AMD FirePro W5170M vs Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580 Comparison

# The Verdict

The data splits these two mobile graphics solutions into very distinct roles. Benchmark results show the Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580 leads in OpenCL compute with a score of 9082, which is 10.4% higher than the AMD FirePro W5170M's 8140. Conversely, the AMD FirePro W5170M dominates in Vulkan performance with a score of 9050, a massive 72.1% advantage over the Intel part's 5258. The average benchmark scores tell a more nuanced story: the AMD FirePro W5170M averages 8595 across both tests, placing it in the 44th percentile of all GPUs, while the Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580 averages 7170, sitting in the 39th percentile.

For users whose workloads rely on OpenCL acceleration, the Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580 is the stronger choice. Its 10.4% lead in that specific test is meaningful for compute-heavy tasks that use that API. On the other hand, the AMD FirePro W5170M is the clear pick for Vulkan-based applications, where its 72.1% advantage represents a dramatic performance gap. Professionals who prioritize a balanced average score would lean toward the AMD part, as its 8595 average is roughly 20% higher than Intel's 7170.

The AMD FirePro W5170M sits in a cluster of close rivals in the database. It trails the NVIDIA Quadro P2200 by 1.1% and the Intel Arc A380 by 0.4%, while leading the AMD Radeon HD 8870M and NVIDIA GeForce MX330 by 1.6% each. The Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580, meanwhile, is virtually tied with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 SE, with a 0% difference, and sits within 0.7% of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970, AMD Radeon Vega 8 Mobile, and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750. These close margins indicate that neither part offers a dominant position over its immediate competitors, but the AMD card's higher percentile ranking suggests slightly better overall positioning.

Architecture Differences

The AMD FirePro W5170M uses the Tropo chip built on GCN 1.0 architecture, manufactured by TSMC on a 28 nm process. The die contains 1,500 million transistors across 123 mm², yielding a transistor density of 12.2 million per square millimeter. It belongs to the FirePro Mobile generation (Wx100M series), released in August 2014, and is classified as end-of-life with the FirePro Mobility as its predecessor and Radeon Pro Mobile as its successor.

The Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580 takes a different approach, using the Skylake GT4e chip built on Generation 9.0 architecture, manufactured by Intel on a 14 nm+ process. The database does not list transistor count, die size, or transistor density for this part. It belongs to the HD Graphics-W (Skylake) generation, released in August 2015, and is also end-of-life with no predecessor or successor listed.

Clock speeds differ substantially between the two. The AMD FirePro W5170M runs at a 900 MHz base clock with a 925 MHz boost, and its GDDR5 memory operates at 1125 MHz with 4.5 Gbps effective speed. The Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580 has a much lower 350 MHz base clock but boosts to 1000 MHz. Its memory is system shared, with bandwidth described as system dependent, a fundamental difference from the AMD part's dedicated 2 GB GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus providing 72.00 GB/s of bandwidth.

Compute unit configurations reveal different design priorities. The AMD FirePro W5170M has 640 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 16 raster output pipelines. The Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580 has 576 shading units, 72 texture mapping units, and only 9 raster output pipelines. These numbers explain the throughput characteristics: the AMD part achieves a pixel rate of 14.80 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 37.00 GTexel/s, while the Intel part delivers 9.000 GPixel/s and 72.00 GTexel/s respectively. The Intel part's higher texture rate comes directly from its 72 TMUs, while the AMD part's higher pixel rate stems from its 16 ROPs.

Peak floating-point performance is close. The AMD FirePro W5170M delivers 1,184.0 GFLOPS of FP32 compute, while the Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580 provides 1,152.0 GFLOPS. The Intel part additionally supports FP16 at 2.304 TFLOPS with a 2:1 ratio, a feature the database does not list for the AMD card.

Form factor and integration differ markedly. The AMD FirePro W5170M is an MXM Module with MXM-A (3.0) bus interface, has no power connectors, and its display outputs are portable device dependent. The Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580 is an integrated graphics processor (IGP) with a 15 W TDP, uses a Ring Bus interface, and has motherboard dependent display outputs. The AMD part's TDP is not listed in the database.

API support shows generational differences. Both support DirectX 12 and OpenGL 4.6. The AMD FirePro W5170M supports DirectX 12 (11_1) and Vulkan 1.2.170, while the Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580 supports DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.3. The Intel part's newer Vulkan version and higher DirectX feature level reflect its later release.

Where Each One Wins

The Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580 wins decisively in OpenCL compute workloads. Its score of 9082 exceeds the AMD FirePro W5170M's 8140 by 10.4%. This advantage makes it the preferred option for OpenCL-accelerated tasks such as general-purpose GPU computing, certain rendering pipelines, and productivity applications that leverage OpenCL for acceleration. The Intel part's higher texture rate of 72.00 GTexel/s compared to the AMD part's 37.00 GTexel/s also suggests an edge in texture-heavy workloads, though the database does not provide a direct benchmark for this.

The AMD FirePro W5170M wins overwhelmingly in Vulkan performance. Its score of 9050 is 72.1% higher than the Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580's 5258. This is a substantial margin that makes the AMD card the clear choice for Vulkan-based games and applications. The AMD part's higher pixel rate of 14.80 GPixel/s versus 9.000 GPixel/s indicates better fill-rate performance, which benefits rasterization-heavy workloads. Its dedicated 2 GB GDDR5 memory with 72.00 GB/s bandwidth also provides a consistent memory performance profile, unlike the Intel part's system shared memory with system dependent bandwidth.

