AMD FirePro W7100 vs AMD Radeon RX 5700 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database records only two direct head-to-head benchmark comparisons between the AMD FirePro W7100 and the AMD Radeon RX 5700, and the results are lopsided in favor of the newer card. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RX 5700 scores 69,603 against the FirePro W7100's 24,182. That is a delta of 65.3%, meaning the RX 5700 outperforms the older workstation card by nearly two-thirds in this compute-oriented test. The gap is slightly smaller but still decisive in Geekbench Vulkan, where the RX 5700 records 64,166 versus the FirePro W7100's 27,529, a 57.1% advantage.

These are not marginal wins. The RX 5700 nearly triples the FirePro W7100's OpenCL score and more than doubles its Vulkan score. The data suggests that the architectural leap between 2014 and 2019, combined with a node shrink, delivers a generational performance jump that no amount of driver optimization could close.

The FirePro W7100's average benchmark score across all recorded tests is 25,856, while the RX 5700's average is 22,170. That average, however, is dragged down by the RX 5700's inclusion of lower-level DirectX and Passmark tests, which are not present for the FirePro W7100. In the two tests where both cards appear, the RX 5700 wins both. The FirePro W7100 sits at the 71st percentile of all GPUs in the database, while the RX 5700 is at the 67th percentile, a difference that reflects the broader mix of workloads each card faces rather than raw capability.

Looking at nearest rivals, the FirePro W7100's average score is within 0.1% of the AMD FirePro D700 and 0.5% of both the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Mobile and the AMD Radeon Pro W5700. The RX 5700's average sits within 0.1% of the AMD Radeon RX 6700S, 1.2% below the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Mobile, and 1.7% below the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT. These proximity bands show that despite the RX 5700's clear wins in the head-to-head, both cards occupy competitive positions relative to their own contemporaries.

Architecture Differences

The fundamental architecture split between these two cards is stark. The FirePro W7100 uses the Tonga chip built on GCN 3.0, manufactured on a 28 nm process at TSMC. The RX 5700 uses the Navi 10 chip built on RDNA 1.0, also from TSMC but on a 7 nm node. The process node difference alone is a major factor in everything that follows: the 7 nm node allows the RX 5700 to pack 10,300 million transistors into a 251 mm² die, while the 28 nm FirePro W7100 fits 5,000 million transistors into 366 mm². Transistor density goes from 13.7 million per square millimeter on the FirePro to 41.0 million per square millimeter on the RX 5700, a threefold increase in packing efficiency.

The RX 5700 also brings more execution resources. It has 2,304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 64 render output units. The FirePro W7100 has 1,792 shading units, 112 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. That means the RX 5700 has roughly 28% more shaders, 29% more TMUs, and double the ROPs. The pixel rate reflects this: 110.4 GPixel/s for the RX 5700 versus 29.44 GPixel/s for the FirePro. Texture rate is 248.4 GTexel/s versus 103.0 GTexel/s.

Memory is another division point. Both cards have 8 GB of VRAM and a 256-bit memory bus, but the FirePro uses GDDR5 at 1250 MHz (5 Gbps effective) for 160.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The RX 5700 uses GDDR6 at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective), delivering 448.0 GB/s. That is 2.8 times the bandwidth, which matters heavily for texture-heavy and compute workloads.

Compute throughput tells a similar story. The FirePro W7100 delivers 3.297 TFLOPS of FP32 and the same 3.297 TFLOPS for FP16 at a 1:1 ratio. The RX 5700 delivers 7.949 TFLOPS of FP32 and 15.90 TFLOPS of FP16 at a 2:1 ratio. The RX 5700 is 2.4 times faster in FP32 and 4.8 times faster in FP16. The FP16 ratio difference is notable: the FirePro processes FP16 at full rate, while the RX 5700 halves its FP16 throughput, but even with that reduction, the raw FP16 number is far higher.

The RX 5700 also supports PCIe 4.0 x16, while the FirePro W7100 is limited to PCIe 3.0 x16. API support differs as well: the FirePro lists DirectX 12 (12_0) and Vulkan 1.2.170, while the RX 5700 lists DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.4. Both support OpenGL 4.6. Display outputs vary: the FirePro has four DisplayPort 1.2 connections, while the RX 5700 offers one HDMI 2.0b and three DisplayPort 1.4a ports.

Where Each One Wins

Given the head-to-head data, the RX 5700 wins every recorded comparison. There are no benchmark tests in the database where the FirePro W7100 comes out ahead. That said, the use-case split is not simply "newer wins everything." The FirePro W7100 is a workstation card from the FirePro GCN (Wx100) generation, released in 2014, with a single-slot design and a 150 W TDP. The RX 5700 is a consumer Radeon RX 5000 series card, released in 2019, with a dual-slot design and a 180 W TDP.

The RX 5700 is the clear choice for compute-heavy workloads that align with OpenCL and Vulkan, as its scores demonstrate. It also has higher pixel and texture rates, which directly benefit rasterization-heavy tasks like gaming or real-time rendering. The 448 GB/s memory bandwidth and 64 ROPs make it far more capable in high-resolution framebuffer scenarios.

