NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M vs NVIDIA Quadro K4000M Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The benchmark data records a single direct comparison between the NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M and the NVIDIA Quadro K4000M. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the GT 555M scores 6,493 points against 5,986 for the K4000M, giving the GeForce part an 8.5% advantage. This is a notable result because the K4000M is positioned as a professional workstation GPU, while the GT 555M is a mainstream mobile consumer part.

The GT 555M's score places it at the 37th percentile of all GPUs in the database, while the K4000M sits at the 34th percentile. The delta in percentile rank is modest, but the raw score difference is consistent. Looking at the nearest rivals for the GT 555M, it edges out the Quadro M5000M by 0.2% (6,493 versus 6,481) and the Radeon Vega 10 Mobile by 0.3% (6,493 versus 6,476). It trails the GeForce GTX 670M by 0.3% (6,493 versus 6,513) and the Intel UHD Graphics P750 by 0.9% (6,493 versus 6,554). These are tight margins, indicating the GT 555M sits in a crowded performance band where small score differences separate several products.

The K4000M's nearest rivals show a similar clustering. It matches the AMD FirePro W4100 at 5,986 versus 5,987, a 0% delta. It is 0.1% ahead of the desktop Quadro K4000 (5,986 versus 5,982). The NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Server and the GeForce GTX 770M both outpace it by 0.2% (5,986 versus 5,996 and 5,986 versus 6,000 respectively). The K4000M's position among these rivals confirms that its OpenCL performance is competitive with mid-range workstation and mobile parts of its era, but the GT 555M holds the outright win in this head-to-head.

The single benchmark result is the only direct measurement available in the database. It favors the GT 555M by 8.5%, which is a meaningful gap in a field where most rival deltas are under 1%. The data does not include gaming frame rates, compute workloads, or driver-specific tests, so the conclusion rests on this OpenCL measurement alone.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different architectural generations and have fundamentally different internal designs. The GT 555M is built on the Fermi architecture with the GF106 chip, fabricated on a 40 nm process at TSMC. The K4000M uses the Kepler architecture with the GK104 chip, also from TSMC but on a 28 nm process. The process shrink gives Kepler a significant transistor density advantage: the K4000M packs 3,540 million transistors into a 294 mm² die, for a density of 12.0 million transistors per square millimeter. The GT 555M carries 1,170 million transistors on a 238 mm² die, for a density of 4.9 million per square millimeter. The K4000M has roughly three times the transistor count and more than double the density.

The memory subsystems diverge sharply. The GT 555M uses 1,024 MB of DDR3 memory on a 128-bit bus, with a memory clock of 900 MHz and 1,800 Mbps effective speed. This yields a bandwidth of 28.80 GB/s. The K4000M uses 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, with a 700 MHz memory clock and 2.8 Gbps effective speed, producing 89.60 GB/s of bandwidth. The K4000M has four times the memory capacity and more than three times the bandwidth.

Compute resources also favor the K4000M heavily. The GT 555M has 144 shading units, 24 texture mapping units, and 16 raster output units. The K4000M has 960 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. Pixel rate on the K4000M is 12.02 GPixels/s versus 3.54 GPixels/s on the GT 555M. Texture rate is 48.08 GTexels/s versus 14.16 GTexels/s. Floating point performance shows the largest gap: the K4000M delivers 1,153.9 GFLOPS of FP32 compute, while the GT 555M delivers 339.8 GFLOPS, a roughly 3.4x difference.

Clock behavior differs as well. The K4000M has a base clock of 601 MHz and a boost clock of 601 MHz, meaning it runs at a fixed frequency. The GT 555M has no recorded base or boost clock in the database. Power draw is also distinct: the K4000M is rated at 100 W and uses an MXM-B (3.0) interface with no power connectors, while the GT 555M is rated at 35 W and uses PCIe 2.0 x16. Both support DirectX 12 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.6. The K4000M adds Vulkan support at version 1.2.175; the GT 555M has no recorded Vulkan support.

The K4000M belongs to the Quadro Kepler-M (Kx000M) generation, while the GT 555M is part of the GeForce 500M lineup. Release timing differs by about 11 months: the GT 555M launched in July 2011, and the K4000M in May 2012. Both are end-of-life products.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher OpenCL benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M scores 6,493 in Geekbench OpenCL, while the NVIDIA Quadro K4000M scores 5,986. The GT 555M leads by 8.5%.

Q: How much memory does each GPU have?

A: The GT 555M has 1,024 MB of DDR3 memory on a 128-bit bus. The K4000M has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus.

Q: What is the memory bandwidth difference?

A: The K4000M provides 89.60 GB/s of bandwidth, versus 28.80 GB/s for the GT 555M. The K4000M has more than three times the bandwidth.

Q: Which GPU has more shading units?

