AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 vs AMD Radeon RX 480 Comparison

The AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 and the AMD Radeon RX 480 share the same silicon, the Ellesmere chip, but the data reveals they are tuned for entirely different priorities. The WX 7100 is a professional workstation card, while the RX 480 is a consumer gaming card. Across the three recorded head-to-head benchmarks, the RX 480 claims two wins, while the Pro WX 7100 takes one, yet the average benchmark scores tell a more complex story. The Pro WX 7100 averages 40063 across its tested workloads, placing it in the 82nd percentile of all GPUs, while the RX 480 averages 33997, placing it in the 78th percentile. This gap in average scores, despite the RX 480 winning more individual tests, highlights how the benchmark suite captures different strengths.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon RX 480 dominates in graphics API workloads that are common in gaming and real-time rendering. Its win in Geekbench Metal is decisive, scoring 51057 against the Pro WX 7100's 40357, a 21% advantage. Similarly, in Geekbench Vulkan, the RX 480 scores 45968 versus 39683, a 13.7% lead. These results indicate that for applications leveraging Metal or Vulkan, the consumer card delivers substantially higher performance. The RX 480 also has a higher pixel rate of 40.51 GPixel/s and a higher texture rate of 182.3 GTexel/s, reinforcing its strength in rasterization-heavy tasks.

The AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100, on the other hand, wins the compute-oriented Geekbench OpenCL test. It scores 40148 against the RX 480's 37998, a 5.7% advantage. This suggests the workstation card is better optimized for general-purpose compute workloads that rely on OpenCL. The Pro WX 7100 also carries a higher base clock of 1188 MHz versus 1120 MHz, which may contribute to its efficiency in sustained compute tasks. Its single-slot design and lower 130 W TDP, compared to the RX 480's dual-slot 150 W design, indicate a focus on stability and density in professional environments rather than raw peak performance.

The data shows a clear split: the RX 480 wins where graphics APIs dominate, while the Pro WX 7100 wins in compute throughput. For users running OpenCL-based productivity applications, the Pro WX 7100 is the stronger choice. For those prioritizing Metal or Vulkan performance, the RX 480 is clearly ahead.

Architecture Differences

Both cards are built on the same GCN 4.0 architecture, using the Ellesmere chip fabricated on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. Both integrate 5,700 million transistors on a 232 mm² die, resulting in a transistor density of 24.6M per mm². The core configurations are identical: 2304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 32 raster output units. Neither card features dedicated ray tracing cores or tensor cores, which is consistent with their GCN 4.0 generation.

The architectural differences lie in clock speeds and memory configuration. The Pro WX 7100 has a base clock of 1188 MHz and a boost clock of 1243 MHz, while the RX 480 has a lower base clock of 1120 MHz but a higher boost clock of 1266 MHz. The memory clocks also differ: the Pro WX 7100 runs its GDDR5 memory at 1750 MHz, yielding 7 Gbps effective, while the RX 480 runs at 2000 MHz, yielding 8 Gbps effective. This higher memory clock gives the RX 480 a bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s, compared to 224.0 GB/s for the Pro WX 7100.

The Pro WX 7100 belongs to the Radeon Pro Polaris (WX x100) generation, while the RX 480 belongs to the Arctic Islands (RX 400) generation. The Pro WX 7100's predecessor is Radeon Pro GCN, and its successor is Radeon Pro Vega. The RX 480's predecessor is Pirate Islands, and its successor is Polaris. Despite the different market positioning, both cards support DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3, and both use a PCIe 3.0 x16 bus interface.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The largest margin in the head-to-head results is in Geekbench Metal, where the RX 480 scores 51057 versus 40357 for the Pro WX 7100, a 21% difference. This is the RX 480's biggest win and a significant gap for any Metal-based application. The Pro WX 7100's nearest rival comparison in Metal is not directly provided, but its overall average benchmark score of 40063 sits close to the AMD Radeon Pro 580, which averages 40318, a delta of -0.6%, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070, which averages 40377, a delta of -0.8%. This places the Pro WX 7100 in a tight performance band around the 40000 mark in its recorded benchmarks.

In Geekbench Vulkan, the RX 480 again takes the win, scoring 45968 against 39683, a 13.7% advantage. The Pro WX 7100's Vulkan score of 39683 is only slightly above its OpenCL score, indicating consistent performance across these two APIs. The RX 480's Vulkan score, however, is its second-highest recorded result, trailing only its Metal score.

