AMD Radeon PRO W7600 vs AMD Radeon VII Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The benchmark data presents a split decision between the AMD Radeon PRO W7600 and the AMD Radeon VII, with each card claiming one victory in the two shared test workloads. The most substantial gap appears in Geekbench OpenCL, where the Radeon VII scores 91,947 against the Radeon PRO W7600’s 81,528, a difference of 11.3% in favor of the older card. This is not a marginal edge; it represents a clear performance tier separation in compute-oriented OpenCL tasks, suggesting that the Radeon VII’s architecture retains significant raw throughput advantages despite its age.

Conversely, the Radeon PRO W7600 takes the Geekbench Vulkan test with a score of 92,688 compared to the Radeon VII’s 91,788. The delta here is just 1%, a narrow margin that falls within typical run-to-run variance for GPU benchmarks. However, the direction of the result is telling: the newer RDNA 3.0 architecture pulls ahead in a modern, low-level graphics API, even if the advantage is slim. The Vulkan result indicates that the W7600’s architectural efficiency compensates for its lower raw compute specifications in this workload.

Looking at the broader benchmark landscape, the Radeon VII’s average benchmark score of 66,004 is dragged down by its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 result of 2,304 and its Geekbench Metal score of 77,975. The W7600, by contrast, has no such low outliers in its benchmark results, with its two scores (81,528 OpenCL and 92,688 Vulkan) clustering closely around its average of 87,108. This suggests the W7600 delivers more consistent performance across diverse workloads, while the Radeon VII shows wider swings depending on the test environment.

The percentile rankings reinforce this interpretation. The W7600 sits at the 93rd percentile among all GPUs, while the Radeon VII trails at the 90th percentile. Despite the Radeon VII’s OpenCL victory, the W7600’s overall standing in the GPU hierarchy is superior, indicating that its modern feature set and driver optimization deliver better results in a broader range of scenarios.

When examining the nearest rivals for each card, the W7600’s competition includes the NVIDIA RTX A4500 at 91,671 average score (5% higher) and the RTX A4500 Mobile at 91,134 (4.4% higher). The Radeon VII’s nearest rivals are lower-tier cards: the NVIDIA Tesla T4 at 66,733 (1.1% below) and the AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100 at 64,212 (2.8% below). This comparison context shows that the W7600 competes in a higher performance bracket than the Radeon VII, even though both are AMD professional cards from different eras.

Where Each One Wins

The Radeon VII’s victory in Geekbench OpenCL points to its strength in general-purpose compute workloads that leverage raw shader throughput. With 3,840 shading units compared to the W7600’s 2,048, the Radeon VII has nearly double the shader count, and its 240 texture mapping units versus the W7600’s 128 further emphasize its compute-oriented design. The Radeon VII’s 16 GB of HBM2 memory with a 4096-bit bus and 1.02 TB/s bandwidth also provides a massive memory bandwidth advantage that can benefit certain data-parallel algorithms. For users running OpenCL-based scientific simulations, financial modeling, or data processing tasks, the Radeon VII’s 11.3% lead in this specific benchmark suggests it remains a capable workhorse.

The Radeon PRO W7600 wins in the Vulkan workload, which is more representative of modern graphics rendering and gaming-adjacent tasks. Its 1% edge may seem small, but it comes with significant architectural advantages: the W7600 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) while the Radeon VII is limited to DirectX 12 (12_1), and the W7600 runs Vulkan 1.4 versus the Radeon VII’s Vulkan 1.3. The W7600’s 32 ray tracing cores also enable hardware-accelerated ray tracing, a feature entirely absent from the Radeon VII. For graphics workloads that leverage these modern APIs and features, the W7600 is the clear choice, even if the raw benchmark delta is narrow.

The consistency factor also favors the W7600. Its two benchmark scores differ by approximately 13%, while the Radeon VII’s four scores span from 2,304 to 91,947. This variance in the Radeon VII’s results indicates that its performance is highly workload-dependent, excelling in some areas while falling dramatically short in others. The W7600’s tighter score distribution suggests more predictable performance across a wider range of applications, which can be critical for professional environments where reliability matters as much as peak throughput.

The Verdict

The data supports a nuanced recommendation. For users whose primary workloads align with OpenCL compute, the AMD Radeon VII offers a measurable 11.3% performance advantage and a substantial 16 GB memory capacity that can accommodate larger datasets than the W7600’s 8 GB. The Radeon VII’s 1.02 TB/s memory bandwidth is also unmatched by the W7600’s 288.0 GB/s, making it the better choice for memory-bandwidth-bound tasks. However, the Radeon VII is end-of-life, with no ray tracing support and older API versions, which limits its future relevance.

The AMD Radeon PRO W7600 is the safer recommendation for most professional users based on its 93rd percentile ranking, consistent benchmark performance, and modern feature set. Its Vulkan victory, while narrow, demonstrates that it can match or exceed the Radeon VII in current graphics APIs. The W7600’s ray tracing cores, DirectX 12 Ultimate support, and Vulkan 1.4 compatibility position it for longer-term software support and driver optimization. Its single-slot form factor, lower 130 W TDP, and PCIe 4.0 x8 interface also make it easier to integrate into modern systems compared to the Radeon VII’s dual-slot design, 295 W TDP, and PCIe 3.0 x16 interface.

