NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 vs NVIDIA Quadro M4000 Comparison

The Verdict

The NVIDIA Quadro M4000 is the clear winner in the only directly comparable benchmark recorded in the database. The GeForce GTS 450 does not win a single head-to-head test. The M4000 delivers a Geekbench OpenCL score of 19118, which is 290.7% higher than the GTS 450's 4893. The M4000 also holds a higher overall average benchmark score of 5467, compared to the GTS 450's 4893. The M4000 sits in the 32nd percentile of all GPUs, while the GTS 450 sits in the 28th percentile.

However, the data suggests these cards were never meant for the same buyer. The M4000 is a professional workstation card from the Quadro line, built on Maxwell 2.0 architecture. The GTS 450 is an older mainstream GeForce card from the Fermi generation. The benchmark results reflect a massive generational and market-segment gap. For anyone choosing between these two today, the M4000 is the only logical choice based on performance data, provided the system can support its 120 W TDP and single-slot design. The GTS 450, with its 106 W TDP and dual-slot cooler, was a capable card in its era, but the recorded data shows it is outclassed in every measurable way by the M4000 measurable category.

Where Each One Wins

The M4000 wins the only shared benchmark test, Geekbench compute. There are no shared tests for DirectX 9, DirectX 10, DirectX 11, DirectX 12, Vulkan, 3DMark Steel Nomad, PassMark 2D, PassMark 3D, or PassMark compute. The M4000 has recorded scores for all of these tests, but the GTS 450 has no corresponding entries. The M4000 registers a PassMark G3D score of 6680, a PassMark G2D score of 673, and a PassMark DirectX 11 score of 49. The GTS 450 only has one recorded benchmark, Geekbench OpenCL at 4893. The M4000's Geekbench Vulkan score is 24640, and its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 680. The GTS 450 has no Vulkan or 3DMark Steel Nomad entries at all.

The use-case split is therefore stark. The M4000 is the only card with data supporting modern API workloads, including Vulkan 1.4 and DirectX 12 (12_1). The GTS 450 supports DirectX 12 (11_0) but has no Vulkan support listed, and its sole benchmark is a compute test. For professional compute tasks in OpenCL, the M4000 is overwhelmingly faster. For legacy DirectX 9 and 10 workloads, the M4000 still has scores, but there is no GTS 450 score to compare, so no direct conclusion can be drawn from the database.

Architecture Differences

The M4000 uses the GM204 chip on a 28 nm TSMC process, while the GTS 450 uses the GF106 chip on a 40 nm TSMC process. The M4000 packs 5,200 million transistors on a 398 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 13.1 million per mm². The GTS 450 has 1,170 million transistors on a 238 mm² die, a density of 4.9 million per mm². This is a fundamental architectural leap, not just a clock speed difference. The M4000 belongs to the Maxwell 2.0 architecture, part of the Quadro Maxwell (Mx000) generation. The GTS 450 belongs to the Fermi architecture, part of the GeForce 400 generation.

The M4000 has 1664 shading units, 104 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs. The GTS 450 has 192 shading units, 32 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. The M4000's pixel rate is 49.47 GPixel/s, and its texture rate is 80.39 GTexel/s. The GTS 450's pixel rate is 6.264 GPixel/s, and its texture rate is 25.06 GTexel/s. The M4000 delivers 2.573 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, while the GTS 450 delivers 601.3 GFLOPS. Neither card has RT cores or tensor cores.

The memory systems are equally different. The M4000 has 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, with 192.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The GTS 450 has 1024 MB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus, with 57.73 GB/s of bandwidth. The M4000's memory clock is 1502 MHz (6 Gbps effective), while the GTS 450's memory clock is 902 MHz (3.6 Gbps effective). The M4000 uses a PCIe 3.0 x16 interface, while the GTS 450 uses PCIe 2.0 x16. The M4000 outputs 4x DisplayPort 1.2, while the GTS 450 outputs 2x DVI and 1x mini-HDMI 1.3a.

FAQ

Q: Which card is faster in OpenCL compute?

A: The M4000 scores 19118 in Geekbench OpenCL, while the GTS 450 scores 4893. The M4000 is 290.7% faster in this test.

Q: Does the GTS 450 support Vulkan?

A: No Vulkan support is recorded for the GTS 450. The M4000 lists Vulkan 1.4 support and scores 24640 in Geekbench Vulkan.

Q: How much memory does each card have?

