AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100 vs AMD Radeon Pro WX 4100 Comparison

The Verdict

The data clearly separates these two professional GPUs. The AMD Radeon Pro WX 4100 is the decisive winner, taking both head-to-head benchmark tests with massive margins. The AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100, by contrast, falls far behind in every measured workload. For users who need compute performance, the WX 4100 is the only rational choice based on recorded measurements.

The WX 3100 belongs in systems where the workload is light and the priority is a low-power, single-slot professional card. Its 65 W TDP and 250 W suggested PSU are modest, but its benchmark scores are equally modest. The WX 4100, despite a lower 50 W TDP, delivers over twice the OpenCL performance and nearly two and a half times the Vulkan performance. That is a striking efficiency advantage.

The database shows the WX 4100 sits at the 37th percentile among all GPUs, while the WX 3100 ranks at the 41st percentile. Those percentiles may seem close, but the head-to-head deltas reveal the real story. The WX 4100 beats the WX 3100 by 58.4% in OpenCL and 58.2% in Vulkan. The WX 3100's percentile is misleading; it is buoyed by a different benchmark mix that does not include the heavier compute tests where the WX 4100 excels.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon Pro WX 4100 wins everywhere that matters. In the head-to-head OpenCL test, it posts 17,642 against the WX 3100's 7,333. In Vulkan, it scores 18,703 versus 7,827. Both deltas sit near 58% in favor of the WX 4100. The WX 4100 also records a Metal score of 21,018, a benchmark the WX 3100 does not have a recorded result for.

The WX 3100 has no benchmark wins in the head-to-head data. It does, however, offer a broader display output configuration with one DisplayPort 1.4a and two mini-DisplayPort 1.4a ports, while the WX 4100 provides four mini-DisplayPort 1.4a outputs. For multi-monitor professional setups, the WX 4100's four ports give it a practical advantage.

The WX 3100's average benchmark score is 7,580, which places it ahead of the AMD Radeon R7 250 by 0.3% and the Intel Arc A310 by 0.4%. It trails the AMD Radeon 540 by 1.2% and beats the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 by 1.4%. Those are narrow margins, indicating the WX 3100 is a mid-pack performer among its closest rivals.

The WX 4100's average benchmark score is 6,330, nearly identical to the AMD Radeon R7 M350 at 0.1% difference. It edges the NVIDIA Quadro K620 by 0.8% and trails both the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 SE and GTX 580M by 0.9%. The WX 4100's average score is dragged down by its PassMark results, which are low across DirectX 10, 11, and 12 tests, but its Geekbench compute scores are strong.

Architecture Differences

Both cards share the GCN 4.0 architecture and the Radeon Pro Polaris generation, but they use different chips. The WX 3100 is built on the Lexa chip, while the WX 4100 uses Baffin. Both are fabricated on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries.

The transistor counts differ substantially. The WX 3100 packs 2,200 million transistors on a 103 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 21.4 million per square millimeter. The WX 4100 contains 3,000 million transistors on a 123 mm² die, with a density of 24.4 million per square millimeter. The WX 4100's larger, denser chip explains its compute advantage.

The shading unit count is the most significant architectural gap. The WX 4100 has 1,024 shading units, exactly double the WX 3100's 512. Texture mapping units follow the same pattern: 64 on the WX 4100 versus 32 on the WX 3100. Both cards have 16 ROPs.

Clock speeds tell a different story. The WX 3100 has a base clock of 925 MHz and a boost of 1,219 MHz. The WX 4100 has a higher base of 1,125 MHz but a slightly lower boost of 1,201 MHz. The WX 4100's higher base clock and doubled shader count produce far higher throughput. Pixel rates are nearly identical: 19.50 GPixel/s on the WX 3100 and 19.22 GPixel/s on the WX 4100. Texture rates diverge sharply, with the WX 4100 at 76.86 GTexel/s versus 39.01 GTexel/s on the WX 3100, a direct result of the doubled TMU count.

FP32 compute shows the scale of the difference. The WX 4100 achieves 2.460 TFLOPS, while the WX 3100 reaches 1,248.3 GFLOPS. Both support FP16 at a 1:1 ratio, meaning the WX 4100 also doubles FP16 throughput.

