its position for large datasets that exceed the FirePro’s 2 GB capacity. The P5000 also shows strength in DirectX 12 workloads, scoring 44 in the Passmark DirectX 12 test, and its Passmark G3D score of 12,634 indicates solid overall graphics performance.

The AMD FirePro W5170M wins in the Vulkan arena, which is notable for compatibility with modern graphics APIs and certain game engines or applications that leverage Vulkan’s low-overhead design. Its 9,050 Vulkan score suggests that for developers or users targeting Vulkan specifically, this older card outperforms the much newer and more expensive Quadro. The W5170M also has a higher percentile ranking (44 vs 41), indicating that in the broader context of all GPUs, it is not as far behind the curve as one might expect. For mobile workstations where power is a constraint, the W5170M also holds an advantage—while its TDP is not listed, the Quadro P5000’s 180 W TDP and dual-slot form factor are clearly aimed at desktop replacement laptops or external chassis, not thin-and-light designs.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide between these two GPUs is generational. The AMD FirePro W5170M is built on the GCN 1.0 architecture, using the Tropo chip manufactured on a 28 nm process at TSMC. This node contains 1,500 million transistors on a 123 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 12.2 million per square millimeter. The GCN 1.0 design dates back to 2012 and was AMD’s first unified shader architecture, focusing on compute throughput but with less emphasis on geometry processing efficiency compared to later designs.

In contrast, the NVIDIA Quadro P5000 uses the Pascal architecture, specifically the GP104 chip, also fabricated by TSMC but on a much more advanced 16 nm process. This node packs 7,200 million transistors into a 314 mm² die, achieving a transistor density of 22.9 million per square millimeter—nearly double that of the AMD chip. The Pascal architecture introduced significant improvements in clock speeds and power efficiency over its predecessor, Maxwell. The P5000’s base clock of 1607 MHz and boost clock of 1733 MHz are dramatically higher than the W5170M’s 900 MHz base and 925 MHz boost, which is a key factor in its compute dominance.

Memory architecture also differs fundamentally. The W5170M uses GDDR5 memory running at an effective 4.5 Gbps, while the P5000 employs GDDR5X at 9 Gbps effective. Both have the same memory clock frequency at 1125 MHz and 1127 MHz respectively, but the P5000’s wider 256-bit bus versus the W5170M’s 128-bit bus doubles the bandwidth potential. The memory sizes are also vastly different: 2 GB for the AMD part versus 16 GB for the NVIDIA part. Additionally, the P5000 supports DirectX 12 (12_1) while the W5170M only reaches DirectX 12 (11_1), indicating a lower feature level in the older architecture.

Specification Differences

The most glaring specification difference is in raw compute resources. The Quadro P5000 features 2,560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, compared to the FirePro W5170M’s 640 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. This 4x difference in shading units and TMUs, along with a 4x difference in ROPs, explains the massive FP32 throughput gap: 8.873 TFLOPS for the P5000 versus 1,184.0 GFLOPS (1.184 TFLOPS) for the W5170M. The pixel fill rate also scales accordingly, with the P5000 achieving 110.9 GPixel/s versus the W5170M’s 14.80 GPixel/s. Texture fill rate is similarly lopsided at 277.3 GTexel/s versus 37.00 GTexel/s.

Memory specifications are equally divergent. The W5170M offers 2 GB of GDDR5, while the P5000 offers 16 GB of GDDR5X. Bus widths are 128-bit and 256-bit, respectively, leading to bandwidth of 72.00 GB/s for the AMD part and 288.5 GB/s for the NVIDIA part. The P5000 also has a higher effective memory speed at 9 Gbps versus 4.5 Gbps. In terms of physical characteristics, the W5170M is an MXM Module with MXM-A (3.0) interface and no power connectors, while the P5000 is a dual-slot card using PCIe 3.0 x16, requiring a single 8-pin power connector and a 450 W suggested PSU. The P5000 measures 267 mm in length and 111 mm in height, while the W5170M’s dimensions are not listed. Display outputs also differ: the P5000 offers 1x DVI and 4x DisplayPort 1.4a, whereas the W5170M’s outputs are listed as “Portable Device Dependent.”

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD FirePro W5170M has a higher average benchmark score of 8,595, compared to the NVIDIA Quadro P5000’s 8,039, despite the P5000’s overwhelming OpenCL victory.

Q: How much faster is the Quadro P5000 in OpenCL?

A: The Quadro P5000 scores 52,509 in Geekbench OpenCL versus the FirePro W5170M’s 8,140, representing an 84.5% delta from the AMD part’s perspective, meaning the P5000 is approximately 6.45 times faster.

Q: Does the AMD FirePro W5170M win any benchmark?

A: Yes, the W5170M wins the Geekbench Vulkan test with a score of 9,050, which is 42.7% higher than the Quadro P5000’s 6,342.

Q: What are the memory sizes and types for each card?

A: The AMD FirePro W5170M has 2 GB of GDDR5 memory, while the NVIDIA Quadro P5000 has 16 GB of GDDR5X memory.

Q: Which GPU has a higher transistor density?

A: The NVIDIA Quadro P5000 has a transistor density of 22.9 million per mm², while the AMD FirePro W5170M has 12.2 million per mm².

Q: What is the FP32 performance difference?

A: The Quadro P5000 delivers 8.873 TFLOPS of FP32 throughput, while the FirePro W5170M delivers 1,184.0 GFLOPS (approximately 1.184 TFLOPS), a difference of roughly 7.5 times in favor of the NVIDIA card.