GPU Comparison

# AMD FirePro M4150 vs NVIDIA GeForce GT 635M

The AMD FirePro M4150 and NVIDIA GeForce GT 635M are two end-of-life mobile graphics solutions from different eras and design philosophies. The FirePro M4150, built on GCN 1.0 architecture, delivers a Geekbench OpenCL score of 4013, placing it in the 24th percentile of all GPUs. The GT 635M, based on older Fermi architecture, scores 3740, sitting in the 22nd percentile. The head-to-head benchmark shows the AMD part leading by 7.3%, a meaningful gap for these low-tier mobile chips. Both are long since discontinued, but they still appear in legacy laptops, and the data clarifies which one offers better compute performance.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU wins in the only head-to-head benchmark available?

A: The AMD FirePro M4150 wins the Geekbench OpenCL test with a score of 4013 against the GT 635M's 3740, a delta of 7.3%.

Q: How does the FirePro M4150 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The FirePro M4150 scores 0.5% below the NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M (4033), 0.9% above the AMD Radeon HD 6850 X2 (3977), 1.2% above the NVIDIA Quadro K2000 (3964), and 1.4% above the NVIDIA GeForce 830M (3957).

Q: What is the GT 635M's position relative to its closest competitors?

A: The GT 635M scores 0.6% above both the NVIDIA Quadro 3000M (3718) and the NVIDIA GeForce GT 740M (3717), 1.2% above the NVIDIA GeForce 825M (3694), and 1.4% below the Intel UHD Graphics 710 (3792).

Q: Which GPU has higher memory bandwidth?

A: The FirePro M4150 offers 64.00 GB/s using 1024 MB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus, while the GT 635M provides 28.80 GB/s with 2 GB of DDR3 on the same 128-bit bus.

Q: What are the API support differences?

A: Both support DirectX 12 and OpenGL 4.6, but the FirePro M4150 adds Vulkan 1.2.170 support while the GT 635M has no Vulkan support listed.

Q: Which GPU has a more advanced manufacturing process?

A: The FirePro M4150 is built on a 28 nm process at TSMC with 950 million transistors in a 77 mm² die, whereas the GT 635M uses a 40 nm process at TSMC with 585 million transistors in a 116 mm² die.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD FirePro M4150 wins decisively in raw compute throughput. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 4013 is 7.3% higher than the GT 635M's 3740, making it the clear choice for any workload that leans on general-purpose GPU compute, OpenCL acceleration, or parallel processing tasks. The architectural advantages are substantial: the FirePro M4150 packs 384 shading units against 96 on the GT 635M, 24 texture mapping units versus 16, and 8 ROPs versus 4. This translates to a pixel rate of 5.720 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 17.16 GTexel/s, compared to 1.900 GPixel/s and 7.600 GTexel/s respectively. The FP32 throughput tells the same story: 549.1 GFLOPS for the AMD part versus 182.4 GFLOPS for NVIDIA.

The NVIDIA GeForce GT 635M wins on memory capacity. It offers 2 GB of DDR3, double the 1 GB of GDDR5 on the FirePro M4150. For applications that need larger framebuffers, such as holding bigger textures or larger working sets in VRAM, the GT 635M has the advantage, even though its bandwidth is much lower at 28.80 GB/s versus 64.00 GB/s. The GT 635M also has a lower TDP at 35 W, although the FirePro M4150's TDP is not listed in the data, so direct power efficiency comparisons cannot be made.

For bus interface flexibility, the GT 635M uses PCIe 2.0 x16 while the FirePro M4150 uses PCIe 3.0 x8. The newer PCIe 3.0 standard offers higher per-lane bandwidth, but the x8 width means the FirePro has fewer lanes total; in practice, the benchmark delta favors the AMD part.

Architecture Differences

The AMD FirePro M4150 is built on the GCN 1.0 architecture, a design that AMD introduced to unify compute and graphics workloads. GCN 1.0 uses a 28 nm process at TSMC, packing 950 million transistors into a 77 mm² die. The transistor density is 12.3 million per square millimeter, a figure that reflects the relatively modern manufacturing node. The chip is codenamed "Opal" and belongs to the FirePro Mobile (Mx100) generation. The architecture supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170, giving it a broader API footprint than its rival.

The NVIDIA GeForce GT 635M is based on the Fermi architecture, which dates back to NVIDIA's 2010-era designs. It uses a larger 40 nm process at TSMC, with 585 million transistors spread across a 116 mm² die. The transistor density is just 5.0 million per square millimeter, a consequence of the older, less dense process node. The chip is designated GF108 and belongs to the GeForce 600M generation. The Fermi architecture supports DirectX 12 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.6, but lacks Vulkan support entirely.

These architectural differences explain the performance gap. GCN 1.0 was designed with compute-heavy workloads in mind, featuring a unified shader architecture that scales well with parallel tasks. Fermi, while capable in its time, is a simpler design with fewer execution resources. The FirePro M4150's 384 shading units are organized into a wider SIMD layout, enabling the 3x advantage in FP32 throughput. The GT 635M's 96 shading units, by contrast, are a fraction of that count, limiting its compute ceiling.

