AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100 vs AMD Radeon R7 M460 Comparison

The Verdict

The AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100 is the clear choice for users who need raw compute performance. The recorded data shows the Pro WX 3100 leads the Radeon R7 M460 by 10.9% in the only shared benchmark, Geekbench OpenCL. The Pro WX 3100 scores 7333, while the R7 M460 scores 6612. This is a decisive margin for a professional workload card.

The Radeon R7 M460 is a mobile-oriented part from an older generation. It has fewer shading units, less memory, a narrower memory bus, and lower clock speeds. The data does not show a single benchmark where the R7 M460 wins. In the head-to-head comparison, the Pro WX 3100 takes one win, the R7 M460 zero.

For users with compute-heavy tasks such as OpenCL acceleration, the Pro WX 3100 is the only sensible pick. It also offers a broader feature set with DisplayPort 1.4a outputs and Vulkan 1.3 support. The R7 M460 lacks display output data entirely, suggesting it is intended as a secondary or embedded mobile GPU rather than a standalone workstation solution.

The R7 M460 may appeal only to users constrained by a system that cannot accept a full-size single-slot card. The Pro WX 3100 measures 168 mm in length, 69 mm in height, and occupies a single slot. The R7 M460 has no listed dimensions, so it can fit into compact mobile chassis. However, the performance gap is substantial, and the R7 M460 sits in the 38th percentile of all GPUs, while the Pro WX 3100 sits in the 41st percentile. That three-percentile difference is modest, but the benchmark delta is not.

The verdict is straightforward: the Pro WX 3100 outperforms the R7 M460 in every measurable category. The R7 M460 is an older, slower part that should only be considered when system compatibility forces the choice.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in OpenCL workloads?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100 is faster. In Geekbench OpenCL, the Pro WX 3100 scores 7333 compared to the R7 M460's 6612, a 10.9% advantage.

Q: How do these cards compare to their nearest rivals?

A: The Pro WX 3100 is 0.3% ahead of the AMD Radeon R7 250, 0.4% ahead of the Intel Arc A310, and 1.4% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650. It trails the AMD Radeon 540 by 1.2%. The R7 M460 is 0.5% ahead of the AMD Radeon HD 7730M, 0.9% ahead of the Intel UHD Graphics P750, and 1.5% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670M. It trails the NVIDIA GeForce GT 1010 by 1.3%.

Q: What memory configurations do these cards use?

A: The Pro WX 3100 has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus with 96.00 GB/s of bandwidth. The R7 M460 has 2 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 64-bit bus with 36.00 GB/s of bandwidth.

Q: Do both cards support DirectX 12?

A: Yes, both support DirectX 12 with feature level 12_0. Both also support OpenGL 4.6. The Pro WX 3100 supports Vulkan 1.3, while the R7 M460 supports Vulkan 1.2.170.

Q: Which card has a higher transistor density?

A: The Pro WX 3100 has a transistor density of 21.4M per mm², while the R7 M460 has 12.4M per mm². The Pro WX 3100 is built on a 14 nm process, and the R7 M460 uses a 28 nm process.

Q: What is the production status of each card?

A: Both are end-of-life products. The Pro WX 3100 was released in June 2017, and the R7 M460 was released in May 2016.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different GCN generations. The AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100 uses the Lexa chip with GCN 4.0 architecture, while the AMD Radeon R7 M460 uses the Meso chip with GCN 3.0 architecture.

The manufacturing process is a major differentiator. The Pro WX 3100 is built on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries, while the R7 M460 uses a 28 nm process at TSMC. This process advantage is visible in the transistor density: 21.4M transistors per mm² for the Pro WX 3100 versus 12.4M per mm² for the R7 M460. The Pro WX 3100 packs 2,200 million transistors on a 103 mm² die, while the R7 M460 has 1,550 million transistors on a larger 125 mm² die. The newer process allows the Pro WX 3100 to fit more transistors in a smaller area, enabling higher clock speeds and more compute units.

