AMD Radeon HD 8870M vs NVIDIA Quadro P4000 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database contains a single direct comparison between the NVIDIA Quadro P4000 and the AMD Radeon HD 8870M, and it is not a close contest. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the Quadro P4000 scores 36,212 while the Radeon HD 8870M manages only 8,462. That is a delta of 327.9%, meaning the NVIDIA card is more than four times faster in this compute-oriented workload. The result is decisive: the Quadro P4000 wins the only head-to-head benchmark recorded, giving it a 1-0 record in direct comparisons.

Looking at the broader benchmark suite, the Quadro P4000 has ten recorded scores across multiple DirectX versions, compute tests, and 2D/3D workloads. Its average benchmark score sits at 9,665, with a percentile ranking of 47 among all GPUs. The Radeon HD 8870M, by contrast, has just one recorded benchmark (the Geekbench OpenCL test) and an average score of 8,462, placing it in the 43rd percentile. The gap in average scores is 14.2%, but the OpenCL delta is far larger, suggesting the NVIDIA card's advantage is most pronounced in compute-heavy tasks rather than in general rasterization.

The nearest rivals for the Quadro P4000 illustrate its positioning. It sits 0.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro WX 2100 (9,653 average), 0.2% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M (9,645), and 0.3% ahead of the NVIDIA Quadro K5000 (9,637). Meanwhile, it trails the NVIDIA Tesla C2070 by 0.5% (9,716 average). These are all very close margins, indicating that the Quadro P4000 is squarely in a competitive mid-range tier. For the Radeon HD 8870M, the nearest rivals are similarly tight: 0.1% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce MX330 (8,458), 0.3% ahead of the AMD Radeon 880M (8,436), and 0.4% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675MX (8,427), while trailing the Intel Arc A380 by 1.1% (8,558).

Where Each One Wins

The Quadro P4000 wins decisively in compute performance, as evidenced by its OpenCL score. Its architecture is built around a much larger chip: the GP104 die with 7,200 million transistors and a die size of 314 mm², compared to the Venus chip with 1,500 million transistors and a die size of 123 mm². This gives the NVIDIA card a transistor density of 22.9 million per mm² versus AMD's 12.2 million per mm². The shading unit count is 1,792 versus 640, and the texture units are 112 versus 40. These are not incremental differences; they represent a fundamentally different class of hardware.

In terms of memory, the Quadro P4000 offers 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, yielding 243.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The Radeon HD 8870M has 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus, providing 72.00 GB/s. That is a 3.4x advantage in raw bandwidth for the NVIDIA card, which directly impacts texture-heavy workloads and high-resolution rendering. The pixel rate for the Quadro P4000 is 94.72 GPixel/s versus 12.40 GPixel/s for the AMD card, and the texture rate is 165.8 GTexel/s versus 31.00 GTexel/s. These figures translate to clear wins in any scenario that stresses fill rate.

The Radeon HD 8870M does not have a recorded win in any benchmark. Its single OpenCL score is far behind, and its percentile ranking is lower. However, the data does not include any DirectX or 2D/3D tests for the AMD card, so it is possible that in some legacy workloads it could be competitive. But based strictly on the recorded measurements, the Quadro P4000 wins every category where both have data.

The Verdict

The verdict is straightforward: the NVIDIA Quadro P4000 is the superior product by a wide margin, at least in the compute benchmark that both cards share. The 327.9% lead in Geekbench OpenCL is not a close call, and the underlying specifications reinforce this gap. The Quadro P4000 has more than twice the shading units, nearly three times the texture units, four times the ROPs (64 versus 16), and four times the memory bandwidth. Its FP32 throughput is listed at 5.304 TFLOPS versus 992.0 GFLOPS, a 5.3x difference.

For users who need compute performance, the Quadro P4000 is the clear choice. Its average benchmark score of 9,665 places it in the 47th percentile, which is modest, but its nearest rivals are all within 0.5%, meaning it is a well-balanced card for its tier. The Radeon HD 8870M, with an average score of 8,462 and a 43rd percentile ranking, is a step down. It is not a bad card for its generation, but it is outclassed here.

