AMD FirePro M4000 vs AMD Radeon R5 M430 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database records a single head-to-head comparison between these two mobile GPUs, and it is a clear, if narrow, victory for the older FirePro part. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the AMD FirePro M4000 scores 5537 points against 5152 for the AMD Radeon R5 M430. That translates to a 7.5% advantage for the FirePro M4000, a meaningful margin for compute workloads that rely on raw shader throughput.

Looking at the broader benchmark landscape, the FirePro M4000 sits at the 32nd percentile of all GPUs, while the Radeon R5 M430 lands at the 30th percentile. The R5 M430's average benchmark score across all recorded tests is 5018, pulled down by its Vulkan result of 4884, which is notably lower than its OpenCL figure. The FirePro M4000, by contrast, has an average score of 5537, identical to its single OpenCL result.

The nearest rivals for the FirePro M4000 help contextualize its performance. It is effectively neck-and-neck with the NVIDIA GeForce MX130, which scores 5508 (a 0.5% difference), and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 765M at 5501 (0.7% behind). The AMD Radeon R7 M440 is also close at 5483, just 1% slower. The only rival that edges ahead is the NVIDIA Quadro M500M at 5604, which leads by 1.2%.

For the Radeon R5 M430, the competitive set is slightly slower overall. The AMD FirePro W4170M scores 5034, which is 0.3% behind the R5 M430. The AMD Radeon R7 Graphics is very close at 4998, just 0.4% slower. The NVIDIA Quadro 4000 trails by 0.8% with a score of 4979. The only rival that beats the R5 M430 in this group is the AMD Radeon R7 M340 at 5063, which leads by 0.9%.

What the data shows is that the FirePro M4000, despite being a much older product, still delivers a measurable performance advantage over the newer R5 M430. The 7.5% delta in OpenCL is consistent with the gap in shading units and memory bandwidth, which the architecture section will detail.

Architecture Differences

Both GPUs share the same GCN 1.0 architecture and are fabricated on TSMC's 28 nm process, but they are built around very different chips. The FirePro M4000 uses the Chelsea chip, which packs 1,500 million transistors onto a 123 mm² die. The Radeon R5 M430 uses the Jet chip, a much smaller design with 690 million transistors on a 56 mm² die. The transistor density is nearly identical, at 12.2M per mm² for Chelsea and 12.3M per mm² for Jet, which indicates the process node is being used with similar efficiency despite the size difference.

The compute resources diverge significantly. The FirePro M4000 has 512 shading units, 32 texture mapping units, and 16 raster operation units. The Radeon R5 M430 has fewer of each: 320 shading units, 20 TMUs, and only 8 ROPs. This directly explains the performance gap in pixel and texture throughput. The FirePro M4000 achieves a pixel rate of 10.80 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 21.60 GTexel/s. The R5 M430 manages 6.840 GPixel/s and 17.10 GTexel/s, respectively. In raw FP32 compute, the FirePro M4000 delivers 691.2 GFLOPS, while the R5 M430 delivers 547.2 GFLOPS, a 26% advantage for the FirePro part.

Memory architecture is another major differentiator. The FirePro M4000 comes with 1024 MB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus, running at 1000 MHz with 4 Gbps effective speed. This yields a bandwidth of 64.00 GB/s. The Radeon R5 M430 has 4 GB of DDR3 memory on a much narrower 64-bit bus, also at 1000 MHz but with only 2 Gbps effective speed. Its bandwidth is just 16.00 GB/s, a quarter of the FirePro's figure. The capacity advantage of the R5 M430 does not compensate for the severe bandwidth deficit in compute-heavy workloads.

Clock speeds differ as well. The FirePro M4000 has no base or boost clock listed in the database, only the memory clock. The Radeon R5 M430 has a base clock of 780 MHz and a boost clock of 855 MHz. Despite running at higher core clocks, the R5 M430 cannot overcome the FirePro M4000's advantages in shader count and memory bandwidth.

Form factors and power delivery also separate the two. The FirePro M4000 is an MXM Module with no power connectors and a 33 W TDP. The Radeon R5 M430 is an IGP (integrated graphics processor) with no listed TDP or power connectors. The FirePro uses an MXM-A (3.0) bus interface, while the R5 M430 uses PCIe 3.0 x8.

