AMD Radeon R8 M445DX vs NVIDIA Quadro K3000M Comparison

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher Geekbench OpenCL score?

A: The AMD Radeon R8 M445DX scores 4727, while the NVIDIA Quadro K3000M scores 4241. The AMD part leads by 11.5% in this benchmark.

Q: How does the AMD Radeon R8 M445DX compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The AMD Radeon R8 M445DX is 1.3% behind the AMD Radeon R5 M255 (score 4788) and 0.5% behind the AMD Radeon R5 M335 (score 4752). It is 0.9% ahead of the NVIDIA Quadro P400 (score 4684) and 1.3% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 12 GB (score 4791).

Q: What are the key memory differences between the two cards?

A: The AMD Radeon R8 M445DX uses system shared memory with a system dependent bandwidth, while the NVIDIA Quadro K3000M has 2 GB of dedicated GDDR5 memory on a 256 bit bus with 89.60 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which GPU has more shading units?

A: The NVIDIA Quadro K3000M has 576 shading units, compared to 320 shading units on the AMD Radeon R8 M445DX.

Q: What is the process node for both GPUs?

A: Both GPUs are manufactured on a 28 nm process at TSMC. The AMD chip has a transistor density of 12.4M per mm², while the NVIDIA chip has 12.0M per mm².

Q: What is the production status of these GPUs?

A: Both the AMD Radeon R8 M445DX and the NVIDIA Quadro K3000M are listed as end-of-life products.

Architecture Differences

The AMD Radeon R8 M445DX is built on the Meso chip using GCN 3.0 architecture, part of the Gem System Hybrid generation under the Rx M400 family. It is an integrated graphics processor with an IGP bus interface and IGP slot width. The NVIDIA Quadro K3000M uses the GK104 chip with Kepler architecture, belonging to the Quadro Kepler-M generation in the Kx000M series. It is a discrete mobile module with an MXM-B (3.0) bus interface and MXM Module slot width.

The transistor counts differ substantially. The AMD chip contains 1,550 million transistors on a 125 mm² die, resulting in a density of 12.4M transistors per mm². The NVIDIA chip packs 3,540 million transistors on a 294 mm² die, with a slightly lower density of 12.0M per mm². Despite having more than twice the transistor count and more than double the die area, the NVIDIA part delivers a lower benchmark score in the recorded measurements.

Clock behavior also contrasts sharply. The AMD Radeon R8 M445DX has a base clock of 780 MHz with a boost clock of 1021 MHz. The NVIDIA Quadro K3000M runs at a fixed 654 MHz for both base and boost, meaning it does not scale its clock under load. The AMD part also has a higher pixel rate at 8.168 GPixel/s versus 7.848 GPixel/s for the NVIDIA card.

The NVIDIA Quadro K3000M includes a 75 W TDP rating and requires no power connectors, while the AMD Radeon R8 M445DX has no TDP listed in the database. The memory architecture is a fundamental difference: the AMD GPU relies entirely on system shared memory with system dependent bandwidth, whereas the NVIDIA GPU has 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 256 bit bus delivering 89.60 GB/s of dedicated bandwidth.

API support differs as well. The AMD Radeon R8 M445DX supports DirectX 12 (12_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.170. The NVIDIA Quadro K3000M supports DirectX 12 (11_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.175. The NVIDIA card has a slightly newer Vulkan version, while the AMD card supports a higher DirectX feature level.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon R8 M445DX wins the only recorded head-to-head benchmark. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 4727 places it 11.5% ahead of the NVIDIA Quadro K3000M. In the database percentile rankings, the AMD part sits at the 27th percentile of all GPUs, while the NVIDIA part sits at the 25th percentile.

The AMD Radeon R8 M445DX also holds advantages in clock speed, pixel rate, and its boost capability. The base clock of 780 MHz is higher than the NVIDIA's 654 MHz, and the boost clock of 1021 MHz gives it additional headroom. The pixel rate of 8.168 GPixel/s edges out the NVIDIA's 7.848 GPixel/s.

