AMD FirePro M4150 vs NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 GDDR6 Comparison

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 GDDR6 and the AMD FirePro M4150 represent two extreme endpoints of the GPU performance spectrum, separated by over a decade of architectural evolution. The data places the RTX 4070 in the 25th percentile of all GPUs, while the FirePro M4150 sits at the 24th percentile, yet this near-identical percentile ranking masks a chasm in raw capability. The RTX 4070’s average benchmark score of 4335 dwarfs the FirePro’s 4013, but the more revealing story lies in their nearest rivals, which show both cards trading blows with older mainstream parts rather than with each other.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The head-to-head benchmark array between these two GPUs is empty, meaning no shared workload directly compares them. Instead, the data provides separate benchmark results: the RTX 4070 achieves 4334.5 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, while the FirePro M4150 scores 4013 in Geekbench OpenCL. These are different tests, so a direct numerical comparison is impossible, but the context from their nearest rivals is telling.

The RTX 4070’s 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 4334.5 places it 0.6% behind the Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 (4360), a result that seems paradoxical for a modern discrete card. It also trails the NVIDIA GeForce 930M (4388) by 1.2%. However, it edges out the AMD FirePro W2100 (4295) by 0.9% and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M (4282) by 1.2%. These deltas suggest the RTX 4070 is clustered with decade-old integrated and entry-level mobile parts in this particular database, which likely reflects a dataset where the RTX 4070’s results are anomalous or the test methodology differs from typical gaming benchmarks.

The FirePro M4150’s Geekbench OpenCL score of 4013 shows a different competitive landscape. It is 0.5% behind the NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M (4033), but it beats the AMD Radeon HD 6850 X2 (3977) by 0.9%, the NVIDIA Quadro K2000 (3964) by 1.2%, and the NVIDIA GeForce 830M (3957) by 1.4%. The FirePro’s rivals are all mobile or workstation parts from the 2012-2014 era, which aligns with its 2013 release. The RTX 4070’s rivals span a wider range, but the consistent theme is that both cards occupy a narrow band around the 4000-4400 score range in their respective tests.

Interpreting these results requires caution. The RTX 4070’s 25th percentile ranking against all GPUs and its proximity to the Intel Iris Pro 5200 suggests that the 3DMark Steel Nomad score may not reflect its real-world gaming performance, as this is a synthetic workload. Conversely, the FirePro’s 24th percentile is more consistent with its age and mobile workstation positioning. The data implies that in this benchmark database, neither card is a standout; both are mid-pack performers whose scores are separated by less than 8% from their nearest rivals.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 GDDR6 has an average benchmark score of 4335, which is 322 points higher than the AMD FirePro M4150’s 4013 average.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 compare to its closest rival in the database?

A: The RTX 4070’s closest rival is the Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200, which scores 4360. This puts the RTX 4070 0.6% behind, a margin of 25 points that is within typical benchmark variance.

Q: What is the FirePro M4150’s best competitive result?

A: The FirePro M4150 shows its strongest performance against the NVIDIA GeForce 830M, which it beats by 1.4% (4013 vs 3957). It also leads the Quadro K2000 by 1.2% and the Radeon HD 6850 X2 by 0.9%.

Q: Are both GPUs end-of-life products?

A: Yes, both the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 GDDR6 and the AMD FirePro M4150 have a production status of "End-of-life," meaning neither is currently in active manufacturing.

Q: Do the two GPUs share any benchmark results?

A: No, the head-to-head benchmark array is empty. The RTX 4070 has a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score, while the FirePro M4150 has a Geekbench OpenCL score, and no common test was run on both.

Q: What do the percentile rankings indicate?

A: The RTX 4070 is in the 25th percentile of all GPUs, and the FirePro M4150 is in the 24th percentile. This places both cards in the lower quarter of the database, despite their vastly different architectures and release dates.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 GDDR6 wins decisively on raw computational throughput. Its FP32 performance of 29.15 TFLOPS is orders of magnitude above the FirePro’s 549.1 GFLOPS. The RTX 4070 also offers 12 GB of GDDR6 memory with 480.0 GB/s bandwidth, compared to the FirePro’s 1024 MB of GDDR5 with 64.00 GB/s. For any modern workload that demands high shader processing, texture filtering, or memory bandwidth, the RTX 4070 is the clear choice. Its pixel rate of 158.4 GPixel/s and texture rate of 455.4 GTexel/s dwarf the FirePro’s 5.720 GPixel/s and 17.16 GTexel/s, making it suitable for high-resolution rendering and heavy texture workloads.

The AMD FirePro M4150 wins in the narrow context of portability and legacy compatibility. As an MXM module, it is designed for mobile workstations where space and power are constrained. Its 77 mm² die size and 950 million transistors are minuscule compared to the RTX 4070’s 294 mm² die and 35,800 million transistors, which means the FirePro is a far simpler part that generates less heat and requires less cooling. The FirePro’s PCIe 3.0 x8 interface is also less demanding on system resources than the RTX 4070’s PCIe 4.0 x16 connection. For a system that requires a specific MXM form factor or uses an older PCIe 3.0 platform, the FirePro M4150 is the only viable option in this comparison.

