AMD Radeon Pro WX 4100 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M Comparison

The AMD Radeon Pro WX 4100 is the decisive winner in compute-oriented benchmarks, delivering over twice the OpenCL performance and more than four times the Metal score of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M. However, the GTX 680M holds its ground as the historically significant mobile part, with a higher average benchmark score (7023 vs 6330) and a better percentile ranking (39th vs 37th percentile) despite being built on an older, larger process node. The data reveals a clear generational divide: the Pro WX 4100 is a modern, efficient workstation card while the GTX 680M is an end-of-life gaming-class mobile GPU from 2012.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon Pro WX 4100 wins every head-to-head benchmark in the data, making it the outright performance leader in both available tests. Its Geekbench Metal score of 21018 completely dwarfs the GTX 680M's 4815, a 77.1% advantage that shows the AMD card's dominance in Apple's compute API. The OpenCL result is similarly one-sided: 17642 vs 9230, a 47.7% lead for the Pro WX 4100. These are not marginal victories but decisive generational leaps, reflecting the Pro WX 4100's newer GCN 4.0 architecture and higher clock speeds.

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M's wins are more subtle and statistical rather than test-specific. Its average benchmark score of 7023 is 10.9% higher than the Pro WX 4100's 6330, and it sits at the 39th percentile of all GPUs compared to the AMD's 37th. This suggests that while the Pro WX 4100 excels in the specific Geekbench compute tests, the GTX 680M performs better across a broader spectrum of legacy benchmarks that are not directly compared here. The GTX 680M also matches its nearest rival, the NVIDIA T600, within 0.2% (7035 avg), showing it remains competitive with much newer entry-level workstation silicon.

For real-world use cases, the Pro WX 4100 is the clear pick for GPU-accelerated compute workloads like rendering, scientific simulation, or any task leveraging OpenCL or Metal. The GTX 680M, with its higher average score and older DirectX 11-era feature set, would be better suited for legacy gaming or applications that rely on mature driver optimizations for that generation of hardware.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs represent fundamentally different design philosophies separated by four years of process technology advancement. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M uses the GK104 chip on a 28 nm TSMC process, packing 3,540 million transistors into a 294 mm² die. This yields a transistor density of 12.0M per mm², a figure that reflects the less efficient manufacturing of 2012. Its Kepler architecture is built around 1,344 shading units, 112 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs, with a base clock of 719 MHz and a boost clock of 758 MHz.

In contrast, the AMD Radeon Pro WX 4100 uses the Baffin chip on a 14 nm GlobalFoundries process, fitting 3,000 million transistors into just 123 mm². This gives it a far superior transistor density of 24.4M per mm², nearly double that of the GTX 680M. The GCN 4.0 architecture employs 1,024 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 16 ROPs, but runs at much higher clocks: 1125 MHz base and 1201 MHz boost. The AMD card also supports FP16 compute at a 1:1 ratio (2.460 TFLOPS), while the GTX 680M has no FP16 capability listed.

Memory configurations differ significantly in bus width and bandwidth. The GTX 680M has a 256-bit memory bus delivering 115.2 GB/s, while the Pro WX 4100 uses a narrower 128-bit bus but achieves 96.00 GB/s thanks to faster 6 Gbps effective GDDR5. Both cards have 4 GB of GDDR5, but the Pro WX 4100's efficiency means it loses only 16.7% of bandwidth despite having half the bus width. The Pro WX 4100 also supports newer API standards, including DirectX 12 (12_0) and Vulkan 1.3, whereas the GTX 680M is limited to DirectX 12 (11_0) and Vulkan 1.2.175.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The Geekbench Metal test produces the most dramatic disparity in the entire dataset. The AMD Radeon Pro WX 4100 scores 21018, which is 77.1% higher than the GTX 680M's 4815. This is not an incremental improvement but a complete rout, indicating that the Pro WX 4100 is in a different performance class for Metal compute workloads. The GTX 680M's score of 4815 places it far below even its own average benchmark score, suggesting it was never optimized for this API, which did not exist when the card launched in 2012.

The Geekbench OpenCL test tells a similar story, though with a smaller margin. The Pro WX 4100 scores 17642, beating the GTX 680M's 9230 by 47.7%. This result aligns with the raw FP32 performance figures: the Pro WX 4100 delivers 2.460 TFLOPS compared to the GTX 680M's 2.038 TFLOPS, a 20.7% advantage in theoretical compute that translates into a much larger real-world benchmark lead. The Pro WX 4100's higher clock speeds and modern architecture clearly extract more practical performance from its compute units.

