AMD FirePro W7100 vs Intel Arc B580 Comparison

AMD FirePro W7100 and Intel Arc B580 sit at opposite ends of the hardware timeline, yet both appear in the same database percentile range. The FirePro W7100, built for professional workloads in 2014, holds a 71st percentile ranking across all GPUs. The Arc B580, a 2024 consumer graphics card, lands at the 68th percentile. Despite the 10-year gap, the data shows that the newer card dominates in every recorded head-to-head benchmark, while the older card retains its status as a specialized workstation tool. This comparison is not about raw performance parity; it is about how far GPU architecture has evolved and where each card still finds relevance.

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark record gives the Intel Arc B580 a clean sweep, winning both shared tests. The Arc B580 outperforms the FirePro W7100 by 73.9% in Geekbench OpenCL and by 74.9% in Geekbench Vulkan. These are decisive, double-digit margins across the board. The Arc B580's wins span compute-oriented and graphics-oriented workloads, showing strength in both general-purpose compute and modern rendering APIs. It also has a much broader benchmark portfolio in the database, with ten recorded tests covering DirectX 9, 10, 11, 12, 2D, 3D, and compute workloads, which gives a fuller picture of its capabilities.

The AMD FirePro W7100 does not win any recorded benchmark against the Arc B580. However, its wins are contextual rather than comparative. The FirePro W7100 is an end-of-life professional card with a 150 W power draw, single-slot design, and four DisplayPort 1.2 outputs. In a workstation environment where multi-display output and professional software certification matter more than raw frame rates, this card still has a purpose. Its 71st percentile ranking, slightly higher than the Arc B580's 68th, indicates that in the broader database of all GPUs, the FirePro W7100 holds its own among a wide field of cards, many of which are much newer. The Arc B580 wins on performance; the FirePro W7100 wins on professional form factor and legacy workstation integration.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two cards is generational. The FirePro W7100 uses AMD's Tonga chip, based on the GCN 3.0 architecture, manufactured on a 28 nm process at TSMC. It packs 5,000 million transistors into a 366 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 13.7 million per square millimeter. The GCN 3.0 design dates back to the FirePro GCN Wx100 generation, and it supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. Its compute resources include 1,792 shading units, 112 texture mapping units, and 32 raster operations units. The memory subsystem consists of 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 160.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The card runs at a memory clock of 1250 MHz, 5 Gbps effective, and its peak compute rates are 3.297 TFLOPS for both FP32 and FP16 (1:1 ratio).

The Intel Arc B580 uses the BMG-G21 chip, based on the Xe2-HPG architecture, manufactured on a 5 nm process, also at TSMC. This is a massive leap in manufacturing technology. The chip contains 19,600 million transistors on a 272 mm² die, resulting in a transistor density of 72.1 million per square millimeter, more than five times the density of the FirePro W7100. The Battlemage generation (Arc 5) brings modern features, including DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, Vulkan 1.4, and dedicated ray tracing hardware with 20 RT cores. The Arc B580 has 2,560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 80 ROPs. Memory is 12 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, with a bandwidth of 456.0 GB/s, nearly triple that of the FirePro W7100. Its memory clock is 2375 MHz, 19 Gbps effective. The base and boost clocks are both 2670 MHz. Compute throughput is 13.67 TFLOPS FP32 and 27.34 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1 ratio), the latter showing a clear preference for half-precision workloads.

The process node alone explains much of the performance gap. Moving from 28 nm to 5 nm allows the Arc B580 to pack nearly four times the transistors into a smaller die, while also enabling much higher clock speeds. The FirePro W7100 has no RT cores and no tensor cores, while the Arc B580 has 20 RT cores for hardware-accelerated ray tracing. The interface also differs: the FirePro W7100 uses PCIe 3.0 x16, while the Arc B580 uses PCIe 4.0 x8, which offers similar bandwidth but with a more modern protocol. Power delivery reflects the performance difference, with the FirePro W7100 drawing 150 W via a single 6-pin connector and the Arc B580 drawing 190 W via a single 8-pin connector. Both recommend a 450 W power supply, according to the database.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only two benchmarks shared between these cards are Geekbench OpenCL and Geekbench Vulkan, and the Intel Arc B580 wins both by wide margins. In Geekbench OpenCL, the Arc B580 scores 92,821 against the FirePro W7100's 24,182, a delta of 73.9% in favor of Intel. This test measures general-purpose compute performance, and the result shows a clear generational advantage in raw throughput, memory bandwidth, and driver optimization. The Arc B580's FP32 output of 13.67 TFLOPS is more than four times the FirePro W7100's 3.297 TFLOPS, and that compute advantage shows up directly in the OpenCL score.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the Arc B580 scores 109,672 against the FirePro W7100's 27,529, a delta of 74.9%. This is the larger of the two margins, and it reflects the Arc B580's modern Vulkan 1.4 support compared to the FirePro W7100's older Vulkan 1.2.170 implementation. The Arc B580 also benefits from its 12 GB of GDDR6 memory with 456.0 GB/s bandwidth, which is nearly three times the FirePro W7100's 160.0 GB/s. For graphics-heavy Vulkan workloads, the memory bandwidth advantage is critical, and the data confirms it.

