AMD Radeon Pro W5700 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti Comparison

The AMD Radeon Pro W5700 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti are separated by six years of GPU architecture, and the benchmark data reflects a complete generational overhaul. The Radeon Pro W5700 is a professional workstation card built on a 7 nm process, while the GTX 780 Ti is a 28 nm consumer flagship from the Kepler era. In the three head-to-head tests available, the AMD card wins every single one, with deltas ranging from 159.6% to a staggering 393.6%. The GTX 780 Ti’s best showing is in Geekbench OpenCL, where it still trails by 173%. The average benchmark scores tell a similar story: the W5700 posts 25,726 versus 24,236 for the 780 Ti, a lead of roughly 6.1%. However, the percentile rankings are closer than the raw deltas suggest, with the W5700 at the 71st percentile and the 780 Ti at the 70th, indicating that the older card still holds its own against the broader GPU landscape.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the AMD Radeon Pro W5700 is the superior performer in every measured category. If you need maximum compute throughput, especially in Metal-based or Vulkan workloads, the W5700 is the only rational choice. Its 89,557 Geekbench Metal score is nearly five times higher than the 780 Ti’s 18,144, and its OpenCL advantage of 173% makes it the clear pick for general-purpose GPU compute. The GTX 780 Ti, despite its age, retains a respectable 70th percentile ranking, but its 3 GB of GDDR5 memory and 336.6 GB/s bandwidth are severe limitations for modern workloads.

For users constrained to legacy DirectX 9 or 10 applications, the GTX 780 Ti might have an edge in compatibility, but the W5700’s Passmark scores in those tests (225 and 88, respectively) are still functional. The W5700 also offers a more modern feature set, including PCIe 4.0 x16 and support for Vulkan 1.4, whereas the 780 Ti is limited to PCIe 3.0 x16 and Vulkan 1.2.175. The verdict is straightforward: the W5700 wins on raw performance, memory capacity, and API support. The 780 Ti is only relevant if you have a specific legacy application that requires its exact driver profile, and even then, the performance gap is so large that it is hard to recommend.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon Pro W5700 dominates across the board in the three head-to-head benchmarks, but the magnitude of its wins varies by workload. The largest victory is in Geekbench Metal, where it scores 89,557 against the 780 Ti’s 18,144, a delta of 393.6%. This suggests that the W5700 is exceptionally well-optimized for Apple’s Metal API, making it the go-to choice for macOS-based rendering or machine learning tasks. In Geekbench OpenCL, the W5700 posts 74,613 versus 27,326, a 173% lead, which indicates strong general-purpose compute performance across a wide range of scientific and engineering applications.

The Geekbench Vulkan test shows a 159.6% advantage for the W5700, with scores of 70,706 and 27,238, respectively. This is significant for cross-platform game development and Vulkan-based rendering pipelines. The GTX 780 Ti has no wins in the head-to-head suite, but it does have a single advantage in the broader benchmark set: its Passmark DirectX 9 score of 225 is higher than the W5700’s 225? No, that is incorrect. The W5700 also scores 225 in Passmark DirectX 9, making them equal. The 780 Ti’s only potential edge is in legacy DirectX 10 and 11 titles where its older driver stack may offer better compatibility, but the W5700’s scores of 88 and 104 in those tests are not dramatically worse. The W5700 is the winner in every category that matters for modern workloads, while the 780 Ti is a relic for legacy 32-bit applications that do not benefit from newer architectures.

Architecture Differences

The two cards are built on fundamentally different processes and architectures. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700 uses the Navi 10 chip on TSMC’s 7 nm process, packing 10,300 million transistors into a 251 mm² die. This yields a transistor density of 41.0M per mm², a figure that highlights the efficiency of the modern node. In contrast, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti uses the GK110B chip on TSMC’s 28 nm process, with 7,080 million transistors spread across a massive 561 mm² die, resulting in a density of just 12.6M per mm². The W5700’s smaller die and higher density allow it to achieve higher clock speeds, with a boost clock of 1880 MHz versus the 780 Ti’s 928 MHz.

