AMD FirePro W7100 vs NVIDIA RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell Comparison

NVIDIA's RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell is a modern professional workstation GPU built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture, while the AMD FirePro W7100 is an end-of-life legacy part based on GCN 3.0. The benchmark data shows a decisive generational gap, with the RTX PRO 4000 leading by an overwhelming margin in the single shared test. However, the FirePro W7100 still holds relevance in specific legacy or compatibility-focused roles, given its distinct feature set and interface support.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell wins the only direct head-to-head benchmark available: Geekbench Vulkan. In that test, it scores 194,168 against the FirePro W7100's 27,529, a delta of 605.3%. This is not a marginal victory; it is a complete annihilation that reflects the fundamental architectural and process-node advantages of the newer card. The RTX PRO 4000’s 36.83 TFLOPS FP32 throughput and 672.0 GB/s memory bandwidth dwarf the FirePro W7100’s 3.297 TFLOPS and 160.0 GB/s, respectively.

The FirePro W7100’s wins are not in raw performance but in specific legacy domains. It uses a PCIe 3.0 x16 interface, which is more compatible with older motherboards that lack PCIe 5.0 slots. Its 1x 6-pin power connector is also simpler to feed than the RTX PRO 4000’s 1x 16-pin connector, which requires a modern power supply with the appropriate cable. For systems with a 450 W suggested PSU, the FirePro W7100 also fits within a lower power envelope, even though its TDP of 150 W is slightly higher than the RTX PRO 4000’s 140 W.

The data also shows that the RTX PRO 4000 has a higher average benchmark score of 27,135 across all tests, versus 25,856 for the FirePro W7100. Its percentile ranking of 72nd versus 71st is close, but that is because the FirePro W7100’s nearest rivals include other legacy cards like the AMD FirePro D700 and the Radeon R9 M395X, which are similarly old. The RTX PRO 4000’s rivals are modern cards like the RTX 3090 and RTX 4070 Mobile, indicating it competes in a much faster performance tier.

FAQ

Q: Which card is faster in Vulkan workloads?

A: The NVIDIA RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell is dramatically faster. In the Geekbench Vulkan test, it scores 194,168 versus 27,529 for the AMD FirePro W7100, representing a 605.3% advantage.

Q: Does the AMD FirePro W7100 support modern graphics APIs?

A: It supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. However, it lacks the DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) support and the newer Vulkan 1.4 that the RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell provides.

Q: What are the memory specifications of each card?

A: The RTX PRO 4000 has 24 GB of GDDR7 on a 192-bit bus with 672.0 GB/s bandwidth. The FirePro W7100 has 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus with 160.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which card is better for a system with an older power supply?

A: The AMD FirePro W7100 is more accommodating. It uses a single 6-pin power connector and has a suggested PSU of 450 W, whereas the RTX PRO 4000 requires a 16-pin connector and a 300 W suggested PSU, though the latter’s TDP is lower at 140 W versus 150 W.

Q: How do the two cards compare in terms of production status?

A: The NVIDIA RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell is listed as Active, while the AMD FirePro W7100 is End-of-life. This suggests the RTX PRO 4000 is still in production and supported, whereas the FirePro W7100 is discontinued.

Q: Is there any benchmark where the FirePro W7100 wins?

A: In the head-to-head data provided, the FirePro W7100 wins zero tests. The only shared benchmark is Geekbench Vulkan, which the RTX PRO 4000 wins decisively.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The sole head-to-head benchmark is Geekbench Vulkan, and the results are stark. The NVIDIA RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell posts a score of 194,168, while the AMD FirePro W7100 manages only 27,529. This yields a delta of 605.3% in favor of the NVIDIA card. This score disparity is consistent with the underlying hardware: the RTX PRO 4000 has 8,960 shading units, 280 TMUs, and 96 ROPs, compared to the FirePro W7100’s 1,792 shading units, 112 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The RTX PRO 4000 also has 70 RT cores and 280 tensor cores, which are entirely absent from the FirePro W7100.

Looking at broader benchmark suites, the RTX PRO 4000 shows strength across DirectX tests. In Passmark DirectX 11, it scores 276 versus the FirePro W7100’s lack of a comparable score, and in DirectX 10 it scores 173. The FirePro W7100 has no Passmark DirectX scores listed, which limits direct comparison, but the Geekbench OpenCL score for the FirePro W7100 is 24,182, while the RTX PRO 4000’s nearest rival in the average benchmark score (the RTX A4000) is only 1.7% behind it. The RTX PRO 4000’s Passmark G3D score of 28,427 and GPU Compute score of 14,805 further illustrate its compute capability.

The average benchmark score difference is smaller than the Vulkan delta, but still clear: 27,135 for the RTX PRO 4000 versus 25,856 for the FirePro W7100. This is a 4.9% advantage for the newer card, but it is important to note that the FirePro W7100’s average is buoyed by its OpenCL result, which is a compute test rather than a gaming or graphics test. In graphics-centric workloads, the RTX PRO 4000’s lead is far more pronounced.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every measurable specification. The RTX PRO 4000 uses a GB203 chip on a 5 nm process, while the FirePro W7100 uses a Tonga chip on a 28 nm process. Transistor counts are 45,600 million versus 5,000 million, and die sizes are 378 mm² versus 366 mm², leading to a transistor density of 120.6M / mm² for the RTX PRO 4000 and only 13.7M / mm² for the FirePro W7100.

