AMD Radeon 8050S vs AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100 Comparison

The AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100 and the AMD Radeon 8050S represent two distinct eras of AMD graphics, separated by nearly eight years of architectural evolution. The data shows a split decision in direct benchmark comparisons, with the older workstation card taking the OpenCL crown while the newer integrated part dominates in Vulkan. Both sit at the 89th percentile among all GPUs, but their average benchmark scores differ meaningfully, suggesting different strengths in different workloads.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only two comparable benchmark results in the data are the Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan tests. In OpenCL, the AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100 scores 66,605 against the Radeon 8050S's 65,818, a narrow 1.2% margin of victory. This is a close call, but it is a consistent theme for the older card, which relies on its massive 4,096 shading units and 12.29 TFLOPS of FP32 performance to push through compute-heavy workloads. The 8050S is not far behind in raw FP32 at 11.47 TFLOPS, but its smaller 2,048-shader configuration appears to cost it a slight edge in this particular API.

The Vulkan result flips the script entirely. Here, the Radeon 8050S scores 58,398 against the WX 9100's 54,711, a 6.3% advantage. That is a substantial lead, and it is likely a direct consequence of the 8050S's RDNA 3.5 architecture, which is designed to handle modern graphics APIs more efficiently. The WX 9100's GCN 5.0 design, while powerful in compute, is older and less optimized for Vulkan's low-overhead nature. The 8050S also brings 32 dedicated ray tracing cores to the table, a feature the WX 9100 lacks entirely, which may contribute to its Vulkan superiority in rendering tasks.

Looking at the broader benchmark picture, the WX 9100's average benchmark score is 64,212, while the 8050S trails at 62,108. This 2,104-point gap is reflected in their nearest rival lists. The WX 9100's closest competitor is the NVIDIA CMP 30HX with an average score of 63,842, a delta of just 0.6%. The 8050S's nearest rival is the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M at 61,896, a 0.3% delta. Interestingly, both cards share the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 and the AMD Radeon RX 7600M as rivals, but with opposite deltas: the WX 9100 is 0.8% ahead of the Pro Vega 56, while the 8050S is 2.5% behind it. This suggests the WX 9100 has a slight edge in overall compute consistency, whereas the 8050S is more specialized.

The Verdict

From the data alone, the choice between these two is workload-dependent. The AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100 is the pick for users prioritizing raw compute throughput in OpenCL-style applications. Its 1.2% OpenCL win, combined with a 12.29 TFLOPS FP32 rating and 16 GB of HBM2 memory with 483.8 GB/s of bandwidth, makes it a formidable tool for scientific computing or professional rendering that leverages those resources. It also holds a 3.4% higher average benchmark score overall (64,212 vs. 62,108), indicating more consistent performance across a wider range of tasks.

The AMD Radeon 8050S, conversely, is the better option for modern gaming or Vulkan-based workloads. Its 6.3% Vulkan victory is decisive, and its support for DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4 gives it feature-level parity with current software standards that the WX 9100 cannot match with its DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.3 support. The 8050S also operates as an integrated graphics processor with a 55 W TDP, making it suitable for portable or power-constrained systems, whereas the WX 9100 is a 230 W dual-slot add-in board requiring a 550 W power supply. If the workload is modern gaming or Vulkan-centric, the 8050S is the clear winner; if it is legacy compute, the WX 9100's edge in OpenCL and average score makes it the safer bet.

FAQ

Q: Which card has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100 has an average benchmark score of 64,212, which is 3.4% higher than the AMD Radeon 8050S's 62,108.

Q: How do the two cards compare in Vulkan performance?

A: The AMD Radeon 8050S wins the Geekbench Vulkan test with a score of 58,398, beating the AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100's 54,711 by 6.3%.

Q: What is the margin of victory in the OpenCL benchmark?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100 wins Geekbench OpenCL with 66,605 points, a 1.2% advantage over the AMD Radeon 8050S's 65,818.

Q: Do both cards support the same DirectX version?

A: No. The AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100 supports DirectX 12 (12_1), while the AMD Radeon 8050S supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2).

Q: What is the TDP difference between the two?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100 has a TDP of 230 W, while the AMD Radeon 8050S is rated at just 55 W.

Q: Which card has more shading units?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100 has 4,096 shading units, exactly double the 2,048 shading units on the AMD Radeon 8050S.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every measurable specification. The AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100 uses the Vega 10 chip on a 14 nm GlobalFoundries process, with 12,500 million transistors on a 495 mm² die. The AMD Radeon 8050S uses the Strix Halo chip on a 4 nm TSMC process, with a 308 mm² die and an unknown transistor count. Clock speeds are notably higher on the 8050S, which boosts to 2800 MHz from a 1295 MHz base, while the WX 9100 operates at a 1200 MHz base and 1500 MHz boost.

Memory configurations are entirely different. The WX 9100 has 16 GB of dedicated HBM2 memory on a 2048-bit bus, delivering 483.8 GB/s of bandwidth at 1890 Mbps effective. The 8050S uses system shared memory, with its size, type, bus width, and bandwidth all listed as "System Shared" or "System Dependent." The WX 9100 has 256 TMUs and 64 ROPs, while the 8050S has 128 TMUs and 64 ROPs. Pixel and texture rates favor the 8050S: 179.2 GPixel/s and 358.4 GTexel/s versus 96.00 GPixel/s and 384.0 GTexel/s for the WX 9100.

The WX 9100 is a dual-slot card measuring 267 mm in length and 111 mm in height, requiring a 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin power connector and a 550 W suggested PSU. The 8050S is an IGP with no power connectors and no listed dimensions. The WX 9100 offers 6x mini-DisplayPort 1.4a outputs, while the 8050S's display outputs are portable device dependent. The bus interface also differs: PCIe 3.0 x16 for the WX 9100 versus PCIe 5.0 x16 for the 8050S.

Architecture Differences

The architectural divide is fundamental. The AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100 uses GCN 5.0 architecture on a 14 nm process, while the AMD Radeon 8050S uses RDNA 3.5 on a 4 nm process. This generational leap explains many performance characteristics. The WX 9100's FP16 performance is 24.58 TFLOPS with a 2:1 ratio, meaning it doubles FP32 throughput for half-precision work. The 8050S's FP16 is 11.47 TFLOPS with a 1:1 ratio, indicating no such advantage for half-precision compute.

The most significant feature difference is ray tracing. The 8050S includes 32 dedicated RT cores, a capability entirely absent from the WX 9100. This is a direct consequence of the RDNA 3.5 design targeting modern graphics workloads. The WX 9100, from 2017, predates mainstream ray tracing hardware.

Production status also separates them. The WX 9100 is listed as end-of-life, released on 2017-07-09, with a successor named the Radeon Pro Vega. The 8050S is active, released on 2025-01-05, with a predecessor of Polaris Mobile and no successor. The WX 9100's generation is "Radeon Pro Polaris (WX x100)" while the 8050S belongs to "Navi Mobile (RX 8000M)." The WX 9100's launch MSRP was 1,599 USD, a figure not available for the 8050S. API support diverges at the top end: the WX 9100 offers Vulkan 1.3, while the 8050S offers Vulkan 1.4, and the 8050S's DirectX 12 Ultimate support provides features like mesh shaders and variable rate shading that the WX 9100's DirectX 12 (12_1) cannot offer.