AMD FirePro M4150 vs NVIDIA GeForce GT 740M Comparison

FAQ

Q: How do the two GPUs compare in overall benchmark standing?

A: The AMD FirePro M4150 sits at the 24th percentile of all GPUs, while the NVIDIA GeForce GT 740M sits at the 22nd percentile. Both are in the lower quartile, indicating entry-level performance within their respective mobile lineups.

Q: What is the single benchmark result available for these two GPUs?

A: The only head-to-head benchmark is Geekbench OpenCL. The AMD FirePro M4150 scores 4013, and the NVIDIA GeForce GT 740M scores 3974. The AMD part wins by 1%, a margin of 39 points.

Q: How does the GT 740M's average benchmark score compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The GT 740M's average benchmark score is 3717. Its closest rival is the NVIDIA Quadro 3000M with an average score of 3718 (0% delta). It trails the NVIDIA GeForce GT 635M (3740) by 0.6%, and leads the NVIDIA GeForce 825M (3694) by 0.6% and the AMD Radeon HD 6770 (3649) by 1.9%.

Q: What is the memory configuration difference between the two cards?

A: The AMD FirePro M4150 has 1024 MB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering 64.00 GB/s bandwidth. The NVIDIA GeForce GT 740M has 2 GB of DDR3 memory on a 64-bit bus, delivering only 14.40 GB/s bandwidth. The AMD card has over 4.4 times the memory bandwidth.

Q: Which GPU has higher raw compute throughput?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GT 740M has higher FP32 performance at 793.3 GFLOPS, compared to the AMD FirePro M4150's 549.1 GFLOPS. The NVIDIA card is approximately 44% ahead in raw floating-point compute, despite losing the OpenCL benchmark.

Q: What are the API support differences?

A: Both support DirectX 12 and OpenGL 4.6. The AMD FirePro M4150 supports DirectX 12 (11_1) and Vulkan 1.2.170, while the NVIDIA GeForce GT 740M supports DirectX 12 (11_0) and Vulkan 1.2.175. The NVIDIA card has a slightly newer Vulkan version.

The Verdict

The data presents a straightforward choice for most users, though the reasoning depends on workload. The AMD FirePro M4150 wins the only direct benchmark comparison, beating the GT 740M in Geekbench OpenCL by 1% (4013 vs 3974). This is a narrow margin, but it is a victory nonetheless.

For users prioritizing memory bandwidth, the AMD card is the clear winner. Its 64.00 GB/s bandwidth versus the GT 740M's 14.40 GB/s is a massive gap — over 4.4 times higher. This matters for memory-intensive workloads like texture streaming or large dataset processing in OpenCL applications.

For users prioritizing raw compute throughput, the NVIDIA card wins on paper. Its 793.3 GFLOPS FP32 performance is roughly 44% higher than the AMD's 549.1 GFLOPS. However, the benchmark data shows that this theoretical advantage does not translate into a higher OpenCL score — the AMD card wins the actual test.

The GT 740M does offer twice the memory capacity (2 GB vs 1 GB), which could matter for applications that require larger working sets. It also has a known TDP of 33 W, while the AMD card's TDP is not listed.

The verdict: choose the AMD FirePro M4150 if your work is benchmark-validated OpenCL compute, especially memory-bandwidth-sensitive tasks. Choose the NVIDIA GeForce GT 740M if you need double the memory capacity and higher theoretical FP32 performance, accepting a slight benchmark deficit. The GT 740M's Vulkan score of 3459 (in Geekbench Vulkan) is also available, though no direct comparison exists for that test.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct comparison available is Geekbench OpenCL. The AMD FirePro M4150 scores 4013, while the NVIDIA GeForce GT 740M scores 3974. The AMD card wins by a delta of 1%, which translates to a 39-point margin. This is a narrow victory — within the range of run-to-run variance for many GPUs — but it is a consistent result in the data.

The AMD card's nearest rival in the broader database is the NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M, which scores 4033 (0.5% higher than the M4150). The GT 740M's nearest rival is the NVIDIA Quadro 3000M, which scores 3718 (0% delta, essentially identical). This means the AMD card competes at a slightly higher performance tier than the NVIDIA card, despite their proximity in the head-to-head.

The GT 740M also has a Geekbench Vulkan score of 3459, which is lower than its OpenCL score of 3974. There is no Vulkan score for the AMD card, so no direct comparison is possible. The NVIDIA card's Vulkan support (1.2.175) is slightly newer than the AMD's (1.2.170), which may explain its availability.

In terms of texture and pixel throughput, the NVIDIA card is significantly ahead. The GT 740M delivers 33.06 GTexel/s and 8.264 GPixel/s, while the AMD card delivers 17.16 GTexel/s and 5.720 GPixel/s. The NVIDIA card is roughly 93% faster in texture rate and 44% faster in pixel rate. These differences do not appear in the OpenCL benchmark, suggesting the test is not texture-bound.

