AMD FirePro W8000 vs AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT Comparison

The Verdict

The data separates these two AMD cards cleanly. The AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT wins every shared benchmark in the record, and it wins by decisive margins. In Geekbench OpenCL, the RX 6700 XT scores 44,152 against the FirePro W8000’s 24,440, a 44.6% gap. In Geekbench Vulkan, the RX 6700 XT scores 93,500 against 33,981, a 63.7% gap. The RX 6700 XT also holds a higher average benchmark score of 27,425 versus 29,211 for the FirePro W8000, though that average includes a broader test suite for the newer card. The FirePro W8000’s percentile ranking is 75, slightly above the RX 6700 XT’s 72, but that percentile reflects all GPUs in the database, not a direct comparison here. From the head-to-head data alone, the RX 6700 XT is the clear performance pick.

However, the FirePro W8000 is not without a role. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GH (average score 29,197, delta 0%) and the Intel Arc A370M (29,175, delta 0.1%), placing it in a performance class near those mobile and compact parts. The RX 6700 XT, by contrast, sits near the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile (27,435, delta 0%) and the RTX 3090 (27,565, delta -0.5%). The FirePro W8000’s professional lineage shows in its display outputs: 4x DisplayPort 1.2 and 1x SDI, which the RX 6700 XT lacks entirely. For a workstation requiring SDI output, the FirePro W8000 is the only option in this pair. For everything else in the data, the RX 6700 XT is the choice.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different architectural eras. The FirePro W8000 uses the Tahiti chip on GCN 1.0 architecture, manufactured on a 28 nm process at TSMC. The RX 6700 XT uses the Navi 22 chip on RDNA 2.0 architecture, manufactured on a 7 nm process, also at TSMC. The transistor counts reflect this: the FirePro W8000 has 4,313 million transistors on a 352 mm² die, while the RX 6700 XT packs 17,200 million transistors on a slightly smaller 335 mm² die. The transistor density tells the story — 12.3M per mm² for the old card versus 51.3M per mm² for the new one.

Memory architecture differs substantially. The FirePro W8000 has 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 176.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The RX 6700 XT has 12 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, delivering 384.0 GB/s. The newer card has triple the capacity and more than double the bandwidth despite a narrower bus. The RX 6700 XT also lists a memory clock of 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective), while the FirePro W8000 lists 1375 MHz (5.5 Gbps effective).

Compute resources scale up significantly. The FirePro W8000 has 1,792 shading units, 112 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. The RX 6700 XT has 2,560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. The RX 6700 XT also brings 40 ray tracing cores, which the FirePro W8000 does not have. Pixel rate rises from 28.80 GPixel/s to 165.2 GPixel/s, and texture rate rises from 100.8 GTexel/s to 413.0 GTexel/s. FP32 compute jumps from 3.226 TFLOPS to 13.21 TFLOPS, and the RX 6700 XT adds FP16 at 26.43 TFLOPS (2:1), which the FirePro W8000 does not list.

API support differs as well. The FirePro W8000 supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The RX 6700 XT supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The bus interface also advances, from PCIe 3.0 x16 on the FirePro W8000 to PCIe 4.0 x16 on the RX 6700 XT.

Where Each One Wins

The RX 6700 XT wins in raw compute and graphics throughput. In Geekbench OpenCL, it scores 44,152, which is 80.7% higher than the FirePro W8000’s 24,440. In Geekbench Vulkan, the RX 6700 XT’s 93,500 is 175.2% higher than the FirePro W8000’s 33,981. The RX 6700 XT also has a much broader benchmark footprint, with scores in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 (2,435), Geekbench Metal (130,896), and multiple Passmark tests including DirectX 9 (242), DirectX 10 (124), DirectX 11 (173), DirectX 12 (77), G2D (951), G3D (19,786), and GPU Compute (9,336). The FirePro W8000 has no entries for these tests in the record.

The FirePro W8000 wins in professional display connectivity. It offers 4x DisplayPort 1.2 and 1x SDI outputs. The RX 6700 XT offers 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a. For environments with SDI infrastructure, the FirePro W8000 is the only card here that can connect directly. The FirePro W8000 also has a shorter physical footprint in one dimension: 279 mm length versus 267 mm for the RX 6700 XT, though the RX 6700 XT is shorter. The FirePro W8000 is 111 mm tall, the RX 6700 XT is 110 mm tall, and the RX 6700 XT has a listed width of 40 mm while the FirePro W8000 does not list a width.

Power requirements are similar: both have a 225 W TDP for the FirePro W8000 and 230 W for the RX 6700 XT, and both suggest a 550 W PSU. The power connectors differ — the FirePro W8000 uses 2x 6-pin, the RX 6700 XT uses 1x 6-pin plus 1x 8-pin. Both are dual-slot cards.

FAQ

Q: Which card has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The FirePro W8000 has an average benchmark score of 29,211, while the RX 6700 XT has 27,425. However, the RX 6700 XT has a much larger set of benchmark results, including 3DMark, Metal, and multiple Passmark tests, which the FirePro W8000 does not have.