The NVIDIA Quadro K3000M wins in several architectural categories. It has more shading units (576 versus 320), more texture mapping units (48 versus 20), and more render output units (32 versus 8). Its texture rate of 31.39 GTexel/s is substantially higher than the AMD's 20.42 GTexel/s. The NVIDIA card also delivers higher FP32 compute at 753.4 GFLOPS versus 653.4 GFLOPS for the AMD part.

The NVIDIA GPU's dedicated memory subsystem is a clear advantage. With 2 GB of GDDR5 memory, a 256 bit bus, and 89.60 GB/s bandwidth, it avoids the system dependent performance variability of the AMD's shared memory approach. This makes the NVIDIA card more suitable for workloads that are sensitive to memory bandwidth consistency.

The AMD card supports FP16 at 653.4 GFLOPS with a 1:1 ratio, while the NVIDIA card has no FP16 capability listed. This gives the AMD part an edge in workloads that can utilize half-precision arithmetic.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ across nearly every specification category. The AMD Radeon R8 M445DX uses a Meso chip with GCN 3.0 architecture, while the NVIDIA Quadro K3000M uses a GK104 chip with Kepler architecture. The AMD generation is Gem System Hybrid (Rx M400), and the NVIDIA generation is Quadro Kepler-M (Kx000M).

The process nodes are identical at 28 nm from TSMC, but the die characteristics differ. The AMD chip has 1,550 million transistors on a 125 mm² die, while the NVIDIA chip has 3,540 million transistors on a 294 mm² die. Transistor density is close: 12.4M per mm² for AMD versus 12.0M per mm² for NVIDIA.

Clock speeds differ significantly. The AMD Radeon R8 M445DX runs at 780 MHz base and 1021 MHz boost, while the NVIDIA Quadro K3000M runs at 654 MHz for both base and boost. The NVIDIA memory clock is 700 MHz with 2.8 Gbps effective, while the AMD memory clock is listed as system shared.

Memory configuration is a major differentiator. The AMD card has system shared memory size, type, and bus width, with system dependent bandwidth. The NVIDIA card has 2 GB GDDR5, a 256 bit bus, and 89.60 GB/s bandwidth.

Compute unit counts differ across the board. The AMD card has 320 shading units, 20 TMUs, and 8 ROPs. The NVIDIA card has 576 shading units, 48 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. Neither card has RT cores or tensor cores.

Performance rates favor each card in different areas. The AMD card leads in pixel rate at 8.168 GPixel/s versus 7.848 GPixel/s. The NVIDIA card leads in texture rate at 31.39 GTexel/s versus 20.42 GTexel/s, and in FP32 at 753.4 GFLOPS versus 653.4 GFLOPS. The AMD card has FP16 at 653.4 GFLOPS with a 1:1 ratio, while the NVIDIA card has no FP16 data.

The NVIDIA card has a TDP of 75 W, while the AMD card has no TDP listed. The AMD card is an IGP with an IGP bus interface, and the NVIDIA card is an MXM Module with an MXM-B (3.0) bus interface. The NVIDIA card requires no power connectors, and no power connector data exists for the AMD card.

API support differs in DirectX and Vulkan versions. The AMD card supports DirectX 12 (12_0) and Vulkan 1.2.170, while the NVIDIA card supports DirectX 12 (11_0) and Vulkan 1.2.175. Both support OpenGL 4.6.

Release dates differ by about four years. The AMD Radeon R8 M445DX was released in 2016, while the NVIDIA Quadro K3000M was released in 2012. The NVIDIA card has a recorded predecessor (Quadro Fermi-M) and successor (Quadro Maxwell-M), while the AMD card has no predecessor or successor listed.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database contains one head-to-head benchmark between these two GPUs: Geekbench OpenCL. The AMD Radeon R8 M445DX scores 4727, and the NVIDIA Quadro K3000M scores 4241. The AMD card wins with an 11.5% delta. This is the only recorded comparison, so it carries the full weight of the head-to-head analysis.