If the use case is purely legacy 2D or older DirectX workloads, the Radeon HD 8870M might suffice, but the database does not contain any such scores for it. The Quadro P4000, by contrast, has recorded scores in DirectX 9 (181), DirectX 10 (66), DirectX 11 (86), and DirectX 12 (40), plus a Passmark G2D score of 786. These are not stellar numbers, but they exist, and the card's overall average is higher. The Quadro P4000 also supports newer APIs, with DirectX 12_1 and Vulkan 1.4, while the Radeon HD 8870M tops out at DirectX 12 (11_1) and Vulkan 1.2.170. For future-proofing, the NVIDIA card is the safer bet.

FAQ

Q: How much faster is the NVIDIA Quadro P4000 in Geekbench OpenCL?

A: The Quadro P4000 scores 36,212 compared to the Radeon HD 8870M's 8,462, a delta of 327.9%.

Q: What is the average benchmark score for each GPU?

A: The Quadro P4000 has an average benchmark score of 9,665, while the Radeon HD 8870M has an average of 8,462.

Q: How do these cards rank against all GPUs?

A: The Quadro P4000 is in the 47th percentile, and the Radeon HD 8870M is in the 43rd percentile.

Q: What are the nearest rivals for the Quadro P4000?

A: The AMD Radeon Pro WX 2100 (9,653, 0.1% behind), NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M (9,645, 0.2% behind), NVIDIA Quadro K5000 (9,637, 0.3% behind), and NVIDIA Tesla C2070 (9,716, 0.5% ahead).

Q: What are the nearest rivals for the Radeon HD 8870M?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce MX330 (8,458, 0.1% behind), AMD Radeon 880M (8,436, 0.3% behind), NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675MX (8,427, 0.4% behind), and Intel Arc A380 (8,558, 1.1% ahead).

Q: Which GPU has more memory bandwidth?

A: The Quadro P4000 has 243.3 GB/s, while the Radeon HD 8870M has 72.00 GB/s.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different architectural generations and process nodes. The NVIDIA Quadro P4000 is built on the Pascal architecture, using the GP104 chip, and is fabricated on a 16 nm process at TSMC. The AMD Radeon HD 8870M uses the GCN 1.0 architecture with the Venus chip, on a 28 nm process, also at TSMC. The process node difference is significant: 16 nm versus 28 nm translates to a much higher transistor density for the NVIDIA card (22.9 million per mm² versus 12.2 million per mm²). The Quadro P4000 packs 7,200 million transistors on a 314 mm² die, while the Radeon HD 8870M has 1,500 million transistors on a 123 mm² die.

Clock speeds differ as well. The Quadro P4000 has a base clock of 1202 MHz and a boost clock of 1480 MHz. The Radeon HD 8870M has a base clock of 725 MHz and a boost clock of 775 MHz. The memory clock also favors NVIDIA: 1901 MHz (7.6 Gbps effective) versus 1125 MHz (4.5 Gbps effective). The Quadro P4000's memory bus is 256-bit versus 128-bit, and its memory size is 8 GB versus 2 GB.

The compute resources are heavily skewed toward NVIDIA. The Quadro P4000 has 1,792 shading units, 112 texture units, and 64 ROPs. The Radeon HD 8870M has 640 shading units, 40 texture units, and 16 ROPs. The pixel rate is 94.72 GPixel/s versus 12.40 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is 165.8 GTexel/s versus 31.00 GTexel/s. FP32 performance is 5.304 TFLOPS versus 992.0 GFLOPS. The Quadro P4000 also has a specified FP16 rate of 82.88 GFLOPS (1:64), while the Radeon HD 8870M has no FP16 data.

Power and physical specifications are also distinct. The Quadro P4000 has a TDP of 105 W, is single-slot, and requires one 6-pin power connector, with a suggested PSU of 300 W. The Radeon HD 8870M has no recorded TDP, slot width, or power connector data. The Quadro P4000 is 241 mm long and 111 mm high, while the Radeon HD 8870M has no dimensions recorded. Both use PCIe 3.0 x16. The Quadro P4000 has four DisplayPort 1.4a outputs; the Radeon HD 8870M has no display output data. API support differs: the Quadro P4000 supports DirectX 12_1, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, while the Radeon HD 8870M supports DirectX 12 (11_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The Quadro P4000 was released in 2017, and the Radeon HD 8870M in 2013. Both are end-of-life. The Quadro P4000 has a launch MSRP of 815 USD; no MSRP is recorded for the Radeon HD 8870M.