AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100 vs Intel Arc Pro A60 Comparison

# AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100 vs Intel Arc Pro A60

The AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100 and Intel Arc Pro A60 represent two very different generations of professional graphics. The AMD card, built on the Vega 10 chip with GCN 5.0 architecture, launched in 2017 and is now end-of-life, while the Intel Arc Pro A60, using the DG2-256 chip with Xe-HPG architecture, arrived in 2023 and remains active in production. The benchmark data reveals a fascinating split: the AMD card wins in OpenCL by 4.9%, while the Intel card takes Vulkan by 4.3%. This near-even split in head-to-head results raises questions about which card truly serves professional workloads better, and the answer depends heavily on the API and application in question.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The Geekbench OpenCL test shows the AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100 scoring 66,605 against the Intel Arc Pro A60's 63,485. That translates to a 4.9% advantage for the older AMD card. This result is somewhat surprising given the age difference between the two products — the WX 9100 predates the Arc Pro A60 by nearly six years. The AMD card's 4096 shading units and 12.29 TFLOPS of FP32 performance likely contribute to this OpenCL lead, as the workload appears to scale well with raw compute throughput. The WX 9100's 16 GB of HBM2 memory with 483.8 GB/s bandwidth also gives it a substantial memory bandwidth advantage over the Arc Pro A60's 12 GB GDDR6 at 384.0 GB/s, which may help in memory-intensive OpenCL kernels.

However, the Vulkan benchmark tells a different story. Here, the Intel Arc Pro A60 scores 57,166, beating the AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100's 54,711 by 4.3%. This reversal suggests that the Arc Pro A60's newer architecture, with its 16 dedicated ray tracing cores and support for DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), handles Vulkan workloads more efficiently. The Intel card's higher boost clock of 2050 MHz, compared to the AMD card's 1500 MHz boost, may also play a role in this Vulkan advantage. Additionally, the Arc Pro A60 supports Vulkan 1.4, while the WX 9100 is limited to Vulkan 1.3, potentially allowing the Intel card to leverage newer API features.

Looking at the broader benchmark landscape, the average benchmark scores favor the AMD card. The Radeon Pro WX 9100 achieves an average score of 64,212 across all its benchmarks, while the Intel Arc Pro A60 averages 60,326. This 3,886-point difference is notable, although it's worth considering that the AMD card has three benchmark results (including a Geekbench Metal score of 71,319) while the Intel card only has two. The AMD card's Metal result, which the Intel card cannot run due to lack of macOS support data, may inflate its average somewhat.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100 dominates in OpenCL compute workloads. Its 4.9% lead in this API suggests that legacy compute pipelines and applications optimized for OpenCL will see better performance on the AMD card. The WX 9100's massive 2048-bit memory bus and 483.8 GB/s bandwidth provide a significant advantage for memory-bound compute tasks. The card's 12.29 TFLOPS FP32 and 24.58 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1) performance numbers indicate strong raw compute capability that OpenCL can fully exploit. For professionals running OpenCL-based rendering, simulation, or data processing applications, the WX 9100's architecture appears better suited.

The Intel Arc Pro A60 wins in Vulkan workloads, with a 4.3% advantage. This suggests that modern Vulkan-based applications, including many recent game engines and real-time rendering tools, will perform better on the Intel card. The Arc Pro A60's 16 ray tracing cores are a significant architectural advantage — the WX 9100 has no dedicated ray tracing hardware at all. For Vulkan applications that use ray tracing or other advanced features, the Intel card has a clear edge. The Arc Pro A60 also benefits from a higher boost clock (2050 MHz vs 1500 MHz) and a more modern 6 nm TSMC process node, which allows for better efficiency per clock.

The Intel card's higher pixel rate of 131.2 GPixel/s, compared to the AMD card's 96.00 GPixel/s, indicates better rasterization throughput despite having fewer shading units (2048 vs 4096). The Arc Pro A60's texture rate of 262.4 GTexel/s is lower than the WX 9100's 384.0 GTexel/s, though, suggesting that texture-heavy workloads may favor the AMD card.

The Verdict

The data presents a clear but nuanced picture. The AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100 is the stronger overall performer, with a higher average benchmark score of 64,212 compared to 60,326 for the Intel Arc Pro A60. It also holds a 1-percentile advantage in the overall GPU ranking (89th percentile vs 88th). For professionals running OpenCL-based applications, the WX 9100's 4.9% lead makes it the safer choice. Its 16 GB of HBM2 memory also provides more capacity and significantly higher bandwidth (483.8 GB/s vs 384.0 GB/s), which is critical for large datasets and high-resolution textures.