The 11.5% lead is meaningful given where these cards sit relative to their rival groups. The AMD Radeon R8 M445DX sits within 1.3% of the AMD Radeon R5 M255 (4788) and within 0.5% of the AMD Radeon R5 M335 (4752). It also sits 0.9% ahead of the NVIDIA Quadro P400 (4684). The NVIDIA Quadro K3000M, meanwhile, sits 0.6% behind the AMD Radeon Vega 3 (4268), 1% behind the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M (4282), and 1.3% behind the AMD FirePro W2100 (4295). It sits 1.2% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti (4193).

The AMD card's score of 4727 places it in the 27th percentile of all GPUs, which is above the NVIDIA card's 25th percentile. The difference in percentile rank is small but consistent with the 11.5% benchmark delta.

The AMD card achieves its win despite having fewer shading units, TMUs, and ROPs. The NVIDIA card has 576 shading units to the AMD's 320, 48 TMUs to 20, and 32 ROPs to 8. The NVIDIA card also has higher texture rate and FP32 throughput. The fact that the AMD card still wins the OpenCL benchmark suggests that its higher clocks, boost behavior, and architecture efficiency compensate for the raw unit disadvantages in this particular workload.

The NVIDIA card cannot boost at all, with a fixed 654 MHz clock. The AMD card boosts from 780 MHz to 1021 MHz, a 241 MHz increase. This boost headroom likely contributes to the AMD card's benchmark advantage.

For workloads that depend on dedicated memory bandwidth, the NVIDIA Quadro K3000M has a clear structural advantage with 89.60 GB/s of bandwidth. However, the recorded OpenCL score does not reflect that advantage, as the AMD card with system shared memory still comes out ahead.

The Verdict

The benchmark data points to the AMD Radeon R8 M445DX as the stronger GPU in raw OpenCL compute. Its 4727 score versus 4241 for the NVIDIA Quadro K3000M represents an 11.5% margin, and its 27th percentile ranking is two points higher than the NVIDIA card's 25th percentile.

The AMD Radeon R8 M445DX is the better choice for users whose primary concern is the recorded Geekbench OpenCL performance. It also offers higher clocks, pixel rate, and FP16 support, which are not available on the NVIDIA card.

The NVIDIA Quadro K3000M is the better choice for users who need dedicated graphics memory. Its 2 GB GDDR5 configuration with a 256 bit bus and 89.60 GB/s bandwidth is fundamentally different from the AMD card's system shared memory. It also has more shading units, TMUs, and ROPs, along with higher texture rate and FP32 compute. Users running workloads that stress texture throughput or require consistent memory bandwidth may prefer the NVIDIA card despite its lower benchmark score.

The NVIDIA Quadro K3000M has a defined TDP of 75 W and requires no power connectors, which makes its power profile transparent. The AMD card has no TDP listed, so its power requirements are not documented in the database.

Users who prioritize newer technology should note the release dates. The AMD card came from 2016 with GCN 3.0 architecture, while the NVIDIA card came from 2012 with Kepler architecture. The AMD card supports a higher DirectX feature level at 12_0, while the NVIDIA card supports DirectX 12 (11_0) at a lower feature level.

Both GPUs are end-of-life products, so neither offers a long-term upgrade path. The NVIDIA card has documented predecessor and successor products, while the AMD card does not.

The final recommendation depends on workload. For the recorded OpenCL benchmark and general compute tasks, the data favors the AMD Radeon R8 M445DX. For tasks that benefit from dedicated memory, higher texture throughput, and more raw shader resources, the NVIDIA Quadro K3000M has the structural advantages. The recorded data shows one clear winner in compute, but the specification sheet shows a more balanced picture for specialized workloads.