AMD Radeon Pro WX 5100 vs NVIDIA Quadro K5100M Comparison

The Verdict

The recorded data splits this comparison cleanly, with the AMD Radeon Pro WX 5100 winning both head-to-head benchmarks by substantial margins. The NVIDIA Quadro K5100M, despite being an older design, holds a slightly higher percentile ranking among all GPUs at 48 compared to the AMD card's 44. This creates an interesting contradiction: the Quadro sits in a higher overall percentile, yet the direct benchmark comparison shows the Radeon Pro WX 5100 as the clear performance leader.

Looking strictly at the head-to-head results, the AMD Radeon Pro WX 5100 should be the default choice for anyone prioritizing raw compute performance in the two measured workloads. The NVIDIA Quadro K5100M, however, may appeal to those working within legacy Kepler-era ecosystems or requiring the MXM module form factor for portable workstations. The data suggests the AMD card is 71.3% ahead in Geekbench Metal and 51.4% ahead in Geekbench OpenCL, which are decisive margins that cannot be overlooked.

The average benchmark scores tell a more nuanced story. The Quadro K5100M averages 10043 across its recorded tests, while the Radeon Pro WX 5100 averages 8863. This means the NVIDIA card has a higher average score despite losing both direct comparisons, likely due to the different test suites recorded for each product. The AMD card has a broader set of PassMark results in the database, which may pull its average down. Users should rely on the direct head-to-head numbers for these two specific cards rather than the aggregate averages.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two professional GPUs spans three generations of process technology. The NVIDIA Quadro K5100M uses the GK104 chip on the Kepler architecture, built on a 28 nm process at TSMC with 3,540 million transistors on a 294 mm² die. The AMD Radeon Pro WX 5100 employs the Ellesmere chip with GCN 4.0 architecture, fabricated on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries with 5,700 million transistors on a smaller 232 mm² die. The transistor density figures illustrate this leap: the AMD chip packs 24.6 million transistors per square millimeter versus 12.0 million for the NVIDIA chip.

The clock behavior differs notably. The Quadro K5100M runs at a flat 771 MHz base and boost, with no dynamic range. The Radeon Pro WX 5100 has a 713 MHz base clock that boosts to 1086 MHz, a 373 MHz spread that suggests adaptive power management. Memory clocks also diverge: the NVIDIA card uses 900 MHz memory with 3.6 Gbps effective speed, while the AMD card runs 1250 MHz memory at 5 Gbps effective, yielding 160.0 GB/s bandwidth versus 115.2 GB/s.

The compute architectures differ in composition. The Radeon Pro WX 5100 has more shading units at 1792 versus 1536, but fewer texture mapping units at 112 versus 128. Both have 32 ROPs. The AMD card supports FP16 at a 1:1 ratio with FP32, both rated at 3.892 TFLOPS, while the NVIDIA card only lists FP32 at 2.369 TFLOPS. The AMD card also supports DirectX 12 (12_0) and Vulkan 1.3, whereas the NVIDIA card supports DirectX 12 (11_0) and Vulkan 1.2.175. Both support OpenGL 4.6.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon Pro WX 5100 dominates the two measured workloads. In Geekbench Metal, it scores 29003 against the Quadro's 8315, a 71.3% advantage. In Geekbench OpenCL, it scores 24217 against 11771, a 51.4% lead. These are the only official head-to-head benchmarks in the database, and the AMD card wins both, so any use case involving Metal or OpenCL acceleration clearly favors the AMD product.

The NVIDIA Quadro K5100M has no recorded head-to-head wins, but its higher average benchmark score of 10043 versus 8863 suggests it may perform better in certain unmeasured workloads. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon R9 M375 at 10070 with a negligible 0.3% difference, indicating the Quadro sits at parity with that card. The Radeon Pro WX 5100's nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon R9 M265X at 8851 with a 0.1% delta, showing it too is clustered tightly with comparable products.

The AMD card's broader API support, including Vulkan 1.3 and DirectX 12 (12_0), makes it more suitable for modern applications that leverage these newer interfaces. The NVIDIA card, with its older Kepler architecture and more limited API support, may be better suited for legacy professional software that was optimized for CUDA or Kepler-era features, though the database does not include specific CUDA benchmarks to confirm this.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins in Geekbench Metal?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro WX 5100 scores 29003 versus 8315 for the NVIDIA Quadro K5100M, a delta of 71.3% in favor of the AMD card.

