AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100 vs NVIDIA Quadro 5000 Comparison

The AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100 and NVIDIA Quadro 5000 represent two distinct eras of professional graphics, with the data showing a clear, albeit narrow, victory for the newer AMD part. Based on the benchmark results, the WX 3100 edges out the Quadro 5000 in the only shared test, while also offering a dramatically more modern feature set and significantly lower power requirements. The Quadro 5000, despite its age, retains a bandwidth advantage and a wider memory bus, but its older architecture and lower compute throughput make it the weaker choice for contemporary workloads.

The Verdict

The data dictates a straightforward conclusion: the AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100 is the superior choice for almost any modern task. In the sole head-to-head benchmark, Geekbench OpenCL, the WX 3100 scores 7333 against the Quadro 5000's 7289, a 0.6% lead. This narrow margin, however, understates the generational gap. The WX 3100 achieves this with 512 shading units, 32 TMUs, and an FP32 throughput of 1,248.3 GFLOPS, compared to the Quadro 5000's 352 shading units, 44 TMUs, and 722.3 GFLOPS. The AMD card is a full 72.8% faster in raw FP32 compute, a massive difference in GPU-bound tasks.

The NVIDIA Quadro 5000 should only be considered by users with legacy software dependencies or specific requirements for its 320-bit memory bus and 120.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which exceeds the WX 3100's 96.00 GB/s. However, its 2.5 GB of GDDR5 memory is smaller than the WX 3100's 4 GB, and its Fermi architecture lacks support for modern APIs like Vulkan. The data shows the Quadro 5000's average benchmark score of 7289 places it at the 40th percentile of all GPUs, while the WX 3100's average of 7580 places it at the 41st percentile. The WX 3100 is the clear pick for any new purchase, offering better compute, more memory, and modern API support in a more efficient package.

FAQ

Q: Which card has higher raw compute performance?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100 is significantly faster, with an FP32 rating of 1,248.3 GFLOPS compared to the NVIDIA Quadro 5000's 722.3 GFLOPS. This represents a 72.8% advantage for the AMD card.

Q: Is the newer card also more power-efficient?

A: Yes, the data shows a stark contrast. The AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100 has a TDP of 65 W and requires no power connectors, while the NVIDIA Quadro 5000 has a TDP of 152 W and requires a single 6-pin power connector. The suggested PSU for the AMD card is 250 W, versus 450 W for the NVIDIA card.

Q: Do both cards support the same modern software interfaces?

A: No. The AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100 supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. The NVIDIA Quadro 5000 supports DirectX 12 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.6, but has no Vulkan support listed.

Q: Which card has a higher memory bandwidth?

A: The NVIDIA Quadro 5000 has a higher memory bandwidth of 120.0 GB/s, compared to the AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100's 96.00 GB/s. This is due to its wider 320-bit memory bus, despite its lower 750 MHz memory clock.

Q: How much memory does each card have?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100 comes with 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus, while the NVIDIA Quadro 5000 has 2.5 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 320-bit bus.

Q: What is the performance gap in the only shared benchmark?

A: In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100 scores 7333, which is 0.6% higher than the NVIDIA Quadro 5000's score of 7289.

Architecture Differences

The two cards are built on fundamentally different architectures, separated by several generations of GPU design. The AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100 utilizes the "Lexa" chip based on the GCN 4.0 architecture, manufactured on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. In contrast, the NVIDIA Quadro 5000 uses the "GF100" chip based on the Fermi architecture, built on a much older 40 nm process at TSMC. This process difference is stark: the AMD chip packs 2,200 million transistors into a 103 mm² die, achieving a transistor density of 21.4M / mm², while the NVIDIA chip crams 3,100 million transistors into a massive 529 mm² die, with a density of only 5.9M / mm².