Q: How large is the performance gap in shared tests?

A: In Geekbench OpenCL, the RX 6700 XT leads by 44.6%. In Geekbench Vulkan, the RX 6700 XT leads by 63.7%.

Q: Which card supports ray tracing?

A: The RX 6700 XT has 40 ray tracing cores. The FirePro W8000 does not list any ray tracing cores.

Q: Which card has more memory bandwidth?

A: The RX 6700 XT has 384.0 GB/s of bandwidth, compared to the FirePro W8000’s 176.0 GB/s.

Q: Are these cards still in production?

A: Both are end-of-life. The FirePro W8000 was released on 2012-06-13, and the RX 6700 XT was released on 2021-03-02.

Q: Which card has more display outputs?

A: The FirePro W8000 has 4x DisplayPort 1.2 and 1x SDI, totaling five outputs. The RX 6700 XT has 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, totaling four outputs.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The two shared tests in the record are Geekbench OpenCL and Geekbench Vulkan. In both, the RX 6700 XT wins decisively.

Geekbench OpenCL: The RX 6700 XT scores 44,152, the FirePro W8000 scores 24,440. The delta is -44.6% from the perspective of the FirePro W8000, meaning the RX 6700 XT delivers roughly 80.7% more performance. This test exercises general-purpose compute, and the RX 6700 XT’s higher shading unit count (2,560 versus 1,792), higher FP32 throughput (13.21 TFLOPS versus 3.226 TFLOPS), and faster memory (384.0 GB/s versus 176.0 GB/s) all contribute to the gap.

Geekbench Vulkan: The RX 6700 XT scores 93,500, the FirePro W8000 scores 33,981. The delta is -63.7%, meaning the RX 6700 XT is about 175.2% faster. Vulkan workloads benefit from the RX 6700 XT’s newer architecture, its Vulkan 1.4 API support versus Vulkan 1.2.170, and its much higher pixel and texture rates (165.2 GPixel/s and 413.0 GTexel/s versus 28.80 GPixel/s and 100.8 GTexel/s).

The RX 6700 XT also has data for tests the FirePro W8000 lacks entirely. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, it scores 2,435. In Geekbench Metal, it scores 130,896. In Passmark, it scores 124 in DirectX 10, 173 in DirectX 11, 77 in DirectX 12, 242 in DirectX 9, 951 in G2D, 19,786 in G3D, and 9,336 in GPU Compute. These results indicate a card that handles a wide range of rendering and compute APIs, but no direct comparison to the FirePro W8000 is possible because the older card has no scores for those tests.

Specification Differences

The following fields differ between the two cards:

• Chip: Tahiti versus Navi 22
• Architecture: GCN 1.0 versus RDNA 2.0
• Generation: FirePro GCN (Wx000) versus Navi II (RX 6000)
• Process node: 28 nm versus 7 nm
• Transistors: 4,313 million versus 17,200 million
• Die size: 352 mm² versus 335 mm²
• Transistor density: 12.3M / mm² versus 51.3M / mm²
• Base clock: Not listed versus 2321 MHz
• Boost clock: Not listed versus 2581 MHz
• Game clock: Not listed versus 2424 MHz
• Memory clock: 1375 MHz (5.5 Gbps effective) versus 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective)
• Memory size: 4 GB versus 12 GB
• Memory type: GDDR5 versus GDDR6
• Memory bus width: 256 bit versus 192 bit
• Memory bandwidth: 176.0 GB/s versus 384.0 GB/s
• Shading units: 1792 versus 2560
• TMUs: 112 versus 160
• ROPs: 32 versus 64
• Ray tracing cores: Not listed versus 40
• Pixel rate: 28.80 GPixel/s versus 165.2 GPixel/s
• Texture rate: 100.8 GTexel/s versus 413.0 GTexel/s
• FP32: 3.226 TFLOPS versus 13.21 TFLOPS
• FP16: Not listed versus 26.43 TFLOPS (2:1)
• TDP: 225 W versus 230 W
• Power connectors: 2x 6-pin versus 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin
• Bus interface: PCIe 3.0 x16 versus PCIe 4.0 x16
• Display outputs: 4x DisplayPort 1.2, 1x SDI versus 1x HDMI 2.1, 3x DisplayPort 1.4a
• DirectX support: 12 (11_1) versus 12 Ultimate (12_2)
• Vulkan support: 1.2.170 versus 1.4
• Dimensions: 279 mm x 111 mm versus 267 mm x 110 mm x 40 mm
• Release date: 2012-06-13 versus 2021-03-02
• Predecessor: FirePro Terascale versus Navi
• Successor: Radeon Pro Polaris versus Navi III
• Launch MSRP: The FirePro W8000 had a launch MSRP of 1,599 USD. The RX 6700 XT had a launch MSRP of 479 USD.

Shared specifications include manufacturer (AMD), foundry (TSMC), slot width (dual-slot), suggested PSU (550 W), OpenGL support (4.6), production status (end-of-life), and the absence of tensor cores in both.