However, the Intel Arc Pro A60 is the better choice for Vulkan-centric workflows. Its 4.3% Vulkan win, combined with 16 ray tracing cores and DirectX 12 Ultimate support, makes it more future-proof for modern graphics pipelines. The Arc Pro A60 also has a much lower TDP of 130 W versus the WX 9100's 230 W, and it requires only a 300 W suggested PSU compared to 550 W. The Intel card is single-slot, while the AMD card is dual-slot, making the Arc Pro A60 easier to integrate into dense systems. The Arc Pro A60 also supports PCIe 4.0 x16, double the bandwidth of the WX 9100's PCIe 3.0 x16 interface, which can benefit data transfer in supported systems.

The decision ultimately hinges on the specific application workload. OpenCL-heavy environments favor the AMD card; Vulkan and ray tracing workloads favor Intel. The WX 9100's end-of-life status is a concern for long-term deployments, while the Arc Pro A60 remains actively produced. The AMD card does have a launch MSRP of 1,599 USD, which provides historical context for its positioning, though the Intel card's pricing is not listed.

FAQ

Q: Which card has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100 has an average benchmark score of 64,212, which is 3,886 points higher than the Intel Arc Pro A60's 60,326 average.

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

A: In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100 scores 66,605 against the Intel Arc Pro A60's 63,485, giving AMD a 4.9% advantage.

Q: Does the Intel Arc Pro A60 support ray tracing?

A: Yes, the Intel Arc Pro A60 has 16 dedicated ray tracing cores, whereas the AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100 has none.

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

A: The AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100 has 483.8 GB/s bandwidth from its 16 GB HBM2 memory, while the Intel Arc Pro A60 has 384.0 GB/s from its 12 GB GDDR6 memory.

Q: Which card is more energy-efficient?

A: The Intel Arc Pro A60 has a TDP of 130 W and suggests a 300 W PSU, while the AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100 has a 230 W TDP and suggests a 550 W PSU, making Intel the more efficient option.

Q: What API versions does each card support?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100 supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. The Intel Arc Pro A60 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

Architecture Differences

The two cards represent fundamentally different architectural approaches. The AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100 uses the Vega 10 chip built on GCN 5.0 architecture, manufactured on a 14 nm process by GlobalFoundries. This chip contains 12,500 million transistors on a 495 mm² die, resulting in a transistor density of 25.3M per mm². The Intel Arc Pro A60 uses the DG2-256 chip with Xe-HPG architecture, manufactured on a 6 nm process by TSMC. This chip packs 11,500 million transistors into a 269 mm² die, achieving a much higher transistor density of 42.8M per mm².

The AMD card's GCN 5.0 architecture is a mature design optimized for compute-heavy workloads, with 4096 shading units, 256 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. The Intel Xe-HPG architecture is newer and designed with a focus on modern graphics features, including 16 ray tracing cores alongside 2048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. The Intel architecture supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), which includes features like ray tracing and variable rate shading, while the AMD card tops out at DirectX 12 (12_1). The Intel card also supports Vulkan 1.4, a newer version than the AMD card's Vulkan 1.3.

The memory architectures differ significantly as well. The AMD card uses 16 GB of HBM2 on a 2048-bit bus, while the Intel card uses 12 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus. The HBM2 implementation provides substantially higher bandwidth (483.8 GB/s vs 384.0 GB/s) but is more complex and expensive to implement. The Intel card's memory runs at 2000 MHz (16 Gbps effective), while the AMD card's memory operates at 945 MHz (1890 Mbps effective), though the wider bus compensates for the lower clock speed.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every major specification category. The AMD Radeon Pro WX 9100 has a base clock of 1200 MHz and a boost clock of 1500 MHz, while the Intel Arc Pro A60 has a base clock of 900 MHz and a boost clock of 2050 MHz. The AMD card has significantly more shading units (4096 vs 2048) and TMUs (256 vs 128), but both have 64 ROPs. The AMD card produces higher FP32 performance at 12.29 TFLOPS versus 8.397 TFLOPS for Intel, and higher FP16 performance at 24.58 TFLOPS versus 16.79 TFLOPS (both at 2:1 ratio).

The AMD card has a higher pixel rate at 96.00 GPixel/s, but the Intel card actually wins in this metric with 131.2 GPixel/s due to its higher clock speeds. The AMD card has a higher texture rate at 384.0 GTexel/s versus 262.4 GTexel/s for Intel. Power consumption differs substantially: the AMD card draws 230 W TDP and requires a 550 W PSU, while the Intel card draws only 130 W and needs a 300 W PSU. The AMD card is dual-slot with 1x 6-pin + 1x 8-pin power connectors, while the Intel card is single-slot with no external power connectors listed.

The bus interfaces also differ: the AMD card uses PCIe 3.0 x16, while the Intel card uses PCIe 4.0 x16. Display outputs are different as well — the AMD card has 6x mini-DisplayPort 1.4a outputs, while the Intel card has 4x DisplayPort 2.0 outputs. The AMD card measures 267 mm in length and 111 mm in height, while the Intel card's dimensions are not listed. The AMD card weighs in with 16 GB memory capacity versus 12 GB for Intel, and the production status differs: the AMD card is end-of-life, while the Intel card is active.