AMD Radeon HD 7730M vs NVIDIA Quadro K4000M Comparison

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in the recorded OpenCL benchmark?

A: The AMD Radeon HD 7730M scores 6581 points in Geekbench OpenCL, which is 9.9% ahead of the NVIDIA Quadro K4000M’s 5986 points. The database records a 1-0 win split in favor of AMD.

Q: How does the AMD Radeon HD 7730M compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The AMD card sits within a tight performance cluster. It is 0.4% ahead of the Intel UHD Graphics P750 (6554), 1% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670M (6513), and 1.4% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M (6493). It trails the AMD Radeon R7 M460 (6612) by just 0.5%.

Q: Where does the NVIDIA Quadro K4000M rank among its peers?

A: The Quadro K4000M’s 5986 average score puts it at the 34th percentile of all GPUs. It is essentially tied with the AMD FirePro W4100 (5987, 0% delta) and the NVIDIA Quadro K4000 (5982, 0.1% ahead). It slightly trails the NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server (5996) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770M (6000), both by 0.2%.

Q: What are the memory specifications for each card?

A: The AMD Radeon HD 7730M uses 2 GB of DDR3 memory on a 128-bit bus, yielding 28.80 GB/s of bandwidth. The NVIDIA Quadro K4000M uses 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, yielding 89.60 GB/s of bandwidth. The NVIDIA card has more memory, a wider bus, and over three times the bandwidth.

Q: Which card has a higher transistor count and die size?

A: The NVIDIA Quadro K4000M packs 3,540 million transistors on a 294 mm² die, both significantly larger than the AMD Radeon HD 7730M’s 1,500 million transistors on a 123 mm² die. Both are built on the same 28 nm process at TSMC, so the transistor density is similar: 12.2M per mm² for AMD and 12.0M per mm² for NVIDIA.

Q: Are both GPUs still in production?

A: No, both are marked as end-of-life in the database. The AMD Radeon HD 7730M was released on 2012-04-23, and the NVIDIA Quadro K4000M followed on 2012-05-31.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different architectural lineages, and the data shows clear distinctions in their design priorities. The AMD Radeon HD 7730M is built on Graphics Core Next 1.0 (GCN 1.0) with the chip codename Chelsea, part of the London (HD 7700M) generation. The NVIDIA Quadro K4000M uses the Kepler architecture with the GK104 chip, part of the Quadro Kepler-M (Kx000M) generation.

Both are fabricated on the same 28 nm process at TSMC, but the silicon budgets diverge sharply. NVIDIA’s GK104 is a much larger chip: 3,540 million transistors on a 294 mm² die, compared to AMD’s 1,500 million transistors on a 123 mm² die. The transistor density is nearly identical (12.2M vs 12.0M per mm²), which means the performance gap comes from sheer scale, not packing efficiency.

Compute resources tell the same story. The Quadro K4000M has 960 shading units, 80 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. The Radeon HD 7730M has 512 shading units, 32 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. In every category, the NVIDIA chip has roughly double the execution hardware, yet the benchmark results show AMD leading, which points to architectural efficiency differences between GCN 1.0 and Kepler.

Memory architecture is another major divergence. The AMD card uses 2 GB of DDR3 on a 128-bit bus with 28.80 GB/s of bandwidth. The NVIDIA card uses 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus with 89.60 GB/s, a 3.1x bandwidth advantage. The Quadro K4000M also has a higher memory clock at 700 MHz (2.8 Gbps effective) versus AMD’s 900 MHz (1800 Mbps effective), though the bus width difference is the dominant factor.

Power consumption differs significantly. The Radeon HD 7730M is rated at 25 W TDP, while the Quadro K4000M draws 100 W. This 4x difference reflects the NVIDIA chip’s larger transistor count and higher memory bandwidth. The Quadro K4000M also uses an MXM Module form factor with an MXM-B (3.0) bus interface, while the AMD card uses PCIe 2.0 x16.

API support is close but not identical. Both support DirectX 12 (AMD at 11_1, NVIDIA at 11_0) and OpenGL 4.6. The AMD card supports Vulkan 1.2.170, while the NVIDIA card supports Vulkan 1.2.175, a slightly newer revision.

The Verdict

The recorded benchmark data gives a straightforward answer: the AMD Radeon HD 7730M outperforms the NVIDIA Quadro K4000M in the only head-to-head test available, Geekbench OpenCL, by 9.9%. This is a clear, measurable win.

That said, the choice between these two end-of-life mobile GPUs depends heavily on what the user prioritizes. The AMD card wins on raw compute score and does so at a fraction of the power draw: 25 W versus 100 W. For a mobile workstation or laptop where battery life and thermals matter, the Radeon HD 7730M is the more practical choice from the data.

The NVIDIA Quadro K4000M, despite losing the benchmark, brings substantial hardware advantages that are not reflected in the OpenCL score. It has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory versus 2 GB of DDR3, a 256-bit bus versus 128-bit, and 89.60 GB/s of bandwidth versus 28.80 GB/s. For workloads that are memory-bound rather than compute-bound, the Quadro’s specifications suggest it could handle larger datasets and more complex textures. The 960 shading units versus 512 also indicate more raw geometry and shader capacity.

