AMD FirePro M5100 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675M Comparison

# NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675M vs AMD FirePro M5100

The data shows a single head-to-head benchmark result for these two mobile graphics processors, and it is a close contest. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675M scores 6946, while the AMD FirePro M5100 scores 6830. That gives the NVIDIA part a 1.7% advantage — a narrow margin that places both GPUs essentially in the same performance tier. The GTX 675M sits at the 39th percentile of all GPUs, while the FirePro M5100 lands at the 38th percentile, confirming that neither card is a performance outlier. The AMD card's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GT 1010 at 6698 (a 2% delta) and the AMD Radeon R7 M370 at 6764 (a 1% delta), while the GTX 675M's closest competitors include the AMD Radeon R5 M240 at 6975 (a -0.4% delta) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M at 7023 (a -1.1% delta). The overall picture is one of near-parity, with the NVIDIA card holding a slim but measurable edge.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct comparison available in the data is the Geekbench OpenCL test, and it is remarkably tight. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675M scores 6946, which is 116 points higher than the AMD FirePro M5100's 6830. In percentage terms, that translates to a 1.7% lead for the NVIDIA part. This is not a decisive victory; in real-world terms, a 1.7% difference is within the margin of error for many workloads. However, the data consistently shows the NVIDIA card performing slightly ahead of its AMD rival when you look at the broader competitive landscape.

Looking at the nearest rivals for each card reinforces this picture. The GTX 675M is only 1.1% behind the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M (score 7023) and 1.3% behind the NVIDIA T600 (score 7035). Meanwhile, the FirePro M5100 is 1% ahead of the AMD Radeon R7 M370 (score 6764) and 2% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GT 1010 (score 6698). The fact that the GTX 675M's closest rival is the GTX 680M — a higher-tier part — suggests that the NVIDIA card punches slightly above its weight class. Conversely, the FirePro M5100's closest rival is the lower-tier R7 M370, indicating it sits at the lower edge of its performance band. The deltaPct values in the rival lists are all within ±2.1%, which underscores just how crowded this performance segment is.

The single benchmark result is the only hard number available, but it is consistent with the percentile rankings. The GTX 675M's 39th percentile versus the FirePro M5100's 38th percentile is a one-percentile gap, matching the 1.7% score difference. There are no other benchmark tests in the data, so the analysis must lean on this one result, the rival comparisons, and the architectural specifications to draw conclusions.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675M wins the only benchmark in the data, but the margin is small enough that the practical advantages are more about specific characteristics than raw performance. The GTX 675M offers a higher memory bandwidth of 96.00 GB/s, which is a 33% advantage over the FirePro M5100's 72.00 GB/s. This comes from a 256-bit memory bus width versus the AMD card's 128-bit bus, even though both cards use 2 GB of GDDR5 memory. For workloads that are bandwidth-sensitive — such as high-resolution texture streaming or certain compute tasks — the NVIDIA card's wider bus could be the deciding factor.

The AMD FirePro M5100, on the other hand, counters with a higher pixel rate of 12.40 GPixel/s, which is 25% above the GTX 675M's 9.920 GPixel/s. The AMD card also has more shading units (640 versus 384), which helps explain its higher FP32 throughput of 992.0 GFLOPS compared to 952.3 GFLOPS for the NVIDIA part. That is a 4% advantage in raw floating-point compute for AMD, even though the NVIDIA card still wins the OpenCL benchmark. The FirePro M5100 also supports Vulkan 1.2.170, while the GTX 675M has no Vulkan support listed, which could matter for modern applications that leverage Vulkan.

In terms of rasterization, the NVIDIA card has more texture mapping units (64 versus 40) and more render output units (32 versus 16). The texture rate of 39.68 GTexel/s for the GTX 675M is 28% higher than the FirePro M5100's 31.00 GTexel/s. This suggests the NVIDIA card is better equipped for traditional gaming workloads that rely heavily on texture fill and pixel throughput, despite the AMD card's higher pixel rate. The FirePro M5100's boost clock of 775 MHz (with a base of 725 MHz) helps close the gap, but the architectural differences are clear.

The Verdict

From the data, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675M is the faster card by a 1.7% margin in the Geekbench OpenCL test. It also holds a substantial advantage in memory bandwidth (96.00 GB/s versus 72.00 GB/s) and texture rate (39.68 GTexel/s versus 31.00 GTexel/s). The GTX 675M's nearest rival in its own list is the higher-tier GTX 680M, which it trails by only 1.1%, suggesting it performs closer to that part than its position in the lineup would indicate. If you are choosing purely on benchmark scores and memory bandwidth, the NVIDIA card is the pick.

However, the AMD FirePro M5100 is not without merits. It offers higher pixel rate (12.40 GPixel/s) and more shading units (640), which gives it an edge in FP32 compute (992.0 GFLOPS). It also supports Vulkan, which the GTX 675M does not. The FirePro M5100's nearest rivals include the R7 M370 and GT 1010, both of which it beats by 1-2%, so it is competitive within its segment. But the data shows it trails the GTX 675M in the only direct benchmark available. The 1.7% delta is small, so the FirePro M5100 is not a bad choice, but the GTX 675M is the winner on the evidence presented.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU scores higher in Geekbench OpenCL?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675M scores 6946, which is 1.7% higher than the AMD FirePro M5100's 6830.