The architectural philosophies also diverge. The GCN 4.0 design in the WX 3100 is compute-oriented, with 512 shading units arranged for parallel throughput. The Fermi architecture in the Quadro 5000, while having fewer shading units (352), compensates with more texture mapping units (44 vs 32) and more raster output units (40 vs 16). The AMD card features a 1:1 ratio for FP16 and FP32 performance, both rated at 1,248.3 GFLOPS, while the NVIDIA card has no FP16 performance listed. The AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100 also supports a newer PCIe interface (PCIe 3.0 x8) compared to the Quadro 5000's PCIe 2.0 x16, and offers more modern display outputs, including 1x DisplayPort 1.4a and 2x mini-DisplayPort 1.4a, versus the Quadro 5000's 1x DVI and 2x DisplayPort.

Specification Differences

The specification sheets for these two professional cards highlight their generational divide. The AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100 has a base clock of 925 MHz and a boost clock of 1219 MHz, while the NVIDIA Quadro 5000 has no base or boost clock listed. The AMD card's memory runs at 1500 MHz (6 Gbps effective), while the NVIDIA card's memory runs at 750 MHz (3 Gbps effective). The memory configurations differ significantly: the WX 3100 has 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus, while the Quadro 5000 has 2.5 GB of GDDR5 on a 320-bit bus.

Other key differences include the physical dimensions; the WX 3100 is a single-slot card measuring 168 mm in length, while the Quadro 5000 is a dual-slot card measuring 248 mm. The power requirements are also vastly different, with the AMD card drawing 65 W and the NVIDIA card drawing 152 W. The manufacturing process nodes are 14 nm for the AMD and 40 nm for the NVIDIA. The release dates are also telling: the WX 3100 launched in June 2017, while the Quadro 5000 launched in February 2011. The AMD card's launch MSRP was 199 USD, while the NVIDIA card's launch MSRP was 2,499 USD.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct benchmark comparison available is Geekbench OpenCL, where the AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100 wins with a score of 7333 against the NVIDIA Quadro 5000's 7289. This 0.6% difference is narrow, but it is a win for the AMD card. The average benchmark scores reinforce this, with the WX 3100 averaging 7580 across all its tests, while the Quadro 5000 averages 7289.

Looking at the nearest rivals provides more context. The AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100's average score of 7580 is 0.3% higher than the AMD Radeon R7 250's 7557, 0.4% higher than the Intel Arc A310's 7550, and 1.4% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650's 7472. It trails the AMD Radeon 540's 7673 by 1.2%. The NVIDIA Quadro 5000's average score of 7289 is 0.9% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750's 7222, 1.2% higher than the AMD Radeon Vega 8 Mobile's 7203, 1.6% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 SE's 7171, and 1.7% higher than the Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580's 7170. This data shows that both cards sit in a similar performance tier relative to their contemporaries, but the WX 3100 holds a slight edge in the direct comparison.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100 is the definitive winner in compute-heavy workloads. Its FP32 performance of 1,248.3 GFLOPS dwarfs the Quadro 5000's 722.3 GFLOPS, making it the superior choice for tasks like rendering, simulation, and any application that leverages general-purpose GPU computing. It also wins on memory capacity with 4 GB versus 2.5 GB, which is crucial for larger datasets and textures. The WX 3100's support for Vulkan 1.3 and DirectX 12 (12_0) ensures compatibility with modern software, and its lower TDP of 65 W means it can be installed in systems with modest power supplies, requiring only a 250 W PSU.

The NVIDIA Quadro 5000's only clear advantage is in memory bandwidth, where its 120.0 GB/s throughput on a 320-bit bus exceeds the WX 3100's 96.00 GB/s. This could theoretically benefit certain bandwidth-sensitive tasks, but the card's older Fermi architecture and lack of Vulkan support limit its applicability. Its higher pixel rate of 11.29 GPixel/s and texture rate of 22.57 GTexel/s are both lower than the WX 3100's 19.50 GPixel/s and 39.01 GTexel/s, respectively. The Quadro 5000's legacy DVI output might be a factor for connecting to older displays, but for any modern professional workload, the data overwhelmingly favors the AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100.