Looking at the broader database context, the FirePro W7100's average benchmark score is 25,856. Its nearest rivals include the AMD FirePro D700 at 25,842 (0.1% ahead), the AMD Radeon R9 M395X at 25,891 (0.1% behind), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Mobile at 25,740 (0.5% ahead), and the AMD Radeon Pro W5700 at 25,726 (0.5% ahead). These are all within a 0.5% band, showing that the FirePro W7100 sits in a tightly clustered performance tier. The Arc B580's average benchmark score is 23,021, which places it near the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP at 23,061 (0.2% behind), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 at 22,895 (0.6% ahead), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 at 23,172 (0.7% behind), and the NVIDIA P106-100 at 23,249 (1% behind). Notably, the Arc B580's average score is actually lower than the FirePro W7100's, despite winning both head-to-head tests. This is because the Arc B580's average includes its Passmark DirectX tests, which score relatively low (76 for DX10, 128 for DX11, 76 for DX12, 183 for DX9), while its Passmark G3D score of 15,748 and GPU compute score of 7,729 are more robust. The average also includes the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3,068, which is a modern test that the FirePro W7100 cannot run.

The Verdict

The data points to a simple conclusion for most users: the Intel Arc B580 is the superior performer. It wins both shared benchmarks by roughly three-quarters of the FirePro W7100's score, offers more than double the memory (12 GB vs 8 GB) with nearly triple the bandwidth (456.0 GB/s vs 160.0 GB/s), and supports modern features like DirectX 12 Ultimate and hardware ray tracing. For anyone running contemporary games, compute workloads, or Vulkan-based applications, the Arc B580 is the clear choice. Its 12 GB frame buffer also provides more headroom for high-resolution textures and larger datasets.

The FirePro W7100 remains relevant only in a narrow professional context. It is a single-slot card with a 150 W power draw and four DisplayPort 1.2 outputs, which makes it suitable for multi-display workstation setups that require multiple monitors without occupying multiple expansion slots. Its end-of-life status and older API support make it unsuitable for modern gaming or advanced compute, but for legacy professional software that relies on GCN-era drivers, it still functions. The database shows that its average score is slightly higher than the Arc B580's, which reflects a more consistent performance profile across a wide range of older benchmarks. However, that consistency does not translate into wins against the newer card.

Pick the Arc B580 if you need performance, modern features, and longevity. Pick the FirePro W7100 if you have a specific workstation requirement that values single-slot density, low power draw, and four DisplayPort outputs, and if your software does not demand the latest APIs. The 10-year gap in release dates (2014 vs 2024) is fully reflected in the benchmark results, and no amount of professional positioning can close that gap.

FAQ

Q: Which card wins in Geekbench OpenCL?

A: The Intel Arc B580 wins with a score of 92,821 against the AMD FirePro W7100's 24,182, a margin of 73.9%.

Q: How much faster is the Arc B580 in Vulkan?

A: The Arc B580 scores 109,672 in Geekbench Vulkan, while the FirePro W7100 scores 27,529, which is a 74.9% advantage for Intel.

Q: What are the memory specifications of each card?

A: The FirePro W7100 has 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus with 160.0 GB/s bandwidth. The Arc B580 has 12 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus with 456.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Does the FirePro W7100 support ray tracing?

A: No. The FirePro W7100 has no ray tracing cores, while the Arc B580 includes 20 dedicated RT cores.

Q: What is the process node difference?

A: The FirePro W7100 uses a 28 nm process from TSMC, while the Arc B580 uses a 5 nm process, also from TSMC.

Q: Which card has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The FirePro W7100 has an average score of 25,856, which is higher than the Arc B580's 23,021, despite the Arc B580 winning all head-to-head tests.