NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 vs NVIDIA Quadro K4200 Comparison

The NVIDIA Quadro K4200 and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 are two very different products built on the same underlying silicon. Both cards use the GK104 chip, a 28 nm Kepler design fabricated by TSMC, yet they were engineered for distinct purposes and their benchmark results reflect that divergence clearly. The database shows a substantial performance gap between the two, with the GeForce GTX 770 winning both recorded head-to-head tests by a wide margin. However, that is only part of the story, as the Quadro K4200 brings its own set of characteristics to the table that matter in professional environments. This analysis walks through the recorded measurements, the specification differences, and what the data implies for potential use cases.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The recorded head-to-head results are unambiguous about which card is faster in raw compute and graphics workloads. In the Geekbench OpenCL test, the GeForce GTX 770 scored 15,707 points, while the Quadro K4200 managed 12,313 points. That is a performance difference of 21.6% in favor of the GeForce GTX 770. The gap widens further in the Geekbench Vulkan test, where the GTX 770 scored 19,166 points against the Quadro K4200's 12,482 points, a 34.9% advantage for the GeForce card. These are not marginal differences; they represent a clear and consistent superiority in throughput across two different compute APIs.

Looking at the broader benchmark data, the GeForce GTX 770 posts an average benchmark score of 14,747 across all recorded tests, placing it in the 57th percentile of all GPUs in the database. The Quadro K4200, by contrast, has an average score of 12,398 and sits in the 52nd percentile. The difference in average scores is 2,349 points, which is roughly 19% higher for the GTX 770. When the GeForce card is compared to its nearest rivals, it sits just 0.4% behind the AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT, which scored 14,692, and 1.5% ahead of the NVIDIA Quadro M2000, which scored 14,532. The GTX 770 also edges out the AMD Radeon Pro 560X, which scored 15,082, by 2.2%, and falls 2.1% short of the GeForce GTX 660 Ti, which scored 15,063. What the data suggests is that the GTX 770 is a solid mid-range performer that holds its own against much newer hardware.

The Quadro K4200's nearest rival comparisons tell a different story. It sits 1.8% behind the NVIDIA Tesla K20Xm, which scored 12,625, and 2.5% behind the AMD Radeon RX 7600M XT, which scored 12,710. It also trails the GeForce GTX 670 by 2.9%, with that card scoring 12,773. On the other side, the Quadro K4200 is 3.3% ahead of the GeForce GTX 960A, which scored 11,998. These figures indicate that the Quadro K4200 is competitive with older or lower-tier gaming cards, but it is not in the same performance class as the GTX 770.

FAQ

Q: Which card has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The GeForce GTX 770 has a higher average benchmark score of 14,747, compared to the Quadro K4200's 12,398. This places the GTX 770 in the 57th percentile while the Quadro K4200 is in the 52nd percentile.

Q: In which benchmark does the GeForce GTX 770 show its largest advantage?

A: The largest advantage is in the Geekbench Vulkan test, where the GTX 770 scores 19,166 against the Quadro K4200's 12,482, a difference of 34.9%.

Q: Does the Quadro K4200 win any head-to-head benchmarks?

A: No. The recorded head-to-head benchmarks show zero wins for the Quadro K4200 and two wins for the GeForce GTX 770 across the Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan tests.

Q: How does the Quadro K4200 compare to its nearest rival, the NVIDIA Tesla K20Xm?

A: The Quadro K4200 is 1.8% behind the Tesla K20Xm in average score, with the K20Xm scoring 12,625 and the K4200 scoring 12,398.

Q: What is the percentile ranking difference between these two cards?

A: The GeForce GTX 770 is in the 57th percentile of all GPUs, while the Quadro K4200 is in the 52nd percentile, a gap of five percentile points.

Q: Which card has a higher memory bandwidth?

A: The GeForce GTX 770 has a higher memory bandwidth of 224.4 GB/s, compared to the Quadro K4200's 172.8 GB/s.

Where Each One Wins

The GeForce GTX 770 wins decisively in pure performance metrics. Its shading unit count of 1,536 is higher than the Quadro K4200's 1,344, and its texture mapping units number 128 versus 112. The GTX 770 also operates at higher clock speeds, with a base clock of 1046 MHz and a boost clock of 1085 MHz, while the Quadro K4200 runs at 771 MHz base and 784 MHz boost. This combination of more processing units and higher clocks translates directly into the benchmark advantages described earlier. The pixel rate for the GTX 770 is 34.72 GPixel/s, and its texture rate is 138.9 GTexel/s, both far exceeding the Quadro K4200's 21.95 GPixel/s and 87.81 GTexel/s. In terms of raw floating-point compute, the GTX 770 delivers 3.333 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, while the Quadro K4200 manages 2.107 TFLOPS.

