AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 SE Comparison

The AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 SE represent two very different eras of graphics hardware, divided by roughly seven years of architectural evolution. The database records only one shared benchmark, Geekbench OpenCL, where the AMD card holds a decisive lead. However, the specifications paint a broader picture of how each card approaches its tasks, and where each might still find a role today.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100 is the clear winner in raw compute performance. Its OpenCL score of 7,333 against the GTX 460 SE’s 6,389 gives it a 14.8% advantage in that single head-to-head test. This is not a marginal victory; it is a substantial gap that reflects a newer architecture designed for professional workloads. The WX 3100 also carries a higher average benchmark score of 7,580 across all recorded tests, reinforcing its position as the stronger compute part.

The GTX 460 SE, by contrast, has no wins in the database’s head-to-head comparisons. Its only recorded benchmark is the OpenCL test, where it trails. However, the GTX 460 SE does hold advantages in a few specific hardware characteristics that could matter in legacy scenarios. It has a 256-bit memory bus compared to the WX 3100’s 128-bit bus, and its memory bandwidth of 108.8 GB/s edges out the AMD card’s 96.00 GB/s. This suggests that in bandwidth-sensitive workloads from its era, such as older gaming titles or certain compute tasks that rely on large data transfers, the GTX 460 SE could perform closer to parity, even though the overall compute score is lower.

The WX 3100 also wins on efficiency metrics that are hard to ignore. Its 65 W TDP is less than half of the GTX 460 SE’s 150 W, and it requires no power connectors while the NVIDIA card needs two 6-pin inputs. The suggested power supply for the AMD card is 250 W, whereas the GTX 460 SE asks for 450 W. For any system where power delivery or thermal headroom is a concern, the WX 3100 is the more practical choice.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from fundamentally different design philosophies. The AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100 is built on the Lexa chip using GCN 4.0 architecture, manufactured on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. It packs 2,200 million transistors into a 103 mm² die, achieving a transistor density of 21.4 million per square millimeter. This is a modern, dense design that prioritizes compute throughput per watt.

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 SE uses the GF104 chip with Fermi architecture, produced on TSMC’s 40 nm process. It contains 1,950 million transistors spread across a much larger 332 mm² die, resulting in a transistor density of just 5.9 million per square millimeter. The Fermi architecture was designed for a different era, and its larger, less dense layout reflects the manufacturing limits of 2010.

Memory configurations also differ sharply. The WX 3100 has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus, while the GTX 460 SE offers only 1 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus. The larger capacity of the AMD card is a major advantage for modern workloads, as 1 GB is insufficient for many current applications. The GTX 460 SE’s narrower capacity but wider bus means it can move data faster per transaction, but it simply runs out of room more quickly.

The WX 3100 supports PCIe 3.0 x8, while the GTX 460 SE uses PCIe 2.0 x16. The newer interface provides more bandwidth per lane, though the x8 configuration limits the total throughput compared to a full x16 link. Still, the PCIe 3.0 standard is backward-compatible and generally offers better performance in data transfer scenarios.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct benchmark in the database is Geekbench OpenCL. The AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100 scores 7,333, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 SE scores 6,389. The delta is 14.8% in favor of the AMD card. This is a significant margin, but it is importantly OpenCL performance does not always translate directly to gaming or all professional applications.

Looking at the wider benchmark context, the WX 3100’s average score of 7,580 places it in the 41st percentile of all GPUs in the database. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon R7 250 with an average score of 7,557 (0.3% behind), the Intel Arc A310 at 7,550 (0.4% behind), and the AMD Radeon 540 at 7,673 (1.2% ahead). The GTX 460 SE, with its average of 6,389, sits in the 37th percentile and is closely matched by the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M at an identical 6,389, with the AMD Radeon Pro WX 4100 at 6,330 (0.9% behind) and the AMD Radeon R7 M350 at 6,327 (1% behind).

The 14.8% gap between the two cards in question is consistent with the percentile difference: the WX 3100 is a mid-tier GPU from 2017, while the GTX 460 SE is a lower-mid-range part from 2010. The performance difference is not just incremental; it represents a generational leap.

Specification Differences

Several key specifications separate these two cards, and each difference tells a story about the intended use case.

