AMD FirePro W8000 vs AMD Radeon RX 6700 Comparison

The AMD Radeon RX 6700 and AMD FirePro W8000 represent two very different eras of GPU design, and the benchmark data reflects a generational chasm. The RX 6700, built on RDNA 2.0, utterly dominates the older GCN 1.0-based FirePro in every measurable compute and graphics workload. Across the two shared benchmark tests, the RX 6700 wins decisively, with an average benchmark score of 30,433 compared to the FirePro W8000's 29,211. While both cards sit at the 75th percentile among all GPUs, that parity in percentile ranking is misleading; the RX 6700's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti (1.6% faster) and the AMD Radeon RX 6800 (1.1% slower), whereas the FirePro W8000's closest competitor is the AMD Radeon RX 470 (0.7% slower). The data paints a clear picture of a modern card leaving a legacy workstation part far behind.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The most dramatic disparity appears in the Geekbench OpenCL test, where the RX 6700 scores 97,841 against the FirePro W8000's 24,440. That is a 300.3% advantage for the Radeon RX 6700 — a fourfold increase in raw compute throughput. This result is not a marginal improvement; it is a complete overhaul in processing capability. The RX 6700's FP32 performance of 11.29 TFLOPS versus the FirePro's 3.226 TFLOPS explains the gulf, as does the memory subsystem: the RX 6700 delivers 320.0 GB/s of bandwidth from 10 GB of GDDR6 on a 160-bit bus, while the FirePro manages just 176.0 GB/s from 4 GB of GDDR5 on a wider 256-bit bus. The newer card's smaller bus width is more than compensated by faster memory and a much higher clock speed.

In the Geekbench Vulkan test, the RX 6700 again wins, scoring 83,974 versus 33,981 — a 147.1% lead. Vulkan is a modern low-level API, and the RX 6700's support for Vulkan 1.4 (against the FirePro's 1.2.170) gives it a structural advantage. The RX 6700 also posts a Geekbench Metal score of 122,223, a test the FirePro W8000 did not run, further indicating the older card's limited software ecosystem. The RX 6700's wins extend across DirectX variants as well, with Passmark scores of 250 in DirectX 9, 166 in DirectX 11, 115 in DirectX 10, and 71 in DirectX 12. The FirePro W8000 has no corresponding scores in the data, but its DirectX 12 (11_1) API support suggests it cannot handle the same workload profile. The head-to-head tally is unambiguous: the RX 6700 wins 2 out of 2 shared tests, with the FirePro W8000 failing to secure a single victory.

The Verdict

The data dictates a simple conclusion: the AMD Radeon RX 6700 is the superior GPU for virtually any task. Its average benchmark score of 30,433 places it 4.2% ahead of the FirePro W8000's 29,211, but that aggregate figure understates the per-test dominance. In OpenCL, the RX 6700 is 300.3% faster; in Vulkan, it is 147.1% faster. The RX 6700's nearest rival, the NVIDIA CMP 70HX, is only 0.1% faster on average, meaning the RX 6700 sits comfortably in the upper tier of modern GPUs. The FirePro W8000, by contrast, is bracketed by the Intel Arc A370M (0.1% faster) and the AMD Radeon RX 470 (0.7% slower), placing it in the mid-range of older hardware. For anyone choosing between these two, the RX 6700 is the only rational pick — assuming the workload requires current API support and high compute throughput.

Choose the RX 6700 if you need raw performance, modern API compatibility, or any form of compute acceleration. Its 11.29 TFLOPS FP32 and 22.58 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1) make it a capable compute card, and its 36 ray tracing cores add hardware-accelerated ray tracing that the FirePro entirely lacks. Choose the FirePro W8000 only if you have a legacy software stack that specifically requires GCN 1.0 features or the SDI display output — it is the only card of the two with a 1x SDI connector, alongside 4x DisplayPort 1.2. But even then, the FirePro's 28 nm process node and 4,313 million transistors (versus the RX 6700's 7 nm and 17,200 million) mean it will struggle to keep pace. The verdict is not close.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon RX 6700 wins in every benchmark category where data exists. In compute-heavy workloads like Geekbench OpenCL, its 300.3% lead makes it the clear choice for general-purpose GPU computing, machine learning inference, or any task leveraging FP32 throughput. Its Vulkan score of 83,974 versus 33,981 makes it ideal for modern game engines and cross-platform graphics applications that use Vulkan. The RX 6700 also excels in DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), a feature set the FirePro cannot match with its DirectX 12 (11_1) support. For content creation, the RX 6700's 10 GB of GDDR6 memory provides more headroom for large textures and datasets than the FirePro's 4 GB GDDR5. Its higher pixel rate (156.8 GPixel/s vs 28.80 GPixel/s) and texture rate (352.8 GTexel/s vs 100.8 GTexel/s) mean faster rasterization and filtering across all resolutions.