FAQ

Q: Which card has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon PRO W7600 has an average benchmark score of 87,108, compared to the AMD Radeon VII’s 66,004. The W7600 also ranks at the 93rd percentile among all GPUs, while the Radeon VII ranks at the 90th percentile.

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

A: The Radeon PRO W7600 scores 92,688 in Geekbench Vulkan, which is 1% higher than the Radeon VII’s 91,788. This makes the W7600 the winner in this test, though the margin is narrow.

Q: What is the memory configuration difference between the two cards?

A: The Radeon VII has 16 GB of HBM2 memory with a 4096-bit bus and 1.02 TB/s bandwidth. The Radeon PRO W7600 has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory with a 128-bit bus and 288.0 GB/s bandwidth. The Radeon VII’s memory bandwidth is approximately 3.5 times higher.

Q: Does either card support ray tracing?

A: Only the Radeon PRO W7600 supports ray tracing, featuring 32 ray tracing cores. The Radeon VII has no ray tracing cores listed in its specifications.

Q: Which card has a higher shading unit count?

A: The Radeon VII has 3,840 shading units, while the Radeon PRO W7600 has 2,048. The Radeon VII also has 240 texture mapping units compared to the W7600’s 128, though the W7600 has a higher pixel rate at 156.2 GPixel/s versus 112.0 GPixel/s.

Q: What are the production statuses of these cards?

A: The Radeon PRO W7600 is listed as Active production, while the Radeon VII is End-of-life. The Radeon VII was released on 2019-02-06, and the W7600 was released on 2023-08-02.

Architecture Differences

The two cards represent fundamentally different architectural generations from AMD. The Radeon PRO W7600 uses the Navi 33 chip based on RDNA 3.0 architecture, codenamed Hotpink Bonefish, manufactured on TSMC’s 6 nm process. The Radeon VII uses the Vega 20 chip based on GCN 5.1 architecture, manufactured on TSMC’s 7 nm process. This process difference contributes to the W7600’s higher transistor density of 65.2M per mm² versus the Radeon VII’s 40.0M per mm², despite similar total transistor counts (13,300 million for the W7600, 13,230 million for the Radeon VII). The die size reflects this: the W7600 spans 204 mm² while the Radeon VII is larger at 331 mm².

Feature support diverges significantly. The Radeon PRO W7600 includes 32 ray tracing cores, a feature completely absent from the Radeon VII. The W7600 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), Vulkan 1.4, and OpenGL 4.6. The Radeon VII supports DirectX 12 (12_1), Vulkan 1.3, and OpenGL 4.6. The newer API support on the W7600 enables modern rendering techniques and better compatibility with current software stacks. Display connectivity also differs, with the W7600 offering 4x DisplayPort 2.1 outputs while the Radeon VII provides 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a.

Clock behavior shows the architectural efficiency of the newer card. The W7600 runs at a base clock of 1720 MHz and boost clock of 2440 MHz, while the Radeon VII operates at 1400 MHz base and 1750 MHz boost. Despite the W7600’s higher clocks, it consumes less power (130 W TDP versus 295 W), demonstrating the power efficiency gains of RDNA 3.0 over GCN 5.1.

Specification Differences

Memory capacity and type represent the most dramatic specification divergence. The Radeon VII features 16 GB of HBM2 memory with a 4096-bit bus width, delivering 1.02 TB/s bandwidth. The Radeon PRO W7600 uses 8 GB of GDDR6 with a 128-bit bus, providing 288.0 GB/s bandwidth. The Radeon VII’s memory clock is listed at 1000 MHz (2 Gbps effective), while the W7600 runs at 2250 MHz (18 Gbps effective). The higher effective speed on the W7600 partially compensates for its narrower bus, but the Radeon VII retains a substantial bandwidth advantage.

Compute unit configurations differ markedly. The Radeon VII has 3,840 shading units, 240 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. The W7600 has 2,048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. The Radeon VII’s FP32 throughput is 13.44 TFLOPS, while the W7600 achieves 19.99 TFLOPS. Both cards list FP16 performance at 2:1 ratios, with the W7600 at 39.98 TFLOPS and the Radeon VII at 26.88 TFLOPS. Pixel fill rates show the W7600 ahead at 156.2 GPixel/s versus the Radeon VII’s 112.0 GPixel/s, while texture fill rates favor the Radeon VII at 420.0 GTexel/s versus 312.3 GTexel/s.

Physical specifications also differ. The W7600 is a single-slot card measuring 241 mm in length and 115 mm in height, requiring one 6-pin power connector and a 300 W suggested PSU. The Radeon VII is dual-slot, measuring 280 mm by 125 mm by 40 mm, requiring two 8-pin connectors and a 600 W suggested PSU. The bus interface differs as well: the W7600 uses PCIe 4.0 x8, while the Radeon VII uses PCIe 3.0 x16. The launch MSRP for the W7600 is 599 USD, and for the Radeon VII it is 699 USD.