The generation naming also differs. The Pro WX 3100 belongs to the Radeon Pro Polaris (WX x100) generation, while the R7 M460 belongs to the Gem System (R7 M400) generation. The Pro WX 3100's predecessor is the Radeon Pro GCN, and its successor is the Radeon Pro Vega. The R7 M460's predecessor is the Solar System, and its successor is the Polarismobile.

Both cards lack dedicated ray tracing cores and tensor cores. This places both firmly in the traditional rasterization and compute era of GCN architecture.

The API support differs slightly. Both support DirectX 12 (12_0) and OpenGL 4.6. However, the Pro WX 3100 supports Vulkan 1.3, while the R7 M460 supports Vulkan 1.2.170. This means the Pro WX 3100 has access to newer Vulkan extensions and features.

Specification Differences

The Pro WX 3100 has 512 shading units, 32 texture mapping units, and 16 render output units. The R7 M460 has 384 shading units, 24 texture mapping units, and 8 render output units. The Pro WX 3100 has a 33% advantage in shading units, a 33% advantage in texture mapping units, and a 100% advantage in render output units.

Clock speeds favor the Pro WX 3100 as well. The Pro WX 3100 has a base clock of 925 MHz and a boost clock of 1219 MHz. The R7 M460 has a base clock of 730 MHz and a boost clock of 1024 MHz. The Pro WX 3100's boost clock is 195 MHz higher.

Memory is another significant gap. The Pro WX 3100 has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory, while the R7 M460 has 2 GB. The Pro WX 3100 uses a 128-bit memory bus, while the R7 M460 uses a 64-bit bus. Memory bandwidth is 96.00 GB/s for the Pro WX 3100 versus 36.00 GB/s for the R7 M460. The Pro WX 3100 has 2.67 times the memory bandwidth of the R7 M460.

Memory clock speeds also differ. The Pro WX 3100 runs its memory at 1500 MHz with 6 Gbps effective speed, while the R7 M460 runs at 1125 MHz with 4.5 Gbps effective speed.

The pixel rate and texture rate are higher on the Pro WX 3100. The Pro WX 3100 achieves 19.50 GPixel/s and 39.01 GTexel/s, while the R7 M460 achieves 8.192 GPixel/s and 24.58 GTexel/s. The Pro WX 3100's pixel rate is more than double that of the R7 M460.

Floating-point performance follows the same pattern. The Pro WX 3100 delivers 1,248.3 GFLOPS in both FP32 and FP16 (1:1 ratio). The R7 M460 delivers 786.4 GFLOPS in both FP32 and FP16. The Pro WX 3100 has 58.7% more FP32 throughput.

The Pro WX 3100 has a TDP of 65 W and a suggested PSU of 250 W. It is single-slot with no power connectors. The R7 M460 has no listed TDP, slot width, or power connector information. The Pro WX 3100 has a bus interface of PCIe 3.0 x8, and the R7 M460 also uses PCIe 3.0 x8.

Display outputs are exclusive to the Pro WX 3100. It offers one DisplayPort 1.4a and two mini-DisplayPort 1.4a outputs. The R7 M460 has no listed display outputs.

The Pro WX 3100 has a launch MSRP of 199 USD. The R7 M460 has no listed launch MSRP.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only shared benchmark in the database is Geekbench OpenCL. The AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100 scores 7333, and the AMD Radeon R7 M460 scores 6612. The Pro WX 3100 wins by 721 points, a delta of 10.9%. This is the sole head-to-head result, and the Pro WX 3100 takes the only win.

The Geekbench Vulkan benchmark is only recorded for the Pro WX 3100, which scores 7827. No Vulkan score exists for the R7 M460, so no comparison is possible for that test.

