AMD FirePro M4150 vs NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Comparison

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti and AMD FirePro M4150 sit at opposite ends of the mobile graphics spectrum, separated by three years of architectural evolution and a stark difference in market positioning. The data shows a single head-to-head benchmark result, yet the specification sheets reveal a generation gap that makes the performance disparity predictable. The GTX 1050 Ti, built on the 14 nm Pascal architecture, is a mainstream desktop-class part, while the FirePro M4150 is a 28 nm GCN 1.0 mobile workstation chip from 2013. Their average benchmark scores place them in the same percentile neighborhood, but that is where the similarity ends.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only directly comparable benchmark in the data is Geekbench OpenCL, and the result is a decisive victory for the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti. The GTX 1050 Ti scores 18,129 points, while the AMD FirePro M4150 manages just 4,013 points. This translates to a delta of 351.8% in favor of the NVIDIA card. To put that in perspective, the GTX 1050 Ti is not merely faster; it is roughly four and a half times faster in this compute-oriented workload. This is not a marginal win but a category-level difference, indicating that the FirePro M4150 is operating in a completely different performance tier.

The Geekbench OpenCL result aligns with the broader compute capabilities of each card. The GTX 1050 Ti delivers 2.138 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, whereas the FirePro M4150 is limited to 549.1 GFLOPS. That is a 3.9x gap in raw floating-point throughput, which directly explains the OpenCL score differential. The NVIDIA card also holds a significant advantage in memory bandwidth, offering 112.1 GB/s compared to the AMD card's 64.00 GB/s. In memory-bound compute tasks, this bandwidth advantage compounds the raw throughput lead.

Outside of Geekbench OpenCL, the GTX 1050 Ti has a full suite of benchmark results, while the FirePro M4150 has only that single data point. The GTX 1050 Ti's Passmark G3D score is 6,340, and its Passmark GPU Compute score is 2,652. Its Geekbench Vulkan score is 10,001, and its Geekbench Metal score is 7,834. These numbers are not directly comparable to anything on the AMD side, but they illustrate that the NVIDIA card is a well-rounded performer across different APIs and workloads. The FirePro M4150's single benchmark result offers no such breadth, making its performance profile largely a matter of inference from its specifications.

The nearest rivals data reinforces the positioning of both cards. The GTX 1050 Ti's average benchmark score is 4,193, placing it within 1.8% of the AMD Radeon Vega 3 and within 1.1% of the NVIDIA Quadro K3000M. The FirePro M4150's average score is 4,013, which puts it 1.4% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce 830M and 0.9% behind the AMD Radeon HD 6850 X2. In other words, the GTX 1050 Ti competes with integrated and older mid-range parts, while the FirePro M4150 sits alongside entry-level discrete GPUs from several generations ago.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti is the superior product for any task that benefits from compute performance, graphics rendering, or memory bandwidth. Its 351.8% lead in the only shared benchmark is not a close contest; it is a rout. The GTX 1050 Ti also has a much higher average benchmark score of 4,193 versus 4,013 for the FirePro M4150, a 4.5% advantage that, while modest in percentage terms, is backed by a far more comprehensive benchmark portfolio.

For users who need a GPU that can handle modern gaming, content creation, or general-purpose compute workloads, the GTX 1050 Ti is the only rational choice between these two. Its 4 GB of GDDR5 memory, 768 shading units, and 32 ROPs provide a baseline that can handle 1080p gaming at medium settings in many titles, based on the Passmark DirectX 11 score of 45 and DirectX 12 score of 26. The FirePro M4150, with 1 GB of memory and 384 shading units, is limited to lightweight 2D workloads or very old games at best.

The FirePro M4150 might be preferable in one narrow scenario: if a system requires an MXM Module form factor with PCIe 3.0 x8 interface and has a legacy power delivery design that predates the GTX 1050 Ti's requirements. However, the GTX 1050 Ti's 75 W TDP and lack of power connectors make it highly adaptable, and its dual-slot width is a standard form factor. There is no performance-based argument for choosing the AMD part, as it loses in every measurable category where data exists.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti wins in every measurable category with available data. It has a higher core count (768 vs 384 shading units), more texture mapping units (48 vs 24), and four times the ROPs (32 vs 8). Its pixel rate is 44.54 GPixel/s versus 5.720 GPixel/s for the FirePro M4150, an 8x advantage. Its texture rate of 66.82 GTexel/s dwarfs the AMD card's 17.16 GTexel/s. Memory capacity is four times larger at 4 GB versus 1 GB, and bandwidth is 75% higher.

The only area where the FirePro M4150 could claim a pragmatic win is in its form factor and bus interface. As an MXM Module with PCIe 3.0 x8, it is designed for specific laptop chassis that require this form factor. The GTX 1050 Ti, with its 145 mm length and dual-slot design, is a more conventional desktop-style card, though it also appears in mobile variants. For a system builder with an MXM slot and no other options, the FirePro M4150 is the only one of the two that physically fits. That is a compatibility win, not a performance win.

In terms of API support, the GTX 1050 Ti supports DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.4, while the FirePro M4150 supports DirectX 12 (11_1) and Vulkan 1.2.170. The NVIDIA card's higher feature level in DirectX 12 could enable more advanced rendering features in games that leverage them, though the raw performance gap is so large that this is a secondary consideration.

