AMD Radeon HD 8870M vs NVIDIA Quadro K5000 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded data includes a single direct benchmark comparison between these two GPUs, and it is decisive. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the NVIDIA Quadro K5000 scores 11,418 points against 8,462 points for the AMD Radeon HD 8870M. That is a 34.9% advantage for the NVIDIA card, a substantial margin in compute workloads. The Quadro K5000 wins the only head-to-head test in the database.

Looking at the broader average benchmark scores, the gap narrows considerably. The Quadro K5000 posts an average benchmark score of 9,637 across all recorded tests, while the Radeon HD 8870M averages 8,462. That works out to roughly a 13.9% difference in overall performance, still favoring the NVIDIA card but not by the same margin as the single OpenCL result. The reason for the difference is that the Quadro K5000 has additional benchmark results beyond OpenCL: it scores 6,324 in Geekbench Metal and 11,169 in Geekbench Vulkan. These extra data points pull its average down from the OpenCL peak, while the AMD card has only the one recorded OpenCL score.

Context from the nearest rivals helps position both cards. The Quadro K5000 sits at the 46th percentile of all GPUs in the database. Its closest competitor is the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M, which averages 9,645, a delta of -0.1% from the Quadro K5000. The AMD Radeon Pro WX 2100 comes in at 9,653 (-0.2%), the NVIDIA Quadro P4000 at 9,665 (-0.3%), and the NVIDIA Tesla C2070 at 9,716 (-0.8%). All four rivals are within 1% of the Quadro K5000, meaning the NVIDIA card is essentially tied with a cluster of mid-range professional and mobile GPUs from a later era.

The AMD Radeon HD 8870M sits at the 43rd percentile, three points lower than the Quadro K5000. Its nearest rivals are similarly tight: the NVIDIA GeForce MX330 averages 8,458 (+0.1% relative to the AMD card), the AMD Radeon 880M averages 8,436 (+0.3%), and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675MX averages 8,427 (+0.4%). The only rival that beats it is the Intel Arc A380, with an average of 8,558, a delta of -1.1% from the AMD card's perspective. The clustering here is even tighter, with all four rivals within 1.1% of the Radeon HD 8870M.

The data indicates that the Quadro K5000 occupies a slightly higher performance tier than the Radeon HD 8870M, but both are firmly in the mid-range of the database's GPU rankings. The 34.9% OpenCL win is the headline figure, but the average scores suggest that in a broader suite of tests, the gap would likely be smaller, perhaps in the 10-15% range based on the recorded data.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different architectural lineages, and the data shows how those designs diverge. The NVIDIA Quadro K5000 uses the GK104 chip built on the Kepler architecture, part of the Quadro Kepler generation. It is fabricated by TSMC on a 28 nm process node. The chip contains 3,540 million transistors on a die size of 294 mm², giving a transistor density of 12.0 million per mm². The AMD Radeon HD 8870M uses the Venus chip based on GCN 1.0 architecture, from the Solar System generation (HD 8800M). It is also fabricated by TSMC on 28 nm, but the chip is much smaller: 1,500 million transistors on a 123 mm² die, yielding a nearly identical transistor density of 12.2 million per mm².

The compute resources differ significantly. The Quadro K5000 has 1,536 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 32 raster output units. The Radeon HD 8870M has 640 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. That means the NVIDIA card has 2.4 times the shading units, 3.2 times the TMUs, and twice the ROPs. These raw resource advantages explain much of the performance gap in the benchmark data.

Clock speeds tell a different story. The Quadro K5000 runs at a base clock of 706 MHz with no boost (boost is also 706 MHz). The Radeon HD 8870M runs at 725 MHz base and 775 MHz boost. The AMD card actually has a clock advantage of roughly 2.7% at base and 9.8% at boost, but it cannot overcome the NVIDIA card's massive lead in compute units.

Memory configurations also favor the Quadro K5000. The NVIDIA card has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 172.8 GB/s of bandwidth. The Radeon HD 8870M has 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus, delivering 72.00 GB/s. The Quadro K5000 has twice the memory capacity, twice the bus width, and 2.4 times the memory bandwidth. The memory clock is also higher on the NVIDIA card: 1350 MHz (5.4 Gbps effective) versus 1125 MHz (4.5 Gbps effective).

These differences show up in the calculated throughput rates. The Quadro K5000 achieves 22.59 GPixel/s pixel rate and 90.37 GTexel/s texture rate. The Radeon HD 8870M manages 12.40 GPixel/s and 31.00 GTexel/s. The NVIDIA card is 82% faster in pixel throughput and 192% faster in texture throughput. Floating-point performance follows the same pattern: the Quadro K5000 delivers 2.169 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, while the Radeon HD 8870M delivers 992.0 GFLOPS, about 119% less.

Interface and API support differ as well. The Quadro K5000 uses PCIe 2.0 x16, while the Radeon HD 8870M uses PCIe 3.0 x16. Both support DirectX 12, but the NVIDIA card lists DirectX 12 (11_0) while the AMD card lists DirectX 12 (11_1), indicating a slightly higher feature level on the AMD side. OpenGL 4.6 is supported by both. Vulkan support is nearly identical: 1.2.175 on the NVIDIA card and 1.2.170 on the AMD card.

The Quadro K5000 has more physical infrastructure: it is a dual-slot card with a 1x 6-pin power connector and a suggested PSU of 300 W. Its TDP is 122 W. The Radeon HD 8870M has no recorded TDP, slot width, power connector, or suggested PSU in the database, which is typical for a mobile GPU that is soldered to a laptop motherboard. The Quadro K5000 measures 267 mm in length and 111 mm in height, while the AMD card has no recorded dimensions, again consistent with a mobile part.