The FirePro W7100, despite losing every head-to-head test, still has a place in legacy workstation environments. It uses a single-slot form factor, which is valuable in dense server or multi-GPU setups where space is constrained. It also has four DisplayPort outputs, matching the RX 5700's three DisplayPort plus one HDMI count, but with the older DisplayPort 1.2 standard. Its 150 W TDP is lower than the RX 5700's 180 W, and it only needs a single 6-pin power connector, while the RX 5700 needs a 6-pin and an 8-pin.

The RX 5700's 7 nm node gives it a massive efficiency advantage per transistor, but the FirePro's lower absolute power draw could matter in power-constrained racks. The FirePro also has a 1:1 FP16 ratio, which the RX 5700 does not match, but the RX 5700's raw FP16 throughput is still 4.8 times higher. For workloads that specifically require balanced FP16 and FP32 without rate penalties, the FirePro's architecture is more consistent, but for raw speed, the RX 5700 dominates.

FAQ

Q: Which card has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The FirePro W7100 has an average benchmark score of 25,856, while the RX 5700 has an average of 22,170. However, the RX 5700's average includes additional low-level tests like Passmark DirectX 9 and DirectX 10, which drag the mean down. In direct head-to-head tests, the RX 5700 wins both.

Q: What is the biggest performance gap between the two cards?

A: The largest recorded delta is in Geekbench OpenCL, where the RX 5700 scores 69,603 versus the FirePro W7100's 24,182, a 65.3% difference. The Vulkan gap is 57.1%, with scores of 64,166 and 27,529 respectively.

Q: How do the memory bandwidths compare?

A: The RX 5700 has 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth using GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus. The FirePro W7100 has 160.0 GB/s using GDDR5 on the same 256-bit bus. The RX 5700 offers 2.8 times the bandwidth.

Q: Do both cards support the same DirectX version?

A: No. The FirePro W7100 supports DirectX 12 (12_0), while the RX 5700 supports DirectX 12 (12_1). The RX 5700 also has a newer Vulkan version, 1.4, versus the FirePro's Vulkan 1.2.170.

Q: Which card has more shading units?

A: The RX 5700 has 2,304 shading units, while the FirePro W7100 has 1,792. The RX 5700 also has 144 TMUs versus 112, and 64 ROPs versus 32.

Q: What is the transistor density difference?

A: The FirePro W7100 has 13.7 million transistors per square millimeter, while the RX 5700 has 41.0 million per square millimeter. The RX 5700's 7 nm process enables nearly three times the density.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous. The AMD Radeon RX 5700 wins both recorded head-to-head benchmarks by margins of 65.3% and 57.1%. It has more shading units, more TMUs, double the ROPs, 2.8 times the memory bandwidth, and more than double the FP32 compute throughput. It also uses a smaller die on a much more advanced process node, with higher transistor density and PCIe 4.0 support.

The FirePro W7100 does have advantages in form factor and power draw: it is a single-slot card at 150 W, while the RX 5700 is dual-slot at 180 W. It also has a 1:1 FP16 ratio, which the RX 5700 does not offer, but the absolute FP16 performance is still far lower. For anyone choosing between these two purely on benchmark results, the RX 5700 is the superior card.

The FirePro W7100 remains relevant only in niche scenarios where single-slot density and lower absolute power consumption are non-negotiable, and where the older DisplayPort 1.2 outputs and GCN 3.0 architecture are acceptable. The RX 5700 is the choice for anyone who prioritizes raw compute, rendering, or gaming performance. The percentile ranks reflect this: the FirePro sits at the 71st percentile, the RX 5700 at the 67th, but the head-to-head data overrides any aggregate ranking. The RX 5700 is the winner by every direct measurement available.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD FirePro W7100 | AMD Radeon RX 5700 |

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

| Architecture | GCN 3.0 | RDNA 1.0 |

| Process Node | 28 nm | 7 nm |

| Transistors | 5,000 million | 10,300 million |

| Die Size | 366 mm² | 251 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 13.7M / mm² | 41.0M / mm² |

| Base Clock | Not specified | 1465 MHz |

| Boost Clock | Not specified | 1725 MHz |

| Game Clock | Not specified | 1625 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 1250 MHz (5 Gbps effective) | 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) |

| Memory Type | GDDR5 | GDDR6 |

| Memory Bandwidth | 160.0 GB/s | 448.0 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 1792 | 2304 |

| TMUs | 112 | 144 |

| ROPs | 32 | 64 |

| Pixel Rate | 29.44 GPixel/s | 110.4 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 103.0 GTexel/s | 248.4 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 3.297 TFLOPS | 7.949 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 3.297 TFLOPS (1:1) | 15.90 TFLOPS (2:1) |

| TDP | 150 W | 180 W |

| Slot Width | Single-slot | Dual-slot |

| Power Connectors | 1x 6-pin | 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 3.0 x16 | PCIe 4.0 x16 |

| Display Outputs | 4x DisplayPort 1.2 | 1x HDMI 2.0b, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a |

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

| Vulkan | 1.2.170 | 1.4 |

| Length | 241 mm (9.5 inches) | 268 mm (10.6 inches) |

| Width | Not specified | 36 mm (1.4 inches) |

| Release Date | 2014-08-11 | 2019-07-06 |

| Launch MSRP | Not specified | 349 USD |

| Predecessor | FirePro Terascale | Vega |

| Successor | Radeon Pro Polaris | Navi II |