AMD Radeon 890M vs NVIDIA Quadro K5100M Comparison

In the geekbench_opencl benchmark, the AMD Radeon 890M posts a score of 37254, while the NVIDIA Quadro K5100M reaches 11771. This translates to a 68.4% deficit for the older NVIDIA part, marking a decisive victory for the AMD integrated graphics processor. The Radeon 890M’s score is more than three times higher, indicating a generational leap in raw compute throughput that the Quadro cannot bridge. Notably, the Quadro K5100M has a higher average benchmark score across all its tested workloads (10043) compared to the Radeon 890M’s 9210, but this is skewed by the limited test selection for the NVIDIA card, which only runs two OpenCL/ Metal benchmarks versus the AMD part’s broader suite.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only directly comparable benchmark in the data is geekbench_opencl, where the AMD Radeon 890M wins outright. The score difference is stark: 37254 versus 11771, a 68.4% gap that places the Radeon 890M far ahead in general-purpose GPU compute workloads that leverage OpenCL. This is not a marginal victory—the AMD part delivers over three times the raw score, suggesting that in any OpenCL-accelerated application, the Radeon 890M will complete tasks in a fraction of the time required by the Quadro K5100M. The Quadro’s nearest rivals in its own benchmark pool—such as the AMD Radeon R9 M375 (average score 10070, delta -0.3%) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 870M (average score 9959, delta 0.8%)—show that it sits in a competitive band for its era, but those rivals are all similarly outclassed by the modern integrated solution. The Radeon 890M’s nearest rivals, including the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 (delta -0.7%) and the AMD Radeon Vega 8 (delta -0.1%), are also far behind its OpenCL score, reinforcing that the 890M’s compute advantage is not an outlier but a consistent trend across its benchmark suite.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon 890M dominates in every measurable compute benchmark available. Its geekbench_opencl score of 37254 dwarfs the Quadro’s 11771, and it also shows strength in Vulkan with a score of 40808, a test the Quadro does not even participate in. In DirectX 12 workloads, the Radeon 890M scores 37 on passmark_directx_12 and 73 on passmark_directx_11, with a passmark_g3d score of 8076 that reflects solid rasterization performance for an integrated part. The NVIDIA Quadro K5100M, by contrast, only has geekbench_metal (8315) and geekbench_opencl (11771) results; its metal score is not comparable to any Radeon 890M test, but its OpenCL result is its only point of reference. The Quadro’s average benchmark score of 10043 is higher than the Radeon 890M’s 9210, but this is because the Quadro’s two tests are both compute-heavy, whereas the Radeon 890M’s suite includes lower-scoring DirectX 9 (97), DirectX 10 (33), and DirectX 11 (73) passmark tests that drag its average down. In pure compute, the Radeon 890M wins; in legacy DirectX rasterization, the data is incomplete for the Quadro, making direct comparison impossible, but the Radeon 890M’s passmark_g3d of 8076 suggests it handles modern workloads far better.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from entirely different eras and design philosophies. The NVIDIA Quadro K5100M is built on the Kepler architecture, using the GK104 chip on a 28 nm process at TSMC, with a die size of 294 mm² and 3,540 million transistors. The AMD Radeon 890M uses the RDNA 3.5 architecture with the Strix Point chip on a 4 nm process, also at TSMC, but packs 34,000 million transistors into a smaller 233 mm² die. This results in a transistor density of 145.9M per mm² for the AMD part versus just 12.0M per mm² for the NVIDIA chip—a 12-fold increase in density that explains the performance gap. The Quadro has 1536 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, while the Radeon 890M uses 1024 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, but the AMD part compensates with 16 ray tracing cores and much higher clock speeds: boost clock of 2900 MHz versus the Quadro’s fixed 771 MHz. The memory subsystem is also fundamentally different: the Quadro has 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus with 115.2 GB/s bandwidth, while the Radeon 890M relies on system shared memory, making its bandwidth system-dependent. The Radeon 890M supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, whereas the Quadro is limited to DirectX 12 (11_0) and Vulkan 1.2.175. The Quadro’s TDP is 100 W as an MXM module, while the Radeon 890M is a 15 W IGP, highlighting the efficiency gains of the newer process node.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher average benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA Quadro K5100M has an average benchmark score of 10043, while the AMD Radeon 890M scores 9210, but this average is based on different test suites, with the Quadro only running two compute benchmarks.

Q: How much faster is the AMD Radeon 890M in OpenCL?

A: The Radeon 890M scores 37254 in geekbench_opencl versus the Quadro’s 11771, a delta of -68.4% from the AMD perspective, meaning the AMD part is roughly 3.16 times faster.

Q: Does the NVIDIA Quadro K5100M support ray tracing?

A: No, the Quadro K5100M has no ray tracing cores listed, whereas the AMD Radeon 890M includes 16 ray tracing cores.

Q: What is the memory configuration difference?

A: The Quadro K5100M uses 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus with 115.2 GB/s bandwidth, while the Radeon 890M uses system shared memory with system-dependent bandwidth.

Q: Which GPU has a higher boost clock?

A: The AMD Radeon 890M boosts to 2900 MHz, while the NVIDIA Quadro K5100M is locked at 771 MHz for both base and boost.

Q: How do their transistor densities compare?

A: The Radeon 890M has a density of 145.9M transistors per mm² on a 233 mm² die, while the Quadro K5100M has 12.0M per mm² on a 294 mm² die.

The Verdict

The data overwhelmingly favors the AMD Radeon 890M for any modern workload. Its OpenCL score of 37254 versus the Quadro’s 11771 represents a 68.4% advantage that no amount of driver optimization can overcome on the older NVIDIA part. The Radeon 890M also brings ray tracing support, DirectX 12 Ultimate, and Vulkan 1.4, making it future-proof for current APIs, while the Quadro is stuck with DirectX 12 (11_0) and Vulkan 1.2.175. The Quadro’s only nominal win is its higher average benchmark score (10043 versus 9210), but this is misleading because the Quadro runs only two compute-heavy tests, whereas the Radeon 890M’s average includes lower DirectX rasterization scores that drag it down. For users who need raw compute in OpenCL or Vulkan, the Radeon 890M is the clear choice. The Quadro K5100M, with its 8 GB of dedicated GDDR5 and 115.2 GB/s bandwidth, might appeal to legacy applications that require dedicated VRAM, but its 2013 release date and Kepler architecture place it at a severe disadvantage in every measurable benchmark. The Radeon 890M is also far more power-efficient at 15 W versus 100 W, making it superior for mobile platforms. Purely from the data, the AMD Radeon 890M is the better GPU for essentially all compute and modern rendering tasks, while the Quadro K5100M only makes sense for niche legacy compatibility.

Specification Differences

| Specification | NVIDIA Quadro K5100M | AMD Radeon 890M |

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

| Architecture | Kepler | RDNA 3.5 |

| Chip | GK104 | Strix Point |

| 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 Width | 256 bit | System Shared |

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

| Shading Units | 1536 | 1024 |

| TMUs | 128 | 64 |

| ROPs | 32 | 32 |

| Ray Tracing Cores | None | 16 |

| Pixel Rate | 24.67 GPixel/s | 92.80 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 98.69 GTexel/s | 185.6 GTexel/s |

| FP32 Performance | 2.369 TFLOPS | 5.939 TFLOPS |

| FP16 Performance | None listed | 5.939 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 100 W | 15 W |

| Slot Width | MXM Module | IGP |

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

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

| Vulkan Support | 1.2.175 | 1.4 |

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

| Release Date | 2013-07-22 | 2024-07-14 |