AMD Radeon R7 M460 vs NVIDIA Quadro K4000M Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database records a single head-to-head benchmark between these two mobile graphics processors, and the result is decisive. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the AMD Radeon R7 M460 scores 6,612 points against the NVIDIA Quadro K4000M's 5,986 points. That is a 10.5% advantage for the AMD part, a meaningful gap in raw compute throughput for general-purpose workloads measured by this test.

Context from the nearest rival data reinforces the significance of that margin. The R7 M460 sits 0.5% ahead of the AMD Radeon HD 7730M (6,581 points), 0.9% ahead of the Intel UHD Graphics P750 (6,554 points), and 1.5% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670M (6,513 points). It trails the NVIDIA GeForce GT 1010 by 1.3% (6,698 points). Meanwhile, the Quadro K4000M lands in a tighter cluster: it is essentially tied with the AMD FirePro W4100 at 5,987 points (0% delta), 0.1% ahead of the NVIDIA Quadro K4000 (5,982 points), and 0.2% behind both the NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server (5,996 points) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770M (6,000 points). The R7 M460's 10.5% lead over the K4000M is far larger than the typical spread between near-identical rivals in either part's neighborhood.

Breaking down what drives the score gap requires looking at the underlying specs. The R7 M460's FP32 throughput is rated at 786.4 GFLOPS, while the K4000M delivers 1,153.9 GFLOPS. That is a 46.7% raw floating-point advantage for the NVIDIA part, yet the AMD chip still wins the OpenCL benchmark. This suggests the R7 M460's architecture extracts better efficiency per clock, or the workload favors its memory subsystem characteristics. The R7 M460 runs at a base clock of 730 MHz with a boost up to 1,024 MHz, while the K4000M is locked at 601 MHz with no boost. The AMD part's higher clocks likely compensate for its narrower compute resources.

Memory bandwidth tells a similarly counterintuitive story. The K4000M has a 256-bit bus with 89.60 GB/s bandwidth, versus the R7 M460's 64-bit bus and 36.00 GB/s. The NVIDIA part has 2.5 times the bandwidth, yet the AMD chip still posts the better OpenCL score. This indicates that the benchmark may not be bandwidth-bound, or that the R7 M460's memory compression and access patterns are more efficient for this particular test. The R7 M460 also uses 4.5 Gbps effective GDDR5, while the K4000M uses 2.8 Gbps effective, meaning the AMD memory operates at a higher data rate despite the narrower bus.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: the AMD Radeon R7 M460 wins the only recorded head-to-head benchmark, and by a substantial 10.5% margin. Any user comparing these two parts strictly on the basis of the database's measurements should favor the AMD chip for OpenCL compute workloads. The R7 M460 also sits at the 38th percentile among all GPUs in the database, while the K4000M sits at the 34th percentile. That four-percentage-point difference in overall ranking aligns with the direct benchmark result.

However, the verdict is not a blanket endorsement. The Quadro K4000M carries 960 shading units, 80 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs, versus the R7 M460's 384 shading units, 24 TMUs, and 8 ROPs. The NVIDIA part also has 4 GB of memory versus 2 GB, and a 256-bit bus versus 64-bit. If a workload scales with raw shader count or memory capacity, the K4000M could fare better in tests not present in this database. The recorded data only covers Geekbench OpenCL, so conclusions beyond that test are speculative.

For a buyer or system integrator choosing between these two end-of-life mobile parts, the benchmark result favors the R7 M460. The AMD chip achieves a higher score with fewer compute resources, lower memory bandwidth, and half the VRAM capacity. That is a notable efficiency win. The K4000M is not without merit on paper, but the measured performance does not back it up. The R7 M460 is the pick based on the database's evidence.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different manufacturers and different architectural generations. The AMD Radeon R7 M460 uses the Meso chip built on GCN 3.0 architecture, fabricated by TSMC on a 28 nm process. It contains 1,550 million transistors on a 125 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 12.4M per mm². The NVIDIA Quadro K4000M uses the GK104 chip built on Kepler architecture, also fabricated by TSMC on 28 nm. It packs 3,540 million transistors on a 294 mm² die, for a density of 12.0M per mm². The NVIDIA die is more than twice the physical size and holds more than twice the transistors, but the density is nearly identical.

Clock behavior differs sharply. The R7 M460 has a base clock of 730 MHz and a boost clock of 1,024 MHz, allowing it to scale up under load. The K4000M is fixed at 601 MHz for both base and boost, with no dynamic headroom. Memory clocks also diverge: the R7 M460 runs at 1,125 MHz (4.5 Gbps effective), while the K4000M runs at 700 MHz (2.8 Gbps effective). The AMD part's higher effective memory speed partially offsets its narrower bus.

Compute resource allocation is radically different. The R7 M460 has 384 shading units, 24 TMUs, and 8 ROPs. The K4000M has 960 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. That is 2.5 times the shaders, 3.3 times the TMUs, and 4 times the ROPs. Pixel rate favors NVIDIA at 12.02 GPixel/s versus 8.192 GPixel/s, and texture rate favors NVIDIA at 48.08 GTexel/s versus 24.58 GTexel/s. FP32 output favors NVIDIA at 1,153.9 GFLOPS versus 786.4 GFLOPS. The R7 M460 supports FP16 at a 1:1 ratio (786.4 GFLOPS), while the K4000M has no listed FP16 capability.

