AMD Radeon Pro WX 4100 vs NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M Comparison

The NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M and AMD Radeon Pro WX 4100 represent two very different eras of GPU design, and their benchmark data reflects that gap clearly. The single head-to-head benchmark available—Geekbench OpenCL—shows the AMD Radeon Pro WX 4100 scoring 17,642 against the NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M’s 6,493, a delta of -63.2% from the perspective of the older NVIDIA part. That is the entirety of the direct comparison, but the surrounding specification and workload data provide a fuller picture of where each card stands.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct benchmark comparison in the data is Geekbench OpenCL, and it is decisive. The AMD Radeon Pro WX 4100 delivers 17,642 points, while the NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M manages 6,493 points. The deltaPct of -63.2% means the NVIDIA card scores roughly 63% lower than the AMD card in this test. In practical terms, the AMD part is not just ahead—it is in a different performance class entirely, with more than 2.7 times the raw OpenCL score.

This margin aligns with the theoretical compute specifications. The AMD Radeon Pro WX 4100 has a FP32 throughput of 2.460 TFLOPS, whereas the NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M is rated at 339.8 GFLOPS. That is a ratio of about 7.2 to 1 in raw floating-point capability, though the OpenCL delta is smaller, suggesting other bottlenecks (memory bandwidth, driver overhead, or test characteristics) narrow the gap somewhat. Still, the benchmark result is unambiguous: the AMD card wins the only head-to-head test by a wide margin.

For context, each card’s nearest rivals reinforce how their scores sit relative to the broader market. The NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M’s OpenCL score of 6,493 places it within 0.2% of the NVIDIA Quadro M5000M (6,481), 0.3% above the AMD Radeon Vega 10 Mobile (6,476), and 0.9% below the Intel UHD Graphics P750 (6,554). The AMD Radeon Pro WX 4100, by contrast, has an average benchmark score of 6,330 across all its tests, with nearest rivals including the AMD Radeon R7 M350 (6,327, 0.1% delta) and the NVIDIA Quadro K620 (6,282, 0.8% delta). Note that the AMD card’s OpenCL score is far above its own average, indicating that OpenCL is one of its stronger workloads, while the NVIDIA card’s single benchmark is its only data point.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon Pro WX 4100 wins the only head-to-head benchmark (Geekbench OpenCL) and also demonstrates strength across a broader range of tests. Its benchmark suite includes Geekbench Metal (21,018), Geekbench Vulkan (18,703), Passmark G3D (3,699), and Passmark GPU Compute (1,475). These scores indicate versatility across different API and workload types, from graphics compute (Vulkan, Metal) to general 3D rendering (Passmark G3D). The card also posts 646 in Passmark G2D, which measures 2D graphics performance—a category where the NVIDIA card has no recorded benchmark.

The NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M has only one benchmark result (Geekbench OpenCL, 6,493), so its “wins” are limited to what that single test implies. It does not have any recorded wins in the head-to-head data (winsA: 0, winsB: 1). That said, the NVIDIA card’s 37th percentile ranking among all GPUs (same as the AMD card’s percentile) suggests that its single score is not dramatically below the median—but the AMD card’s average benchmark score of 6,330 is also at the 37th percentile, a coincidence that masks the wide variance in the AMD card’s individual test results.

Where the AMD card wins clearly is in memory bandwidth and capacity. It has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory with 96.00 GB/s bandwidth, compared to the NVIDIA card’s 1 GB of DDR3 with 28.80 GB/s. That is a 3.33x bandwidth advantage and 4x capacity advantage. For workloads that are memory-bound—texture-heavy scenes, large datasets, multi-tasking with multiple displays—the AMD card has an inherent edge that the benchmark data supports through its higher OpenCL score.

The NVIDIA card’s advantage is less about performance and more about power efficiency in a mobile context. Its TDP is 35 W versus the AMD card’s 50 W, and it is described as “Portable Device Dependent” for display outputs, indicating it was designed for laptops. The AMD card, meanwhile, is a single-slot desktop card with 4x mini-DisplayPort 1.4a outputs and a suggested PSU of 250 W. For a user constrained by a laptop chassis, the NVIDIA card is the only practical choice—but in raw performance, the AMD card wins every measurable category.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher OpenCL benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro WX 4100 scores 17,642 in Geekbench OpenCL, while the NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M scores 6,493, giving the AMD card a -63.2% delta advantage over the NVIDIA part.

Q: How do their memory specifications compare?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro WX 4100 has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus with 96.00 GB/s bandwidth. The NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M has 1 GB of DDR3 memory on a 128-bit bus with 28.80 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: What is the transistor count and process node for each?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro WX 4100 uses a 14 nm process (GlobalFoundries) with 3,000 million transistors on a 123 mm² die. The NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M uses a 40 nm process (TSMC) with 1,170 million transistors on a 238 mm² die.

Q: Which card supports more modern APIs?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro WX 4100 supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. The NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M supports DirectX 12 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.6, but has no Vulkan support listed.

Q: What is the power draw difference?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M has a TDP of 35 W, while the AMD Radeon Pro WX 4100 has a TDP of 50 W. The AMD card also lists a suggested PSU of 250 W.