The RTX 4070 wins on API support, offering DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, while the FirePro is limited to DirectX 12 (11_1) and Vulkan 1.2.170. This makes the RTX 4070 future-proof for modern game engines that leverage DirectX 12 Ultimate features like ray tracing and mesh shaders. The FirePro’s 384 shading units are a fraction of the RTX 4070’s 5888, so any shader-heavy application will favor the NVIDIA card overwhelmingly.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ in nearly every measurable specification. The RTX 4070 uses a 5 nm process node from TSMC, while the FirePro M4150 uses a 28 nm node from the same foundry. Transistor counts are 35,800 million for the RTX 4070 versus 950 million for the FirePro, and the die sizes are 294 mm² versus 77 mm². The transistor density is 121.8M per mm² for the RTX 4070, compared to 12.3M per mm² for the FirePro, reflecting the massive leap in manufacturing efficiency.

Memory configurations are radically different: the RTX 4070 has 12 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus with 480.0 GB/s bandwidth, while the FirePro has 1024 MB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus with 64.00 GB/s bandwidth. The RTX 4070’s memory clock is 2500 MHz (20 Gbps effective), whereas the FirePro runs at 1000 MHz (4 Gbps effective). Shading units number 5888 for the RTX 4070 versus 384 for the FirePro, with TMUs at 184 versus 24, and ROPs at 64 versus 8.

The RTX 4070 has dedicated ray tracing cores (46) and tensor cores (184), while the FirePro has neither. Clock speeds also differ: the RTX 4070 has a base clock of 1920 MHz and a boost of 2475 MHz, while the FirePro lists no base or boost clocks. The RTX 4070’s TDP is 200 W with a suggested PSU of 550 W, while the FirePro has no TDP or PSU data. The RTX 4070 is a dual-slot card with a 1x 16-pin power connector, while the FirePro is an MXM module with no standard power connector listed. Display outputs differ as well: the RTX 4070 offers 1x HDMI 2.1 and 3x DisplayPort 1.4a, while the FirePro is "Portable Device Dependent." The RTX 4070 uses a PCIe 4.0 x16 interface, and the FirePro uses PCIe 3.0 x8.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gulf between these GPUs is even wider than the specification gap. The RTX 4070 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture, using the AD104 chip, which is a advanced design from the GeForce 40-series generation. Ada Lovelace introduces dedicated ray tracing cores and tensor cores, enabling real-time ray tracing and AI-accelerated features like DLSS. The FirePro M4150, by contrast, is based on the GCN 1.0 architecture using the Opal chip, part of the FirePro Mobile (Mx100) generation from 2013. GCN 1.0 was AMD’s first unified shader architecture for compute workloads, but it lacks any dedicated ray tracing or tensor hardware.

The process node difference is stark: 5 nm versus 28 nm, which explains the transistor density gap of 121.8M per mm² versus 12.3M per mm². The RTX 4070’s 46 ray tracing cores and 184 tensor cores are hardware features that simply do not exist in the FirePro, which relies entirely on its 384 shading units for all graphics and compute tasks. The RTX 4070 supports FP16 at 1:1 ratio with FP32 (29.15 TFLOPS), while the FirePro’s FP16 performance is not listed, indicating it likely lacks dedicated half-precision support. The RTX 4070’s DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) support enables features like variable rate shading and mesh shaders, while the FirePro’s DirectX 12 (11_1) is a more limited implementation. Both support OpenGL 4.6, but the RTX 4070’s Vulkan 1.4 is newer than the FirePro’s Vulkan 1.2.170.

The RTX 4070 was released on 2024-08-19, succeeding the GeForce 30-series and preceding the GeForce 50-series. The FirePro M4150 was released on 2013-10-15, succeeding FirePro Mobility and preceding Radeon Pro Mobile. This 11-year gap explains why the RTX 4070 has ray tracing, tensor cores, and a 5 nm process, while the FirePro is a 28 nm GCN 1.0 part with no dedicated AI hardware.

The Verdict

The data makes one thing clear: these GPUs are not competitors. The RTX 4070 is a modern desktop graphics card with 29.15 TFLOPS FP32 performance, 12 GB of GDDR6 memory, and hardware ray tracing, while the FirePro M4150 is a legacy mobile workstation part with 549.1 GFLOPS, 1 GB of GDDR5, and no ray tracing. Any user with a choice between the two should pick the RTX 4070 for virtually any workload, as its 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 4334.5 and 25th percentile ranking, while modest, still represent a far more capable part than the FirePro’s 4013 Geekbench score and 24th percentile.

The FirePro M4150 is only relevant in the specific scenario of a mobile workstation that requires an MXM module and cannot accommodate a dual-slot desktop card. Its PCIe 3.0 x8 interface and portable-device-dependent display outputs make it a niche part for legacy systems. For anyone building or upgrading a desktop PC, the RTX 4070’s superior memory bandwidth (480.0 GB/s versus 64.00 GB/s), higher pixel and texture rates, and modern API support make it the only rational choice. The RTX 4070’s 200 W TDP and 550 W suggested PSU are reasonable for a desktop, and its dual-slot form factor is standard. In contrast, the FirePro M4150’s lack of a TDP rating and power connector details suggests it is intended for tightly integrated mobile platforms.

Benchmark results indicate that the RTX 4070, despite its low percentile ranking, is at least competitive with its nearest rivals, while the FirePro M4150 is similarly positioned among its peers. Neither card is a top performer in this database, but the RTX 4070 offers modern features and vastly more computational power. The FirePro M4150 is a historical artifact that should only be considered for its specific mobile workstation niche. The verdict is unambiguous: the RTX 4070 is the superior GPU by every measurable metric, and the FirePro M4150 is best left to legacy applications.