AMD Radeon Pro WX 4100 vs AMD Radeon R7 M460 Comparison

# FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins the only shared benchmark, Geekbench OpenCL?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro WX 4100 wins decisively, scoring 17,642 versus the Radeon R7 M460's 6,612. The delta is -62.5% from the Pro WX 4100's perspective, meaning the R7 M460 trails by roughly two-thirds.

Q: How do the two GPUs rank against all other GPUs?

A: The Radeon R7 M460 sits at the 38th percentile, while the Radeon Pro WX 4100 sits at the 37th percentile. Despite the Pro WX 4100's massive OpenCL lead, both GPUs are statistically near the middle-low end of the overall GPU distribution.

Q: What are the closest rivals to each card?

A: For the R7 M460, the nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon HD 7730M (0.5% ahead), Intel UHD Graphics P750 (0.9% ahead), NVIDIA GeForce GT 1010 (1.3% behind), and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670M (1.5% ahead). For the Pro WX 4100, the nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon R7 M350 (0.1% ahead), NVIDIA Quadro K620 (0.8% ahead), NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 SE (0.9% behind), and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M (0.9% behind).

Q: Which card has more shading units and texture mapping units?

A: The Radeon Pro WX 4100 has 1,024 shading units and 64 TMUs, compared to the R7 M460's 384 shading units and 24 TMUs. This 2.67x difference in shading units and TMUs directly explains the Pro WX 4100's higher compute and texture throughput.

Q: What are the memory specifications of each card?

A: The R7 M460 has 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 64-bit bus with 36.00 GB/s bandwidth. The Pro WX 4100 has 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus with 96.00 GB/s bandwidth. The Pro WX 4100 also runs memory at 1500 MHz (6 Gbps effective) versus 1125 MHz (4.5 Gbps effective) for the R7 M460.

Q: Does the Radeon Pro WX 4100 support more modern APIs?

A: Yes. Both support DirectX 12 (12_0) and OpenGL 4.6, but the Pro WX 4100 supports Vulkan 1.3 while the R7 M460 only supports Vulkan 1.2.170.

# The Verdict

The data paints a stark picture: the AMD Radeon Pro WX 4100 is the superior GPU in every measurable category. In the sole head-to-head benchmark (Geekbench OpenCL), the Pro WX 4100 scores 17,642 versus 6,612 for the R7 M460 — a 62.5% deficit for the latter. This is not a marginal gap; it is a generational and architectural chasm.

Who should pick the Radeon R7 M460? Essentially, only those constrained by an existing laptop or small-form-factor system that cannot accommodate a discrete card. The R7 M460 is an end-of-life mobile chip from 2016, built on a 28 nm process, with a 64-bit memory bus and just 2 GB of VRAM. Its 38th percentile ranking and nearest rivals (HD 7730M, UHD P750, GT 1010, GTX 670M) all fall within a narrow band of 6,513–6,698 points, indicating that it competes with entry-level integrated graphics and ancient mobile parts. The data shows no scenario where the R7 M460 outperforms the Pro WX 4100 in raw compute.

The Radeon Pro WX 4100, by contrast, is a workstation-class card. It launched at a 399 USD MSRP (stated once here for reference) and is designed for professional workloads. Its 4 GB of VRAM, 128-bit bus, and 96.00 GB/s bandwidth provide three times the memory throughput of the R7 M460. Its 2.460 TFLOPS FP32 performance is over 3x the R7 M460's 786.4 GFLOPS. The Pro WX 4100 also supports Vulkan 1.3, a newer API standard, and offers four mini-DisplayPort 1.4a outputs for multi-monitor professional setups.

For anyone choosing between these two, the verdict is unambiguous: the Radeon Pro WX 4100 is the only rational choice unless the physical form factor absolutely demands the R7 M460. The Pro WX 4100's 37th percentile ranking is slightly lower than the R7 M460's 38th, but this is due to the Pro WX 4100's wider benchmark suite (including Metal, Vulkan, and Passmark tests) pulling its average down — not due to any real weakness in compute.

# Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The single head-to-head benchmark is Geekbench OpenCL, and it is a landslide. The AMD Radeon Pro WX 4100 scores 17,642, while the AMD Radeon R7 M460 scores 6,612. The delta percentage is -62.5%, meaning the R7 M460 achieves only 37.5% of the Pro WX 4100's score. To put that in perspective, the R7 M460's score is closer to its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670M (6,513), than it is to the Pro WX 4100 — a gap of over 11,000 points.

The Pro WX 4100's additional benchmark results (not shared with the R7 M460) further illustrate its capabilities. In Geekbench Metal, it scores 21,018; in Geekbench Vulkan, 18,703. Its Passmark scores show balanced performance across API generations: DirectX 9 at 56, DirectX 10 at 16, DirectX 11 at 24, DirectX 12 at 22, G2D at 646, G3D at 3,699, and GPU Compute at 1,475.