A: The M4000 has 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus. The GTS 450 has 1024 MB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus.

Q: What is the power draw of each card?

A: The M4000 has a TDP of 120 W and requires a single 6-pin power connector. The GTS 450 has a TDP of 106 W and also requires a single 6-pin power connector. Both suggest a 300 W power supply.

Q: What is the transistor count difference?

A: The M4000 has 5,200 million transistors, while the GTS 450 has 1,170 million transistors. The M4000 also uses a newer 28 nm process versus the GTS 450's 40 nm process.

Q: Which card has more shading units?

A: The M4000 has 1664 shading units, while the GTS 450 has 192 shading units. That is an 8.7x difference in raw shader count.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database records exactly one shared benchmark between these two cards: Geekbench OpenCL. The M4000 scores 19118, and the GTS 450 scores 4893. The delta is 290.7% in favor of the M4000. This is not a marginal lead; it is a near-fourfold difference in raw compute throughput. The M4000's FP32 rating of 2.573 TFLOPS versus the GTS 450's 601.3 GFLOPS aligns with this result. The M4000 also has a memory bandwidth of 192.3 GB/s versus 57.73 GB/s, which likely contributes to the scale of the OpenCL gap.

The M4000's average benchmark score across all recorded tests is 5467. The GTS 450's average benchmark score is 4893. The M4000's nearest rivals in the database include the AMD Radeon R7 M440 at 5483 (0.3% higher), the AMD Radeon 610M at 5444 (0.4% lower), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 765M at 5501 (0.6% higher), and the NVIDIA GeForce MX130 at 5508 (0.7% higher). The M4000 sits in a tight cluster around the 5500 average score mark. The GTS 450's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB at 4901 (0.2% lower), the AMD FirePro W5130M at 4904 (0.2% lower), the AMD Radeon R6 M255DX at 4867 (0.5% higher), and the AMD Radeon R7 M265 at 4929 (0.7% higher). The GTS 450's average score is nearly identical to these modern entry-level parts, which shows how far behind the M4000 it has fallen.

In individual M4000 tests, the PassMark G3D score of 6680 is the strongest result. The PassMark DirectX 9 score is 113, while DirectX 10 is 33, DirectX 11 is 49, and DirectX 12 is 26. The PassMark G2D score is 673, and the PassMark GPU compute score is 2660. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 680. These numbers show the M4000 handles legacy DirectX 9 far better than newer API versions, which is typical for a 2015-era professional card. The GTS 450 has no comparable scores, so the database cannot confirm how it would perform in these tests, but its single OpenCL score suggests it would trail significantly.

Specification Differences

The M4000 and GTS 450 differ in nearly every specification category. The chip is GM204 versus GF106. The architecture is Maxwell 2.0 versus Fermi. The process node is 28 nm versus 40 nm. Transistor count is 5,200 million versus 1,170 million. Die size is 398 mm² versus 238 mm². Transistor density is 13.1M per mm² versus 4.9M per mm².

Memory differs completely: 8 GB versus 1024 MB, 256-bit bus versus 128-bit bus, 192.3 GB/s versus 57.73 GB/s bandwidth, and 1502 MHz versus 902 MHz memory clock. The M4000 has 1664 shading units, 104 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. The GTS 450 has 192 shading units, 32 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. Pixel rate is 49.47 GPixel/s versus 6.264 GPixel/s. Texture rate is 80.39 GTexel/s versus 25.06 GTexel/s. FP32 is 2.573 TFLOPS versus 601.3 GFLOPS.

TDP is 120 W versus 106 W. Slot width is single-slot versus dual-slot. Both use 1x 6-pin power connectors, and both suggest a 300 W PSU. Bus interface is PCIe 3.0 x16 versus PCIe 2.0 x16. Display outputs are 4x DisplayPort 1.2 versus 2x DVI plus 1x mini-HDMI 1.3a. DirectX support is 12 (12_1 versus 11_0). OpenGL is 4.6 for both. Vulkan is 1.4 for the M4000 and null for the GTS 450. The M4000 is 241 mm long, while the GTS 450 is 210 mm long. Both are 111 mm high. The M4000 released on 2015-06-28, while the GTS 450 released on 2010-09-12. The M4000's predecessor is Quadro Kepler and successor is Quadro Pascal. The GTS 450's predecessor is GeForce 200 and successor is GeForce 500. The GTS 450 has a launch MSRP of 129 USD. The M4000 has no recorded launch MSRP.