The AMD FirePro W8000 has no benchmark wins in the shared tests, but it does have a few qualitative advantages. Its 256-bit memory bus is wider than the RX 6700's 160-bit bus, though slower memory negates this. It supports 4x DisplayPort 1.2 and 1x SDI, making it a niche option for broadcast or video-wall applications that require SDI output. Its 225 W TDP is higher than the RX 6700's 175 W, suggesting it may be designed for sustained workstation loads, but it also requires a 550 W PSU versus the RX 6700's 450 W recommendation. The FirePro's PCIe 3.0 x16 interface is a generation behind the RX 6700's PCIe 4.0 x16, halving potential bandwidth for data transfers. In practice, the FirePro W8000 only makes sense for legacy SDI-driven workflows; everywhere else, the RX 6700 wins outright.

FAQ

Q: How much faster is the AMD Radeon RX 6700 in OpenCL compute?

A: The RX 6700 scores 97,841 in Geekbench OpenCL, which is 300.3% higher than the FirePro W8000's 24,440. This translates to roughly four times the compute performance.

Q: Does the FirePro W8000 support Vulkan?

A: Yes, the FirePro W8000 supports Vulkan 1.2.170, but its Geekbench Vulkan score of 33,981 is 147.1% lower than the RX 6700's 83,974. The RX 6700 also supports the newer Vulkan 1.4 API.

Q: What are the memory specifications of each card?

A: The RX 6700 has 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus with 320.0 GB/s bandwidth. The FirePro W8000 has 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus with 176.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which card has higher power consumption?

A: The FirePro W8000 has a TDP of 225 W, while the RX 6700 has a TDP of 175 W. The FirePro also requires a 550 W suggested PSU, compared to 450 W for the RX 6700.

Q: Are both cards still in production?

A: No, both are end-of-life. The RX 6700 was released on 2021-06-08, while the FirePro W8000 was released on 2012-06-13.

Q: What is the average benchmark score difference?

A: The RX 6700 has an average benchmark score of 30,433, which is 4.2% higher than the FirePro W8000's 29,211. The RX 6700's nearest rival is the NVIDIA CMP 70HX at 30,476.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two GPUs is vast. The RX 6700 uses the Navi 22 chip on TSMC's 7 nm process node, packing 17,200 million transistors into a 335 mm² die with a transistor density of 51.3 million per mm². The FirePro W8000 uses the Tahiti chip on TSMC's 28 nm process, with 4,313 million transistors on a slightly larger 352 mm² die, yielding a density of just 12.3 million per mm². The RX 6700's RDNA 2.0 architecture is a dramatic evolution from the FirePro's GCN 1.0, introducing 36 dedicated ray tracing cores — a feature entirely absent from the FirePro. The RX 6700 has 2304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs, versus the FirePro's 1792 shading units, 112 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. This means the RX 6700 has 28.6% more shading units and double the ROPs, explaining its 156.8 GPixel/s pixel rate against the FirePro's 28.80 GPixel/s.

Clock speeds further separate the two. The RX 6700 has a base clock of 1941 MHz, a game clock of 2174 MHz, and a boost clock of 2450 MHz. The FirePro W8000 has no listed base or boost clocks, but its memory clock of 1375 MHz (5.5 Gbps effective) is far below the RX 6700's 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective). The RX 6700's FP32 performance of 11.29 TFLOPS and FP16 of 22.58 TFLOPS (2:1) dwarf the FirePro's 3.226 TFLOPS FP32, with no FP16 support listed. API support also differs: the RX 6700 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, while the FirePro supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The RX 6700's PCIe 4.0 x16 interface doubles the bandwidth of the FirePro's PCIe 3.0 x16. Display outputs diverge too — the RX 6700 offers 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, while the FirePro provides 4x DisplayPort 1.2 and 1x SDI. The RX 6700 uses a single 8-pin power connector, the FirePro two 6-pin connectors. In every architectural metric, the RX 6700 is the newer, more capable design.