The Quadro K4200, despite losing every compute benchmark, wins in areas that are less about speed and more about capacity and power efficiency. Its memory configuration includes 4 GB of GDDR5, double the 2 GB found on the GTX 770. This larger frame buffer can be critical for professional workloads that require holding large datasets or high-resolution textures. The Quadro K4200 also has a much lower thermal design power of 108 W, compared to the GTX 770's 230 W. This allows the Quadro card to run in a single-slot form factor with a single 6-pin power connector, whereas the GTX 770 requires a dual-slot design and both a 6-pin and an 8-pin connector. The suggested power supply for the Quadro is 300 W, while the GTX 770 suggests 550 W. For systems where space is at a premium or power delivery is limited, the Quadro K4200 presents a more accommodating physical profile.

Specification Differences

The two cards diverge significantly in several key specifications beyond their compute performance. The GeForce GTX 770 has a base clock of 1046 MHz and a boost clock of 1085 MHz, while the Quadro K4200 has a base clock of 771 MHz and a boost of 784 MHz. Memory differs in both size and speed: the GTX 770 has 2 GB of GDDR5 running at 1753 MHz with an effective data rate of 7 Gbps, while the Quadro K4200 has 4 GB of GDDR5 running at 1350 MHz with an effective rate of 5.4 Gbps. Bandwidth reflects these differences, with the GTX 770 achieving 224.4 GB/s and the Quadro K4200 achieving 172.8 GB/s.

The processing resources also differ. The GTX 770 has 1,536 shading units and 128 texture mapping units, while the Quadro K4200 has 1,344 shading units and 112 texture mapping units. Both cards share 32 ROPs. The power profiles are starkly different: the GTX 770 has a TDP of 230 W and requires a dual-slot cooler with 1x 6-pin and 1x 8-pin power connectors, while the Quadro K4200 has a TDP of 108 W and fits a single-slot cooler with a single 6-pin connector. The bus interface also differs, with the GTX 770 using PCIe 3.0 x16 and the Quadro K4200 using PCIe 2.0 x16.

Physical dimensions vary as well. The GTX 770 is 267 mm long (10.5 inches) and 38 mm wide (1.5 inches), while the Quadro K4200 is 241 mm long (9.5 inches) and 111 mm tall (4.4 inches), matching the GTX 770's height. Display outputs differ: the GTX 770 offers 2x DVI, 1x HDMI 1.4a, and 1x DisplayPort 1.2, while the Quadro K4200 provides 1x DVI and 2x DisplayPort 1.2. The release dates are also distinct, with the GTX 770 launching on 2013-05-29 and the Quadro K4200 launching on 2014-07-21.

Architecture Differences

Both cards share the same fundamental architecture, as they are built on the GK104 chip using the Kepler design and a 28 nm process node from TSMC. The transistor count is identical at 3,540 million, and the die size is the same at 294 mm², yielding a transistor density of 12.0M per mm². The API support is also identical, with both cards supporting DirectX 12 (11_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.175.

The differences in architecture are not in the underlying silicon design but in how NVIDIA configured that silicon for each product line. The Quadro K4200 is part of the Quadro Kepler (Kx200) generation, representing NVIDIA's professional visualization line, while the GTX 770 belongs to the GeForce 700 series, aimed at consumer gaming. The Quadro K4200's predecessor is the Quadro Fermi series, and its successor is the Quadro Maxwell series. The GTX 770's predecessor is the GeForce 600 series, and its successor is the GeForce 900 series. These lineage differences highlight the divergent product families.

The clock and memory configurations show that the GTX 770 uses a more aggressive implementation of the GK104 chip, with higher base and boost clocks and faster memory. The Quadro K4200, by contrast, runs a more conservative configuration with lower clocks and slower memory, but with double the capacity. This suggests NVIDIA tuned the Quadro for stability and capacity in professional workloads, while the GeForce was tuned for maximum throughput in gaming and general compute. The higher TDP of the GTX 770, 230 W versus 108 W, reflects this more aggressive tuning and the additional power required to sustain those clock speeds.

The Verdict

The data makes it clear that the GeForce GTX 770 is the faster card by a significant margin. Its average benchmark score of 14,747 is 19% higher than the Quadro K4200's 12,398, and it wins the OpenCL test by 21.6% and the Vulkan test by 34.9%. Anyone needing raw compute performance, whether for gaming, rendering, or general GPU-accelerated tasks, should choose the GTX 770 based on the recorded measurements alone. Its higher shading unit count, faster clocks, and greater memory bandwidth all contribute to this advantage.

The Quadro K4200, however, offers attributes that are not captured in the benchmark scores. Its 4 GB memory capacity is double that of the GTX 770, which can be decisive for workloads that exceed a 2 GB frame buffer. Its lower TDP of 108 W and single-slot design make it suitable for dense multi-GPU configurations or systems with limited power and space. The fact that it is a professional-grade card with a different display output configuration, including 2x DisplayPort 1.2, may also factor into workstation decisions. For users who prioritize memory capacity and power efficiency over raw speed, the Quadro K4200 remains a viable option. For everyone else, the GeForce GTX 770 is the clear performance winner according to the database.