The Pro WX 7100's sole win comes in Geekbench OpenCL, where it scores 40148 versus 37998, a 5.7% margin. This is a narrower victory compared to the RX 480's wins, but it demonstrates that the workstation card holds an edge in compute-centric workloads. The RX 480's OpenCL score of 37998 is its lowest recorded result across the three tests, showing a notable drop from its Metal and Vulkan scores.

The average benchmark scores further contextualize these results. The Pro WX 7100 averages 40063, while the RX 480 averages 33997. The RX 480's average is dragged down by its OpenCL result and the inclusion of a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 966 in its benchmark set, which is not present in the Pro WX 7100's recorded tests. The RX 480's nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon HD 7950 with an average score of 33951, a delta of 0.1%, and the AMD Radeon RX 560 XT with 34133, a delta of -0.4%. This places the RX 480's average performance in a lower tier than the Pro WX 7100, despite its wins in Metal and Vulkan.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in several key specifications. The Pro WX 7100 has a base clock of 1188 MHz, while the RX 480 has a base clock of 1120 MHz. The boost clocks are closer, with the Pro WX 7100 at 1243 MHz and the RX 480 at 1266 MHz. The memory clock differs significantly: the Pro WX 7100 runs at 1750 MHz (7 Gbps effective), while the RX 480 runs at 2000 MHz (8 Gbps effective). This results in a memory bandwidth difference of 224.0 GB/s for the Pro WX 7100 versus 256.0 GB/s for the RX 480.

The pixel rate is slightly higher on the RX 480 at 40.51 GPixel/s, compared to 39.78 GPixel/s on the Pro WX 7100. Similarly, the texture rate is higher on the RX 480 at 182.3 GTexel/s, versus 179.0 GTexel/s on the Pro WX 7100. The FP32 and FP16 compute rates are also higher on the RX 480, at 5.834 TFLOPS each, compared to 5.728 TFLOPS each on the Pro WX 7100.

The power profiles differ substantially. The Pro WX 7100 has a TDP of 130 W and a suggested PSU of 300 W, while the RX 480 has a TDP of 150 W and a suggested PSU of 450 W. The Pro WX 7100 is a single-slot card, while the RX 480 is dual-slot. Both use a single 6-pin power connector. The physical dimensions also differ: the Pro WX 7100 measures 241 mm (9.5 inches) in length and 112 mm (4.4 inches) in height, while the RX 480 measures 240 mm (9.4 inches) in length, 95 mm (3.7 inches) in height, and 35 mm (1.4 inches) in width.

The display outputs are different as well. The Pro WX 7100 offers 4x DisplayPort 1.4a, while the RX 480 offers 1x HDMI 2.0b and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a. Both cards have 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus. The release dates are separated by several months, with the RX 480 launching on 2016-06-28 and the Pro WX 7100 on 2016-11-09. The Pro WX 7100 has a launch MSRP of 799 USD, while the RX 480 has a launch MSRP of 229 USD.

FAQ

Q: Which card has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 has an average benchmark score of 40063, placing it in the 82nd percentile of all GPUs. The AMD Radeon RX 480 averages 33997, placing it in the 78th percentile.

Q: How do the two cards compare in Geekbench Metal?

A: The RX 480 wins decisively, scoring 51057 against the Pro WX 7100's 40357, a 21% advantage for the RX 480.

Q: Does the Pro WX 7100 win any benchmark?

A: Yes, the Pro WX 7100 wins Geekbench OpenCL with a score of 40148, compared to the RX 480's 37998, a 5.7% margin.

Q: Are the core configurations the same on both cards?

A: Yes, both cards feature 2304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, 32 ROPs, and 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth difference?

A: The RX 480 has a memory bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s, while the Pro WX 7100 has 224.0 GB/s, a difference driven by the RX 480's higher 8 Gbps effective memory clock versus the Pro WX 7100's 7 Gbps effective.

Q: How do their power requirements differ?

A: The Pro WX 7100 has a TDP of 130 W and a suggested PSU of 300 W, while the RX 480 has a TDP of 150 W and a suggested PSU of 450 W. The Pro WX 7100 is single-slot, while the RX 480 is dual-slot.