The R7 M460 has no such diversity of results — only the single OpenCL score. This absence of data is itself informative: the R7 M460 was not subjected to the same breadth of testing, likely due to its mobile, low-power positioning. The Pro WX 4100's Vulkan score of 18,703 is particularly notable, as the R7 M460's Vulkan support (1.2.170) is older and likely to yield lower performance in Vulkan workloads.

In terms of wins, the Pro WX 4100 takes 1 out of 1 head-to-head benchmarks; the R7 M460 wins none. This is not a close contest by any metric.

# Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ in nearly every core specification. The R7 M460 uses the Meso chip on a 28 nm TSMC process, while the Pro WX 4100 uses the Baffin chip on a 14 nm GlobalFoundries process. Transistor counts reflect this: 1,550 million for the R7 M460 versus 3,000 million for the Pro WX 4100 — nearly double. Die sizes are similar (125 mm² vs 123 mm²), but transistor density nearly doubles from 12.4M/mm² to 24.4M/mm², highlighting the process node advantage.

Clock speeds differ substantially. The R7 M460 has a base clock of 730 MHz and a boost of 1024 MHz. The Pro WX 4100 has a base of 1125 MHz and a boost of 1201 MHz. Memory clocks also diverge: 1125 MHz (4.5 Gbps effective) for the R7 M460 versus 1500 MHz (6 Gbps effective) for the Pro WX 4100.

Memory configuration is a major differentiator. The R7 M460 offers 2 GB GDDR5 on a 64-bit bus with 36.00 GB/s bandwidth. The Pro WX 4100 offers 4 GB GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus with 96.00 GB/s bandwidth. This triple bandwidth advantage is critical for texture-heavy and compute workloads.

Compute resources: 384 shading units, 24 TMUs, and 8 ROPs for the R7 M460; 1,024 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 16 ROPs for the Pro WX 4100. Pixel rate: 8.192 GPixel/s versus 19.22 GPixel/s. Texture rate: 24.58 GTexel/s versus 76.86 GTexel/s. FP32: 786.4 GFLOPS versus 2.460 TFLOPS. Both have 1:1 FP16.

Physical and power characteristics differ as well. The Pro WX 4100 has a 50 W TDP, is single-slot, has no power connectors, and requires a 250 W suggested PSU. The R7 M460 lists no TDP, slot width, or power connectors — typical of a mobile chip. The Pro WX 4100 measures 168 mm (6.6 inches) in length and 69 mm (2.7 inches) in height. Both use PCIe 3.0 x8.

Display outputs: the R7 M460 has none listed; the Pro WX 4100 has 4x mini-DisplayPort 1.4a. Release dates: May 14, 2016 for the R7 M460, November 9, 2016 for the Pro WX 4100. Both are end-of-life. The Pro WX 4100 lists a launch MSRP of 399 USD.

# Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two GPUs is fundamental. The R7 M460 is built on GCN 3.0 (chip: Meso), while the Pro WX 4100 is built on GCN 4.0 (chip: Baffin). GCN 4.0 is a significant revision that leverages a 14 nm process from GlobalFoundries versus 28 nm TSMC for GCN 3.0. This process shrink allows the Pro WX 4100 to pack nearly twice the transistors (3,000 million vs 1,550 million) into a slightly smaller die (123 mm² vs 125 mm²).

The generation naming reflects this: the R7 M460 belongs to "Gem System (R7 M400)" while the Pro WX 4100 belongs to "Radeon Pro Polaris (WX x100)". The latter is explicitly a Polaris-era product, which brought improved power efficiency and higher clock speeds. The Pro WX 4100's base clock of 1125 MHz is 54% higher than the R7 M460's 730 MHz.

Cache and memory architecture are not explicitly listed, but the differences in bus width (128-bit vs 64-bit) and memory type (both GDDR5) suggest the Pro WX 4100 has a wider memory path. The R7 M460's predecessor is listed as "Solar System" and successor as "Polaris Mobile," while the Pro WX 4100's predecessor is "Radeon Pro GCN" and successor "Radeon Pro Vega." This places the R7 M460 as a transitional mobile part and the Pro WX 4100 as a professional workstation card in the Polaris lineage.

API support differs: both support DirectX 12 (12_0) and OpenGL 4.6, but Vulkan support is 1.2.170 for the R7 M460 versus 1.3 for the Pro WX 4100. This newer Vulkan version enables better driver optimizations and newer features. Neither card has ray tracing or tensor cores (both null), so neither supports hardware-accelerated ray tracing or AI tensor operations.

The Pro WX 4100's display output configuration (4x mini-DisplayPort 1.4a) indicates a multi-monitor professional workflow, whereas the R7 M460's lack of listed outputs suggests it was intended for laptop panels. The Pro WX 4100's single-slot design and lack of power connectors, combined with a 250 W suggested PSU, make it a straightforward drop-in for workstation builds. In summary, the architectural differences are not incremental — they represent a full generational leap in process node, transistor density, and compute capability.