The average benchmark scores reinforce the AMD part's overall superiority. With an average of 8595 against Intel's 7170, the AMD FirePro W5170M holds roughly a 20% advantage across the two recorded tests. Its 44th percentile ranking versus Intel's 39th percentile confirms this relative positioning in the broader GPU landscape.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD FirePro W5170M has an average benchmark score of 8595, which is significantly higher than the Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580's 7170.

Q: How do the two compare in Vulkan performance?

A: The AMD FirePro W5170M scores 9050 in the Vulkan benchmark, which is 72.1% higher than the Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580's 5258.

Q: Which GPU performs better in OpenCL?

A: The Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580 scores 9082 in OpenCL, outperforming the AMD FirePro W5170M's 8140 by 10.4%.

Q: What are the memory configurations of each GPU?

A: The AMD FirePro W5170M has 2 GB of dedicated GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus with 72.00 GB/s bandwidth. The Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580 uses system shared memory with system dependent bandwidth.

Q: How do their nearest rivals compare?

A: The AMD FirePro W5170M is within 1.6% of its closest rivals, trailing the NVIDIA Quadro P2200 by 1.1% and the Intel Arc A380 by 0.4%, while leading the AMD Radeon HD 8870M and NVIDIA GeForce MX330 by 1.6%. The Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580 is nearly tied with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 SE at 0% difference and within 0.7% of several other competitors.

Q: What are the form factors of these GPUs?

A: The AMD FirePro W5170M is an MXM Module with an MXM-A (3.0) bus interface. The Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580 is an integrated graphics processor (IGP) with a Ring Bus interface.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database records two head-to-head benchmark comparisons between the AMD FirePro W5170M and the Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580, and each GPU claims one victory.

The Geekbench OpenCL test goes to the Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580. Intel scores 9082 against AMD's 8140, a difference of 10.4%. This is the smaller of the two margins but still a clear win. The Intel part's 576 shading units and 72 texture mapping units combine with its 1000 MHz boost clock to deliver competitive compute throughput. Its FP32 performance of 1,152.0 GFLOPS is only 2.7% lower than the AMD part's 1,184.0 GFLOPS, yet the OpenCL result shows a 10.4% lead, indicating that architecture efficiency and driver optimization play a role beyond raw specifications. The Intel part also offers FP16 support at 2.304 TFLOPS, which may benefit certain OpenCL workloads that use half-precision arithmetic.

The Geekbench Vulkan test goes decisively to the AMD FirePro W5170M. AMD scores 9050 against Intel's 5258, a commanding 72.1% advantage. This is a substantial performance gap that cannot be explained by hardware specifications alone. Both GPUs have similar FP32 throughput, with the AMD part at 1,184.0 GFLOPS and the Intel part at 1,152.0 GFLOPS. The AMD part's dedicated memory subsystem, with 2 GB GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus delivering 72.00 GB/s, provides consistent bandwidth that likely benefits Vulkan workloads. The Intel part's system shared memory introduces variability depending on the host system's memory configuration. Additionally, the AMD FirePro W5170M's higher pixel rate of 14.80 GPixel/s versus 9.000 GPixel/s suggests better rasterization throughput, which is relevant for Vulkan rendering workloads.

The average benchmark scores reflect the split nature of these results. The AMD FirePro W5170M averages 8595, while the Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580 averages 7170. The AMD part's average is roughly 20% higher, driven by its near-parity in OpenCL and massive lead in Vulkan. The Intel part's average is dragged down by its weak Vulkan showing, despite its OpenCL victory.

The nearest rival data provides additional context for each GPU's standing. The AMD FirePro W5170M's closest competitor is the Intel Arc A380 at 8558, a mere 0.4% difference. The NVIDIA Quadro P2200 sits slightly higher at 8686, 1.1% above the AMD part. The AMD Radeon HD 8870M and NVIDIA GeForce MX330 both score lower at 8462 and 8458 respectively, each 1.6% below the AMD FirePro W5170M. These tight margins place the AMD part in a competitive mid-range cluster.

The Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580's nearest rivals show an even tighter grouping. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 SE scores 7171, essentially identical to the Intel part's 7170 with a 0% difference. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 scores 7157, 0.2% lower, while the AMD Radeon Vega 8 Mobile scores 7203, 0.5% higher, and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 scores 7222, 0.7% higher. This clustering indicates that the Intel part performs at a level consistent with older discrete desktop GPUs, which is notable for an integrated solution.

The wins are evenly split at one each, but the magnitude of the Vulkan win gives the AMD FirePro W5170M a stronger overall profile. Its 72.1% lead in Vulkan far outweighs the Intel part's 10.4% lead in OpenCL when considering the average benchmark scores. The 44th percentile ranking for the AMD part versus the 39th percentile for the Intel part confirms this assessment. Users seeking a balanced mobile GPU with strong Vulkan performance should favor the AMD FirePro W5170M, while those with OpenCL-heavy workloads on systems with sufficient shared memory bandwidth may find the Intel Iris Pro Graphics P580 adequate.