A: The K4000M has 960 shading units. The GT 555M has 144 shading units. The K4000M also has 80 TMUs and 32 ROPs, compared to 24 TMUs and 16 ROPs on the GT 555M.

Q: What are the power requirements?

A: The K4000M is rated at 100 W and uses an MXM-B (3.0) interface. The GT 555M is rated at 35 W and uses PCIe 2.0 x16.

Q: Do both support the same APIs?

A: Both support DirectX 12 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.6. The K4000M also supports Vulkan 1.2.175; the GT 555M has no recorded Vulkan support.

The Verdict

The data presents a clear split. The GeForce GT 555M wins the only direct benchmark recorded, with an 8.5% OpenCL advantage over the Quadro K4000M. If the selection criterion is raw measured performance in the database's benchmark suite, the GT 555M is the better choice.

The K4000M, however, dominates on paper in nearly every architectural category. It has 960 shading units versus 144, 80 TMUs versus 24, 32 ROPs versus 16, 4 GB of GDDR5 versus 1,024 MB of DDR3, a 256-bit bus versus 128-bit, and 89.60 GB/s of bandwidth versus 28.80 GB/s. Its FP32 output of 1,153.9 GFLOPS dwarfs the GT 555M's 339.8 GFLOPS. The K4000M also supports Vulkan, which the GT 555M does not.

Yet the benchmark result does not reflect that hardware advantage. The GT 555M's score of 6,493 against the K4000M's 5,986 suggests that the OpenCL workload in the database does not scale with the K4000M's larger compute array, or that other factors such as driver optimizations or memory latency play a role. The GT 555M's percentile rank of 37 is also higher than the K4000M's 34.

For buyers choosing between these two end-of-life parts, the decision depends on the workload. If the target application is measured by the database's OpenCL test, the GT 555M is the superior performer. If the workload relies on raw compute throughput, memory capacity, or Vulkan support, the K4000M has the architectural advantage. The recorded data only supports the OpenCL comparison, so the verdict must favor the GT 555M in measured performance.

Specification Differences

| Specification | NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M | NVIDIA Quadro K4000M |

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

| Architecture | Fermi | Kepler |

| Chip | GF106 | GK104 |

| Process Node | 40 nm | 28 nm |

| Transistors | 1,170 million | 3,540 million |

| Die Size | 238 mm² | 294 mm² |

| Transistor Density | 4.9M / mm² | 12.0M / mm² |

| Base Clock | Not recorded | 601 MHz |

| Boost Clock | Not recorded | 601 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 900 MHz | 700 MHz |

| Memory Effective Speed | 1,800 Mbps | 2.8 Gbps |

| Memory Size | 1,024 MB | 4 GB |

| Memory Type | DDR3 | GDDR5 |

| Memory Bus Width | 128 bit | 256 bit |

| Memory Bandwidth | 28.80 GB/s | 89.60 GB/s |

| Shading Units | 144 | 960 |

| TMUs | 24 | 80 |

| ROPs | 16 | 32 |

| Pixel Rate | 3.540 GPixel/s | 12.02 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 14.16 GTexel/s | 48.08 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 339.8 GFLOPS | 1,153.9 GFLOPS |

| TDP | 35 W | 100 W |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 2.0 x16 | MXM-B (3.0) |

| Power Connectors | Not recorded | None |

| Vulkan | Not recorded | 1.2.175 |

| Release Date | 2011-07-01 | 2012-05-31 |

| Generation | GeForce 500M | Quadro Kepler-M (Kx000M) |

| OpenCL Score | 6,493 | 5,986 |

| Percentile | 37 | 34 |

Where Each One Wins

The GeForce GT 555M wins in the only measured benchmark. Its 6,493 OpenCL score beats the K4000M's 5,986 by 8.5%. It also has a lower power draw at 35 W versus 100 W, which matters in thin laptops or systems with limited thermal headroom. Its PCIe 2.0 x16 interface is standard for many notebooks of its generation.

The Quadro K4000M wins in raw specifications. Its 960 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 32 ROPs provide far higher theoretical throughput. The 4 GB GDDR5 frame buffer with 89.60 GB/s of bandwidth is suited to large textures, high resolutions, or data-heavy compute tasks. The 1,153.9 GFLOPS FP32 rate is over three times the GT 555M's 339.8 GFLOPS. Vulkan support adds API flexibility that the GT 555M lacks. The K4000M's MXM-B (3.0) interface indicates a modular design, and its 2012 release date makes it a newer product by roughly 11 months.

The use-case split is straightforward. For applications that mirror the database's OpenCL benchmark, the GT 555M is the winner. For workloads that stress memory capacity, memory bandwidth, or raw FP32 compute, the K4000M's architecture is better suited on paper, even though the measured OpenCL score does not reflect it. The database records one win for the GT 555M and zero for the K4000M in direct comparison, so the measured-performance crown belongs to the GeForce part.