• Process Node: The WX 3100 is on 14 nm, the GTX 460 SE on 40 nm. This alone explains much of the efficiency gap.
• Transistors: 2,200 million (AMD) versus 1,950 million (NVIDIA). The AMD card has more transistors despite a much smaller die.
• Die Size: 103 mm² (AMD) versus 332 mm² (NVIDIA). The AMD die is less than a third the size.
• Transistor Density: 21.4M / mm² (AMD) versus 5.9M / mm² (NVIDIA). A clear sign of architectural advancement.
• Memory Size: 4 GB (AMD) versus 1 GB (NVIDIA). Four times the capacity.
• Memory Bus Width: 128 bit (AMD) versus 256 bit (NVIDIA). The NVIDIA card has a wider bus, but less total memory.
• Memory Bandwidth: 96.00 GB/s (AMD) versus 108.8 GB/s (NVIDIA). The NVIDIA card moves data slightly faster overall.
• Shading Units: 512 (AMD) versus 288 (NVIDIA). The AMD card has nearly twice the shading units.
• Texture Mapping Units: 32 (AMD) versus 48 (NVIDIA). NVIDIA has more TMUs.
• Render Output Units: 16 (AMD) versus 32 (NVIDIA). NVIDIA doubles the ROP count.
• Pixel Rate: 19.50 GPixel/s (AMD) versus 7.800 GPixel/s (NVIDIA). The AMD card is far ahead.
• Texture Rate: 39.01 GTexel/s (AMD) versus 31.20 GTexel/s (NVIDIA). AMD leads here as well.
• FP32 Performance: 1,248.3 GFLOPS (AMD) versus 748.8 GFLOPS (NVIDIA). The AMD card is 67% faster in raw FP32.
• FP16 Performance: 1,248.3 GFLOPS on AMD, while the NVIDIA card has no recorded FP16 capability.
• TDP: 65 W (AMD) versus 150 W (NVIDIA). The AMD card is far more power-efficient.
• Power Connectors: None (AMD) versus 2x 6-pin (NVIDIA).
• Suggested PSU: 250 W (AMD) versus 450 W (NVIDIA).
• Bus Interface: PCIe 3.0 x8 (AMD) versus PCIe 2.0 x16 (NVIDIA).
• Display Outputs: AMD offers 1x DisplayPort 1.4a and 2x mini-DisplayPort 1.4a, while NVIDIA offers 2x DVI and 1x mini-HDMI 1.3a.
• DirectX Support: The AMD card supports DirectX 12 (12_0), while the NVIDIA card supports DirectX 12 (11_0), a lower feature level.
• Vulkan Support: AMD supports Vulkan 1.3, while NVIDIA has no recorded Vulkan support.
• Slot Width: The AMD card is single-slot, the NVIDIA card is dual-slot.
• Physical Dimensions: The AMD card is 168 mm long and 69 mm tall. The NVIDIA card is 210 mm long with no recorded height.

FAQ

Q: Which card has more memory, and does that matter?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100 has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 SE has only 1 GB. The 4 GB capacity is critical for modern workloads, as 1 GB is inadequate for current operating systems, drivers, and applications that routinely exceed that limit.

Q: How do the two cards compare in raw compute power?

A: The WX 3100 delivers 1,248.3 GFLOPS of FP32 performance, while the GTX 460 SE delivers 748.8 GFLOPS. This means the AMD card has roughly 67% more raw compute throughput. The WX 3100 also supports FP16 at a 1:1 ratio with FP32, while the GTX 460 SE has no recorded FP16 capability.

Q: Is the GTX 460 SE more efficient than the WX 3100?

A: No, the opposite is true. The WX 3100 has a TDP of 65 W and requires no power connectors, while the GTX 460 SE has a TDP of 150 W and needs two 6-pin connectors. The suggested power supply for the AMD card is 250 W, compared to 450 W for the NVIDIA card.

Q: Which card is better for modern APIs?

A: The WX 3100 supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. The GTX 460 SE supports DirectX 12 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.6, but has no Vulkan support. The AMD card is clearly more compatible with current software standards.

Q: Why does the GTX 460 SE have a higher memory bandwidth despite being slower overall?

A: The GTX 460 SE has a 256-bit memory bus versus the WX 3100’s 128-bit bus, which gives it a bandwidth of 108.8 GB/s versus 96.00 GB/s. However, the wider bus cannot compensate for the lower compute power, smaller memory capacity, and older architecture, which is why it still loses the benchmark by 14.8%.

Q: What does the percentile ranking tell us?

A: The WX 3100 sits in the 41st percentile of all GPUs in the database, while the GTX 460 SE sits in the 37th. The WX 3100’s average benchmark score is 7,580, compared to the GTX 460 SE’s 6,389. The AMD card is a mid-tier performer, while the NVIDIA card is below average.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous. The AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100 outperforms the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 SE in the only shared benchmark by 14.8%, and it does so while consuming less than half the power, using a fraction of the die area, and offering four times the memory capacity. The WX 3100 is the only rational choice for any current workload, whether professional compute, general desktop use, or light gaming.

The GTX 460 SE, however, retains one narrow advantage: memory bandwidth. Its 108.8 GB/s bandwidth, enabled by a 256-bit bus, is slightly higher than the WX 3100’s 96.00 GB/s. This could theoretically benefit certain bandwidth-bound tasks from its era, but the 1 GB memory limit makes this advantage moot in practice. No modern application will fit within 1 GB, and the NVIDIA card cannot sustain performance when it runs out of memory.

For a user building a system today, the WX 3100 is the clear pick. It offers modern API support, a professional-grade feature set, and a 65 W TDP that fits into virtually any chassis. The GTX 460 SE belongs to a bygone era, and its only recorded benchmark shows it trailing by nearly 15%. The database’s verdict is simple: the AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100 wins, and it wins by a margin that leaves no room for debate.