Q: What is the average benchmark score for each GPU?

A: The NVIDIA Quadro K5100M averages 10043, while the AMD Radeon Pro WX 5100 averages 8863, making the NVIDIA card's aggregate average higher despite losing both direct head-to-head tests.

Q: How do the memory bandwidth figures compare?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro WX 5100 provides 160.0 GB/s of bandwidth, while the NVIDIA Quadro K5100M provides 115.2 GB/s, a difference driven by the AMD card's 5 Gbps effective memory speed versus 3.6 Gbps.

Q: What is the transistor count difference?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro WX 5100 has 5,700 million transistors, while the NVIDIA Quadro K5100M has 3,540 million, with the AMD chip also achieving higher density at 24.6M per mm² versus 12.0M.

Q: Which card has a higher boost clock?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro WX 5100 boosts to 1086 MHz, whereas the NVIDIA Quadro K5100M stays at a constant 771 MHz for both base and boost.

Q: What are the DirectX support levels?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro WX 5100 supports DirectX 12 (12_0), while the NVIDIA Quadro K5100M supports DirectX 12 (11_0), indicating the AMD card has more complete feature support for the newer API.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database records two direct comparisons, and both favor the AMD Radeon Pro WX 5100 decisively. In Geekbench Metal, the AMD card achieves 29003 points against 8315 for the NVIDIA Quadro K5100M. This 71.3% delta represents the largest gap between the two cards in any recorded test. The Metal workload appears to heavily favor the GCN 4.0 architecture, likely due to its newer API support and higher shading unit count.

The Geekbench OpenCL result shows a similar pattern, though with a smaller margin. The AMD card scores 24217, while the NVIDIA card manages 11771, a 51.4% difference. This still represents a massive performance advantage, but the relative closeness compared to Metal suggests that OpenCL workloads may leverage the Kepler architecture's 128 TMUs more effectively. The Quadro's higher texture rate of 98.69 GTexel/s versus the AMD card's 121.6 GTexel/s does not translate into a win, but the gap narrows from 71.3% to 51.4%.

The pixel rates also favor AMD: 34.75 GPixel/s versus 24.67 GPixel/s for the NVIDIA card. The FP32 throughput difference is stark: 3.892 TFLOPS for AMD versus 2.369 TFLOPS for NVIDIA, a 64.3% advantage in raw compute. These architectural advantages in shading units, clocks, and memory bandwidth all contribute to the AMD card's sweep of the head-to-head tests. The data implies that for any modern compute workload using Metal or OpenCL, the Radeon Pro WX 5100 is the superior choice, and the margins are too large to be explained by driver optimization alone.

Specification Differences

The process node marks the most fundamental difference: 28 nm for the NVIDIA Quadro K5100M versus 14 nm for the AMD Radeon Pro WX 5100. The transistor counts follow accordingly, with AMD packing 5,700 million versus 3,540 million, on a smaller die of 232 mm² versus 294 mm². The transistor density nearly doubles from 12.0M per mm² to 24.6M per mm².

Clock speeds differ significantly, with the AMD card's boost clock of 1086 MHz far exceeding the NVIDIA card's fixed 771 MHz. Memory speed also favors AMD at 5 Gbps effective versus 3.6 Gbps, producing 160.0 GB/s versus 115.2 GB/s of bandwidth. Both cards have 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus.

The compute unit counts diverge: AMD has 1792 shading units and 112 TMUs, while NVIDIA has 1536 shading units and 128 TMUs. Both have 32 ROPs. FP32 throughput is 3.892 TFLOPS for AMD versus 2.369 TFLOPS for NVIDIA, with AMD also offering FP16 at 3.892 TFLOPS (1:1), a feature NVIDIA does not list.

The power profiles differ notably: the AMD card has a 75 W TDP with a suggested 250 W PSU, while the NVIDIA card has a 100 W TDP. The AMD card is a single-slot design measuring 173 mm in length and 112 mm in height, while the NVIDIA card uses an MXM Module form factor with a 3.0 bus interface. The AMD card provides 4x DisplayPort 1.4a outputs, whereas the NVIDIA card's outputs are listed as portable device dependent. The AMD card also supports Vulkan 1.3 and DirectX 12 (12_0), while the NVIDIA card supports Vulkan 1.2.175 and DirectX 12 (11_0). The AMD Radeon Pro WX 5100 has its launch MSRP recorded at 499 USD, while the NVIDIA card has no such listing in the database.