NVIDIA GeForce GT 1010 vs NVIDIA Quadro K4000M Comparison

The Verdict

The NVIDIA GeForce GT 1010 and NVIDIA Quadro K4000M occupy different corners of the GPU landscape, and the benchmark data reflects that divide. In the single recorded OpenCL benchmark, the GT 1010 scores 6698, which is 11.9% higher than the K4000M's 5986. That gives the GT 1010 a clean 1-0 win record in head-to-head testing.

The GT 1010 sits at the 38th percentile of all GPUs in the database, while the K4000M sits at the 34th percentile. Both are firmly in entry-level territory, but the GT 1010's placement is measurably stronger. The GT 1010 also edges out several near rivals: it is 1.3% ahead of the AMD Radeon R7 M460, 1.8% ahead of the AMD Radeon HD 7730M, and trails the AMD Radeon R7 M370 by just 1% and the AMD FirePro M5100 by 1.9%. The K4000M, meanwhile, is effectively tied with the AMD FirePro W4100 (0% delta) and the NVIDIA Quadro K4000 (0.1% ahead), while trailing the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770M by 0.2% and the NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server by 0.2%.

For users choosing between these two, the data points to the GT 1010 as the faster card in raw compute. It is a desktop-oriented part with a modern architecture, and it wins the only benchmark where both were measured. The K4000M, however, offers twice the memory capacity and a much wider memory bus, which could matter for specific workstation workloads that are memory-hungry rather than compute-bound. That said, based strictly on the recorded performance scores, the GT 1010 is the pick for anyone prioritizing raw OpenCL throughput.

Architecture Differences

The GT 1010 is built on NVIDIA's Pascal architecture, using the GP108 chip manufactured on Samsung's 14 nm process. It packs 1,800 million transistors into a 74 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 24.3 million transistors per mm². The K4000M, by contrast, uses the Kepler architecture with the GK104 chip, fabricated by TSMC on a 28 nm process. It contains 3,540 million transistors across a much larger 294 mm² die, resulting in a lower density of 12.0 million transistors per mm².

These architectural choices have direct consequences. The GT 1010's smaller, denser chip is more efficient per unit area, but the K4000M's larger chip carries far more raw hardware. The K4000M has 960 shading units, 80 texture mapping units, and 32 raster output units. The GT 1010 has 256 shading units, 16 TMUs, and 8 ROPs. That is a 3.75x difference in shading units and a 5x difference in both TMUs and ROPs favoring the K4000M.

Clock speeds tell the opposite story. The GT 1010 runs at a base clock of 1228 MHz with a boost of 1468 MHz, while the K4000M is locked at 601 MHz for both base and boost. The GT 1010's much higher clocks partially compensate for its smaller hardware complement, but the K4000M still achieves higher theoretical peak rates: 12.02 GPixel/s pixel rate and 48.08 GTexel/s texture rate versus 11.74 GPixel/s and 23.49 GTexel/s for the GT 1010. In FP32 compute, the K4000M delivers 1,153.9 GFLOPS versus 751.6 GFLOPS for the GT 1010.

The GT 1010 supports DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.4, while the K4000M supports DirectX 12 (11_0) and Vulkan 1.2.175. Both support OpenGL 4.6. Neither card has ray tracing cores or tensor cores. The GT 1010 uses a PCIe 3.0 x4 interface, while the K4000M uses an MXM-B (3.0) module interface designed for laptops.

The release timeline also separates them. The GT 1010 launched on January 12, 2021, while the K4000M launched on May 31, 2012. The GT 1010 succeeded the GeForce 900 series and was succeeded by the GeForce 20 series. The K4000M succeeded the Quadro Fermi-M and was succeeded by the Quadro Maxwell-M. Both are end-of-life products.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only recorded head-to-head benchmark is Geekbench OpenCL, and the GT 1010 wins decisively. Its score of 6698 beats the K4000M's 5986 by 11.9%. This is a meaningful gap, roughly equivalent to the difference between the GT 1010 and the AMD Radeon R7 M370, which scores 6764 and sits just 1% above the GT 1010. In other words, the GT 1010's advantage over the K4000M is more than an order of magnitude larger than its gap to the nearest rival above it.

The K4000M's closest rival in the database is the AMD FirePro W4100, which scores 5987, a 0% delta. The K4000M also matches the NVIDIA Quadro K4000 (5982, 0.1% ahead) and comes within 0.2% of both the NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server (5996) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770M (6000). This clustering suggests the K4000M sits at a performance plateau where many GPUs converge, and it is not an outlier in either direction.

