AMD Radeon 880M vs NVIDIA Quadro K5100M Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The single direct comparison in the database is the Geekbench OpenCL test, and the result is decisive. The AMD Radeon 880M scores 31,285, while the NVIDIA Quadro K5100M scores 11,771. That puts the Radeon 880M ahead by 62.4%, a massive margin that reflects the generational gap between the two. In practical terms, the Radeon 880M delivers nearly three times the compute throughput in this workload, which is the kind of difference that shows up in GPU-accelerated tasks like video encoding, physics simulation, and OpenCL-based rendering.

The Quadro K5100M does not win any of the recorded head-to-head benchmarks. Its average benchmark score across all tests is 10,043, which lands it at the 48th percentile of all GPUs in the database. The Radeon 880M, by contrast, averages 8,436 and sits at the 43rd percentile. That is a surprising inversion: the Radeon 880M wins the head-to-head OpenCL test by a wide margin, yet its overall average score is lower. The explanation lies in the different benchmark suites each card was tested with. The Quadro K5100M was only tested with Geekbench OpenCL and Metal, while the Radeon 880M has a much broader test set including Passmark DX9 through DX12, 3DMark Steel Nomad, and Vulkan. The Radeon's Passmark DX9 score of 97 and DX12 score of 32 pull its average down, even though its OpenCL and Vulkan scores are strong.

Looking at the nearest rivals for each card puts the numbers in context. The Quadro K5100M's average of 10,043 is nearly identical to the AMD Radeon R9 M375 (10,070, a 0.3% deficit) and slightly ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro 5300M (10,013, a 0.3% lead). It also edges out the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 870M (9,959, a 0.8% lead) and the NVIDIA Quadro 6000 (9,846, a 2% lead). These are all close calls, meaning the K5100M sits in a crowded performance band. The Radeon 880M's average of 8,436 places it alongside the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675MX (8,427, a 0.1% lead) and the NVIDIA GeForce MX330 (8,458, a 0.3% deficit). It also trails the AMD Radeon HD 8870M (8,462, a 0.3% deficit) but leads the AMD Radeon R9 M375X (8,325, a 1.3% lead). The Radeon 880M's rivals are all older discrete mobile parts, which underscores how capable this integrated GPU has become.

Architecture Differences

The architecture gap is the defining feature of this comparison. The NVIDIA Quadro K5100M is built on the Kepler architecture, using the GK104 chip fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC. That chip packs 3,540 million transistors onto a 294 mm² die, giving it a transistor density of 12.0 million per square millimeter. The AMD Radeon 880M uses the RDNA 3.5 architecture with the Strix Point chip, also from TSMC but on a 4 nm node. It integrates 34,000 million transistors onto a smaller 233 mm² die, reaching a density of 145.9 million per square millimeter. That is over 12 times the transistor density, which explains how the Radeon 880M can deliver higher performance at a fraction of the power draw.

The memory subsystems are fundamentally different. The Quadro K5100M has 8 GB of dedicated GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 115.2 GB/s of bandwidth. The Radeon 880M has no dedicated VRAM; it uses system shared memory, with a shared bus width and bandwidth that is system dependent. This is a critical distinction for workloads that are sensitive to memory bandwidth, though the Radeon's higher clock speeds help compensate in compute-heavy tasks.

Clock speeds tell a stark story. The Quadro K5100M runs at a fixed 771 MHz for both base and boost, with memory at 900 MHz (3.6 Gbps effective). The Radeon 880M has a base clock of just 400 MHz but boosts to 2,900 MHz, a 7.5x increase over its own base and a 3.8x increase over the Quadro's sustained clock. The Radeon's pixel rate of 46.40 GPixel/s and texture rate of 139.2 GTexel/s both exceed the Quadro's 24.67 GPixel/s and 98.69 GTexel/s, despite the Quadro having more shading units and texture mapping units.

The feature sets diverge sharply. The Radeon 880M includes 12 ray tracing cores, while the Quadro K5100M has none. The Radeon also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), Vulkan 1.4, and FP16 at a 1:1 ratio with FP32 (4.454 TFLOPS each). The Quadro is limited to DirectX 12 (11_0), Vulkan 1.2.175, and no FP16 support listed. The Radeon's FP32 throughput of 4.454 TFLOPS is nearly double the Quadro's 2.369 TFLOPS, a clear compute advantage.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher FP32 compute throughput?

A: The AMD Radeon 880M delivers 4.454 TFLOPS of FP32, which is 88% higher than the NVIDIA Quadro K5100M's 2.369 TFLOPS.

Q: Does either card support ray tracing?

