AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 vs NVIDIA RTX A2000 12 GB Comparison

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 records an average benchmark score of 40063, while the NVIDIA RTX A2000 12 GB sits at 34154. The AMD card sits in the 82nd percentile of all GPUs, compared to the 79th percentile for the NVIDIA card.

Q: How do the two cards compare in Geekbench OpenCL performance?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A2000 12 GB delivers a Geekbench OpenCL score of 66998, which is 40.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100's 40148 in that specific test. This is the only head-to-head benchmark recorded in the database.

Q: What are the memory specifications of each card?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 has 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus with 224.0 GB/s bandwidth. The NVIDIA RTX A2000 12 GB has 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus with 288.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which card has a higher transistor count and what are the process nodes?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A2000 12 GB packs 12,000 million transistors on an 8 nm Samsung process, while the AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 contains 5,700 million transistors on a 14 nm GlobalFoundries process. The NVIDIA chip also has a higher transistor density at 43.5M per mm² versus 24.6M per mm².

Q: What are the power requirements for each card?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 has a TDP of 130 W and requires a single 6-pin power connector with a suggested 300 W PSU. The NVIDIA RTX A2000 12 GB has a TDP of 70 W, uses no power connectors, and has a suggested 250 W PSU.

Q: Which card supports ray tracing and tensor cores?

A: Only the NVIDIA RTX A2000 12 GB includes 26 ray tracing cores and 104 tensor cores, as part of its Ampere architecture. The AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100, based on GCN 4.0, has no ray tracing or tensor core hardware.

Architecture Differences

The two cards represent fundamentally different design philosophies and generations. The AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 uses the Ellesmere chip built on GCN 4.0 architecture, fabricated on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. This is a Polaris-generation workstation part from the Radeon Pro lineup. In contrast, the NVIDIA RTX A2000 12 GB employs the GA106 chip with Ampere architecture, manufactured on an 8 nm process at Samsung, belonging to the Workstation Ampere generation.

The transistor counts reveal the scale of the architectural shift. AMD's chip contains 5,700 million transistors on a 232 mm² die, resulting in a density of 24.6M transistors per mm². NVIDIA's GA106 packs 12,000 million transistors into a 276 mm² die, achieving 43.5M transistors per mm². That density advantage comes from the smaller 8 nm node and reflects a more modern design.

Compute resources differ substantially. The AMD card fields 2304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 32 raster output units. The NVIDIA card has 3328 shading units but fewer texture units at 104, and more ROPs at 48. The NVIDIA architecture adds dedicated hardware that AMD lacks entirely: 26 ray tracing cores and 104 tensor cores. These are absent from the GCN 4.0 design, which predates dedicated ray tracing acceleration in workstation GPUs.

Clock behavior also shows an architectural split. The AMD card runs at a base clock of 1188 MHz and boosts to 1243 MHz. The NVIDIA card has a much lower base clock of 562 MHz but boosts to 1200 MHz, indicating a design that relies on boost behavior under load rather than sustained high base frequencies. Memory clocks differ as well: AMD uses 1750 MHz (7 Gbps effective) GDDR5, while NVIDIA uses 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective) GDDR6.

The API support reflects the generation gap. AMD supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. NVIDIA supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The higher DirectX feature level and Vulkan version on the NVIDIA side indicate more recent driver and hardware capabilities.

Where Each One Wins

The benchmark data shows a clear split: the NVIDIA RTX A2000 12 GB wins the only recorded head-to-head test, the Geekbench OpenCL benchmark, with a score of 66998 versus 40148 for the AMD card. That is a 40.1% margin in favor of the NVIDIA part. In compute workloads that stress OpenCL performance, the RTX A2000 12 GB is the definitive winner.

However, the AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 holds advantages in other areas that matter for specific use cases. Its average benchmark score of 40063 exceeds the NVIDIA card's 34154, and it ranks in the 82nd percentile of all GPUs versus the 79th percentile for the RTX A2000 12 GB. The AMD card also has a higher texture fill rate at 179.0 GTexel/s versus 124.8 GTexel/s for NVIDIA, making it potentially stronger in texture-heavy workloads that do not rely on compute shaders.

The AMD card's nearest rivals in the database include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 with an average score of 40377 (0.8% higher) and the AMD Radeon Pro 580 at 40318 (0.6% higher). This places the WX 7100 in a performance tier that sits just below modern consumer flagship GPUs, despite its age. The NVIDIA RTX A2000 12 GB, by contrast, sits near the AMD Radeon RX 560 XT (34133, 0.1% lower) and the NVIDIA TITAN V (34355, 0.6% higher), indicating it trades in a lower absolute performance band despite its compute win.

