Apple M3 Pro 18-Core GPU vs ATI FireGL X3-256
Primary details
GPU architecture, market segment, value for money and other general parameters compared.
| Place in the ranking | not rated | not rated |
| Place by popularity | not in top-100 | not in top-100 |
| Architecture | R400 (2004−2008) | no data |
| GPU code name | R420 | no data |
| Market segment | Workstation | Laptop |
| Release date | 3 August 2004 (20 years ago) | 31 October 2023 (1 year ago) |
| Launch price (MSRP) | $1,099 | no data |
Detailed specifications
General parameters such as number of shaders, GPU core base clock and boost clock speeds, manufacturing process, texturing and calculation speed. Note that power consumption of some graphics cards can well exceed their nominal TDP, especially when overclocked.
| Pipelines / CUDA cores | no data | 18 |
| Core clock speed | 491 MHz | no data |
| Number of transistors | 160 million | no data |
| Manufacturing process technology | 130 nm | 5 nm |
| Power consumption (TDP) | 57 Watt | no data |
| Texture fill rate | 5.892 | no data |
| ROPs | 12 | no data |
| TMUs | 12 | no data |
Form factor & compatibility
Information on compatibility with other computer components. Useful when choosing a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. For desktop graphics cards it's interface and bus (motherboard compatibility), additional power connectors (power supply compatibility).
| Laptop size | no data | medium sized |
| Interface | AGP 8x | no data |
| Width | 1-slot | no data |
| Supplementary power connectors | 1x Molex | no data |
VRAM capacity and type
Parameters of VRAM installed: its type, size, bus, clock and resulting bandwidth. Integrated GPUs have no dedicated video RAM and use a shared part of system RAM.
| Memory type | GDDR3 | LPDDR5-6400 |
| Maximum RAM amount | 256 MB | no data |
| Memory bus width | 256 Bit | no data |
| Memory clock speed | 454 MHz | no data |
| Memory bandwidth | 29.06 GB/s | no data |
| Shared memory | - | - |
Connectivity and outputs
Types and number of video connectors present on the reviewed GPUs. As a rule, data in this section is precise only for desktop reference ones (so-called Founders Edition for NVIDIA chips). OEM manufacturers may change the number and type of output ports, while for notebook cards availability of certain video outputs ports depends on the laptop model rather than on the card itself.
| Display Connectors | 2x DVI, 1x S-Video | no data |
API compatibility
List of supported 3D and general-purpose computing APIs, including their specific versions.
| DirectX | 9.0b (9_2) | no data |
| OpenGL | 2.0 | no data |
| OpenCL | N/A | no data |
| Vulkan | N/A | - |
Pros & cons summary
| Recency | 3 August 2004 | 31 October 2023 |
| Chip lithography | 130 nm | 5 nm |
Apple M3 Pro 18-Core GPU has an age advantage of 19 years, and a 2500% more advanced lithography process.
We couldn't decide between FireGL X3-256 and Apple M3 Pro 18-Core GPU. We've got no test results to judge.
Be aware that FireGL X3-256 is a workstation card while Apple M3 Pro 18-Core GPU is a notebook one.
Should you still have questions concerning choice between the reviewed GPUs, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.
Comparisons with similar GPUs
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