NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti vs NVIDIA Quadro M4000 Comparison

FAQ

Q: How do the two cards compare in the Geekbench OpenCL benchmark?

A: The NVIDIA Quadro M4000 scores 19,118, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti scores 5,731. This means the Quadro M4000 is 70% ahead of the GTX 550 Ti in this compute workload, making it the clear winner in the only head-to-head benchmark available.

Q: Which card has a better overall benchmark average?

A: The GTX 550 Ti has an average benchmark score of 5,731, while the Quadro M4000 averages 5,467. Despite the Quadro M4000 winning the OpenCL test decisively, its average across all benchmark tests is dragged down by other workloads, putting it slightly below the GTX 550 Ti by about 4.6%.

Q: How does each card rank against all GPUs based on percentile?

A: The GTX 550 Ti sits at the 33rd percentile, while the Quadro M4000 sits at the 32nd percentile. These are nearly identical rankings, indicating that both cards perform in the same general tier of the overall GPU landscape, despite their architectural differences.

Q: What are the closest rivals to the GTX 550 Ti in performance?

A: The nearest rivals to the GTX 550 Ti include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670MX (score 5,721, 0.2% ahead), the Intel Iris Pro Graphics P6300 (score 5,712, 0.3% ahead), and the AMD Radeon HD 8790M (score 5,691, 0.7% ahead). The AMD Radeon R7 M465 scores 5,841, which is 1.9% behind the GTX 550 Ti.

Q: What are the closest rivals to the Quadro M4000 in performance?

A: The nearest rivals to the Quadro M4000 include the AMD Radeon R7 M440 (score 5,483, 0.3% ahead), the AMD Radeon 610M (score 5,444, 0.4% behind), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 765M (score 5,501, 0.6% ahead), and the NVIDIA GeForce MX130 (score 5,508, 0.7% ahead). The Quadro M4000's average sits slightly below all of these except the Radeon 610M.

Q: What API support differences exist between the two cards?

A: The GTX 550 Ti supports DirectX 12 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.6, with no Vulkan support listed. The Quadro M4000 supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, making it more capable in modern graphics APIs.

Architecture Differences

The two NVIDIA cards belong to completely different architectural generations. The GTX 550 Ti is built on the GF116 chip using the Fermi 2.0 architecture, manufactured on a 40 nm process at TSMC. The Quadro M4000 uses the GM204 chip with the Maxwell 2.0 architecture, fabricated on a 28 nm process, also at TSMC. This process shrink represents a substantial generational leap, and the transistor counts reflect it: the GTX 550 Ti packs 1,170 million transistors on a 238 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 4.9M per mm². The Quadro M4000 contains 5,200 million transistors on a 398 mm² die, achieving a density of 13.1M per mm² — roughly 2.7 times the transistor density of the older card.

The compute capabilities differ dramatically in scale. The GTX 550 Ti has 192 shading units, 32 texture mapping units, and 24 raster operation pipelines. The Quadro M4000 scales up to 1,664 shading units, 104 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. That is over eight times the shader count, over three times the texture units, and nearly three times the ROPs. Neither card includes dedicated ray tracing cores or tensor cores, so both rely entirely on traditional shader-based rendering.

Memory architecture also differs significantly. The GTX 550 Ti uses 1,024 MB of GDDR5 memory on a 192-bit bus, while the Quadro M4000 has 8 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus. The Quadro M4000 offers eight times the memory capacity, which is critical for professional workloads that need large datasets resident in VRAM. The older card's memory clock runs at 1,026 MHz (4.1 Gbps effective), while the Quadro M4000 runs at 1,502 MHz (6 Gbps effective), resulting in 192.3 GB/s of bandwidth versus 98.50 GB/s for the GTX 550 Ti.

The power and physical characteristics also differ. The GTX 550 Ti has a TDP of 116 W, while the Quadro M4000 has a slightly higher TDP of 120 W. Both use a single 6-pin power connector and suggest a 300 W power supply. The GTX 550 Ti is a dual-slot card measuring 210 mm (8.3 inches) in length, while the Quadro M4000 is a single-slot card measuring 241 mm (9.5 inches) in length with a height of 111 mm (4.4 inches). The bus interface also advances from PCIe 2.0 x16 on the GTX 550 Ti to PCIe 3.0 x16 on the Quadro M4000.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct head-to-head benchmark available between these two cards is Geekbench OpenCL, and the results are one-sided. The Quadro M4000 scores 19,118, while the GTX 550 Ti scores 5,731. This represents a delta of -70% from the perspective of the GTX 550 Ti, meaning the Quadro M4000 is roughly 3.3 times faster in raw compute throughput. This is consistent with the massive difference in shading units (1,664 vs. 192) and the Quadro M4000's higher FP32 throughput of 2.573 TFLOPS compared to the GTX 550 Ti's 691.2 GFLOPS.

The Quadro M4000 also demonstrates broader benchmark coverage. It has results across multiple test suites, including a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 680, a Geekbench Vulkan score of 24,640, and Passmark scores for DirectX 9 (113), DirectX 10 (33), DirectX 11 (49), and DirectX 12 (26). It also has Passmark G2D (673), G3D (6,680), and GPU Compute (2,660) results. The GTX 550 Ti has only the single Geekbench OpenCL result, making it impossible to compare the two cards in any other workload.