The average benchmark score across all recorded tests tells a similar story. The Pro WX 3100 has an average score of 7580, while the R7 M460 has an average score of 6612. The Pro WX 3100's average is 968 points higher, which is a 14.6% advantage over the R7 M460's average.

Relative to all GPUs in the database, the Pro WX 3100 sits in the 41st percentile, and the R7 M460 sits in the 38th percentile. The three-percentile gap confirms the Pro WX 3100 is positioned slightly higher in the overall performance distribution.

The nearest rivals for each card show different competitive landscapes. The Pro WX 3100 is nearly tied with the AMD Radeon R7 250 (0.3% ahead), the Intel Arc A310 (0.4% ahead), and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 (1.4% ahead). It trails the AMD Radeon 540 by 1.2%. This cluster of rivals means the Pro WX 3100 sits in a very competitive mid-range tier where performance differences are minimal.

The R7 M460's nearest rivals are lower-end parts. It is 0.5% ahead of the AMD Radeon HD 7730M, 0.9% ahead of the Intel UHD Graphics P750, and 1.5% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670M. It trails the NVIDIA GeForce GT 1010 by 1.3%. The R7 M460's closest competitor in score, the GeForce GT 1010, is only 86 points away.

The data shows no test where the R7 M460 wins against the Pro WX 3100. Every recorded benchmark favors the Pro WX 3100.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon Pro WX 31 wins in all compute-intensive scenarios. OpenCL performance is 10.9% higher than the R7 M460. The Pro WX 3100 also has more than double the pixel rate, 19.50 GPixel/s versus 8.192 GPixel/s. This makes it better suited for tasks that rely on fill-rate-bound operations.

Texture-heavy workloads also favor the Pro WX 3100. Its texture rate of 39.01 GTexel/s is 58.7% higher than the R7 M460's 24.58 GTexel/s. The larger memory bus and higher bandwidth, 96.00 GB/s versus 36.00 GB/s, give the Pro WX 3100 a significant advantage in memory-bound workloads.

The Pro WX 3100 is the choice for professional use cases that require display outputs. Its DisplayPort 1.4a and dual mini-DisplayPort 1.4a outputs make it a standalone workstation card. The R7 M460 has no listed display outputs, so it cannot serve as a primary display adapter in a desktop workstation.

Vulkan support also favors the Pro WX 3100. With Vulkan 1.3 support, it is compatible with a newer API version than the R7 M460's Vulkan 1.2.170. Applications that rely on Vulkan extensions introduced in 1.3 will only run on the Pro WX 3100.

The R7 M460 has no benchmark wins in the recorded data. Its only potential advantage is the absence of a listed TDP and dimensions, which could imply lower power draw and a smaller physical footprint for mobile integration. However, the database does not record any performance test where the R7 M460 beats the Pro WX 3100.

The R7 M460's 2 GB memory configuration and 64-bit bus are limiting factors. Memory bandwidth of 36.00 GB/s is less than half of the Pro WX 3100's 96.00 GB/s. For any workload that scales with memory bandwidth, the Pro WX 3100 will pull further ahead.

The R7 M460 sits in the 38th percentile of all GPUs, below the Pro WX 3100's 41st percentile. Its nearest rivals are all lower-tier parts such as the Radeon HD 7730M and the Intel UHD Graphics P750. The Pro WX 3100's rivals include the GeForce GTX 1650, which is a more capable competitor. This reinforces the performance tier difference between the two cards.

In summary, the Pro WX 3100 wins every measured category: raw compute, memory bandwidth, pixel throughput, texture throughput, API support, and display connectivity. The R7 M460 is a legacy mobile part with no recorded advantage over the Pro WX 3100. Users who need a functional workstation GPU should select the Pro WX 3100. Users who are locked into a mobile form factor that cannot accept the Pro WX 3100 may need the R7 M460, but they will accept a 10.9% OpenCL penalty and a 58.7% texture rate penalty. The data leaves no ambiguity about which card is superior.