A: Only the AMD Radeon 880M has ray tracing capability, with 12 dedicated ray tracing cores. The NVIDIA Quadro K5100M has no ray tracing cores.

Q: How do their transistor counts compare?

A: The Radeon 880M integrates 34,000 million transistors, nearly 10 times the 3,540 million in the Quadro K5100M, despite having a smaller die (233 mm² vs 294 mm²).

Q: What is the memory configuration difference?

A: The Quadro K5100M uses 8 GB of dedicated GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus with 115.2 GB/s bandwidth. The Radeon 880M relies on system shared memory with system-dependent bandwidth.

Q: Which card has a higher pixel fill rate?

A: The Radeon 880M achieves 46.40 GPixel/s, which is 88% higher than the Quadro K5100M's 24.67 GPixel/s.

Q: What is the production status of each?

A: The Quadro K5100M is end-of-life, released in July 2013. The Radeon 880M is active, released in July 2024.

Specification Differences

| Specification | NVIDIA Quadro K5100M | AMD Radeon 880M |

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

| Architecture | Kepler | RDNA 3.5 |

| Process Node | 28 nm | 4 nm |

| Transistors | 3,540 million | 34,000 million |

| Die Size | 294 mm² | 233 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 12.0M / mm² | 145.9M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 771 MHz | 400 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 771 MHz | 2900 MHz |

| Memory Size | 8 GB | System Shared |

| Memory Type | GDDR5 | System Shared |

| Memory Bus | 256 bit | System Shared |

| Memory Bandwidth | 115.2 GB/s | System Dependent |

| Shading Units | 1536 | 768 |

| TMUs | 128 | 48 |

| ROPs | 32 | 16 |

| Ray Tracing Cores | None | 12 |

| Pixel Rate | 24.67 GPixel/s | 46.40 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 98.69 GTexel/s | 139.2 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 2.369 TFLOPS | 4.454 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | None listed | 4.454 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 100 W | 15 W |

| Slot Width | MXM Module | IGP |

| Bus Interface | MXM-B (3.0) | PCIe 4.0 x8 |

| DirectX | 12 (11_0) | 12 Ultimate (12_2) |

| Vulkan | 1.2.175 | 1.4 |

| Release Date | July 2013 | July 2024 |

| Production Status | End-of-life | Active |

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the AMD Radeon 880M is the stronger GPU for compute workloads. Its 62.4% lead in OpenCL, its near-double FP32 throughput, and its vastly higher pixel and texture rates all point to a card that outperforms the Quadro K5100M despite using system shared memory. The Radeon 880M also brings modern features like ray tracing and DirectX 12 Ultimate, which the Quadro simply lacks. The Quadro K5100M's only advantages are its dedicated 8 GB of GDDR5 with high bandwidth and its larger pool of shading units (1,536 vs 768), but those do not translate into benchmark wins.

The Quadro K5100M is an end-of-life product from 2013, built on a 28 nm process with a 100 W TDP. The Radeon 880M is an active product from 2024, built on a 4 nm process with a 15 W TDP. That power difference is enormous: the Radeon delivers more performance while drawing 85% less power. For any modern workload, the Radeon 880M is the logical choice. The Quadro's only conceivable role is in legacy systems that require its specific MXM form factor or its dedicated VRAM, but even then its performance is firmly in the mid-range of the database's rankings.

Where Each One Wins

AMD Radeon 880M wins in: OpenCL compute (31,285 vs 11,771, a 62.4% lead), FP32 throughput (4.454 TFLOPS vs 2.369 TFLOPS), pixel fill rate (46.40 GPixel/s vs 24.67 GPixel/s), texture fill rate (139.2 GTexel/s vs 98.69 GTexel/s), ray tracing (12 cores vs none), API support (DirectX 12 Ultimate and Vulkan 1.4 vs DirectX 12 (11_0) and Vulkan 1.2.175), power efficiency (15 W vs 100 W TDP), production status (active vs end-of-life), and transistor density (145.9M / mm² vs 12.0M / mm²).

NVIDIA Quadro K5100M wins in: Dedicated memory capacity (8 GB GDDR5 vs system shared), memory bandwidth (115.2 GB/s vs system dependent), shading unit count (1,536 vs 768), texture mapping units (128 vs 48), and raster operations pipelines (32 vs 16). It also has a higher average benchmark score (10,043 vs 8,436) and a better percentile ranking (48th vs 43rd), though that reflects its narrower test set rather than superior real-world performance.

The practical takeaway: if you need compute performance, modern API support, or ray tracing, the Radeon 880M is the only option. If you need dedicated VRAM and are locked into a legacy MXM-based system, the Quadro K5100M remains serviceable, but its performance is firmly mid-pack by today's standards.