The memory subsystems also reflect the architectural split. The FirePro M4150 uses GDDR5 with 1000 MHz memory clock (4 Gbps effective), while the GT 635M uses DDR3 at 900 MHz (1800 Mbps effective). Both have a 128-bit bus, but the GDDR5 advantage in the AMD part delivers more than double the bandwidth.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD FirePro M4150 | NVIDIA GeForce GT 635M |

|---|---|---|

| Architecture | GCN 1.0 | Fermi |

| Process Node | 28 nm | 40 nm |

| Transistors | 950 million | 585 million |

| Die Size | 77 mm² | 116 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 12.3M / mm² | 5.0M / mm² |

| Memory Size | 1024 MB | 2 GB |

| Memory Type | GDDR5 | DDR3 |

| Memory Clock | 1000 MHz (4 Gbps effective) | 900 MHz (1800 Mbps effective) |

| Memory Bandwidth | 64.00 GB/s | 28.80 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 384 | 96 |

| TMUs | 24 | 16 |

| ROPs | 8 | 4 |

| Pixel Rate | 5.720 GPixel/s | 1.900 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 17.16 GTexel/s | 7.600 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 549.1 GFLOPS | 182.4 GFLOPS |

| TDP | Not listed | 35 W |

| Slot Width | MXM Module | IGP |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 3.0 x8 | PCIe 2.0 x16 |

| Vulkan | 1.2.170 | None |

| DirectX | 12 (11_1) | 12 (11_0) |

| Release Date | 2013-10-15 | 2012-03-21 |

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct comparison in the data is the Geekbench OpenCL test, and it shows a clear winner. The AMD FirePro M4150 scores 4013, while the NVIDIA GeForce GT 635M scores 3740. That is a 7.3% advantage for the AMD part, which is a significant margin given that both GPUs sit in the same low percentile range (24th vs 22nd). In real-world terms, this means the FirePro M4150 will complete OpenCL compute tasks roughly 7% faster, which can translate to measurable differences in rendering, video processing, or scientific workloads that utilize GPGPU acceleration.

Looking at the nearest rivals reinforces this picture. The FirePro M4150's 4013 score places it just 0.5% below the GeForce GT 755M (4033), a more modern NVIDIA part. It also edges out the Radeon HD 6850 X2 (3977) by 0.9%, the Quadro K2000 (3964) by 1.2%, and the GeForce 830M (3957) by 1.4%. These are all GPUs that sit in a similar performance tier, and the FirePro M4150 holds its own or wins against each of them.

The GT 635M's 3740 score, meanwhile, puts it in a slightly lower tier. It beats the Quadro 3000M (3718) and the GeForce GT 740M (3717) by 0.6% each, and the GeForce 825M (3694) by 1.2%. However, it trails the Intel UHD Graphics 710 (3792) by 1.4%, which is notable because that is an integrated graphics solution. The GT 635M's only win in its rival group is by a narrow margin, and it loses to an iGPU, underscoring its age and limited compute capability.

The delta between the two GPUs in the head-to-head (7.3%) is larger than the gaps between each GPU and its nearest rivals, which are all under 1.5%. This suggests that the FirePro M4150 and GT 635M occupy genuinely different performance tiers, not just minor variations of the same silicon.

The Verdict

The data points to one clear conclusion for most use cases: the AMD FirePro M4150 is the stronger GPU. Its 7.3% lead in Geekbench OpenCL, combined with 3x the shading units, 3x the FP32 throughput, and more than double the memory bandwidth, makes it the superior choice for compute-oriented tasks. If you are running OpenCL workloads, using GPU acceleration in creative applications, or need the broader API support including Vulkan, the FirePro M4150 is the one to pick.

The NVIDIA GeForce GT 635M has exactly one advantage in the specification sheet: 2 GB of memory versus 1 GB. For tasks that require a larger framebuffer, perhaps running a display at higher resolution or loading larger assets into VRAM, the GT 635M's capacity edge could matter. Its lower TDP of 35 W also suggests it may be easier to cool in thin laptops, though the FirePro M4150's TDP is unlisted, so this is not a confirmed advantage.

For legacy laptop buyers or upgraders who have a choice between these two, the decision hinges on what the machine will do. If the workload is compute-heavy or benefits from modern API features, the FirePro M4150 wins outright. If the need is purely for more VRAM and the tasks are memory-capacity-bound rather than bandwidth-bound, the GT 635M is the only option that offers that. However, benchmark results indicate that the FirePro M4150's performance lead is substantial enough that it should be the default recommendation unless the 2 GB framebuffer is a hard requirement. The GT 635M is not without merit, it is a functional low-tier GPU, but the data shows it is simply outclassed by the AMD part in every measured performance metric.