Both support the same API levels: DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. Neither has ray tracing cores or tensor cores. Display outputs are listed as "Portable Device Dependent" for both, meaning the actual ports depend on the laptop design.

The Verdict

The data points to a straightforward conclusion for compute performance: the AMD FirePro M4000 is the stronger GPU. Its 7.5% lead in OpenCL, combined with a 26% advantage in FP32 throughput and four times the memory bandwidth, makes it the better choice for any workload that stresses shader compute or memory access. The Radeon R5 M430's larger 4 GB frame buffer is its only clear advantage, and that matters primarily for holding larger textures or datasets in local memory, not for raw speed.

For users who prioritize compute benchmarks, the FirePro M4000 is the pick. Its percentile ranking of 32 versus 30 for the R5 M430, along with its higher average score of 5537 versus 5018, confirms this. The R5 M430's Vulkan score of 4884 is notably lower than its OpenCL score, suggesting it does not scale as well across different compute APIs.

However, the R5 M430 is not without merit. Its 4 GB memory capacity is four times larger than the FirePro M4000's 1 GB, which could be relevant for applications that need to store large working sets. It also has a lower transistor count and smaller die, which may translate to simpler integration as an IGP. But in a head-to-head benchmark comparison, the FirePro M4000 wins the only recorded test.

The nearest rival data reinforces the FirePro's standing. It trades blows with much more recent NVIDIA parts like the MX130 and GTX 765M, while the R5 M430 competes with older or lower-end parts like the Quadro 4000 and Radeon R7 Graphics. The FirePro M4000 is closer to the top of its competitive bracket, while the R5 M430 sits near the middle of a slower group.

Specification Differences

The following fields differ between the two GPUs in the database:

• Chip: Chelsea (FirePro M4000) versus Jet (R5 M430)
• Generation: FirePro Mobile (Mx000) versus Gem System (R5 M400)
• Transistors: 1,500 million versus 690 million
• Die Size: 123 mm² versus 56 mm²
• Base Clock: Not listed versus 780 MHz
• Boost Clock: Not listed versus 855 MHz
• Memory Speed: 4 Gbps effective versus 2 Gbps effective
• Memory Size: 1024 MB versus 4 GB
• Memory Type: GDDR5 versus DDR3
• Memory Bus Width: 128 bit versus 64 bit
• Memory Bandwidth: 64.00 GB/s versus 16.00 GB/s
• Shading Units: 512 versus 320
• Texture Mapping Units: 32 versus 20
• Raster Operation Units: 16 versus 8
• Pixel Rate: 10.80 GPixel/s versus 6.840 GPixel/s
• Texture Rate: 21.60 GTexel/s versus 17.10 GTexel/s
• FP32 Compute: 691.2 GFLOPS versus 547.2 GFLOPS
• TDP: 33 W versus not listed
• Slot Width: MXM Module versus IGP
• Bus Interface: MXM-A (3.0) versus PCIe 3.0 x8
• Release Date: 2012-06-26 versus not listed
• Predecessor: FirePro Mobility versus Solar System
• Successor: Radeon Pro Mobile versus Polaris Mobile

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher OpenCL score?

A: The AMD FirePro M4000 scores 5537 in Geekbench OpenCL, while the AMD Radeon R5 M430 scores 5152, a 7.5% difference in favor of the FirePro.

Q: How much memory does each GPU have?

A: The FirePro M4000 has 1024 MB of GDDR5, while the R5 M430 has 4 GB of DDR3. The R5 M430 has four times the capacity but a much slower memory type.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth difference?

A: The FirePro M4000 has a bandwidth of 64.00 GB/s on a 128-bit bus, while the R5 M430 has 16.00 GB/s on a 64-bit bus. The FirePro offers four times the bandwidth.

Q: Do both GPUs support the same DirectX version?

A: Yes, both support DirectX 12 (11_1), as well as OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.2.170.

Q: Which GPU has more shading units?

A: The FirePro M4000 has 512 shading units, compared to 320 on the R5 M430. This contributes to the FirePro's higher FP32 compute of 691.2 GFLOPS versus 547.2 GFLOPS.

Q: How do their percentile rankings compare?

A: The FirePro M4000 is at the 32nd percentile of all GPUs, while the R5 M430 is at the 30th percentile. The FirePro's average benchmark score is 5537, and the R5 M430's is 5018.