AMD FirePro M4000 vs NVIDIA GeForce 930A Comparison

The AMD FirePro M4000 and NVIDIA GeForce 930A are both end-of-life mobile graphics solutions, but the benchmark data shows a clear, though narrow, victory for the AMD part. In the only head-to-head benchmark available, the Geekbench OpenCL test, the FirePro M4000 scores 5,537 points against the GeForce 930A's 5,317 points. This represents a 4.1% performance advantage for the AMD chip, a lead that, while not overwhelming, is consistent across their respective nearest rival comparisons. The FirePro M4000 sits in the 32nd percentile of all GPUs, while the GeForce 930A is just one percentile behind at 31st, confirming they are direct competitors in the same performance tier.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The sole benchmark result, Geekbench OpenCL, is the definitive measure of compute performance between these two mobile GPUs. The AMD FirePro M4000's score of 5,537 places it 4.1% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce 930A's 5,317. This win for the FirePro is significant because it demonstrates that despite being an older design, its architecture is more efficient in this specific workload. The margin of victory is small enough to suggest that real-world application performance would be nearly identical, but the data unequivocally favors the AMD product.

When examining the rival landscape, the FirePro M4000's position is stable. It is a mere 0.5% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce MX130 (5,508) and 0.7% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 765M (5,501). It also leads the AMD Radeon R7 M440 (5,483) by 1%. However, it trails the NVIDIA Quadro M500M (5,604) by 1.2%. This cluster of scores, all within a roughly 2% range, illustrates that the FirePro M4000 is competitively positioned within its immediate performance class.

The GeForce 930A's rival comparisons tell a similar story of tight competition. It is effectively tied with the NVIDIA GeForce 840M (5,322), showing a deltaPct of -0.1%. Its lead over the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M (5,308) is a negligible 0.2%, and it is 0.6% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce 940M (5,284). The only rival that beats it is the AMD Radeon R7 M445 (5,358), which is 0.8% faster. This data shows that the GeForce 930A, like its AMD counterpart, is firmly ensconced in a very narrow performance band where minor architectural differences dictate the final ranking.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs represent fundamentally different design philosophies from their respective manufacturers. The AMD FirePro M4000 is built on the Graphics Core Next (GCN) 1.0 architecture, utilizing the "Chelsea" chip. In contrast, the NVIDIA GeForce 930A employs the Maxwell architecture with the "GM108" chip. Both are fabricated on the same 28 nm process node at TSMC, but their internal designs diverge significantly. The AMD chip is physically larger and more complex, with a die size of 123 mm² containing 1,500 million transistors, resulting in a transistor density of 12.2M per mm². The NVIDIA chip is much smaller at 77 mm², packing 1,020 million transistors for a higher density of 13.2M per mm².

The compute resources are allocated differently. The FirePro M4000 features 512 shading units, 32 texture mapping units (TMUs), and 16 raster operation pipelines (ROPs). Its maximum theoretical performance is 691.2 GFLOPS for FP32 compute. The GeForce 930A has fewer execution units, with 384 shading units, 24 TMUs, and only 8 ROPs. Despite the lower count, it achieves a slightly higher FP32 performance of 722.7 GFLOPS, a signal of the clock speed efficiency of the Maxwell architecture. The base clock for the 930A is 928 MHz with a boost of 941 MHz, whereas the FirePro M4000's base and boost clocks are not specified in the data.

Memory subsystems present the starkest contrast. The FirePro M4000 is equipped with 1024 MB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 64.00 GB/s. The GeForce 930A, on the other hand, uses 2 GB of DDR3 memory on a much narrower 64-bit bus, resulting in a bandwidth of only 16.02 GB/s. This four-fold difference in memory bandwidth is a critical architectural distinction that heavily influences performance in memory-intensive tasks. The FirePro M4000's pixel rate is also higher at 10.80 GPixel/s versus the 930A's 7.528 GPixel/s, but the GeForce 930A has a slightly higher texture rate at 22.58 GTexel/s compared to the FirePro's 21.60 GTexel/s.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in the Geekbench OpenCL benchmark?

A: The AMD FirePro M4000 is faster, scoring 5,537 points compared to the NVIDIA GeForce 930A's 5,317 points, a 4.1% difference.

Q: How does the memory configuration differ between the two?

A: The FirePro M4000 uses 1024 MB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus with 64.00 GB/s bandwidth. The GeForce 930A uses 2 GB of DDR3 on a 64-bit bus with only 16.02 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: What are the thermal design power (TDP) ratings for these GPUs?

A: Both the AMD FirePro M4000 and the NVIDIA GeForce 930A have the same TDP of 33 W.

Q: Which GPU has more shading units?

A: The AMD FirePro M4000 has 512 shading units, while the NVIDIA GeForce 930A has 384 shading units.

Q: What is the production status of these chips?

A: Both the AMD FirePro M4000 and the NVIDIA GeForce 930A are listed as end-of-life products.

Q: How does the GeForce 930A compare to its direct rival, the GeForce 940M?

A: The GeForce 930A is 0.6% faster than the GeForce 940M, with scores of 5,317 and 5,284, respectively.

