AMD FirePro W7000 vs AMD Radeon Pro 460 Comparison

The Verdict

The recorded data splits this pairing cleanly along workload lines. The AMD FirePro W7000 wins both head-to-head benchmark comparisons, leading by 16.5% in OpenCL and 30.8% in Vulkan. Its average benchmark score of 19905 places it at the 65th percentile of all GPUs, while the AMD Radeon Pro 460 sits at 17509 and the 61st percentile.

For users running OpenCL or Vulkan workloads, the FirePro W7000 is the stronger choice by a meaningful margin. The Radeon Pro 460, however, offers a different trade-off: it consumes 35 W versus 150 W, requires no power connector, and operates as an integrated graphics processor (IGP) designed for portable devices. The data suggests the W7000 for stationary workstations where compute throughput matters more than power draw, and the Pro 460 for compact, low-power systems where the 16.5% to 30.8% performance gap is acceptable.

Neither card wins every metric. The W7000 dominates raw compute and memory bandwidth, but the Pro 460 counters with a newer architecture, higher transistor density, and better API support including Vulkan 1.3 versus 1.2.170. The choice depends entirely on whether the workload prioritizes absolute performance or efficiency and portability.

Where Each One Wins

The FirePro W7000 wins in every recorded benchmark comparison. In Geekbench OpenCL, it scores 17808 against 15284 for the Pro 460, a 16.5% advantage. In Geekbench Vulkan, the gap widens to 30.8%, with the W7000 posting 22001 versus 16816.

The W7000 also wins on memory bandwidth: 153.6 GB/s versus 81.28 GB/s for the Pro 460. Its 256-bit bus doubles the Pro 460's 128-bit bus, and its 4.8 Gbps effective memory speed trails the Pro 460's 5.1 Gbps only slightly, but the wider bus delivers nearly double the throughput. Pixel rate favors the W7000 at 30.40 GPixel/s against 14.51 GPixel/s, and texture rate follows at 76.00 GTexel/s versus 58.05 GTexel/s.

The Radeon Pro 460 wins on efficiency and form factor. Its 35 W TDP is less than a quarter of the W7000's 150 W. It draws power from the motherboard with no external connectors, while the W7000 requires a single 6-pin connector and a 450 W suggested PSU. The Pro 460's IGP form factor means it fits in portable devices, whereas the W7000 is a single-slot card at 242 mm long and 111 mm tall.

Architecture also favors the Pro 460 in specific ways. Its GCN 4.0 design supports DirectX 12 (12_0) versus the W7000's 12 (11_1), and Vulkan 1.3 versus 1.2.170. The Pro 460 also offers FP16 at 1.858 TFLOPS (1:1), while the W7000 has no listed FP16 capability.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different generations of AMD's GCN architecture. The FirePro W7000 uses GCN 1.0 on the Pitcairn chip, built on TSMC's 28 nm process. The Radeon Pro 460 uses GCN 4.0 on the Baffin chip, fabricated by GlobalFoundries at 14 nm. This node shrink explains the density difference: the Pro 460 packs 24.4 million transistors per square millimeter versus 13.2M for the W7000, despite having more total transistors (3,000 million versus 2,800 million) on a smaller die (123 mm² versus 212 mm²).

Core counts differ substantially. The W7000 has 1280 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The Pro 460 has 1024 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. The W7000's extra ROPs directly explain its higher pixel rate, while its additional shading units and TMUs drive the FP32 and texture rate advantages.

Memory subsystems diverge more than core counts. Both use 4 GB of GDDR5, but the W7000 runs a 256-bit bus with 153.6 GB/s bandwidth, while the Pro 460 uses a 128-bit bus with 81.28 GB/s. The Pro 460 compensates with slightly faster memory clocks (1270 MHz, 5.1 Gbps effective versus 1200 MHz, 4.8 Gbps), but the narrower bus caps its bandwidth.

Clock behavior also differs. The W7000 lists no base or boost clock, only its memory speed. The Pro 460 specifies a base clock of 850 MHz and a boost clock of 907 MHz. This makes direct clock comparisons impossible from the data, but the Pro 460's lower core count and clocks explain its lower FP32 figure of 1.858 TFLOPS versus 2.432 TFLOPS.

Feature support separates them further. The W7000 offers four DisplayPort 1.2 outputs on a PCIe 3.0 x16 interface. The Pro 460 has no fixed display outputs, described as "portable device dependent," and runs on PCIe 3.0 x8. API support favors the Pro 460 for DirectX 12 (12_0) and Vulkan 1.3, while the W7000 tops out at DirectX 12 (11_1) and Vulkan 1.2.170. Both support OpenGL 4.6.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in OpenCL compute?