Despite the Quadro M4000's overwhelming OpenCL victory, the average benchmark score tells a different story. The GTX 550 Ti averages 5,731, while the Quadro M4000 averages 5,467. This discrepancy arises because the Quadro M4000's scores across other tests, particularly the Passmark DirectX results, are quite low. For instance, its Passmark DirectX 12 score of 26 and DirectX 10 score of 33 are far below what its compute performance would suggest. This indicates that the Quadro M4000's strengths are concentrated heavily in compute-oriented tasks, while its legacy DirectX performance is comparatively weak.

Specification Differences

The two cards diverge on nearly every specification. The process node changes from 40 nm on the GTX 550 Ti to 28 nm on the Quadro M4000. Transistor count jumps from 1,170 million to 5,200 million, and die size grows from 238 mm² to 398 mm². Transistor density improves from 4.9M per mm² to 13.1M per mm². Memory size expands from 1,024 MB to 8 GB, and the bus width widens from 192-bit to 256-bit. Memory bandwidth nearly doubles from 98.50 GB/s to 192.3 GB/s. Memory clock rises from 1,026 MHz (4.1 Gbps effective) to 1,502 MHz (6 Gbps effective).

The compute resources differ by an order of magnitude: shading units go from 192 to 1,664, TMUs from 32 to 104, and ROPs from 24 to 64. Pixel rate increases from 7.200 GPixel/s to 49.47 GPixel/s, and texture rate from 28.80 GTexel/s to 80.39 GTexel/s. FP32 performance rises from 691.2 GFLOPS to 2.573 TFLOPS. TDP increases modestly from 116 W to 120 W. The slot width shrinks from dual-slot to single-slot, and the bus interface advances from PCIe 2.0 x16 to PCIe 3.0 x16.

Display outputs also differ: the GTX 550 Ti has 2x DVI and 1x mini-HDMI 1.3a, while the Quadro M4000 has 4x DisplayPort 1.2. API support changes as well, with DirectX moving from 12 (11_0) to 12 (12_1) and Vulkan appearing only on the Quadro M4000 (version 1.4). Both cards support OpenGL 4.6. The physical dimensions also vary, with the GTX 550 Ti at 210 mm length and the Quadro M4000 at 241 mm length and 111 mm height. The GTX 550 Ti has a launch MSRP of 149 USD; the Quadro M4000 has no listed launch MSRP.

The Verdict

The data shows a clear split between two very different products. The GTX 550 Ti, released in 2011 as part of the GeForce 500 generation, is a consumer gaming card from the Fermi 2.0 era. The Quadro M4000, released in 2015 as part of the Quadro Maxwell generation, is a professional workstation card. In the single head-to-head compute benchmark, the Quadro M4000 wins decisively with a 70% advantage in Geekbench OpenCL. For any task that relies heavily on OpenCL compute — such as scientific simulations, rendering, or GPU-accelerated data processing — the Quadro M4000 is the clear choice.

However, the average benchmark scores complicate the picture. The GTX 550 Ti's average of 5,731 edges out the Quadro M4000's 5,467, and the percentile rankings are nearly identical (33rd vs. 32nd). This suggests that in broader, mixed workloads, the two cards perform at a similar level. The Quadro M4000's low Passmark DirectX scores pull its average down significantly, indicating that its strengths are not uniform across all application types.

For buyers who prioritize compute performance and modern API support, the Quadro M4000 is the better choice. It offers eight times the memory, nearly double the bandwidth, and over three times the FP32 throughput. For those who need a card that performs consistently across a wider range of legacy workloads, the GTX 550 Ti's higher average score is noteworthy, though its lack of Vulkan support and older DirectX feature level limit its future-proofing.

Where Each One Wins

NVIDIA Quadro M4000 wins in compute-heavy workloads. The Geekbench OpenCL result is the defining metric: 19,118 vs. 5,731, a 70% margin. The Quadro M4000 also has the advantage of 8 GB of VRAM, which allows it to handle large datasets that would exceed the GTX 550 Ti's 1,024 MB capacity. Its 2.573 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 192.3 GB/s bandwidth make it suitable for professional rendering, simulation, and data processing tasks. The card also supports Vulkan 1.4 and DirectX 12 (12_1), giving it access to modern graphics APIs that the GTX 550 Ti cannot use.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti wins in average benchmark consistency. Its average score of 5,731 is higher than the Quadro M4000's 5,467, and it sits at a higher percentile (33rd vs. 32nd). While the GTX 550 Ti only has one benchmark result, that result is solid and does not suffer from the low legacy DirectX scores that drag down the Quadro M4000's average. The GTX 550 Ti also has a lower TDP of 116 W, making it slightly more power-efficient in terms of raw wattage, and it is a shorter card at 210 mm, which may fit in more compact chassis.

The Quadro M4000 wins on memory capacity and bandwidth. With 8 GB vs. 1,024 MB and 192.3 GB/s vs. 98.50 GB/s, the Quadro M4000 is in a different class for memory-intensive applications. It also has more display outputs (4x DisplayPort 1.2 vs. 2x DVI plus mini-HDMI), making it better suited for multi-monitor professional setups. The single-slot form factor is also an advantage in dense workstation configurations.

The GTX 550 Ti wins on legacy DirectX performance by default. The Quadro M4000's Passmark DirectX scores (ranging from 26 to 113) are weak, and while the GTX 550 Ti has no comparable scores listed, its higher average benchmark score suggests it does not suffer from the same performance collapse in older API workloads. The GTX 550 Ti also has a lower launch MSRP of 149 USD, though pricing should not be the sole consideration in a professional context.