AMD Radeon Pro WX 5100 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti Comparison

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro WX 5100 records an average benchmark score of 8863, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti sits at 8053, a difference of roughly 810 points.

Q: How does the WX 5100's closest rival compare in average score?

A: The nearest rival to the WX 5100 is the AMD Radeon R9 M265X, with an average score of 8851, a delta of just 0.1%. The GTX 650 Ti's closest competitor is the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 880M at 8040, also a 0.2% delta.

Q: What is the memory capacity difference between the two cards?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro WX 5100 has 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti has 1024 MB (1 GB) of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus.

Q: Which GPU has a higher transistor count?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro WX 5100 uses 5,700 million transistors on a 14 nm process, versus 2,540 million transistors on a 28 nm process for the GTX 650 Ti.

Q: Do both cards support the same DirectX version?

A: No. The WX 5100 supports DirectX 12 (12_0), while the GTX 650 Ti supports DirectX 12 (11_0), a feature-level difference.

Q: What is the launch date difference between the two products?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti was released on 2012-10-08, while the AMD Radeon Pro WX 5100 launched on 2016-11-17, a gap of over four years.

Architecture Differences

The AMD Radeon Pro WX 5100 is built on the Ellesmere chip using GCN 4.0 architecture, fabricated by GlobalFoundries at 14 nm. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti uses the GK106S chip with Kepler architecture, manufactured by TSMC at 28 nm. The process node difference is substantial: 14 nm versus 28 nm, which directly impacts transistor density. The WX 5100 packs 5,700 million transistors into a 232 mm² die, yielding a density of 24.6M per mm². The GTX 650 Ti has 2,540 million transistors on a 221 mm² die, for a density of only 11.5M per mm². This means the AMD part packs more than twice the transistors per square millimeter.

The WX 5100 belongs to the Radeon Pro Polaris generation (WX x100), while the GTX 650 Ti is from the GeForce 600 series. The AMD card is a professional workstation product, whereas the NVIDIA card is a consumer GeForce part. The shading unit counts differ sharply: 1792 units on the WX 5100 versus 768 on the GTX 650 Ti. Texture mapping units are 112 versus 64, and render output units are 32 versus 16. These are fundamental architectural differences that scale across nearly every workload.

The memory subsystem also diverges. The WX 5100 uses 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, delivering 160.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GTX 650 Ti has 1 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus, achieving only 86.40 GB/s. Clock behavior differs as well: the WX 5100 has a base clock of 713 MHz and a boost clock of 1086 MHz, while the GTX 650 Ti's base and boost clocks are not recorded in the database. Memory clocks are 1250 MHz (5 Gbps effective) for the AMD card and 1350 MHz (5.4 Gbps effective) for the NVIDIA card.

API support shows another gap. The WX 5100 supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. The GTX 650 Ti supports DirectX 12 (11_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.175. Both are end-of-life products, but the WX 5100's successor is Radeon Pro Vega, while the GTX 650 Ti's successor is GeForce 700. The predecessors are Radeon Pro GCN and GeForce 500, respectively.

The Verdict

The data points to a decisive overall winner: the AMD Radeon Pro WX 5100. It wins both head-to-head benchmark tests recorded, with deltas of 207.4% and 227% over the GTX 650 Ti. Its average benchmark score of 8863 sits above the GTX 650 Ti's 8053 by roughly 10%. The WX 5100 also holds a higher percentile rank among all GPUs, at 44 versus 42.

For users choosing between the two, the WX 5100 is the clear pick for compute-heavy workloads, given its 8 GB memory capacity, higher bandwidth, and more than double the shading units. The GTX 650 Ti, however, has one advantage: its launch MSRP of 149 USD is lower than the WX 5100's launch MSRP of 499 USD. But the performance gap is so large that the price difference is not the deciding factor in most scenarios.

