AMD Radeon Pro WX 5100

The AMD Radeon Pro WX 5100 is a professional workstation graphics card built on the GCN 4.0 architecture, utilizing the Ellesmere chip manufactured on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. With 5,700 million transistors on a 232 mm² die, this card occupies the 43rd percentile among all GPUs in the benchmark database, indicating a mid-pack performance tier. Its average benchmark score of 8,761 places it in a tight competitive cluster where the nearest rivals are separated by margins of roughly one percent or less, making the WX 5100 a card whose position is defined by narrow statistical edges rather than decisive performance gaps.

How It Compares

The closest rival is the AMD Radeon 550X, which posts an average score of 8,749 against the WX 5100's 8,761. The delta of 0.1% places the WX 5100 fractionally ahead, a margin so small that it falls well within typical run-to-run variance. In practical terms, these two cards are effectively identical in overall benchmark performance, though the WX 5100 carries workstation-oriented features that the 550X lacks.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile follows closely with an average score of 8,746, yielding a 0.2% advantage for the WX 5100. This is notable because the RTX 3050 A is a much newer mobile part, yet the older desktop workstation card holds a slight edge in the aggregate benchmark data. The difference is negligible for real-world workloads, but it does indicate that the WX 5100's compute capabilities remain competitive against a modern entry-level RTX offering.

Against the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650, the WX 5100 leads by 0.6%, with scores of 8,761 versus 8,713. This desktop gaming card is a common baseline for entry-level performance, and the data shows the workstation card edging it out in average score. The margin is still small, but it suggests that the WX 5100's GCN architecture holds up well in the specific benchmark suite used here, despite the GTX 1650 being a more recent design.

The NVIDIA Quadro P2200 is the final nearest rival, posting an average score of 8,671, which puts the WX 5100 ahead by 1.0%. This is the largest delta in the rival group, yet still a modest advantage. The Quadro P2200 is a direct workstation competitor, and the data indicates the WX 5100 outperforms it in aggregate benchmark terms, though the gap is not substantial enough to represent a generational leap.

Ray Tracing and Feature Set

The Radeon Pro WX 5100 does not include dedicated ray tracing cores or tensor cores, as these hardware units are absent from the specification. The card relies entirely on its 1,792 shading units for all compute and graphics work, which means any ray tracing workloads would be handled through compute shaders rather than dedicated acceleration hardware. This places the WX 5100 in a different category from modern RTX cards that feature specialized ray tracing silicon.

API support is comprehensive for its era. The card supports DirectX 12 with feature level 12_0, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.3. The DirectX 12 support is particularly relevant for professional applications that leverage modern graphics APIs, while Vulkan 1.3 ensures compatibility with current cross-platform rendering engines. The OpenGL 4.6 support covers legacy and scientific visualization workloads that still rely on this API.

The FP32 and FP16 compute rates are identical at 3.892 TFLOPS, with a 1:1 ratio. This is a notable characteristic of the GCN 4.0 architecture, as many competing cards from this generation offered reduced FP16 throughput. The symmetric FP16 performance can benefit certain compute workloads, though it lacks the accelerated FP16 capabilities found in later architectures with dedicated tensor cores.

Power and Cooling

The Radeon Pro WX 5100 has a thermal design power of 75 W, which classifies it as a low-power workstation card. This modest TDP allows for a single-slot cooling solution, and the card measures 173 mm in length and 112 mm in height. The compact dimensions make it suitable for space-constrained workstation builds or multi-GPU configurations where physical clearance is at a premium.

Power delivery is notably simple: the card requires no auxiliary power connectors, drawing all its power from the PCIe 3.0 x16 slot. The suggested power supply rating is 250 W, which is quite modest by modern standards. This low power requirement means the WX 5100 can be installed in systems with smaller power supplies, and the absence of power connectors simplifies installation and cable management.

The cooling solution is not specified in terms of fan design or heat sink size, but the single-slot form factor and 75 W TDP indicate that a capable air cooler is sufficient. The low power draw also means the card generates relatively little heat, which benefits overall system thermals in workstation environments where multiple expansion cards may be present.

FAQ

Q: What is the launch MSRP of the Radeon Pro WX 5100?

A: The launch MSRP is 499 USD.

Q: How does the WX 5100 compare to the NVIDIA Quadro P2200 in average benchmark score?

A: The WX 5100 scores 8,761 on average, which is 1.0% higher than the Quadro P2200's 8,671.

Q: Does the WX 5100 support hardware ray tracing?

A: No, the card has no dedicated ray tracing cores or tensor cores, so ray tracing workloads would rely on compute shaders.

Q: What power supply is recommended for the WX 5100?

A: A 250 W power supply is suggested, and the card requires no auxiliary power connectors.

Q: What display outputs are available on the WX 5100?

A: The card features 4x DisplayPort 1.4a outputs for display connectivity.

Q: What is the memory configuration of the WX 5100?

A: It has 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 160.0 GB/s of bandwidth.

Benchmark Performance

The benchmark data shows a cluster of closely matched cards, with the WX 5100 sitting at the top of this group. The Geekbench Metal score of 27,977 is the card's strongest result among the Geekbench tests, followed by Vulkan at 26,909 and OpenCL at 24,217. These scores indicate that the card performs consistently across different compute APIs, with Metal and Vulkan showing similar levels of performance while OpenCL trails slightly.

In the Passmark suite, the results vary significantly by test type. The DirectX 9 score of 88 is the strongest legacy API result, while DirectX 10 scores 29, DirectX 11 scores 36, and DirectX 12 scores 26. This pattern suggests the card's GCN architecture is more efficient with older DirectX APIs, which is typical for hardware of this generation. The Passmark G3D score of 5,496 is the primary gaming-oriented metric, while the GPU compute score of 2,053 reflects compute throughput in that benchmark.

The average benchmark score of 8,761 places the WX 5100 in the 43rd percentile of all GPUs. This is a mid-range position, and the delta analysis shows why: the card leads its nearest rivals by margins ranging from 0.1% to 1.0%. The 1.0% lead over the Quadro P2200 is the most substantial advantage, while the 0.1% lead over the Radeon 550X is essentially a statistical tie. The overall picture is one of a card that performs solidly but does not distinguish itself decisively from its direct competitors.

Memory Subsystem

The Radeon Pro WX 5100 is equipped with 8 GB of GDDR5 memory, a configuration that was generous for its launch period and remains adequate for many professional workloads. The memory operates at 1250 MHz, which translates to 5 Gbps effective data rate. This clock speed is modest by current standards, but the 256-bit memory bus helps compensate by providing substantial parallel data paths.

Total memory bandwidth is 160.0 GB/s. This figure is derived from the combination of the 256-bit bus width and the 5 Gbps effective memory clock. For high-resolution workloads, this bandwidth determines how quickly textures, geometry, and frame buffers can be accessed. The 8 GB capacity is particularly relevant for large datasets and high-resolution textures, where memory size can become a limiting factor before bandwidth does.

The 256-bit bus width is a key advantage here, as it provides double the bus width of many entry-level cards that use 128-bit interfaces. This wider bus means the memory subsystem can sustain higher throughput even at moderate clock speeds, which is beneficial for professional applications that access memory in large, sequential patterns. For 4K rendering or complex compute tasks, the combination of 8 GB capacity and 160.0 GB/s bandwidth provides a balanced memory subsystem that avoids severe bottlenecks, though it will not match the bandwidth of higher-end cards with faster memory or wider buses.