Q: Do both cards have the same performance percentile ranking?

A: Yes, both cards rank at the 37th percentile among all GPUs, despite the AMD card’s much higher peak benchmark scores on individual tests.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every specification category. The NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M uses a GF106 chip on a 40 nm process from TSMC, with 1,170 million transistors on a 238 mm² die. The AMD Radeon Pro WX 4100 uses a Baffin chip on a 14 nm process from GlobalFoundries, with 3,000 million transistors on a 123 mm² die. The transistor density tells the story: 4.9M transistors per mm² for NVIDIA versus 24.4M per mm² for AMD.

Memory is another major divider. The NVIDIA card has 1 GB of DDR3 at 900 MHz (1800 Mbps effective), yielding 28.80 GB/s bandwidth. The AMD card has 4 GB of GDDR5 at 1500 MHz (6 Gbps effective), yielding 96.00 GB/s bandwidth. Both use a 128-bit bus, but the memory type and speed create a 3.33x bandwidth gap.

Compute units differ starkly: the NVIDIA card has 144 shading units, 24 TMUs, and 16 ROPs, while the AMD card has 1,024 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. The pixel rate is 3.540 GPixel/s for NVIDIA versus 19.22 GPixel/s for AMD, and texture rate is 14.16 GTexel/s versus 76.86 GTexel/s. FP32 output is 339.8 GFLOPS for NVIDIA versus 2.460 TFLOPS for AMD; the AMD card also lists FP16 at 2.460 TFLOPS (1:1), while the NVIDIA card has no FP16 rating.

Clock behavior also differs: the NVIDIA card lists no base or boost clocks, only a memory clock, while the AMD card has a base clock of 1125 MHz and a boost clock of 1201 MHz. The bus interface is PCIe 2.0 x16 for NVIDIA versus PCIe 3.0 x8 for AMD. Display outputs are “Portable Device Dependent” for NVIDIA versus 4x mini-DisplayPort 1.4a for AMD. The AMD card is single-slot, 168 mm long and 69 mm high, with no power connectors, while the NVIDIA card has no dimensions, slot width, or power connector data.

Architecture Differences

The NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M is built on the Fermi architecture, part of the GeForce 500M generation. It uses a 40 nm process from TSMC, which explains its larger die (238 mm²) despite having fewer transistors (1,170 million) than the AMD part. Fermi was designed for DirectX 11-era workloads, and the card’s DirectX 12 (11_0) support reflects that limitation—it can run DirectX 12 titles but only at the 11_0 feature level.

The AMD Radeon Pro WX 4100 uses the GCN 4.0 architecture, specifically the Baffin chip, and belongs to the Radeon Pro Polaris (WX x100) generation. It is fabricated on a 14 nm process from GlobalFoundries, enabling a much smaller die (123 mm²) with over 2.5x more transistors (3,000 million). GCN 4.0 brings full DirectX 12 (12_0) support, Vulkan 1.3, and higher FP16 throughput (rated at 1:1 with FP32), which the older Fermi architecture lacks entirely.

The compute feature sets diverge accordingly. The AMD card’s 1,024 shading units and 64 TMUs are typical of GCN’s wide-vector design, while Fermi’s 144 shading units and 24 TMUs are far narrower. Neither card has ray tracing cores or tensor cores, so those features are absent from both. The AMD card’s memory architecture (GDDR5, 96 GB/s) is also a product of its newer design, whereas the NVIDIA card’s DDR3 (28.80 GB/s) reflects its 2011-era mobile origins.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear performance winner: the AMD Radeon Pro WX 4100. In the only head-to-head benchmark, it scores 17,642 versus 6,493, a 63.2% delta in its favor. Its memory bandwidth (96.00 GB/s) is 3.33x higher, its FP32 throughput (2.460 TFLOPS) is over 7x higher, and its texture rate (76.86 GTexel/s) is over 5x higher. For any workload that stresses compute, memory, or modern API support—OpenCL, Vulkan, Metal, DirectX 12 (12_0)—the AMD card is the correct choice.

The NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M’s case rests entirely on its 35 W TDP and mobile orientation. It is a laptop part with “Portable Device Dependent” display outputs, while the AMD card is a single-slot desktop card requiring a 250 W PSU. If the system must be a thin, low-power laptop, the NVIDIA card is the only option that fits the form factor. But that is a constraint of physical design, not a performance advantage. The NVIDIA card has no benchmark wins (winsA: 0) and trails in every measurable category except power draw.

Users who need professional-grade 3D rendering, GPU compute, or multi-display output should choose the AMD Radeon Pro WX 4100. Its 4 GB of GDDR5 memory, 4x mini-DisplayPort 1.4a outputs, and Vulkan 1.3 support make it a capable workstation card. Users who are stuck with an aging laptop and need the lowest power draw should consider the NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M, but they should expect roughly one-third of the OpenCL performance and a fraction of the memory bandwidth. The verdict is not close: the AMD card wins on performance, features, and memory, while the NVIDIA card wins only on power efficiency and portability.