AMD FirePro W7000 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The recorded data presents a stark contrast between these two GPUs. The AMD FirePro W7000 does not win a single head-to-head benchmark in the database. Every recorded comparison favors the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER. In the two shared tests, the NVIDIA card dominates both OpenCL and Vulkan workloads. The FirePro W7000 was a professional workstation card from 2012, while the RTX 2060 SUPER is a consumer gaming GPU from 2019. The generational gap is immense.

The AMD FirePro W7000's best showing comes in the Geekbench Vulkan test, where it scores 22001. Its OpenCL score is 17808. The RTX 2060 SUPER, by contrast, reaches 77402 in Vulkan and 76957 in OpenCL. The NVIDIA card is roughly 3.5 times faster in OpenCL and about 3.5 times faster in Vulkan. These are not marginal differences; they are categorical leaps in compute capability.

The RTX 2060 SUPER also carries a much broader benchmark suite in the database. It has additional Passmark scores across DirectX 9, 10, 11, and 12, plus G2D, G3D, and GPU compute tests. The FirePro W7000 has no such entries. This means the NVIDIA card can be evaluated across legacy and modern graphics APIs, while the AMD card only has two compute-oriented results. The data suggests the RTX 2060 SUPER is the more versatile part, but the FirePro W7000's professional lineage should not be dismissed outright. Its 65th percentile ranking among all GPUs is actually slightly higher than the RTX 2060 SUPER's 62nd percentile, indicating that the older card still holds its own in the broader performance distribution.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide here is enormous. The FirePro W7000 uses AMD's GCN 1.0 architecture on the Pitcairn chip, built on a 28 nm process at TSMC. The RTX 2060 SUPER uses NVIDIA's Turing architecture on the TU106 chip, also fabricated by TSMC but on a 12 nm process. The transistor counts tell the story: the FirePro packs 2,800 million transistors on a 212 mm² die, while the RTX 2060 SUPER contains 10,800 million transistors on a 445 mm² die. That is nearly four times the transistor count and more than double the die area. Transistor density jumps from 13.2M per mm² on the older chip to 24.3M per mm² on the newer one.

The memory subsystems are equally divergent. The FirePro W7000 uses 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 153.6 GB/s of bandwidth. The RTX 2060 SUPER uses 8 GB of GDDR6 on the same 256-bit bus width, but bandwidth more than doubles to 448.0 GB/s. Memory clocks differ as well: the FirePro runs at 1200 MHz (4.8 Gbps effective), while the RTX 2060 SUPER runs at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). The newer card also has base and boost clocks of 1470 MHz and 1650 MHz respectively, while the FirePro's clock fields are listed as null.

The compute resources are not comparable. The FirePro has 1280 shading units, 80 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. The RTX 2060 SUPER has 2176 shading units, 136 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. Critically, the RTX 2060 SUPER adds 34 ray tracing cores and 272 tensor cores, features that simply do not exist on the GCN 1.0 architecture. Pixel rate is 30.40 GPixel/s on the FirePro versus 105.6 GPixel/s on the RTX card. Texture rate is 76.00 GTexel/s versus 224.4 GTexel/s. FP32 compute is 2.432 TFLOPS versus 7.181 TFLOPS. The RTX 2060 SUPER also supports FP16 at 14.36 TFLOPS (2:1), a capability the FirePro does not expose.

API support tells a similar story. The FirePro supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The RTX 2060 SUPER supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The newer card's DirectX 12 Ultimate feature set includes hardware ray tracing and mesh shaders, neither of which the GCN architecture can handle. Display outputs also differ: the FirePro offers four DisplayPort 1.2 outputs, while the RTX 2060 SUPER provides one DVI, one HDMI 2.0, two DisplayPort 1.4a, and one USB Type-C port.

FAQ

Q: Which card has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD FirePro W7000 has an average benchmark score of 19905, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER has an average of 18093. Despite this, the RTX 2060 SUPER wins every head-to-head test in the database.

Q: How do the two cards compare in Geekbench OpenCL?

A: The RTX 2060 SUPER scores 76957 in Geekbench OpenCL, versus 17808 for the FirePro W7000. The delta is -76.9% from the NVIDIA card's perspective, meaning the RTX card is approximately 4.3 times faster.

Q: Does the FirePro W7000 support ray tracing?

A: No. The FirePro W7000 has no ray tracing cores listed in the database. The RTX 2060 SUPER includes 34 ray tracing cores and 272 tensor cores.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth difference?

A: The FirePro W7000 provides 153.6 GB/s of bandwidth with 4 GB of GDDR5. The RTX 2060 SUPER provides 448.0 GB/s with 8 GB of GDDR6, which is roughly 2.9 times more bandwidth and double the capacity.

Q: Which card has a higher percentile ranking among all GPUs?

A: The FirePro W7000 sits at the 65th percentile, while the RTX 2060 SUPER sits at the 62nd percentile. The older AMD card ranks slightly higher in the overall distribution despite losing all head-to-head tests.

Q: Are both cards still in production?

A: No. Both are listed as end-of-life in the database. The FirePro W7000 was released in June 2012, and the RTX 2060 SUPER was released in July 2019.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every measurable specification. The FirePro W7000 uses a 28 nm process, while the RTX 2060 SUPER uses 12 nm. Transistor counts are 2,800 million versus 10,800 million. Die size is 212 mm² versus 445 mm². Transistor density is 13.2M per mm² versus 24.3M per mm².

