AMD FirePro W8000 vs AMD Radeon RX 560 XT Comparison

FAQ

Q: How do the two cards compare in overall benchmark performance?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 560 XT has an average benchmark score of 34,133, while the AMD FirePro W8000 scores 29,211. The RX 560 XT outperforms the FirePro W8000 in both recorded tests, winning the OpenCL test by 28.4% and the Vulkan test by 8.5%.

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

A: The RX 560 XT sits in the 79th percentile of all GPUs, while the FirePro W8000 sits in the 75th percentile. This places the RX 560 XT slightly higher in overall performance distribution.

Q: What are the closest rivals to each card in the database?

A: The RX 560 XT's nearest rival is the NVIDIA RTX A2000 12 GB, with a delta of -0.1%. The FirePro W8000's nearest rival is the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GH, with a delta of 0%. Both cards are tightly clustered with their respective competitors.

Q: Do both cards use the same amount of memory?

A: Yes, both cards have 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus. However, the RX 560 XT achieves 224.0 GB/s bandwidth versus 176.0 GB/s for the FirePro W8000, a difference driven by higher memory clock speeds.

Q: What is the release timeframe for each card?

A: The FirePro W8000 was released on June 13, 2012, while the RX 560 XT was released on March 12, 2019. Both are now listed as end-of-life products.

Q: Which card has a higher power draw?

A: The FirePro W8000 has a TDP of 225 W and requires two 6-pin power connectors, while the RX 560 XT has a TDP of 150 W and needs only one 6-pin connector.

Architecture Differences

The two cards represent dramatically different generations of AMD graphics technology. The RX 560 XT is built on the Ellesmere chip using GCN 4.0 architecture, manufactured on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. The FirePro W8000 uses the older Tahiti chip with GCN 1.0 architecture, fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC. This generational gap shows up clearly in transistor density: the RX 560 XT packs 5,700 million transistors into a 232 mm² die, yielding a density of 24.6M per mm², while the FirePro W8000 places 4,313 million transistors on a larger 352 mm² die, achieving only 12.3M per mm². The newer process node allows the RX 560 XT to be smaller, denser, and more power-efficient.

Both cards share identical core configurations in terms of shading units, texture mapping units, and render output units: 1,792 shading units, 112 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. Yet the RX 560 XT runs at higher clocks, with a base of 1074 MHz and boost up to 1226 MHz, whereas the FirePro W8000's clock fields are not recorded in the database. This clock advantage, combined with the architectural improvements of GCN 4.0 over GCN 1.0, explains the performance gap.

The FirePro W8000 is a professional workstation card from the FirePro GCN (Wx000) generation, with a launch MSRP of 1,599 USD. It offers a unique display output configuration: four DisplayPort 1.2 outputs plus one SDI output, reflecting its intended use in broadcast and professional video environments. The RX 560 XT, by contrast, belongs to the Polaris (RX 500) consumer generation and provides one HDMI 2.0b output and three DisplayPort 1.4a outputs.

API support also differs. The RX 560 XT supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. The FirePro W8000 supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The RX 560 XT also supports FP16 compute at 4.394 TFLOPS (1:1), while the FirePro W8000 has no recorded FP16 capability. In terms of raw FP32 throughput, the RX 560 XT delivers 4.394 TFLOPS versus 3.226 TFLOPS for the FirePro W8000.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded benchmarks show a clear overall victory for the RX 560 XT, which wins both tests. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RX 560 XT scores 31,387 against 24,440 for the FirePro W8000, a delta of 28.4%. That is a substantial margin and reflects the combined effect of the newer architecture, higher clocks, and superior memory bandwidth. The FirePro W8000's older GCN 1.0 design, while capable in its era, simply cannot keep pace with the much later Polaris implementation.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the margin narrows considerably. The RX 560 XT scores 36,879 versus 33,981 for the FirePro W8000, a delta of 8.5%. This smaller gap suggests that the Vulkan workload is relatively less sensitive to the architectural and clock differences between the two cards. It is notable that the FirePro W8000's Vulkan score is closer to the RX 560 XT's OpenCL score than to its own OpenCL score, which may indicate that the newer API test favors the older card less harshly.

