AMD FirePro W600 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded database contains a single benchmark where both cards were measured under identical conditions: Geekbench OpenCL. In that test, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 scored 29,982 points, while the AMD FirePro W600 scored 6,223 points. That is a delta of 381.8% in favor of the GTX 970, meaning the NVIDIA card delivered nearly four times the compute throughput of the AMD card in this workload. This is not a marginal gap; it is a decisive, order-of-magnitude-class difference in raw OpenCL performance.

The GTX 970's average benchmark score across all recorded tests is 7,157, while the FirePro W600's average is 6,223. The GTX 970 sits at the 39th percentile among all GPUs in the database, whereas the FirePro W600 sits at the 36th percentile. While both cards land in the lower half of the overall performance distribution, the GTX 970's percentile ranking is higher, and its average score exceeds the FirePro W600's by 934 points, roughly 15% higher on average.

Looking at the GTX 970's broader benchmark profile, it shows a wide range of capabilities. In Passmark G3D, it scores 9,638, and in Passmark GPU Compute it scores 4,073. Its DirectX 9 score is 143, DirectX 10 is 46, DirectX 11 is 71, and DirectX 12 is 41. The G2D score is 764. In Geekbench, beyond the OpenCL result, it scores 13,595 in Metal and 20,005 in Vulkan. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test yields a score of 369. These numbers paint a picture of a card that is competent across legacy and modern APIs, with compute-oriented workloads showing particular strength.

The FirePro W600, by contrast, has only the single Geekbench OpenCL result recorded in the database, so its performance envelope is far less documented. What the data does show is that its OpenCL score of 6,223 is roughly one-fifth of the GTX 970's score in the same test. The FirePro W600's nearest rivals in the database include the AMD Radeon HD 6950 with an average score of 6,210 (a delta of 0.2%), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER AD102 at 6,270 (delta of -0.7%), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti SUPER at 6,270 (delta of -0.7%), and the NVIDIA Quadro K620 at 6,282 (delta of -0.9%). This clustering indicates the FirePro W600 is performing in line with a narrow band of older and low-end cards, none of which come close to the GTX 970's average score.

For the GTX 970, its nearest rivals are the Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580 with an average score of 7,170 (delta of -0.2%), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 SE at 7,171 (delta of -0.2%), the AMD Radeon Vega 8 Mobile at 7,203 (delta of -0.6%), and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 at 7,222 (delta of -0.9%). The GTX 970's average score of 7,157 places it slightly below all four of these rivals, with deltas ranging from -0.2% to -0.9%. This is a tight grouping, suggesting the GTX 970's average performance is statistically comparable to those cards, despite its much stronger OpenCL showing.

The head-to-head data is unambiguous: the GTX 970 wins the only shared benchmark, and it wins by a landslide. The FirePro W600 has no recorded victories in any head-to-head comparison.

The Verdict

Based strictly on the recorded data, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 is the superior performer in the one benchmark where both cards were tested. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 29,982 is 381.8% higher than the FirePro W600's 6,223, which is a gap so large that it dwarfs any other consideration in this comparison. For any workload that relies on OpenCL compute, the GTX 970 is categorically the stronger choice.

The GTX 970 also holds a higher percentile ranking (39th vs. 36th) and a higher average benchmark score (7,157 vs. 6,223). Its broader benchmark suite shows capability across DirectX 9, 10, 11, and 12, as well as Metal and Vulkan, with scores of 143, 46, 71, 41, 13,595, and 20,005 respectively. The FirePro W600 has no recorded results in any of those tests, so its performance in those APIs is undocumented in the database.

Who should pick the GTX 970? Any user whose priority is compute performance, gaming-era DirectX workloads, or general-purpose GPU acceleration. The data shows it is dramatically faster in OpenCL, and it has a much wider range of recorded benchmark results, indicating a more versatile card.

Who should pick the FirePro W600? The data supports only one scenario: if the specific requirement is a card with six mini-DisplayPort 1.2 outputs, which the GTX 970 does not offer (it has one DVI, one HDMI 2.0, and three DisplayPort 1.2 outputs). The FirePro W600 also has a lower TDP of 75 W versus 148 W, and it requires no power connectors, while the GTX 970 needs two 6-pin connectors. For a multi-display setup in a constrained power envelope, the FirePro W600 has structural advantages. But for raw performance, the GTX 970 wins outright.

The launch MSRP of the GTX 970 was 329 USD, and the launch MSRP of the FirePro W600 was 599 USD.

FAQ

Q: Which card has a higher Geekbench OpenCL score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 scores 29,982, which is 381.8% higher than the AMD FirePro W600's score of 6,223.

Q: How does the average benchmark score compare between the two cards?

A: The GTX 970 has an average benchmark score of 7,157, while the FirePro W600 has an average score of 6,223. The GTX 970's average is about 15% higher.

Q: Do the two cards have any other shared benchmark results besides Geekbench OpenCL?

A: No, the database records only one head-to-head benchmark between them, which is Geekbench OpenCL. The GTX 970 wins that test; the FirePro W600 has no recorded wins.

Q: What are the percentile rankings of these cards among all GPUs?

