NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M vs NVIDIA Quadro K4100M Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database records a single direct comparison between these two mobile GPUs, using the Geekbench OpenCL test. In this test, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M scores 9821 points, while the NVIDIA Quadro K4100M scores 9149 points. The result is a 7.3% advantage for the GTX 850M, marking a clear win for the consumer-oriented part in this compute workload.

Looking at the broader benchmark averages, the GTX 850M maintains its lead. Its average benchmark score across all recorded tests is 9302, compared to 7906 for the Quadro K4100M. That translates to a roughly 17.7% gap in favor of the GTX 850M. The GTX 850M also sits higher in the overall percentile ranking, at the 46th percentile of all GPUs, while the Quadro K4100M lands at the 41st percentile.

The nature of the win is worth unpacking. OpenCL is a general-purpose compute API, and the GTX 850M's 9821 result shows a meaningful edge in this workload. The Quadro K4100M's own OpenCL score of 9149 is not far behind, but it does not close the gap. The GTX 850M's victory is consistent across both its individual test score and its aggregate average.

Interestingly, the nearest rival data for each card puts their performance in different company. The GTX 850M's average score of 9302 sits between the AMD Radeon R7 M380 (9313, a 0.1% gap) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 465 (9294, a 0.1% gap), with the GeForce GTX 960 (9273) and AMD Radeon Vega 8 (9221) close behind. The Quadro K4100M's average of 7906, meanwhile, is bracketed by the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 (7925, a 0.2% gap) and the NVIDIA Quadro P5000 (8039, a 1.7% gap), with the GeForce GTX 880M (8040) and GeForce GTX 650 Ti (8053) also nearby. This places the GTX 850M in a performance tier roughly 15% higher than the Quadro K4100M's immediate competitors.

The head-to-head table shows only one recorded test, and the GTX 850M wins it. With one win for the GTX 850M and zero for the Quadro K4100M, the direct comparison is unambiguous. The delta of 7.3% is substantial for a single benchmark, indicating that the GTX 850M's architecture delivers better raw compute throughput in this specific API.

The Quadro K4100M does have one additional benchmark result in the database, a Geekbench Metal score of 6662, but there is no corresponding Metal result for the GTX 850M, so no direct comparison can be made there. The OpenCL test remains the only shared metric.

The Verdict

The data points clearly to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M as the stronger performer in compute tests. Its OpenCL score of 9821 beats the Quadro K4100M's 9149 by 7.3%, and its average benchmark score of 9302 is substantially higher than the Quadro's 7906. The percentile ranking reinforces this: the GTX 850M sits at the 46th percentile of all GPUs, while the Quadro K4100M sits at the 41st.

For anyone choosing between these two based purely on measured performance, the GTX 850M is the pick. It wins the only head-to-head benchmark recorded, it wins on average score, and it wins on percentile placement. The Quadro K4100M does not post a single winning metric in the direct comparison.

However, the Quadro K4100M is not without its own distinguishing characteristics. It carries 1152 shading units compared to the GTX 850M's 640, and it has 96 texture mapping units versus 40, plus 32 render output units versus 16. Its texture rate of 67.78 GTexel/s is nearly double the GTX 850M's 36.08 GTexel/s, and its pixel rate of 16.94 GPixel/s exceeds the GTX 850M's 14.43 GPixel/s. The Quadro also has twice the memory capacity (4 GB versus 2 GB) and a much wider memory bus (256 bit versus 128 bit), resulting in 102.4 GB/s of bandwidth compared to 32.03 GB/s. Its FP32 throughput of 1.627 TFLOPS is higher than the GTX 850M's 1,154.6 GFLOPS.

These specifications suggest the Quadro K4100M should be faster in certain memory-intensive or texture-heavy tasks, yet the measured OpenCL score tells a different story. The GTX 850M's Maxwell architecture appears to extract more real-world compute performance from fewer resources, at least in this benchmark. The recorded data does not show any test where the Quadro wins, so the verdict rests entirely on the GTX 850M's favor.

Where Each One Wins

The GTX 850M wins in the measured compute benchmark, and that is the only head-to-head result recorded. Its OpenCL score of 9821 beats the Quadro K4100M's 9149, and its average score of 9302 is well ahead of 7906. In general-purpose compute workloads using OpenCL, the GTX 850M is the stronger card.

The Quadro K4100M's advantages are purely on paper, not in the recorded benchmark results. Its larger memory pool of 4 GB and its 256 bit bus width with 102.4 GB/s of bandwidth give it a theoretical edge in scenarios that require large data sets or high memory throughput. Its higher texture rate of 67.78 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 16.94 GPixel/s suggest it could handle fill-rate-heavy tasks better than the GTX 850M, but no benchmark in the database confirms this.

The GTX 850M also wins on efficiency in one sense: its TDP is 45 W versus the Quadro's 100 W. That is a significant difference for mobile devices, as the GTX 850M draws less than half the power of the Quadro K4100M. The GTX 850M is also an integrated graphics package (IGP) with no power connectors, while the Quadro is an MXM module. For thin-and-light laptops, the GTX 850M's lower power draw is an advantage.