FAQ

Q: Which card has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100 has an average benchmark score of 7,580, while the AMD Radeon Pro WX 4100 averages 6,330. However, the WX 4100 wins both head-to-head tests by roughly 58%, and its average is lowered by weak PassMark legacy DirectX results.

Q: Does the WX 4100 have more display outputs?

A: Yes. The WX 4100 has four mini-DisplayPort 1.4a outputs, while the WX 3100 has one DisplayPort 1.4a and two mini-DisplayPort 1.4a outputs.

Q: How do their power requirements compare?

A: The WX 3100 has a TDP of 65 W, while the WX 4100 has a TDP of 50 W. Both require a 250 W suggested PSU and draw power from the PCIe slot with no additional power connectors.

Q: Which card is better for Vulkan compute?

A: The WX 4100 is substantially better. It scores 18,703 in the Geekbench Vulkan test, compared to 7,827 for the WX 3100, a delta of 58.2%.

Q: Are these cards still in production?

A: No. Both are marked end-of-life in the database. The WX 4100 was released in November 2016, and the WX 3100 in June 2017.

Q: Do both cards support the same APIs?

A: Yes. Both support DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The head-to-head data contains only two tests, and the WX 4100 wins both decisively. In Geekbench OpenCL, the WX 4100 scores 17,642 against the WX 3100's 7,333. That is a 58.4% advantage, a margin that reflects the WX 4100's doubled shading units and texture units. The WX 3100's 1,248.3 GFLOPS FP32 throughput simply cannot compete with the WX 4100's 2.460 TFLOPS.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the WX 4100 scores 18,703 versus 7,827 for the WX 3100, a 58.2% difference. The pattern holds across both APIs, indicating the gap is architectural rather than driver-specific. The WX 4100 also holds a Geekbench Metal score of 21,018, for which the WX 3100 has no recorded result.

The WX 4100's PassMark scores provide additional context. Its G3D score is 3,699, and its GPU compute score is 1,475. DirectX 9 yields 56, DirectX 10 yields 16, DirectX 11 yields 24, and DirectX 12 yields 22. The G2D score is 646. These legacy DirectX results are low, but they do not appear in the head-to-head comparison, which focuses on modern compute APIs.

The WX 3100's nearest rivals show where it sits in the broader market. It trails the AMD Radeon 540 by 1.2% and leads the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 by 1.4%. The WX 4100's nearest rivals are older or lower-end parts: it leads the AMD Radeon R7 M350 by 0.1% and the NVIDIA Quadro K620 by 0.8%, while trailing the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 SE and GTX 580M by 0.9% each.

The benchmark data makes the hierarchy clear. The WX 4100 is the compute-oriented professional card, doubling the WX 3100's core resources while consuming less power. The WX 3100 is a lighter-duty option whose only advantages are its lower launch MSRP and a slightly better percentile ranking that does not survive direct comparison.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in several key specification fields. The chip is Lexa on the WX 3100 and Baffin on the WX 4100. Transistors count 2,200 million versus 3,000 million. Die size is 103 mm² versus 123 mm², with transistor densities of 21.4M per mm² and 24.4M per mm² respectively.

Base clocks differ: 925 MHz on the WX 3100, 1,125 MHz on the WX 4100. Boost clocks are closer, at 1,219 MHz and 1,201 MHz. Shading units are 512 versus 1,024. TMUs are 32 versus 64. ROPs are identical at 16.

Pixel rates are nearly equal, 19.50 GPixel/s versus 19.22 GPixel/s, but texture rates diverge: 39.01 GTexel/s versus 76.86 GTexel/s. FP32 compute is 1,248.3 GFLOPS versus 2.460 TFLOPS, and FP16 follows the same ratio.

TDP is 65 W on the WX 3100 versus 50 W on the WX 4100. Display outputs differ: 1x DisplayPort 1.4a plus 2x mini-DisplayPort 1.4a on the WX 3100, versus 4x mini-DisplayPort 1.4a on the WX 4100. Both share the same 4 GB GDDR5 memory, 128-bit bus, 96.00 GB/s bandwidth, and 1500 MHz memory clock. Both are single-slot, 168 mm long, 69 mm high, with PCIe 3.0 x8 interfaces and no power connectors. The WX 4100 launched with a 399 USD MSRP, while the WX 3100 launched at 199 USD.