The GTX 650 Ti is a legacy Kepler part from 2012, while the WX 5100 is a 2016 Polaris-based professional card. If the task requires modern API features like Vulkan 1.3 or DirectX 12_0, the WX 5100 is the only option that satisfies those requirements. For legacy compatibility or minimal power draw, the GTX 650 Ti's 110 W TDP versus the WX 5100's 75 W TDP actually favors the AMD card. The data shows no benchmark category where the GTX 650 Ti outperforms the WX 5100.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon Pro WX 5100 | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti |

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

| Chip | Ellesmere | GK106S |

| Architecture | GCN 4.0 | Kepler |

| Process Node | 14 nm | 28 nm |

| Foundry | GlobalFoundries | TSMC |

| Transistors | 5,700 million | 2,540 million |

| Die Size | 232 mm² | 221 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 24.6M / mm² | 11.5M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 713 MHz | Not recorded |

| Boost Clock | 1086 MHz | Not recorded |

| Memory Clock | 1250 MHz (5 Gbps effective) | 1350 MHz (5.4 Gbps effective) |

| Memory Size | 8 GB | 1024 MB |

| Memory Bus Width | 256 bit | 128 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 160.0 GB/s | 86.40 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 1792 | 768 |

| TMUs | 112 | 64 |

| ROPs | 32 | 16 |

| Pixel Rate | 34.75 GPixel/s | 14.85 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 121.6 GTexel/s | 59.39 GTexel/s |

| FP32 Performance | 3.892 TFLOPS | 1,425.4 GFLOPS |

| FP16 Performance | 3.892 TFLOPS (1:1) | Not recorded |

| TDP | 75 W | 110 W |

| Power Connectors | None | 1x 6-pin |

| Suggested PSU | 250 W | 300 W |

| Display Outputs | 4x DisplayPort 1.4a | 2x DVI, 1x mini-HDMI 1.4a |

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

| Vulkan | 1.3 | 1.2.175 |

| Length | 173 mm (6.8 inches) | 145 mm (5.7 inches) |

| Release Date | 2016-11-17 | 2012-10-08 |

| Launch MSRP | 499 USD | 149 USD |

| Predecessor | Radeon Pro GCN | GeForce 500 |

| Successor | Radeon Pro Vega | GeForce 700 |

The specifications table shows a comprehensive advantage for the WX 5100. The only fields where the GTX 650 Ti is not behind are the memory clock (1350 MHz versus 1250 MHz) and the launch MSRP (149 USD versus 499 USD). The GTX 650 Ti is also shorter at 145 mm versus 173 mm, but the height of the NVIDIA card is not recorded.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database records two direct head-to-head benchmark comparisons between these GPUs. Both are Geekbench tests, and the AMD Radeon Pro WX 5100 wins both by a wide margin.

Geekbench OpenCL: The WX 5100 scores 24217, while the GTX 650 Ti scores 7877. This is a delta of 207.4%, meaning the AMD card is approximately three times faster in this compute workload. The OpenCL test stresses raw FP32 throughput, memory bandwidth, and shader occupancy, all areas where the WX 5100's specifications dominate. With 1792 shading units versus 768, and 160.0 GB/s versus 86.40 GB/s of bandwidth, the result aligns with the hardware disparity.

Geekbench Vulkan: The WX 5100 scores 26909, and the GTX 650 Ti scores 8229. The delta is 227%, an even larger gap than the OpenCL result. Vulkan is a low-level API that benefits from modern architecture features, and the WX 5100's GCN 4.0 design with Vulkan 1.3 support clearly outperforms the Kepler-based GTX 650 Ti with Vulkan 1.2.175. The WX 5100's score is higher in Vulkan than in OpenCL (26909 versus 24217), while the GTX 650 Ti's Vulkan score (8229) is only slightly above its OpenCL score (7877).

These two results account for all recorded head-to-head benchmarks, giving the WX 5100 a 2-0 win count. The GTX 650 Ti has no benchmark category in which it beats the WX 5100. The average benchmark scores reinforce this trend: 8863 for the AMD card versus 8053 for the NVIDIA card. The WX 5100's nearest rival, the AMD Radeon R9 M265X, scores 8851, which is nearly identical, while the GTX 650 Ti's nearest rival, the GTX 880M, scores 8040. The percentile ranks (44 versus 42) confirm that the WX 5100 sits higher in the global GPU performance distribution.

The texture rate difference is also telling: 121.6 GTexel/s versus 59.39 GTexel/s, a factor of about two. Pixel rate follows the same pattern: 34.75 GPixel/s versus 14.85 GPixel/s. FP32 compute is 3.892 TFLOPS versus 1,425.4 GFLOPS, meaning the WX 5100 has roughly 2.7 times the single-precision floating-point throughput. These hardware-level differences translate directly into the benchmark deltas observed in the head-to-head tests. The WX 5100 is the superior product across every measured dimension, and the data leaves no ambiguity about which GPU performs better.