Q: How do the two cards compare in memory bandwidth?

A: The GTX 675M has a memory bandwidth of 96.00 GB/s, which is 33% higher than the FirePro M5100's 72.00 GB/s. Both use 2 GB of GDDR5 memory, but the GTX 675M has a 256-bit bus versus the FirePro's 128-bit bus.

Q: Does the AMD FirePro M5100 have any compute advantage?

A: Yes, the FirePro M5100 has 640 shading units and delivers 992.0 GFLOPS of FP32 performance, compared to 384 shading units and 952.3 GFLOPS for the GTX 675M. That is a 4% advantage in raw FP32 throughput.

Q: Which card supports Vulkan?

A: Only the AMD FirePro M5100 lists Vulkan support, with version 1.2.170. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675M has no Vulkan support listed in the data.

Q: What are the closest rivals for each card?

A: The GTX 675M's nearest rival is the AMD Radeon R5 M240 (6975, -0.4% delta), followed by the GTX 680M (7023, -1.1%). The FirePro M5100's nearest rival is the AMD Radeon R7 M370 (6764, 1% delta), followed by the NVIDIA GeForce GT 1010 (6698, 2% delta).

Q: Which card has a higher pixel rate?

A: The AMD FirePro M5100 has a pixel rate of 12.40 GPixel/s, which is 25% higher than the GTX 675M's 9.920 GPixel/s. However, the GTX 675M has a higher texture rate of 39.68 GTexel/s versus 31.00 GTexel/s.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different architectural generations and design philosophies. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675M is built on the Fermi 2.0 architecture with the GF114 chip, manufactured on a 40 nm process at TSMC. It packs 1,950 million transistors into a die size of 332 mm², giving a transistor density of 5.9M per mm². The AMD FirePro M5100 uses the GCN 1.0 architecture with the Venus chip, built on a 28 nm process — also at TSMC — with 1,500 million transistors on a much smaller 123 mm² die, achieving a transistor density of 12.2M per mm². The smaller, denser process gives AMD a manufacturing advantage, but the NVIDIA chip has more transistors overall.

The shading unit counts differ significantly: the GTX 675M has 384 shading units, while the FirePro M5100 has 640. However, the GTX 675M compensates with 64 texture mapping units and 32 ROPs, whereas the FirePro M5100 has only 40 TMUs and 16 ROPs. This reflects a fundamental design split: NVIDIA favors a wider memory bus (256-bit) and more texture/ROP hardware, while AMD packs more compute units and relies on a narrower 128-bit bus. The GTX 675M's memory clock is 750 MHz (3 Gbps effective), while the FirePro M5100 runs at 1125 MHz (4.5 Gbps effective) — the higher clock offsets AMD's narrower bus, but not completely.

The GTX 675M is a GeForce 600M generation part with no base or boost clock listed, while the FirePro M5100 is a FirePro Mobile (Mx100) generation GPU with a base clock of 725 MHz and a boost of 775 MHz. The NVIDIA card supports DirectX 12 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.6, while the AMD card supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. Both use MXM modules, but the GTX 675M uses the MXM-B (3.0) interface, while the FirePro M5100 uses MXM-A (3.0). Neither card has RT or tensor cores, and both have end-of-life production status.

Specification Differences

The key specification differences between the two cards are substantial. The GTX 675M has a memory bandwidth of 96.00 GB/s from a 256-bit bus, versus the FirePro M5100's 72.00 GB/s from a 128-bit bus. The shader counts differ: 384 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 32 ROPs for NVIDIA, versus 640 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 16 ROPs for AMD. The pixel rate favors AMD at 12.40 GPixel/s, while the texture rate favors NVIDIA at 39.68 GTexel/s. FP32 output is close, with the FirePro M5100 at 992.0 GFLOPS and the GTX 675M at 952.3 GFLOPS.

The process nodes are different (40 nm for NVIDIA, 28 nm for AMD), as are the transistor counts (1,950 million versus 1,500 million) and die sizes (332 mm² versus 123 mm²). The GTX 675M has a TDP of 100 W, while the FirePro M5100 has no TDP listed. The memory clock differs: 750 MHz (3 Gbps effective) for NVIDIA versus 1125 MHz (4.5 Gbps effective) for AMD. The GTX 675M has no base or boost clock, while the FirePro M5100 has a 725 MHz base and 775 MHz boost. Bus interfaces differ (MXM-B versus MXM-A), and the API support is not identical: the GTX 675M lacks Vulkan, while the FirePro M5100 supports Vulkan 1.2.170. The release dates are also different, with the GTX 675M launching on 2012-03-21 and the FirePro M5100 on 2013-10-15.