Display outputs also differ: the Quadro K5000 offers 2x DVI and 2x DisplayPort 1.2, while the Radeon HD 8870M has no display outputs listed, reinforcing its mobile positioning.

The Verdict

The data points to a clear winner for raw compute performance. The NVIDIA Quadro K5000 is ahead of the AMD Radeon HD 8870M in every measured category: the single OpenCL benchmark shows a 34.9% lead, the average benchmark score is about 13.9% higher, and the percentile ranking is 46 versus 43. The Quadro K5000 also has substantial advantages in memory bandwidth (172.8 GB/s versus 72.00 GB/s), FP32 throughput (2.169 TFLOPS versus 992.0 GFLOPS), and texture rate (90.37 GTexel/s versus 31.00 GTexel/s).

For professional workloads that stress compute, memory bandwidth, and texture throughput, the Quadro K5000 is the better choice based strictly on the recorded data. Its 4 GB of VRAM and 256-bit memory bus give it a clear edge for large datasets and high-resolution textures.

However, the Radeon HD 8870M is not without merit. It is a mobile GPU with no power connector requirements listed, making it suitable for laptop integration. It also has a higher boost clock (775 MHz versus 706 MHz) and supports DirectX 12 (11_1) versus the NVIDIA card's 12 (11_0). For users constrained to a mobile platform, the Radeon HD 8870M is the only option of the two, as the Quadro K5000 is a dual-slot desktop card.

The nearest rival data shows that both cards are closely matched to their immediate competitors. The Quadro K5000 is within 0.8% of four different GPUs (GTX 960M, Radeon Pro WX 2100, Quadro P4000, Tesla C2070), all of which are newer or more specialized parts. The Radeon HD 8870M is within 1.1% of four rivals (MX330, Radeon 880M, GTX 675MX, Arc A380). Neither card is an outlier in its performance tier; both are solidly mid-range.

The production status for both is end-of-life, so neither is a forward-looking purchase. The Quadro K5000 has a recorded launch MSRP of 2,499 USD. The Radeon HD 8870M has no launch MSRP recorded. The Quadro K5000 also has a successor (Quadro Maxwell) and predecessor (Quadro Fermi), while the Radeon HD 8870M's predecessor is London and successor is Gem System.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in the Geekbench OpenCL test?

A: The NVIDIA Quadro K5000 scores 11,418 versus 8,462 for the AMD Radeon HD 8870M, a 34.9% advantage.

Q: How do their average benchmark scores compare?

A: The Quadro K5000 averages 9,637 across all recorded benchmarks, while the Radeon HD 8870M averages 8,462. The NVIDIA card is about 13.9% higher.

Q: Do both GPUs support the same APIs?

A: Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan (1.2.175 on the NVIDIA card, 1.2.170 on the AMD card). Both support DirectX 12, but the AMD card lists 12 (11_1) while the NVIDIA card lists 12 (11_0).

Q: What is the memory configuration difference?

A: The Quadro K5000 has 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus with 172.8 GB/s bandwidth. The Radeon HD 8870M has 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus with 72.00 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which GPU has more shading units?

A: The Quadro K5000 has 1,536 shading units, compared to 640 on the Radeon HD 8870M.

Q: Are both GPUs still in production?

A: No, both are end-of-life products. The Quadro K5000 was released in August 2012, and the Radeon HD 8870M was released in March 2013.

Where Each One Wins

NVIDIA Quadro K5000 wins on raw compute performance. The 34.9% OpenCL lead is the largest recorded delta between the two. Its FP32 output of 2.169 TFLOPS dwarfs the AMD card's 992.0 GFLOPS. Texture rate is 90.37 GTexel/s versus 31.00 GTexel/s, and pixel rate is 22.59 GPixel/s versus 12.40 GPixel/s. For any workload that is compute-bound, the Quadro K5000 is the clear choice.

NVIDIA Quadro K5000 wins on memory capacity and bandwidth. With 4 GB of VRAM and 172.8 GB/s of bandwidth, it can handle larger textures and datasets than the Radeon HD 8870M's 2 GB and 72.00 GB/s. The 256-bit bus is twice as wide as the AMD card's 128-bit bus.

NVIDIA Quadro K5000 wins on professional connectivity. It offers 2x DVI and 2x DisplayPort 1.2 outputs, while the Radeon HD 8870M has no display outputs recorded. The dual-slot form factor and 1x 6-pin power connector indicate a desktop workstation card.

AMD Radeon HD 8870M wins on clock speed. Its base clock of 725 MHz and boost clock of 775 MHz both exceed the Quadro K5000's locked 706 MHz. In clock-sensitive workloads, the AMD card has a small inherent advantage, though it is overwhelmed by the NVIDIA card's larger compute footprint.

AMD Radeon HD 8870M wins on interface modernity. It uses PCIe 3.0 x16, while the Quadro K5000 uses PCIe 2.0 x16. The newer interface offers more bandwidth for data transfer, though the Quadro K5000's internal memory bandwidth advantage likely offsets this in most scenarios.

AMD Radeon HD 8870M wins on mobility. With no recorded TDP, power connectors, or dimensions, it is clearly designed for laptop integration. The Quadro K5000 is a 122 W dual-slot desktop card that requires a 300 W PSU and occupies significant physical space.

AMD Radeon HD 8870M wins on DirectX feature level. It supports DirectX 12 (11_1) versus the Quadro K5000's DirectX 12 (11_0), a minor but measurable difference in API capability.