The GTX 680M's higher average benchmark score (7023 vs 6330) is worth examining. Since the only shared benchmarks are Geekbench Metal and OpenCL, where the AMD card wins, the NVIDIA part must be deriving its higher average from other unlisted tests in the database. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA T600, scores 7035 on average (0.2% higher), and the GTX 680M also beats the AMD Radeon R5 M240 (6975) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675M (6946) by 0.7% and 1.1% respectively. This suggests that in a broader test suite, the GTX 680M's 1344 shading units and 256-bit bus provide a solid baseline that newer but smaller workstation cards cannot always surpass.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher raw FP32 compute performance?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro WX 4100 leads with 2.460 TFLOPS, compared to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M's 2.038 TFLOPS, a 20.7% advantage for the AMD card.

Q: How much faster is the Pro WX 4100 in Metal benchmarks?

A: The Pro WX 4100 scores 21018 in Geekbench Metal, which is 77.1% higher than the GTX 680M's 4815.

Q: Does the GTX 680M have more memory bandwidth?

A: Yes, the GTX 680M has 115.2 GB/s of bandwidth over a 256-bit bus, while the Pro WX 4100 has 96.00 GB/s over a 128-bit bus.

Q: What is the process node difference between the two cards?

A: The GTX 680M uses a 28 nm process, while the Pro WX 4100 uses a 14 nm process, resulting in transistor densities of 12.0M/mm² and 24.4M/mm² respectively.

Q: Which card has better API support for modern games?

A: The Pro WX 4100 supports DirectX 12 (12_0) and Vulkan 1.3, while the GTX 680M only supports DirectX 12 (11_0) and Vulkan 1.2.175.

Q: How do their average benchmark scores compare?

A: The GTX 680M has a higher average benchmark score of 7023, compared to the Pro WX 4100's 6330, a 10.9% difference in favor of the NVIDIA card.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous for compute workloads: the AMD Radeon Pro WX 4100 is the superior GPU. Its 47.7% lead in OpenCL and 77.1% lead in Metal are decisive, and its modern GCN 4.0 architecture with 2.460 TFLOPS FP32 and 1:1 FP16 support makes it the obvious choice for professional compute tasks. The Pro WX 4100 also offers superior efficiency, with a 50 W TDP compared to the GTX 680M's 100 W, and a smaller 123 mm² die, making it a far more practical solution for workstation builds.

However, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M should not be dismissed entirely. Its higher average benchmark score of 7023 and 39th percentile ranking suggest it remains competitive in broader test suites, and its 256-bit memory bus provides more raw bandwidth (115.2 GB/s) than the Pro WX 4100. For users running legacy DirectX 11-era applications or games that favor Kepler architecture, the GTX 680M could still hold its own, especially given its larger 1344 shading unit count. That said, the GTX 680M's end-of-life status, 28 nm process, and lack of modern API features make it a poor choice for new builds.

The verdict is clear: pick the AMD Radeon Pro WX 4100 for any modern compute, professional rendering, or Vulkan-based workload. Pick the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M only if you specifically need a mobile MXM module with high memory bandwidth for legacy applications, or if the higher average benchmark score matters more than the head-to-head compute results.

Specification Differences

| Specification | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M | AMD Radeon Pro WX 4100 |

|---|---|---|

| Architecture | Kepler | GCN 4.0 |

| Process Node | 28 nm | 14 nm |

| Foundry | TSMC | GlobalFoundries |

| Transistors | 3,540 million | 3,000 million |

| Die Size | 294 mm² | 123 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 12.0M / mm² | 24.4M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 719 MHz | 1125 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 758 MHz | 1201 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 900 MHz (3.6 Gbps effective) | 1500 MHz (6 Gbps effective) |

| Memory Bus Width | 256 bit | 128 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 115.2 GB/s | 96.00 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 1344 | 1024 |

| TMUs | 112 | 64 |

| ROPs | 32 | 16 |

| Pixel Rate | 21.22 GPixel/s | 19.22 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 84.90 GTexel/s | 76.86 GTexel/s |

| FP32 Performance | 2.038 TFLOPS | 2.460 TFLOPS |

| FP16 Performance | — | 2.460 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 100 W | 50 W |

| Slot Width | MXM Module | Single-slot |

| Suggested PSU | — | 250 W |

| Bus Interface | MXM-B (3.0) | PCIe 3.0 x8 |

| Display Outputs | Portable Device Dependent | 4x mini-DisplayPort 1.4a |

| DirectX Support | 12 (11_0) | 12 (12_0) |

| Vulkan Support | 1.2.175 | 1.3 |

| Release Date | 2012-06-03 | 2016-11-09 |

| Launch MSRP | — | 399 USD |