Memory configuration heavily favors NVIDIA. The K4000M has 4 GB GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus with 89.60 GB/s bandwidth. The R7 M460 has 2 GB GDDR5 on a 64-bit bus with 36.00 GB/s. The NVIDIA part has double the capacity and 2.5 times the bandwidth. Interface and form factor also differ: the R7 M460 uses PCIe 3.0 x8, while the K4000M uses MXM-B (3.0) as an MXM module. The K4000M lists a TDP of 100 W and no power connectors, with display outputs described as portable device dependent. The R7 M460 has no TDP listed.

API support shows a generational split. The R7 M460 supports DirectX 12 with feature level 12_0, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The K4000M supports DirectX 12 with feature level 11_0, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.175. Both are end-of-life products. The R7 M460 was released in May 2016 as part of the Gem System (R7 M400) generation, succeeding Solar System and preceding Polaris Mobile. The K4000M was released in May 2012 as part of the Quadro Kepler-M (Kx000M) generation, succeeding Quadro Fermi-M and preceding Quadro Maxwell-M. The four-year release gap explains the architectural differences.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher OpenCL benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon R7 M460 scores 6,612 points in Geekbench OpenCL, while the NVIDIA Quadro K4000M scores 5,986 points. The AMD part leads by 10.5%.

Q: How does the R7 M460 compare to its closest rivals?

A: The R7 M460 is 0.5% ahead of the AMD Radeon HD 7730M (6,581), 0.9% ahead of the Intel UHD Graphics P750 (6,554), and 1.5% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670M (6,513). It trails the NVIDIA GeForce GT 1010 (6,698) by 1.3%.

Q: How does the K4000M compare to its closest rivals?

A: The K4000M is tied with the AMD FirePro W4100 (5,987) at 0% delta, and 0.1% ahead of the NVIDIA Quadro K4000 (5,982). It is 0.2% behind both the NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server (5,996) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770M (6,000).

Q: Which GPU has more shading units?

A: The NVIDIA Quadro K4000M has 960 shading units, while the AMD Radeon R7 M460 has 384 shading units. The NVIDIA part also has 80 TMUs and 32 ROPs versus 24 TMUs and 8 ROPs for AMD.

Q: Which GPU has more memory bandwidth?

A: The NVIDIA Quadro K4000M has 89.60 GB/s bandwidth from a 256-bit bus with 4 GB GDDR5. The AMD Radeon R7 M460 has 36.00 GB/s from a 64-bit bus with 2 GB GDDR5.

Q: Which GPU is newer?

A: The AMD Radeon R7 M460 was released in May 2016. The NVIDIA Quadro K4000M was released in May 2012, making it four years older.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon R7 M460 wins in the recorded benchmark, and that is the only measured category in the database. Its 6,612 OpenCL score beats the K4000M's 5,986 by 10.5%. The R7 M460 also wins on clock speed, with a 1,024 MHz boost versus the K4000M's fixed 601 MHz, and on memory data rate at 4.5 Gbps effective versus 2.8 Gbps. Its higher percentile ranking (38th vs 34th) reflects a stronger overall position in the database's GPU hierarchy. For any workload covered by Geekbench OpenCL, the R7 M460 is the clear choice.

The NVIDIA Quadro K4000M wins on raw hardware specifications that the benchmark does not directly reward. It has 960 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, giving it 2.5 times the shader count, 3.3 times the texture units, and 4 times the ROPs of the AMD part. Its FP32 throughput of 1,153.9 GFLOPS is 46.7% higher than the R7 M460's 786.4 GFLOPS. The K4000M also has 4 GB VRAM versus 2 GB, and 89.60 GB/s bandwidth versus 36.00 GB/s. Pixel rate and texture rate are both higher on the NVIDIA part. For applications that saturate these resources, such as large texture sets or high-resolution framebuffers, the K4000M has theoretical advantages that the OpenCL score does not capture.

The R7 M460 counters with architectural efficiency. Despite fewer resources, it achieves a higher compute score, suggesting better instruction scheduling or memory access efficiency in the GCN 3.0 design. Its support for FP16 at a 1:1 ratio could benefit workloads using half-precision arithmetic, though no benchmark in the database tests this. The K4000M has no FP16 capability listed. The R7 M460 also supports DirectX 12 at feature level 12_0, while the K4000M is limited to feature level 11_0, which matters for newer games or applications using advanced DX12 features.

In practical terms, the R7 M460 wins for general compute tasks measured by OpenCL, which is the only evidence the database provides. The K4000M wins on paper for memory-intensive or shader-heavy workloads, but no recorded test confirms that advantage. Users prioritizing the measured metric should choose the R7 M460. Users who need 4 GB VRAM or maximum theoretical rasterization rates should consider the K4000M, accepting that its benchmark score is lower. The data supports the AMD part as the better performer in the only contest that was run.