AMD FirePro M4000 vs NVIDIA RTX A400 Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The data records only a single direct head-to-head benchmark between these two workstation graphics cards, and that test, Geekbench OpenCL, is won decisively by the NVIDIA RTX A400. The RTX A400 scores 22,844 points against the AMD FirePro M4000's 5,537 points, a 312.6% advantage. This means in any compute workload that leverages OpenCL, the NVIDIA product is not just faster, it is operating in an entirely different performance class.

The AMD FirePro M4000 has no recorded benchmark wins in the database. Its sole recorded measurement is the Geekbench OpenCL result where it trails significantly. However, the FirePro M4000 does hold a position in the database's percentile ranking at the 32nd percentile of all GPUs, while the RTX A400 sits at the 35th percentile. This narrow margin in overall percentile ranking suggests that while the RTX A400 is substantially ahead in the one directly comparable compute test, the FirePro M4000's overall standing is not proportionally as far behind when considering the full GPU landscape.

The use-case split here is clear: the RTX A400 is the choice for modern compute-heavy tasks that can leverage its significant OpenCL throughput. The FirePro M4000, given its mobile MXM form factor and 2012 release date, is confined to legacy mobile workstation applications where its lower power draw and older architecture may still be sufficient for basic 2D or light 3D tasks, but for any intensive parallel processing, the data shows it is outmatched.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two products is generational and fundamental. The NVIDIA RTX A400 is built on the Ampere architecture using the GA107 chip, fabricated at Samsung's 8 nm process. The AMD FirePro M4000 uses the older GCN 1.0 architecture with the Chelsea chip, built on TSMC's 28 nm process. This process difference alone explains a significant portion of the performance gap, as the newer node allows for much higher transistor density.

The transistor counts illustrate this divergence clearly. The RTX A400 packs 8,700 million transistors on a 200 mm² die, yielding a density of 43.5 million transistors per square millimeter. The FirePro M4000 contains only 1,500 million transistors on a 123 mm² die, with a density of 12.2 million per square millimeter. The RTX A400 has nearly six times the transistor budget, which enables its more complex compute architecture.

The RTX A400 features 768 shading units, 24 texture mapping units, and 16 raster operations pipelines. It also includes 6 ray tracing cores and 24 tensor cores, features entirely absent from the FirePro M4000, which has no ray tracing or tensor core hardware. The FirePro M4000 has 512 shading units, 32 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. While the AMD card has more TMUs, the raw shader count and the presence of dedicated AI and ray tracing hardware strongly favor the NVIDIA product.

Clock behavior differs as well. The RTX A400 has defined base and boost clocks of 1417 MHz and 1762 MHz respectively. The FirePro M4000 has no recorded base or boost clock data in the database, which is typical for a mobile part that may have been configured with variable clocking by laptop manufacturers. The memory clocks also differ, with the RTX A400 running at 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective) and the FirePro M4000 at 1000 MHz (4 Gbps effective).

API support shows the generational leap. The RTX A400 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), Vulkan 1.4, and OpenGL 4.6. The FirePro M4000 supports DirectX 12 (11_1), Vulkan 1.2.170, and OpenGL 4.6. The DirectX 12 Ultimate feature set includes hardware ray tracing and mesh shaders, which the older GCN architecture cannot provide.

FAQ

Q: Which card has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A400 has an average benchmark score of 6078, while the AMD FirePro M4000 has an average score of 5537. The RTX A400 is approximately 9.8% higher in this aggregate measurement.

Q: What is the transistor density difference between the two cards?

A: The RTX A400 has a transistor density of 43.5 million transistors per square millimeter, while the FirePro M4000 has a density of 12.2 million per square millimeter. The NVIDIA part is over 3.5 times denser.

Q: Does the AMD FirePro M4000 support hardware ray tracing?

A: No, the FirePro M4000 has no ray tracing cores listed in its specifications. The RTX A400 includes 6 dedicated ray tracing cores, which the FirePro M4000 lacks entirely.

Q: How does the memory bandwidth compare?

A: The RTX A400 has a memory bandwidth of 96.00 GB/s using 4 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 64-bit bus. The FirePro M4000 has 64.00 GB/s bandwidth using 1024 MB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus. Despite the wider bus on the AMD card, the much higher effective memory speed on the NVIDIA card gives it 50% more bandwidth.