Memory is another major differentiator. The W5700 comes equipped with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The 780 Ti has only 3 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus, with 336.6 GB/s of bandwidth. Despite the narrower bus, the W5700’s faster memory clock (14 Gbps effective versus 7 Gbps) gives it a 33% bandwidth advantage. The W5700 also has a higher pixel rate (120.3 GPixel/s versus 55.68 GPixel/s) and texture rate (270.7 GTexel/s versus 222.7 GTexel/s), though the 780 Ti has more shading units (2880 versus 2304) and TMUs (240 versus 144). The W5700’s FP32 throughput of 8.663 TFLOPS is 62% higher than the 780 Ti’s 5.345 TFLOPS, and it also supports FP16 with a 2:1 ratio, which the 780 Ti lacks entirely.

In terms of features, the W5700 supports PCIe 4.0 x16, while the 780 Ti is limited to PCIe 3.0 x16. The W5700 has five mini-DisplayPort 1.4a outputs and one USB Type-C, whereas the 780 Ti offers two DVI, one HDMI 1.4a, and one DisplayPort 1.2. The power requirements are also different: the W5700 has a 205 W TDP with a 550 W suggested PSU, while the 780 Ti has a 250 W TDP with a 600 W suggested PSU. Both cards use dual-slot coolers and require one 6-pin and one 8-pin power connector. The W5700 is an end-of-life product released in November 2019, while the 780 Ti is also end-of-life, released in November 2013.

FAQ

Q: Which card has better raw compute performance?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro W5700 is significantly faster. Its FP32 throughput is 8.663 TFLOPS versus 5.345 TFLOPS for the GTX 780 Ti, a 62% advantage. In Geekbench OpenCL, the W5700 scores 74,613 versus 27,326, a 173% lead.

Q: Is the GTX 780 Ti still relevant for modern gaming?

A: The data suggests it is not. The 780 Ti has only 3 GB of GDDR5 memory and its best head-to-head result is a 159.6% loss in Geekbench Vulkan. Its 70th percentile ranking is respectable, but the W5700’s 71st percentile and far higher raw scores make it the better choice for any current workload.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth difference?

A: The W5700 offers 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth from 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus. The 780 Ti offers 336.6 GB/s from 3 GB of GDDR5 on a 384-bit bus. The W5700 has a 33% bandwidth advantage despite the narrower bus.

Q: Which card supports newer API versions?

A: The W5700 supports DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.4, while the 780 Ti supports DirectX 12 (11_1) and Vulkan 1.2.175. Both support OpenGL 4.6. The W5700 also has a higher PCIe interface version, 4.0 x16 versus 3.0 x16.

Q: How do they compare in Geekbench Metal?

A: The W5700 is the overwhelming winner, scoring 89,557 versus the 780 Ti’s 18,144. This is a 393.6% difference, suggesting the W5700 is far better suited for Metal-based rendering on macOS.

Q: Are there any benchmarks where the GTX 780 Ti wins?

A: In the three head-to-head tests, the 780 Ti has zero wins. Its only comparable scores are in Passmark DirectX 9, where both cards score 225, but the W5700 wins or ties in every other metric.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The three head-to-head benchmarks paint a clear picture of generational dominance. The biggest win for the AMD Radeon Pro W5700 is in Geekbench Metal, where it scores 89,557 against the GTX 780 Ti’s 18,144. That is a delta of 393.6%, meaning the W5700 is nearly five times faster in this test. This result is particularly striking because the 780 Ti was a flagship card in its day, yet it cannot compete with a modern mid-range professional GPU in Apple’s compute API. The W5700’s 7 nm process and RDNA 1.0 architecture clearly provide massive efficiency gains over the 28 nm Kepler design.

The Geekbench OpenCL test shows a 173% advantage for the W5700, with scores of 74,613 and 27,326. While not as lopsided as Metal, this is still a dominant victory. OpenCL is widely used for scientific computing and video encoding, so this result indicates that the W5700 is the better choice for any workstation task. The Geekbench Vulkan test is the closest of the three, with the W5700 scoring 70,706 versus 27,238, a 159.6% lead. Vulkan is becoming increasingly important for game development and cross-platform graphics, and the W5700’s support for Vulkan 1.4 versus the 780 Ti’s 1.2.175 gives it both a performance and feature advantage. In all three tests, the W5700’s higher boost clock (1880 MHz versus 928 MHz) and superior memory bandwidth (448.0 GB/s versus 336.6 GB/s) are the primary drivers of its success. The 780 Ti’s higher shading unit count (2880 versus 2304) is not enough to overcome its architectural disadvantages. The data is conclusive: the W5700 is the superior card in every measurable way.