A: The FirePro W7000 scores 17808 in Geekbench OpenCL, which is 16.5% ahead of the Radeon Pro 460's 15284.

Q: Does the Radeon Pro 460 beat the FirePro W7000 in any benchmark?

A: No. The head-to-head data shows the FirePro W7000 winning both recorded tests: Geekbench OpenCL and Geekbench Vulkan. The W7000 leads by 30.8% in Vulkan and 16.5% in OpenCL.

Q: How do their power requirements compare?

A: The Radeon Pro 460 uses 35 W and requires no power connector, while the FirePro W7000 uses 150 W and needs a single 6-pin connector plus a 450 W suggested PSU.

Q: Which card supports newer graphics APIs?

A: The Radeon Pro 460 supports DirectX 12 (12_0) and Vulkan 1.3, while the FirePro W7000 supports DirectX 12 (11_1) and Vulkan 1.2.170. Both support OpenGL 4.6.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth difference?

A: The FirePro W7000 delivers 153.6 GB/s over a 256-bit bus, versus 81.28 GB/s over a 128-bit bus for the Radeon Pro 460. The W7000's bandwidth is nearly double.

Q: Are these cards still in production?

A: Both are end-of-life. The FirePro W7000 launched in June 2012 with a launch MSRP of 899 USD, and the Radeon Pro 460 launched in October 2016.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The two recorded head-to-head tests show a clear pattern. In Geekbench OpenCL, the FirePro W7000 scores 17808 against the Radeon Pro 460's 15284. That 16.5% delta reflects the W7000's extra shading units (1280 versus 1024) and wider memory bus (256-bit versus 128-bit). OpenCL workloads that scale with memory bandwidth will favor the W7000 even more than this score suggests, given its 153.6 GB/s versus 81.28 GB/s.

The Vulkan test shows a larger gap. The W7000 posts 22001, while the Pro 460 manages 16816, a 30.8% difference. Vulkan's low-level nature often rewards raw hardware throughput, and the W7000's higher pixel rate (30.40 GPixel/s versus 14.51 GPixel/s) and texture rate (76.00 GTexel/s versus 58.05 GTexel/s) align with this outcome. The Pro 460's newer GCN 4.0 architecture and Vulkan 1.3 support do not overcome the hardware deficit in this test.

Context from the nearest rivals reinforces these results. The W7000's average score of 19905 sits within 1.5% of the NVIDIA Quadro K5200 (19602) and 1.4% of the AMD FirePro D300 (19637), and slightly ahead of the NVIDIA Tesla K40m by 0.1%. The Pro 460's average of 17509 trails the AMD Radeon Pro 560 by 0.2%, the AMD Radeon 780M by 0.5%, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 by 0.7%, while edging the NVIDIA Tesla K40c by 0.2%.

The W7000's 65th percentile ranking versus the Pro 460's 61st reflects a modest but consistent overall advantage. Yet the Pro 460's closest rival list includes the RTX 4060, a much newer card, suggesting the Pro 460 competes well within its efficiency class despite its lower raw scores.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD FirePro W7000 | AMD Radeon Pro 460 |

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

| Architecture | GCN 1.0 | GCN 4.0 |

| Process Node | 28 nm | 14 nm |

| Foundry | TSMC | GlobalFoundries |

| Transistors | 2,800 million | 3,000 million |

| Die Size | 212 mm² | 123 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 13.2M / mm² | 24.4M / mm² |

| Base Clock | None listed | 850 MHz |

| Boost Clock | None listed | 907 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 1200 MHz, 4.8 Gbps effective | 1270 MHz, 5.1 Gbps effective |

| Memory Bus Width | 256 bit | 128 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 153.6 GB/s | 81.28 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 1280 | 1024 |

| TMUs | 80 | 64 |

| ROPs | 32 | 16 |

| Pixel Rate | 30.40 GPixel/s | 14.51 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 76.00 GTexel/s | 58.05 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 2.432 TFLOPS | 1.858 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | None listed | 1.858 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 150 W | 35 W |

| Slot Width | Single-slot | IGP |

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

| Suggested PSU | 450 W | None listed |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | PCIe 3.0 x8 |

| Display Outputs | 4x DisplayPort 1.2 | Portable Device Dependent |

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

| Vulkan | 1.2.170 | 1.3 |

| Dimensions | 242 mm x 111 mm | Not listed |