A: The GTX 970 is at the 39th percentile, and the FirePro W600 is at the 36th percentile.

Q: Which card requires more power connectors?

A: The GTX 970 requires two 6-pin power connectors, while the FirePro W600 requires none. The GTX 970 has a TDP of 148 W, and the FirePro W600 has a TDP of 75 W.

Q: How many display outputs does each card have?

A: The GTX 970 has one DVI, one HDMI 2.0, and three DisplayPort 1.2 outputs (five total). The FirePro W600 has six mini-DisplayPort 1.2 outputs.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every core specification. The GTX 970 uses the GM204 chip with 5,200 million transistors on a 398 mm² die, while the FirePro W600 uses the Cape Verde chip with 1,500 million transistors on a 123 mm² die. Transistor density is 13.1M per mm² for the GTX 970 and 12.2M per mm² for the FirePro W600.

Memory configurations are starkly different. The GTX 970 has 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus with 224.4 GB/s bandwidth. The FirePro W600 has 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus with 64.00 GB/s bandwidth. Memory clock is 1753 MHz (7 Gbps effective) for the GTX 970 and 1000 MHz (4 Gbps effective) for the FirePro W600.

The GTX 970 has 1,664 shading units, 104 texture mapping units, and 56 ROPs. The FirePro W600 has 512 shading units, 32 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. Pixel rates are 65.97 GPixel/s for the GTX 970 and 12.00 GPixel/s for the FirePro W600. Texture rates are 122.5 GTexel/s and 24.00 GTexel/s, respectively. FP32 performance is 3.920 TFLOPS for the GTX 970 and 768.0 GFLOPS for the FirePro W600.

The GTX 970 has a base clock of 1050 MHz and a boost clock of 1178 MHz, while the FirePro W600 has no recorded base or boost clocks. Power draw differs: the GTX 970 is rated at 148 W with a suggested PSU of 300 W, while the FirePro W600 is rated at 75 W with a suggested PSU of 250 W. The GTX 970 is dual-slot with two 6-pin connectors; the FirePro W600 is single-slot with no connectors. Dimensions also differ: the GTX 970 is 267 mm long, 111 mm high, and 40 mm wide, while the FirePro W600 is 168 mm long, 111 mm high, and 20 mm wide.

API support differs in DirectX and Vulkan versions. The GTX 970 supports DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.4, while the FirePro W600 supports DirectX 12 (11_1) and Vulkan 1.2.170. Both support OpenGL 4.6. Display outputs differ as noted: the GTX 970 has one DVI, one HDMI 2.0, and three DisplayPort 1.2, while the FirePro W600 has six mini-DisplayPort 1.2 outputs.

Architecture Differences

The GTX 970 is built on NVIDIA's Maxwell 2.0 architecture, part of the GeForce 900 generation, using the GM204 chip. The FirePro W600 is built on AMD's GCN 1.0 architecture, part of the FirePro GCN (Wx000) generation, using the Cape Verde chip. Both are manufactured on a 28 nm process at TSMC, but that is where the manufacturing similarities end.

The transistor counts differ by a factor of more than three: 5,200 million for the GTX 970 versus 1,500 million for the FirePro W600. Die size is likewise different, with the GTX 970 at 398 mm² and the FirePro W600 at 123 mm². Transistor density is slightly higher on the GTX 970 at 13.1M per mm² versus 12.2M per mm².

The GTX 970's Maxwell 2.0 architecture supports DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.4, while the FirePro W600's GCN 1.0 architecture supports DirectX 12 (11_1) and Vulkan 1.2.170. This means the GTX 970 has a higher feature level in DirectX and a more recent Vulkan version. Both cards support OpenGL 4.6.

The memory subsystem reflects the architectural differences. The GTX 970 uses a 256-bit memory bus with 224.4 GB/s bandwidth, while the FirePro W600 uses a 128-bit bus with 64.00 GB/s bandwidth. The GTX 970's memory runs at 1753 MHz (7 Gbps effective), and the FirePro W600's runs at 1000 MHz (4 Gbps effective). The GTX 970 has 4 GB of GDDR5, and the FirePro W600 has 2 GB.

Shading resources differ substantially. The GTX 970 has 1,664 shading units, 104 TMUs, and 56 ROPs. The FirePro W600 has 512 shading units, 32 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. These translate to pixel rates of 65.97 GPixel/s and 12.00 GPixel/s, and texture rates of 122.5 GTexel/s and 24.00 GTexel/s, respectively. FP32 compute is 3.920 TFLOPS for the GTX 970 and 768.0 GFLOPS for the FirePro W600.

Neither card has dedicated ray tracing cores or tensor cores. The GTX 970 has a base clock of 1050 MHz and a boost clock of 1178 MHz; the FirePro W600 has no recorded clock values. The GTX 970 was released on September 18, 2014, and the FirePro W600 on June 12, 2012. The GTX 970's predecessor is the GeForce 700 series and its successor is the GeForce 10 series. The FirePro W600's predecessor is FirePro Terascale and its successor is Radeon Pro Polaris. Both cards are marked as end-of-life in the database.