Q: What is the production status of each card?

A: The NVIDIA RTX A400 is listed as Active in production, released on April 15, 2024. The AMD FirePro M4000 is listed as End-of-life, with a release date of June 26, 2012.

Q: Which card has a better percentile ranking among all GPUs?

A: The RTX A400 ranks at the 35th percentile of all GPUs, while the FirePro M4000 ranks at the 32nd percentile. The NVIDIA card holds a slightly higher overall standing.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every major specification category. In terms of process technology, the RTX A400 uses an 8 nm process from Samsung, while the FirePro M4000 uses a 28 nm process from TSMC. Transistor count is 8,700 million versus 1,500 million. Die size is 200 mm² versus 123 mm².

Memory configuration shows stark differences: the RTX A400 has 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 64-bit bus with 96.00 GB/s bandwidth, while the FirePro M4000 has 1024 MB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus with 64.00 GB/s bandwidth. The RTX A400's memory clock is 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective), whereas the FirePro M4000 has a 1000 MHz (4 Gbps effective) memory clock.

Compute resources differ significantly. The RTX A400 has 768 shading units, 24 TMUs, and 16 ROPs, plus 6 RT cores and 24 tensor cores. The FirePro M4000 has 512 shading units, 32 TMUs, and 16 ROPs, with no RT or tensor cores. The pixel rate is 28.19 GPixel/s versus 10.80 GPixel/s, and texture rate is 42.29 GTexel/s versus 21.60 GTexel/s.

FP32 performance is 2.706 TFLOPS for the RTX A400 versus 691.2 GFLOPS for the FirePro M4000. The RTX A400 also has FP16 performance of 2.706 TFLOPS (1:1), while the FirePro M4000 has no recorded FP16 capability.

Power and form factor differ: the RTX A400 has a 50 W TDP and is a single-slot PCIe 4.0 x8 card with 4x mini-DisplayPort 1.4a outputs. The FirePro M4000 has a 33 W TDP and uses an MXM Module form factor with an MXM-A (3.0) bus interface, with display outputs described as "Portable Device Dependent." The RTX A400 has a suggested PSU of 250 W, while the FirePro M4000 has no suggested PSU listed. The RTX A400 has physical dimensions of 163 mm in length and 69 mm in height, while the FirePro M4000 has no recorded dimensions.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct comparison available is the Geekbench OpenCL test, and the results are lopsided. The NVIDIA RTX A400 scores 22,844 points, while the AMD FirePro M4000 scores 5,537 points. The delta is 312.6% in favor of the NVIDIA card. This is more than a fourfold performance advantage in raw OpenCL compute throughput.

Contextualizing this result against the nearest rivals in the database provides additional perspective. The RTX A400's average benchmark score of 6078 places it within 0.5% of the NVIDIA Quadro P2000 (6049) and within 1% of the AMD Radeon 760M (6019). It sits 0.6% below the Intel Iris Pro Graphics 6200 (6117). The FirePro M4000's average score of 5537 sits within 0.5% of the NVIDIA GeForce MX130 (5508), 0.7% above the GeForce GTX 765M (5501), and 1% above the Radeon R7 M440 (5483), while trailing the Quadro M500M (5604) by 1.2%.

The Geekbench OpenCL result of 22,844 for the RTX A400 is dramatically higher than its own average benchmark score of 6078, indicating that this particular test is exceptionally favorable to the architecture, likely due to the tensor cores and modern compute capabilities. Conversely, the FirePro M4000's OpenCL score of 5,537 closely matches its average score of 5,537, suggesting that this is its representative performance level across workloads.

The recorded data shows one decisive win for the RTX A400 and zero wins for the FirePro M4000 in direct comparisons. The magnitude of the OpenCL victory, a 312.6% margin, is substantial enough that no other benchmark results would likely close the gap. The architectural advantages of the RTX A400, including its dedicated tensor cores, ray tracing cores, and significantly higher transistor count, all contribute to this dominant result. The FirePro M4000, with its 2012 GCN architecture and 28 nm process, simply cannot compete with the modern Ampere design in compute-intensive tasks.