FAQ

Q: How much faster is the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti than the AMD FirePro M4150 in Geekbench OpenCL?

A: The GTX 1050 Ti scores 18,129 compared to 4,013 for the FirePro M4150, a 351.8% difference. This indicates the NVIDIA card is roughly 4.5 times faster in this compute benchmark.

Q: Which card has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The GTX 1050 Ti has an average benchmark score of 4,193, while the FirePro M4150 has an average of 4,013. The NVIDIA card is 4.5% ahead, though the GTX 1050 Ti has 11 benchmark results compared to just 1 for the AMD card.

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

A: The GTX 1050 Ti has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory, while the FirePro M4150 has 1 GB of GDDR5 memory. Both use a 128-bit memory bus, but the GTX 1050 Ti achieves 112.1 GB/s bandwidth versus 64.00 GB/s for the AMD card.

Q: Which card has a higher pixel fill rate?

A: The GTX 1050 Ti has a pixel rate of 44.54 GPixel/s, which is 8 times higher than the FirePro M4150's 5.720 GPixel/s. This means the NVIDIA card can fill frames with far more pixels per second, benefiting high-resolution rendering.

Q: Does the FirePro M4150 have any benchmarks where it beats the GTX 1050 Ti?

A: No. In the only shared benchmark (Geekbench OpenCL), the GTX 1050 Ti wins decisively. The FirePro M4150 has no benchmark wins in the head-to-head data.

Q: What are the nearest rivals for each card based on average benchmark score?

A: The GTX 1050 Ti is closest to the AMD Radeon R5 M330 (0.6% higher), NVIDIA Quadro K2100M (1% higher), and NVIDIA Quadro K3000M (1.1% lower). The FirePro M4150 is closest to the NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M (0.5% lower), AMD Radeon HD 6850 X2 (0.9% higher), and NVIDIA Quadro K2000 (1.2% higher).

Architecture Differences

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti is built on the Pascal architecture using the GP107 chip, fabricated on a 14 nm process by Samsung. This chip contains 3,300 million transistors on a 132 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 25.0M per mm². Pascal is a mature architecture that introduced significant improvements in clock scaling and power efficiency relative to its predecessors. The GTX 1050 Ti has a base clock of 1291 MHz and a boost clock of 1392 MHz, with memory running at 1752 MHz (7 Gbps effective).

The AMD FirePro M4150 uses the older GCN 1.0 architecture with the Opal chip, manufactured on a 28 nm process by TSMC. This chip has 950 million transistors on a 77 mm² die, resulting in a transistor density of just 12.3M per mm². GCN 1.0 was AMD's first-generation Graphics Core Next design, which focused on compute performance but was less efficient than later iterations. The FirePro M4150 has no listed base or boost clocks, but its memory runs at 1000 MHz (4 Gbps effective).

The architectural generation gap is significant. Pascal introduced improvements in geometry processing, asynchronous compute, and memory compression over GCN 1.0. The GTX 1050 Ti's 14 nm process allows for higher clock speeds and better power efficiency than the 28 nm process used by the FirePro M4150. The Pascal chip also supports Vulkan 1.4, while the GCN 1.0 chip is limited to Vulkan 1.2.170. In terms of DirectX, the GTX 1050 Ti supports feature level 12_1, whereas the FirePro M4150 is limited to 11_1.

The transistor count difference is stark: 3,300 million versus 950 million. This is a 3.5x difference in transistor budget, which explains why the GTX 1050 Ti has double the shading units and four times the ROPs. Despite the larger die size of 132 mm² versus 77 mm², the GTX 1050 Ti's higher density (25.0M vs 12.3M per mm²) makes the transistor count advantage possible.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every specification field where data is available. The GTX 1050 Ti uses a PCIe 3.0 x16 interface, while the FirePro M4150 uses a narrower PCIe 3.0 x8 interface. The GTX 1050 Ti has a TDP of 75 W and requires a 250 W suggested PSU, while the FirePro M4150 has no listed TDP or PSU requirement. The GTX 1050 Ti is a dual-slot card with no power connectors, whereas the FirePro M4150 is an MXM Module.

The GTX 1050 Ti has 768 shading units, 48 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The FirePro M4150 has 384 shading units, 24 TMUs, and 8 ROPs. The NVIDIA card's FP32 performance is 2.138 TFLOPS, while the AMD card is at 549.1 GFLOPS. The GTX 1050 Ti also has a listed FP16 performance of 33.41 GFLOPS (1:64 ratio), while the FirePro M4150 has no FP16 data.

Display outputs differ significantly: the GTX 1050 Ti offers 1x DVI, 1x HDMI 2.0, and 1x DisplayPort 1.4a, while the FirePro M4150's outputs are described as "Portable Device Dependent." The GTX 1050 Ti has physical dimensions of 145 mm in length and 111 mm in height, while the FirePro M4150 has no listed dimensions. The GTX 1050 Ti was released on 2016-10-24, while the FirePro M4150 came out on 2013-10-15. The GTX 1050 Ti has a launch MSRP of 139 USD, while the FirePro M4150 has no launch MSRP listed. Both cards are end-of-life products, but the GTX 1050 Ti's successor is the GeForce 20 series, while the FirePro M4150's successor is the Radeon Pro Mobile line.