For users prioritizing raw OpenCL compute throughput, the RTX A2000 12 GB is the obvious choice. For users who need broad benchmark consistency and higher percentile placement across the entire GPU database, the AMD card's higher average score and percentile ranking make it the more balanced option.

Specification Differences

The two cards diverge on nearly every specification field. The process node differs: AMD uses 14 nm, NVIDIA uses 8 nm. Transistor counts are 5,700 million versus 12,000 million, with die sizes of 232 mm² versus 276 mm². Transistor density is 24.6M per mm² for AMD and 43.5M per mm² for NVIDIA.

Clock speeds show a notable contrast. The AMD card has a base clock of 1188 MHz and boost of 1243 MHz. The NVIDIA card has a base clock of 562 MHz and boost of 1200 MHz. Memory clocks are 1750 MHz (7 Gbps effective) for AMD and 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective) for NVIDIA.

Memory configurations differ completely. AMD provides 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus with 224.0 GB/s bandwidth. NVIDIA provides 12 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus with 288.0 GB/s bandwidth. The NVIDIA card has more capacity and bandwidth despite a narrower bus.

Compute unit counts vary: AMD has 2304 shading units, 144 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. NVIDIA has 3328 shading units, 104 TMUs, and 48 ROPs. NVIDIA also has 26 ray tracing cores and 104 tensor cores, which AMD lacks entirely.

Pixel and texture rates differ: AMD achieves 39.78 GPixel/s and 179.0 GTexel/s, while NVIDIA achieves 57.60 GPixel/s and 124.8 GTexel/s. FP32 performance is 5.728 TFLOPS for AMD and 7.987 TFLOPS for NVIDIA, with both offering 1:1 FP16 rates.

Power and physical specifications are far apart. AMD has a 130 W TDP, single-slot design, one 6-pin connector, and a 300 W suggested PSU. NVIDIA has a 70 W TDP, dual-slot design, no power connectors, and a 250 W suggested PSU. Physical dimensions: AMD is 241 mm long and 112 mm tall, while NVIDIA is 167 mm long and 69 mm tall.

Bus interface and display outputs differ: AMD uses PCIe 3.0 x16 with 4x DisplayPort 1.4a, while NVIDIA uses PCIe 4.0 x16 with 4x mini-DisplayPort 1.4a. API support shows AMD at DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, Vulkan 1.3, and NVIDIA at DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, Vulkan 1.4.

Release dates and successors also differ: AMD launched on 2016-11-09 with successor Radeon Pro Vega, while NVIDIA launched on 2021-11-22 with successor Workstation Ada. Both are end-of-life products.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database records exactly one head-to-head benchmark between these two cards: Geekbench OpenCL. The NVIDIA RTX A2000 12 GB scores 66998, while the AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 scores 40148. The delta percentage is 40.1% in favor of NVIDIA, meaning the NVIDIA card outperforms the AMD card by that margin in this specific test.

This result is decisive. A 40.1% lead in OpenCL compute is a substantial gap, not a marginal difference. The NVIDIA card's higher shading unit count (3328 versus 2304) and higher FP32 throughput (7.987 TFLOPS versus 5.728 TFLOPS) align with this outcome. The RTX A2000 12 GB simply has more raw compute horsepower for OpenCL workloads.

However, the broader benchmark picture tells a more nuanced story. The AMD card's average benchmark score of 40063 is higher than the NVIDIA card's 34154. This discrepancy suggests that the AMD card performs relatively better in other benchmark suites not captured in the head-to-head data, or that the NVIDIA card's average is pulled down by results from tests where it underperforms relative to its OpenCL strength.

The AMD card's nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070, scores 40377, which is 0.8% higher than the WX 7100. The AMD Radeon Pro 580 scores 40318, 0.6% higher. This shows the WX 7100 sits in a competitive band with modern and semi-modern GPUs despite its 2016 release date. For the NVIDIA card, the nearest rival is the AMD Radeon RX 560 XT at 34133, a 0.1% difference, and the NVIDIA RTX A1000 at 34207, a 0.2% gap. The RTX A2000 12 GB's average places it alongside more modest GPUs.

In terms of wins, the head-to-head record stands at 0 wins for the AMD card and 1 win for the NVIDIA card. The NVIDIA RTX A2000 12 GB takes the single recorded matchup decisively, but the AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 holds a higher overall percentile rank (82 versus 79) and a higher average benchmark score across the database. Users should weigh the OpenCL compute advantage against the broader performance profile when choosing between these two workstation cards.