AMD FirePro W5170M vs NVIDIA TITAN V CEO Edition Comparison

NVIDIA TITAN V CEO Edition and AMD FirePro W5170M occupy opposite ends of the GPU spectrum, separated by four years, a process node generation, and an order of magnitude in silicon complexity. The TITAN V CEO Edition is a 12 nm Volta behemoth with 21,100 million transistors on an 815 mm² die, while the FirePro W5170M is a 28 nm GCN 1.0 mobile part with 1,500 million transistors on a 123 mm² die. Their benchmark portfolios do not overlap—the TITAN V has PassMark G2D and G3D scores, while the FirePro has Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan scores—so direct numerical comparison is impossible. However, their relative positions in the global GPU percentile rankings (45th vs. 44th) and their distinct architectural profiles tell a clear story of two products built for entirely different workloads.

Where Each One Wins

The TITAN V CEO Edition is a desktop compute monster. Its PassMark G3D score of 16,988 places it in the 45th percentile of all GPUs, a figure that reflects raw rasterization and shading throughput. The data shows this card was designed for maximum floating-point performance in a dual-slot, 250 W envelope. With 5,120 shading units, 320 TMUs, and 128 ROPs, it delivers 14.90 TFLOPS of FP32 and 29.80 TFLOPS of FP16 via a 2:1 ratio. The 32 GB of HBM2 memory on a 4096-bit bus provides 868.4 GB/s of bandwidth—a figure that dwarfs any mobile solution. In contrast, the FirePro W5170M is a mobile workstation part, likely destined for a laptop chassis given its MXM-A (3.0) interface and lack of dedicated power connectors. Its 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus offers 72.00 GB/s, a fraction of the TITAN’s bandwidth. The FirePro’s Geekbench OpenCL score of 8,140 and Vulkan score of 9,050 indicate it was adequate for professional mobile workloads in its era, but its 44th percentile ranking shows it was never a performance leader.

The use-case split is stark. The TITAN V wins everywhere raw compute, memory bandwidth, and desktop rendering are concerned. The FirePro wins only in portability and power efficiency—though no TDP is listed for the AMD part, its 28 nm process and 640 shading units suggest a modest draw compared to the TITAN’s 250 W. The FirePro’s display outputs are “Portable Device Dependent,” meaning it relies on the host laptop, while the TITAN offers 1x HDMI 2.0 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a. For a fixed workstation or a high-end desktop compute node, the TITAN is the clear choice. For a mobile CAD or content-creation laptop from the mid-2010s, the FirePro was the intended tool.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap is generational. The TITAN V uses the Volta architecture (chip GV100) built on TSMC’s 12 nm process, with a transistor density of 25.9 million per mm². The FirePro uses GCN 1.0 (chip Tropo) on TSMC’s 28 nm process, with a density of 12.2 million per mm². This nearly 2.1x density advantage for the TITAN is partly why it packs 14x more transistors into a die that is 6.6x larger. The TITAN also features 640 tensor cores, a Volta innovation absent entirely from the FirePro. These tensor cores drive the FP16 throughput to 29.80 TFLOPS, doubling the FP32 rate. The FirePro has no FP16 capability listed, and its FP32 is just 1,184.0 GFLOPS—about 12.6x less than the TITAN’s 14.90 TFLOPS.

Memory architecture differs fundamentally. The TITAN uses 32 GB of HBM2 across a 4096-bit bus, achieving 868.4 GB/s. The FirePro uses 2 GB of GDDR5 across a 128-bit bus, achieving 72.00 GB/s—a 12.1x bandwidth gap that mirrors the FP32 gap. The TITAN’s memory clock is 848 MHz (1696 Mbps effective), while the FirePro’s memory is 1125 MHz (4.5 Gbps effective). The TITAN’s core clocks are also higher: 1200 MHz base and 1455 MHz boost, versus 900 MHz base and 925 MHz boost for the FirePro. API support is similar—both support DirectX 12 and OpenGL 4.6—but the TITAN supports Vulkan 1.4, while the FirePro supports Vulkan 1.2.170. The TITAN’s DirectX 12 feature level is 12_1, while the FirePro’s is 11_1, indicating a higher tier of DirectX 12 features on the NVIDIA part.