Users who run OpenCL compute tasks should favor the AMD card based on the 9.9% lead. Users who need more memory capacity and bandwidth for professional applications, and who can tolerate the 100 W TDP, may find the Quadro K4000M better suited despite its lower benchmark score. The data does not include professional application tests, so the Quadro’s driver certification and ISV support cannot be quantified here.

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Radeon HD 7730M | NVIDIA Quadro K4000M |

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

| Architecture | GCN 1.0 | Kepler |

| Process Node | 28 nm | 28 nm |

| Transistors | 1,500 million | 3,540 million |

| Die Size | 123 mm² | 294 mm² |

| Base Clock | 575 MHz | 601 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 675 MHz | 601 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 900 MHz (1800 Mbps effective) | 700 MHz (2.8 Gbps effective) |

| Memory Size | 2 GB | 4 GB |

| Memory Type | DDR3 | GDDR5 |

| Memory Bus | 128 bit | 256 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 28.80 GB/s | 89.60 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 512 | 960 |

| TMUs | 32 | 80 |

| ROPs | 16 | 32 |

| Pixel Rate | 10.80 GPixel/s | 12.02 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 21.60 GTexel/s | 48.08 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 691.2 GFLOPS | 1,153.9 GFLOPS |

| TDP | 25 W | 100 W |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 2.0 x16 | MXM-B (3.0) |

| Slot Width | Not specified | MXM Module |

| DirectX | 12 (11_1) | 12 (11_0) |

| Vulkan | 1.2.170 | 1.2.175 |

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only recorded head-to-head benchmark is Geekbench OpenCL. The AMD Radeon HD 7730M scores 6581 points, while the NVIDIA Quadro K4000M scores 5986 points. That is a 9.9% delta in favor of AMD, and it represents the entire win split: 1 win for AMD, 0 for NVIDIA.

The margin is meaningful but not overwhelming. For context, the AMD card’s nearest rival, the AMD Radeon R7 M460, scores 6612, which is only 0.5% higher. The Intel UHD Graphics P750 at 6554 is 0.4% behind AMD. So the Radeon HD 7730M is sitting in a very competitive performance band where a 9.9% lead over the Quadro K4000M is a substantial gap.

The NVIDIA card, on the other hand, is tightly clustered with its own rivals. The AMD FirePro W4100 scores 5987, essentially identical. The NVIDIA Quadro K4000 scores 5982, just 0.1% behind. The NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server at 5996 and the GeForce GTX 770M at 6000 are both 0.2% ahead. The Quadro K4000M’s 5986 score puts it at the 34th percentile of all GPUs, versus the AMD card’s 38th percentile.

The performance gap between the two cards in this test is not explained by their raw specifications. The Quadro K4000M has 87.5% more shading units (960 vs 512), 67% higher FP32 compute (1,153.9 vs 691.2 GFLOPS), and 3.1x the memory bandwidth. Yet it scores lower in OpenCL. This suggests the GCN architecture is more efficient at executing the specific workloads in this benchmark, or that the Quadro’s driver stack is not optimizing for OpenCL compute as effectively.

Where Each One Wins

AMD Radeon HD 7730M wins on compute efficiency and power. The benchmark score of 6581 is 9.9% higher than the Quadro K4000M, achieved at 25 W TDP versus 100 W. That is a 4x power advantage for a card that is also faster in the recorded test. For mobile platforms where thermal headroom is limited, the Radeon HD 7730M is the clear choice. Its 38th percentile ranking among all GPUs also puts it above the Quadro’s 34th percentile.

NVIDIA Quadro K4000M wins on memory capacity and bandwidth. The 4 GB GDDR5 configuration with 89.60 GB/s is a decisive advantage over the Radeon’s 2 GB DDR3 with 28.80 GB/s. For applications that load large textures, handle big data sets, or rely on memory throughput, the Quadro has the hardware headroom. Its 256-bit bus and 80 TMUs give it a 48.08 GTexel/s texture rate versus 21.60, and a 12.02 GPixel/s pixel rate versus 10.80. These are real advantages for graphics-heavy workloads, even if the OpenCL score does not reflect them.

NVIDIA Quadro K4000M also wins on raw compute capacity. The 960 shading units and 1,153.9 GFLOPS FP32 are substantially higher than AMD’s 512 units and 691.2 GFLOPS. The fact that the Quadro loses the OpenCL test despite these specs suggests the AMD architecture is more efficient per FLOP, but it also means the Quadro has more theoretical headroom for workloads that scale with shader count.

AMD Radeon HD 7730M wins on architectural simplicity. The 123 mm² die and 1,500 million transistors are far smaller than the Quadro’s 294 mm² and 3,540 million. For a laptop dGPU, the smaller chip is easier to cool and integrates into thinner chassis. The 25 W TDP versus 100 W is the most practical difference for mobile use.

The data supports a split decision. If the priority is OpenCL compute performance and low power draw, the AMD Radeon HD 7730M is the pick. If the priority is memory bandwidth, capacity, and theoretical shader throughput for professional graphics, the NVIDIA Quadro K4000M has the specifications to justify its higher power budget, despite losing the sole benchmark test.