Memory capacity is 4 GB versus 8 GB. Memory type is GDDR5 versus GDDR6. Bandwidth is 153.6 GB/s versus 448.0 GB/s. Memory clock is 1200 MHz (4.8 Gbps effective) versus 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). The FirePro has no listed base or boost clock, while the RTX card has a 1470 MHz base and 1650 MHz boost.

Shading units are 1280 versus 2176. TMUs are 80 versus 136. ROPs are 32 versus 64. The RTX 2060 SUPER adds 34 ray tracing cores and 272 tensor cores. Pixel rate is 30.40 GPixel/s versus 105.6 GPixel/s. Texture rate is 76.00 GTexel/s versus 224.4 GTexel/s. FP32 is 2.432 TFLOPS versus 7.181 TFLOPS. FP16 is null on the FirePro versus 14.36 TFLOPS (2:1) on the RTX card.

TDP is 150 W versus 175 W. Slot width is single-slot versus dual-slot. Power connectors are 1x 6-pin versus 1x 8-pin. Both suggest a 450 W power supply. The FirePro is 242 mm long and 111 mm tall. The RTX card is 229 mm long, 113 mm tall, and 35 mm wide. Display outputs are 4x DisplayPort 1.2 versus 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0, 2x DisplayPort 1.4a, and 1x USB Type-C. DirectX support is 12 (11_1) versus 12 Ultimate (12_2). Vulkan support is 1.2.170 versus 1.4. The FirePro's predecessor is FirePro Terascale and its successor is Radeon Pro Polaris. The RTX card's predecessor is GeForce 10 and its successor is GeForce 30. The release dates are June 2012 versus July 2019.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database contains two direct comparisons between these cards, and both are decisive wins for the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER.

In Geekbench OpenCL, the FirePro W7000 scores 17808, while the RTX 2060 SUPER scores 76957. The delta is -76.9%, meaning the RTX card outperforms the FirePro by a factor of roughly 4.3. This is a compute-heavy workload that stresses raw shader throughput and memory bandwidth. The RTX 2060 SUPER's 7.181 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth explain the gap. The FirePro's 2.432 TFLOPS and 153.6 GB/s simply cannot keep pace.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the margin narrows slightly but remains overwhelming. The FirePro scores 22001, and the RTX 2060 SUPER scores 77402. The delta is -71.6%. The FirePro's Vulkan score is notably higher than its OpenCL score, suggesting that the GCN architecture responds reasonably well to the Vulkan API's low-level overhead model. Still, the RTX card's advantage is nearly 3.5 times. The Turing architecture's dedicated tensor cores and ray tracing hardware likely contribute to its Vulkan efficiency, though the database does not break down per-feature contributions.

The RTX 2060 SUPER also has additional benchmark entries that the FirePro lacks entirely. Its Passmark scores include 111 in DirectX 10, 130 in DirectX 11, 61 in DirectX 12, 218 in DirectX 9, 854 in G2D, 16462 in G3D, and 6721 in GPU compute. The FirePro W7000 has no Passmark results recorded. This asymmetry means the RTX card can be assessed across a wider range of graphics workloads, while the FirePro's database footprint is limited to the two Geekbench compute tests.

The average benchmark scores present an interesting wrinkle. The FirePro's average is 19905, and the RTX 2060 SUPER's average is 18093. The FirePro's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Tesla K40m at 19885 (0.1% delta), the AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT at 19765 (0.7% delta), the AMD FirePro D300 at 19637 (1.4% delta), and the NVIDIA Quadro K5200 at 19602 (1.5% delta). The RTX 2060 SUPER's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile at 18159 (-0.4% delta), the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 at 18189 (-0.5% delta), the AMD Radeon RX 460 at 18373 (-1.5% delta), and the Intel Arc A770M at 18383 (-1.6% delta). The FirePro's higher average is driven by its two strong Geekbench scores, while the RTX card's average is pulled down by its lower Passmark results.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear conclusion: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is the superior performer in every recorded head-to-head comparison. Its OpenCL score of 76957 is 76.9% higher than the FirePro W7000's 17808. Its Vulkan score of 77402 is 71.6% higher than the FirePro's 22001. The RTX card also brings modern features like ray tracing cores, tensor cores, DirectX 12 Ultimate support, and double the memory capacity at nearly triple the bandwidth.

However, the FirePro W7000 is not without merit. Its 65th percentile ranking among all GPUs edges out the RTX 2060 SUPER's 62nd percentile. Its average benchmark score of 19905 exceeds the RTX card's 18093. The FirePro was designed as a professional workstation GPU with four DisplayPort outputs and a single-slot form factor, making it suitable for multi-display enterprise environments. Its 150 W TDP is lower than the RTX card's 175 W, and it requires only a 6-pin power connector versus the RTX card's 8-pin.

The choice depends entirely on workload. For compute-heavy tasks, gaming, ray tracing, or modern API support, the RTX 2060 SUPER is the only rational pick. The data shows a 3.5 to 4.3 times performance advantage in the two shared benchmarks. For legacy professional deployments where the FirePro's GCN architecture, four DisplayPort outputs, and single-slot design are already integrated into an existing workflow, the older card remains functional, but its performance ceiling is far lower. The RTX 2060 SUPER's launch MSRP is 399 USD, while the FirePro W7000's launch MSRP is 899 USD, though both cards are now end-of-life. The recorded data favors the newer NVIDIA card decisively.