The RX 560 XT's average benchmark score of 34,133 places it just 0.1% below the NVIDIA RTX A2000 12 GB (34,154) and 0.2% below the NVIDIA RTX A1000 (34,207). It also sits 0.4% above the AMD Radeon RX 480 (33,997) and 0.5% above the AMD Radeon HD 7950 (33,951). The FirePro W8000, with an average score of 29,211, is essentially tied with the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GH (29,197, 0% delta), 0.1% above the Intel Arc A370M (29,175), 0.7% above the AMD Radeon RX 470 (28,996), and 1.2% above the AMD Radeon RX 6800M (28,874).

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every major specification category. The RX 560 XT is built on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries, while the FirePro W8000 uses a 28 nm process at TSMC. Transistor counts are 5,700 million versus 4,313 million, and die sizes are 232 mm² versus 352 mm². Transistor density is 24.6M per mm² for the RX 560 XT and 12.3M per mm² for the FirePro W8000.

Memory bandwidth favors the RX 560 XT at 224.0 GB/s versus 176.0 GB/s, despite both using 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus. The memory clock is 1750 MHz (7 Gbps effective) for the RX 560 XT and 1375 MHz (5.5 Gbps effective) for the FirePro W8000. Pixel rate is 39.23 GPixel/s for the RX 560 XT versus 28.80 GPixel/s for the FirePro W8000. Texture rate is 137.3 GTexel/s versus 100.8 GTexel/s. FP32 compute is 4.394 TFLOPS versus 3.226 TFLOPS, and only the RX 560 XT has a recorded FP16 rate (4.394 TFLOPS).

Power requirements differ significantly: the RX 560 XT has a TDP of 150 W with a single 6-pin connector and a suggested 450 W PSU, while the FirePro W8000 has a TDP of 225 W with two 6-pin connectors and a suggested 550 W PSU. The cards have identical shading unit, TMU, and ROP counts, but the RX 560 XT is shorter at 241 mm (9.5 inches) compared to the FirePro W8000's 279 mm (11 inches); the FirePro W8000 also has a recorded height of 111 mm (4.4 inches). Display outputs differ: the RX 560 XT offers 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, while the FirePro W8000 offers 4x DisplayPort 1.2 and 1x SDI. API support differs in DirectX and Vulkan versions as noted above.

The Verdict

The data points to a decisive win for the AMD Radeon RX 560 XT. It is faster in both benchmark tests, with a 28.4% advantage in OpenCL and an 8.5% advantage in Vulkan. Its average benchmark score of 34,133 versus 29,211 places it four percentile points higher in the overall GPU distribution. It achieves this while consuming less power (150 W versus 225 W), requiring a smaller PSU, and occupying a shorter board length. The RX 560 XT also brings modern API support, including DirectX 12 (12_0) and Vulkan 1.3, compared to the FirePro W8000's DirectX 12 (11_1) and Vulkan 1.2.170.

The FirePro W8000's remaining strengths are its professional feature set and its 1,599 USD launch MSRP, which reflects its original workstation positioning. Its four DisplayPort 1.2 outputs and dedicated SDI output suggest a design aimed at multi-display professional setups, particularly broadcast environments. However, from a pure performance standpoint, the recorded benchmarks show no test where the FirePro W8000 comes out ahead. The closest it gets is the Vulkan test, where it trails by 8.5%, but it never leads. For anyone choosing between these two based on the database results, the RX 560 XT is the stronger card in every measured workload.

Where Each One Wins

The RX 560 XT wins in raw compute performance across both recorded benchmarks. Its OpenCL score of 31,387 is 28.4% higher than the FirePro W8000's 24,440, making it the clear choice for general-purpose compute workloads that leverage OpenCL. Its Vulkan score of 36,879 is 8.5% higher than the FirePro W8000's 33,981, so it also leads in modern graphics API workloads. The RX 560 XT additionally wins on efficiency, delivering higher performance at a 75 W lower TDP, and it offers newer display outputs with HDMI 2.0b and DisplayPort 1.4a. Its FP16 support and higher memory bandwidth further extend its advantage in tasks that use half-precision compute or memory-intensive operations.

The FirePro W8000's wins are narrower and more situational. It is the only one of the two with an SDI output, which is a specialized interface for broadcast and professional video production. It also offers four DisplayPort outputs versus the RX 560 XT's three, which could matter for multi-monitor workstation configurations. Its 1,599 USD launch MSRP and professional FirePro branding indicate it was designed for workstation use cases where driver certification and specialized display capabilities matter more than raw benchmark scores. However, in the two recorded benchmark tests, the FirePro W8000 does not win either one. The RX 560 XT is the superior choice for compute performance, while the FirePro W8000 retains relevance only in specific professional display scenarios that no consumer card replicates.