For users who need certified drivers or specific professional features, the Quadro K4100M's branding suggests a different target market, but the database does not record any benchmark that reflects those advantages. In terms of measured performance, the GTX 850M wins every recorded comparison.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has the higher OpenCL benchmark score?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M scores 9821 in Geekbench OpenCL, while the NVIDIA Quadro K4100M scores 9149, giving the GTX 850M a 7.3% lead.

Q: How do their average benchmark scores compare?

A: The GTX 850M has an average benchmark score of 9302, while the Quadro K4100M averages 7906, a difference of about 17.7% in favor of the GTX 850M.

Q: Which GPU sits higher in the overall percentile ranking?

A: The GTX 850M is at the 46th percentile of all GPUs, while the Quadro K4100M is at the 41st percentile.

Q: Does the Quadro K4100M have any benchmark where it beats the GTX 850M?

A: No. The only shared benchmark is Geekbench OpenCL, and the GTX 850M wins it. The Quadro has a separate Geekbench Metal score of 6662, but the GTX 850M has no Metal result recorded for comparison.

Q: What are the memory specifications of each GPU?

A: The GTX 850M has 2 GB of DDR3 memory on a 128 bit bus with 32.03 GB/s bandwidth. The Quadro K4100M has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256 bit bus with 102.4 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: Which GPU has a higher power draw?

A: The Quadro K4100M has a TDP of 100 W, while the GTX 850M has a TDP of 45 W, making the GTX 850M the lower-power option.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different NVIDIA architectures. The GTX 850M is built on the Maxwell architecture using the GM107 chip, while the Quadro K4100M uses the Kepler architecture with the GK104 chip. Both are manufactured on a 28 nm process at TSMC, but the chip sizes differ substantially: the GM107 has 1,870 million transistors on a 148 mm² die, while the GK104 packs 3,540 million transistors on a 294 mm² die. Transistor density is similar, at 12.6M per mm² for the GTX 850M and 12.0M per mm² for the Quadro.

The compute resources are heavily skewed toward the Quadro. It has 1152 shading units, 96 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, versus 640 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 16 ROPs on the GTX 850M. The Quadro's texture rate of 67.78 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 16.94 GPixel/s are both higher than the GTX 850M's 36.08 GTexel/s and 14.43 GPixel/s. FP32 throughput is also higher on the Quadro at 1.627 TFLOPS versus 1,154.6 GFLOPS.

Memory architecture differs as well. The GTX 850M uses 2 GB of DDR3 on a 128 bit bus, yielding 32.03 GB/s of bandwidth. The Quadro K4100M uses 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 256 bit bus, yielding 102.4 GB/s. This gives the Quadro a 3.2x bandwidth advantage, which is significant for memory-bound workloads.

Clock behavior also differs. The Quadro K4100M has a fixed base and boost clock of 706 MHz, while the GTX 850M's base and boost clocks are not recorded in the database. The memory clocks differ too: the GTX 850M runs at 1001 MHz (2 Gbps effective), while the Quadro runs at 800 MHz (3.2 Gbps effective).

API support is largely similar, with both supporting DirectX 12 (11_0) and OpenGL 4.6. The GTX 850M supports Vulkan 1.4, while the Quadro K4100M supports Vulkan 1.2.175. The GTX 850M is part of the GeForce 800M generation, released on 2014-03-11, while the Quadro K4100M is part of the Quadro Kepler-M (Kx100M) generation, released earlier on 2013-07-22. The GTX 850M's predecessor is GeForce 700M and its successor is GeForce 900M, while the Quadro's predecessor is Quadro Fermi-M and its successor is Quadro Maxwell-M.

Specification Differences

The two GPUs differ across nearly every major specification category. The GTX 850M uses the GM107 chip with 1,870 million transistors on a 148 mm² die, while the Quadro K4100M uses the GK104 chip with 3,540 million transistors on a 294 mm² die. The GTX 850M has 640 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 16 ROPs; the Quadro has 1152 shading units, 96 TMUs, and 32 ROPs.

Memory is a major split: the GTX 850M has 2 GB of DDR3 on a 128 bit bus with 32.03 GB/s bandwidth, while the Quadro has 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 256 bit bus with 102.4 GB/s bandwidth. The GTX 850M's memory clock is 1001 MHz (2 Gbps effective), while the Quadro's is 800 MHz (3.2 Gbps effective).

The Quadro has a recorded base and boost clock of 706 MHz, while the GTX 850M's core clocks are not listed. Pixel rate is 14.43 GPixel/s for the GTX 850M and 16.94 GPixel/s for the Quadro. Texture rate is 36.08 GTexel/s versus 67.78 GTexel/s. FP32 compute is 1,154.6 GFLOPS versus 1.627 TFLOPS.

Power and form factor differ significantly: the GTX 850M has a TDP of 45 W and is an IGP with no power connectors, while the Quadro K4100M has a TDP of 100 W and is an MXM Module with no power connectors. The bus interface is PCIe 3.0 x16 for the GTX 850M and MXM-B (3.0) for the Quadro. Vulkan support is 1.4 on the GTX 850M versus 1.2.175 on the Quadro.

Production status is end-of-life for both, with release dates of 2014-03-11 for the GTX 850M and 2013-07-22 for the Quadro. The Quadro has a launch MSRP of 1,499 USD; the GTX 850M has no recorded launch MSRP. Both have portable-device-dependent display outputs.