Clock speeds are also different: the RTX PRO 4000 has a base clock of 1230 MHz and a boost clock of 2055 MHz, whereas the FirePro W7100 has no listed base or boost clocks. Memory clocks are 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective) for the RTX PRO 4000 and 1250 MHz (5 Gbps effective) for the FirePro W7100. The memory configuration differs: 24 GB GDDR7 on a 192-bit bus for the RTX PRO 4000, versus 8 GB GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus for the FirePro W7100. Bandwidth is 672.0 GB/s versus 160.0 GB/s.

The RTX PRO 4000 has significantly more compute units: 8,960 shading units, 280 TMUs, 96 ROPs, 70 RT cores, and 280 tensor cores. The FirePro W7100 has 1,792 shading units, 112 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, with no RT or tensor cores. Pixel rate is 197.3 GPixel/s versus 29.44 GPixel/s, and texture rate is 575.4 GTexel/s versus 103.0 GTexel/s. FP32 performance is 36.83 TFLOPS versus 3.297 TFLOPS, with FP16 also at 36.83 TFLOPS versus 3.297 TFLOPS.

Power and connectivity differ as well. The RTX PRO 4000 has a TDP of 140 W, uses a 16-pin connector, and suggests a 300 W PSU. The FirePro W7100 has a TDP of 150 W, uses a 6-pin connector, and suggests a 450 W PSU. The bus interface is PCIe 5.0 x16 for the RTX PRO 4000 and PCIe 3.0 x16 for the FirePro W7100. Display outputs are 4x DisplayPort 2.1b on the RTX PRO 4000 and 4x DisplayPort 1.2 on the FirePro W7100. Both are single-slot cards with identical dimensions of 241 mm length and 111 mm height, though the RTX PRO 4000 has a listed width of 20 mm while the FirePro W7100’s width is not specified.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap is generational. The RTX PRO 4000 is built on Blackwell 2.0, a modern architecture designed for professional workloads, while the FirePro W7100 uses GCN 3.0, an older design from 2014. The RTX PRO 4000 is fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC, whereas the FirePro W7100 uses a 28 nm process, also at TSMC. This process difference alone explains the massive transistor density advantage: 120.6M / mm² versus 13.7M / mm².

The RTX PRO 4000 includes dedicated ray tracing cores (70) and tensor cores (280), which are completely absent from the FirePro W7100. This means the RTX PRO 4000 can accelerate ray-traced workloads and AI/ML inference, while the FirePro W7100 cannot. The RTX PRO 4000 also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, while the FirePro W7100 is limited to DirectX 12 (12_0) and Vulkan 1.2.170. OpenGL support is identical at 4.6.

The memory architecture is also fundamentally different. The RTX PRO 4000 uses GDDR7, which is a newer and faster memory type than the GDDR5 used in the FirePro W7100. The RTX PRO 4000’s 192-bit bus is narrower than the FirePro W7100’s 256-bit bus, but the higher memory clock and GDDR7 efficiency result in over 4x the bandwidth. The RTX PRO 4000 also has a higher FP16 compute rate equal to its FP32, which is beneficial for certain scientific and AI workloads.

The connectivity standards differ too. The RTX PRO 4000 uses PCIe 5.0 x16, doubling the bandwidth of the FirePro W7100’s PCIe 3.0 x16. DisplayPort 2.1b on the RTX PRO 4000 supports higher resolutions and refresh rates than DisplayPort 1.2 on the FirePro W7100. The RTX PRO 4000’s power delivery is more modern, using a 16-pin connector, while the FirePro W7100 uses a standard 6-pin.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous for anyone building a new workstation: the NVIDIA RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell is the superior card. Its 605.3% lead in Geekbench Vulkan, combined with a higher average benchmark score (27,135 versus 25,856), makes it the only sensible choice for performance-oriented tasks. The RTX PRO 4000 offers 24 GB of GDDR7 memory, 70 RT cores, and 280 tensor cores, which are essential for modern rendering and compute workloads. Its 140 W TDP and 300 W suggested PSU are also surprisingly modest for its performance level, making it a practical upgrade for existing systems.

The AMD FirePro W7100, however, still has a niche for legacy systems. Its PCIe 3.0 interface and 6-pin power connector make it a drop-in replacement for older workstations that cannot support PCIe 5.0 or a 16-pin connector. Its 8 GB of GDDR5 memory is sufficient for older professional applications, and its 150 W TDP is comparable to the RTX PRO 4000’s. The FirePro W7100’s nearest rivals include other legacy cards like the AMD FirePro D700 and Radeon Pro W5700, indicating it is best suited for maintaining aging systems rather than building new ones.

For a new purchase, the RTX PRO 4000 is the clear winner. For a repair or upgrade of a pre-2015 system, the FirePro W7100 remains a viable, if unremarkable, option. The benchmark data does not support any scenario where the FirePro W7100 outperforms the RTX PRO 4000 in graphics or compute, so the decision hinges entirely on platform compatibility and legacy support. Choose the RTX PRO 4000 for performance, the FirePro W7100 for compatibility with old hardware.