The memory bandwidth disparity is stark: 64.00 GB/s for AMD versus 14.40 GB/s for NVIDIA. Yet the OpenCL result shows only a 1% difference. This indicates that the benchmark workload is not bandwidth-limited, or that the NVIDIA card's higher compute throughput compensates for its lower bandwidth.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ significantly in memory configuration. The AMD FirePro M4150 uses 1024 MB of GDDR5 across a 128-bit bus, yielding 64.00 GB/s bandwidth. The NVIDIA GeForce GT 740M uses 2 GB of DDR3 across a 64-bit bus, yielding 14.40 GB/s bandwidth. The AMD card has 4.4 times the bandwidth but half the capacity.

Clock speeds differ notably. The NVIDIA card has a base clock of 980 MHz and a boost clock of 1033 MHz. The AMD card has no base or boost clock listed — only its memory clock of 1000 MHz (4 Gbps effective). This makes direct clock comparison impossible.

The NVIDIA card has a listed TDP of 33 W; the AMD card has no TDP listed. The AMD card has no power connectors listed, while the NVIDIA card explicitly lists "None" — both are MXM modules with portable-device-dependent display outputs.

Transistor counts and die sizes differ slightly. The NVIDIA card has 1,020 million transistors on an 87 mm² die (11.7M / mm² density). The AMD card has 950 million transistors on a 77 mm² die (12.3M / mm² density). The AMD chip is denser despite being smaller.

Shading units are identical at 384. Texture mapping units differ: 24 for AMD, 32 for NVIDIA. ROPs are identical at 8. The NVIDIA card has higher pixel rate (8.264 GPixel/s vs 5.720 GPixel/s) and texture rate (33.06 GTexel/s vs 17.16 GTexel/s).

API support differs in DirectX and Vulkan versions. AMD supports DirectX 12 (11_1) and Vulkan 1.2.170; NVIDIA supports DirectX 12 (11_0) and Vulkan 1.2.175. Both support OpenGL 4.6. Both use PCIe 3.0 x8 interfaces.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different architectural lineages. The AMD FirePro M4150 uses GCN 1.0 architecture on the "Opal" chip, belonging to the FirePro Mobile (Mx100) generation. The NVIDIA GeForce GT 740M uses Kepler 2.0 architecture on the "GK208" chip, belonging to the GeForce 700M generation.

Both are manufactured by TSMC on a 28 nm process, but the transistor densities differ. The AMD chip packs 950 million transistors into 77 mm² for a density of 12.3M / mm². The NVIDIA chip packs 1,020 million transistors into 87 mm² for a density of 11.7M / mm². The AMD chip is more transistor-dense.

The AMD card's memory type is GDDR5, which is inherently higher-bandwidth per pin compared to the NVIDIA card's DDR3. The AMD card uses a 128-bit memory bus versus NVIDIA's 64-bit bus. This architectural choice explains the 4.4x bandwidth advantage.

Both cards have 384 shading units, but the NVIDIA card has 32 TMUs versus AMD's 24. The NVIDIA card also has a boost clock feature, allowing it to reach 1033 MHz under load. The AMD card has no boost clock listed, suggesting it runs at a fixed clock.

The NVIDIA card has explicit power management with a 33 W TDP and no external power connectors. The AMD card's TDP is not listed, but its smaller die and lower transistor count suggest potentially lower power draw. Neither card lists a suggested PSU.

The AMD card's predecessor is "FirePro Mobility" and successor is "Radeon Pro Mobile." The NVIDIA card's predecessor is "GeForce 600M" and successor is "GeForce 800M." Both are end-of-life products, with the AMD released in October 2013 and the NVIDIA in June 2013.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD FirePro M4150 wins in the only benchmark where both are tested: Geekbench OpenCL, scoring 4013 versus 3974 (a 1% advantage). This makes it the better choice for OpenCL compute workloads based on actual measured performance.

The AMD card also wins decisively in memory bandwidth: 64.00 GB/s versus 14.40 GB/s. Any workload that is bandwidth-bound — such as large matrix operations, image processing, or data streaming in OpenCL — should favor the AMD card. Its 128-bit bus with GDDR5 is architecturally superior for memory throughput.

The NVIDIA GeForce GT 740M wins in raw compute specifications. Its FP32 throughput of 793.3 GFLOPS is 44% higher than the AMD's 549.1 GFLOPS. If a workload is purely ALU-bound and does not stress memory, the NVIDIA card's theoretical advantage could materialize, despite not showing in the OpenCL benchmark.

The GT 740M also wins in texture and pixel throughput. Its 33.06 GTexel/s is nearly double the AMD's 17.16 GTexel/s, and its 8.264 GPixel/s is 44% higher. For graphics-heavy tasks that rely on texture fill — such as traditional rasterization — the NVIDIA card should perform better.

The GT 740M offers 2 GB of memory versus the AMD's 1 GB. Applications that require larger working sets, such as holding larger textures or datasets in VRAM, would benefit from the NVIDIA card's capacity advantage.

The NVIDIA card has a listed TDP of 33 W, which is useful for thermal design. The AMD card's TDP is unknown, making power planning more difficult. For system integrators needing a defined power envelope, the NVIDIA card has the advantage.

For Vulkan workloads, the NVIDIA card has a measured score of 3459 and supports Vulkan 1.2.175. The AMD card supports Vulkan 1.2.170 but has no measured Vulkan score. Users targeting Vulkan should consider the NVIDIA card's validated performance.