The GT 1010, by contrast, has a slightly wider spread among its nearest rivals. It trails the AMD FirePro M5100 (6830) by 1.9% and the AMD Radeon R7 M370 (6764) by 1%, but leads the AMD Radeon R7 M460 (6612) by 1.3% and the AMD Radeon HD 7730M (6581) by 1.8%. Its 11.9% lead over the K4000M is far larger than any of these intra-tier gaps, making it clear that the GT 1010 and K4000M do not belong in the same performance class despite both being low-percentile parts.

The theoretical specs do not predict this outcome. The K4000M has a 53.5% higher FP32 peak (1,153.9 GFLOPS versus 751.6 GFLOPS), a 104.6% higher texture rate (48.08 GTexel/s versus 23.49 GTexel/s), and a 2.4% higher pixel rate (12.02 GPixel/s versus 11.74 GPixel/s). Yet in the actual OpenCL benchmark, the GT 1010 comes out ahead. This suggests the Pascal architecture's efficiency and the GT 1010's much higher clock speeds deliver better real-world compute performance than the Kepler architecture's raw hardware count would imply. The K4000M's 601 MHz clock, unchanged between base and boost, appears to be a significant limiting factor.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ across nearly every major specification category. Here are the key fields where they diverge:

| Specification | GT 1010 | K4000M |

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

| Architecture | Pascal | Kepler |

| Process Node | 14 nm (Samsung) | 28 nm (TSMC) |

| Transistors | 1,800 million | 3,540 million |

| Die Size | 74 mm² | 294 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 24.3M / mm² | 12.0M / mm² |

| Base Clock | 1228 MHz | 601 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1468 MHz | 601 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 1502 MHz (6 Gbps effective) | 700 MHz (2.8 Gbps effective) |

| Memory Size | 2 GB | 4 GB |

| Memory Bus Width | 64 bit | 256 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 48.06 GB/s | 89.60 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 256 | 960 |

| TMUs | 16 | 80 |

| ROPs | 8 | 32 |

| Pixel Rate | 11.74 GPixel/s | 12.02 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 23.49 GTexel/s | 48.08 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 751.6 GFLOPS | 1,153.9 GFLOPS |

| TDP | 30 W | 100 W |

| Slot Width | Single-slot | MXM Module |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 3.0 x4 | MXM-B (3.0) |

| Display Outputs | 1x DVI, 1x mini-HDMI 2.0 | Portable Device Dependent |

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

| Vulkan Support | 1.4 | 1.2.175 |

| Suggested PSU | 200 W | None listed |

| Release Date | 2021-01-12 | 2012-05-31 |

The GT 1010 is a desktop card with a 30 W TDP and no power connectors, drawing power entirely from the PCIe slot. The K4000M is a mobile workstation module with a 100 W TDP and no power connectors listed, relying on the MXM-B interface. The GT 1010 measures 147 mm (5.8 inches) in length, while the K4000M has no listed dimensions.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in the benchmark data?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GT 1010 scores 6698 in Geekbench OpenCL, which is 11.9% higher than the NVIDIA Quadro K4000M's score of 5986. The GT 1010 wins the only head-to-head benchmark recorded.

Q: How do these cards compare to their nearest rivals?

A: The GT 1010 sits at the 38th percentile of all GPUs, with scores ranging from 1.9% below the AMD FirePro M5100 to 1.8% above the AMD Radeon HD 7730M. The K4000M sits at the 34th percentile, effectively tied with the AMD FirePro W4100 and NVIDIA Quadro K4000, and within 0.2% of the NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770M.

Q: Why does the K4000M have more shading units but score lower?

A: The K4000M has 960 shading units versus 256 on the GT 1010, but its clock speed is fixed at 601 MHz, while the GT 1010 boosts to 1468 MHz. The GT 1010's higher clocks and more efficient Pascal architecture allow it to outperform the K4000M despite having fewer hardware units.

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

A: The K4000M has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 89.60 GB/s of bandwidth. The GT 1010 has 2 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 64-bit bus, delivering 48.06 GB/s. The K4000M has twice the capacity and nearly double the bandwidth.

Q: Are both cards still in production?

A: No, both are end-of-life products. The GT 1010 was released on January 12, 2021, and the K4000M was released on May 31, 2012.

Q: What API features does each card support?

A: The GT 1010 supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The K4000M supports DirectX 12 (11_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.175. Neither card has ray tracing or tensor cores.