Physical and power characteristics diverge completely. The TITAN is a dual-slot, 267 mm long card requiring a 600 W power supply and one 6-pin plus one 8-pin connector. The FirePro is an MXM module with no power connectors, drawing power from the host system. The TITAN’s dimensions are listed as 267 mm x 112 mm x 40 mm, while the FirePro’s dimensions are not provided—consistent with a mobile form factor. Both are end-of-life products, but the TITAN launched on 2018-06-20, while the FirePro launched on 2014-08-24, a gap of nearly four years.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

No direct head-to-head benchmark results exist between these two products, as the headToHeadBenchmarks field is empty. The available data consists of separate benchmark suites: the TITAN has PassMark G2D (1,086) and G3D (16,988) scores, while the FirePro has Geekbench OpenCL (8,140) and Vulkan (9,050) scores. This absence of a common test makes a direct score comparison impossible. However, their nearest rival lists provide context for relative positioning.

The TITAN’s average benchmark score is 9,037, placing it just 0.2% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 (9,022) and 0.2% behind the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 (9,058). It is 1.3% ahead of the AMD Radeon 550X (8,918) and 1.9% behind the AMD Radeon 890M (9,210). This clustering around 9,000 suggests that despite its massive compute resources, the TITAN’s average score is pulled down by its relatively low G2D score (1,086) compared to its G3D score (16,988). The average is heavily weighted toward the lower G2D result, which is typical for a compute-focused card that does not prioritize 2D acceleration.

The FirePro’s average benchmark score is 8,595, which is 0.4% ahead of the Intel Arc A380 (8,558), 1.1% behind the NVIDIA Quadro P2200 (8,686), and 1.6% ahead of both the AMD Radeon HD 8870M (8,462) and the NVIDIA GeForce MX330 (8,458). The FirePro’s two Geekbench scores—8,140 in OpenCL and 9,050 in Vulkan—show a 11.2% advantage for Vulkan over OpenCL, indicating that the GCN architecture responds better to the Vulkan API in this particular workload. The TITAN’s G2D score of 1,086 is notably lower than any of its rivals’ average scores, but its G3D score of 16,988 is far above all of them, reflecting the extreme specialization of the Volta design.

The Verdict

The data paints a clear picture: the NVIDIA TITAN V CEO Edition is a high-end compute and rendering card for desktop workstations, while the AMD FirePro W5170M is a low-power mobile workstation GPU from an earlier era. The TITAN’s 14.90 TFLOPS FP32, 32 GB HBM2, and 640 tensor cores make it suitable for deep learning, scientific simulation, and high-end 3D rendering—workloads that require massive memory bandwidth and parallel throughput. The FirePro’s 1,184.0 GFLOPS FP32 and 2 GB GDDR5 limit it to lighter professional tasks like CAD viewing, basic video editing, and OpenCL acceleration in mobile form factors.

The TITAN’s 45th percentile ranking versus the FirePro’s 44th percentile is nearly identical, but this is misleading. The TITAN’s average score of 9,037 is dragged down by its weak G2D performance, while the FirePro’s 8,595 average reflects a more balanced profile. For a user needing a desktop GPU for heavy compute, the TITAN is the only option between these two. For a user needing a mobile GPU from 2014 with Vulkan support (1.2.170) and OpenGL 4.6, the FirePro is the applicable part. The TITAN’s successor is the GeForce 20 series, while the FirePro’s successor is the Radeon Pro Mobile series, confirming their divergent product lines. There is no scenario where these two compete directly; the choice is dictated entirely by form factor and workload class.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has higher raw FP32 performance?

A: The NVIDIA TITAN V CEO Edition delivers 14.90 TFLOPS of FP32, which is roughly 12.6 times higher than the AMD FirePro W5170M’s 1,184.0 GFLOPS.

Q: Do these cards support the same API levels?

A: Both support DirectX 12 and OpenGL 4.6, but the TITAN V supports DirectX 12 feature level 12_1 and Vulkan 1.4, while the FirePro supports DirectX 12 (11_1) and Vulkan 1.2.170.

Q: What are the memory configurations?

A: The TITAN V has 32 GB of HBM2 on a 4096-bit bus with 868.4 GB/s bandwidth. The FirePro has 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus with 72.00 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which GPU has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The TITAN V’s average benchmark score is 9,037, which is 5.1% higher than the FirePro’s 8,595. The TITAN’s PassMark G3D score is 16,988, while the FirePro’s highest score is its Geekbench Vulkan result of 9,050.

Q: What is the form factor difference?

A: The TITAN V is a dual-slot desktop card measuring 267 mm in length, requiring a 600 W power supply and one 6-pin plus one 8-pin connector. The FirePro is an MXM-A (3.0) module with no power connectors and portable-device-dependent display outputs.

Q: Which GPU has tensor cores?

A: Only the NVIDIA TITAN V CEO Edition has 640 tensor cores, enabling FP16 performance of 29.80 TFLOPS. The AMD FirePro W5170M has no tensor cores and no listed FP16 capability.