Specification Differences

The following specifications differ between the AMD FirePro M4000 and the NVIDIA GeForce 930A:

• Shader Units: 512 (AMD) vs 384 (NVIDIA)
• TMUs: 32 (AMD) vs 24 (NVIDIA)
• ROPs: 16 (AMD) vs 8 (NVIDIA)
• Base Clock: Not specified (AMD) vs 928 MHz (NVIDIA)
• Boost Clock: Not specified (AMD) vs 941 MHz (NVIDIA)
• Memory Size: 1024 MB (AMD) vs 2 GB (NVIDIA)
• Memory Type: GDDR5 (AMD) vs DDR3 (NVIDIA)
• Memory Bus Width: 128 bit (AMD) vs 64 bit (NVIDIA)
• Memory Bandwidth: 64.00 GB/s (AMD) vs 16.02 GB/s (NVIDIA)
• Memory Clock: 1000 MHz (AMD) vs 1001 MHz (NVIDIA)
• FP32 Performance: 691.2 GFLOPS (AMD) vs 722.7 GFLOPS (NVIDIA)
• Pixel Rate: 10.80 GPixel/s (AMD) vs 7.528 GPixel/s (NVIDIA)
• Texture Rate: 21.60 GTexel/s (AMD) vs 22.58 GTexel/s (NVIDIA)
• Transistor Count: 1,500 million (AMD) vs 1,020 million (NVIDIA)
• Die Size: 123 mm² (AMD) vs 77 mm² (NVIDIA)
• Transistor Density: 12.2M / mm² (AMD) vs 13.2M / mm² (NVIDIA)
• DirectX Support: 12 (11_1) (AMD) vs 12 (11_0) (NVIDIA)
• Vulkan Support: 1.2.170 (AMD) vs 1.4 (NVIDIA)
• Bus Interface: MXM-A (3.0) (AMD) vs PCIe 3.0 x8 (NVIDIA)
• Slot Width: MXM Module (AMD) vs IGP (NVIDIA)
• Release Date: 2012-06-26 (AMD) vs 2015-03-12 (NVIDIA)
• Predecessor: FirePro Mobility (AMD) vs GeForce 800A (NVIDIA)
• Successor: Radeon Pro Mobile (AMD) vs None (NVIDIA)
• Chip Name: Chelsea (AMD) vs GM108 (NVIDIA)
• Architecture: GCN 1.0 (AMD) vs Maxwell (NVIDIA)

The Verdict

The benchmark data clearly shows that the AMD FirePro M4000 is the superior performer in compute workloads, holding a 4.1% lead over the NVIDIA GeForce 930A. This victory is rooted in its more robust memory subsystem, featuring GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus, which provides quadruple the bandwidth of the GeForce 930A's DDR3 setup. For users whose primary concern is raw computational throughput, the FirePro M4000 is the unequivocal choice based on the Geekbench OpenCL scores.

However, the GeForce 930A is not without its strengths. It achieves higher absolute FP32 performance (722.7 GFLOPS vs 691.2 GFLOPS) and a slightly better texture fill rate, suggesting that its Maxwell architecture is more efficient at certain types of shader work. It also offers double the memory capacity (2 GB vs 1 GB), which can be beneficial for holding larger datasets, even if the bandwidth is severely limited. Its higher transistor density indicates a more compact and potentially more power-efficient design, though both are rated at the same 33 W TDP.

The choice ultimately depends on the specific application. If a task is bottlenecked by memory bandwidth, the FirePro M4000 will win decisively. If a task relies more on raw shader throughput or requires more memory capacity, the GeForce 930A could be the better fit. The data shows a clear winner in the single benchmark provided, but the architectural differences suggest a more nuanced performance profile than the 4.1% lead implies.

Where Each One Wins

AMD FirePro M4000: This GPU wins in the Geekbench OpenCL benchmark, which is a strong indicator of general compute performance. Its massive advantage in memory bandwidth (64.00 GB/s vs 16.02 GB/s) and higher pixel fill rate (10.80 GPixel/s vs 7.528 GPixel/s) make it the better choice for workloads that are memory-intensive, such as image processing, video encoding, or any application that reads and writes large buffers. Its higher core counts (512 shaders, 32 TMUs, 16 ROPs) also suggest a theoretical advantage in tasks that scale well with parallel execution units, even if the final FP32 number is slightly lower.

NVIDIA GeForce 930A: Despite losing the benchmark, this GPU has specific advantages. It offers a higher FP32 compute rating (722.7 GFLOPS vs 691.2 GFLOPS) and a slightly faster texture fill rate (22.58 GTexel/s vs 21.60 GTexel/s). This indicates it may be more efficient in pure shader math or texturing operations. Furthermore, its 2 GB memory capacity is double that of the FirePro M4000, making it a more suitable option for applications that require a larger working set, such as holding a complex scene or a larger texture atlas, even if the data moves more slowly. The GeForce 930A also features a newer Vulkan API version (1.4 vs 1.2.170), which may provide better compatibility with modern graphics applications that leverage this API.