NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 GDDR6 vs NVIDIA Quadro P400 Comparison

The NVIDIA Quadro P400 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 GDDR6 are separated by seven years, two architectures, and a fundamental purpose. The Quadro P400 is a 30 W, single-slot professional card from 2017, built for basic display output and light compute. The RTX 4070 GDDR6 is a 200 W, dual-slot consumer gaming card from 2024, packed with ray tracing and tensor cores. This comparison is not a contest; it is a study in how far GPU technology has come. The data shows that the RTX 4070 GDDR6 is in a completely different performance class, while the Quadro P400 serves only a narrow, legacy role.

The Verdict

The choice is straightforward: the RTX 4070 GDDR6 is the only viable option for any modern workload. The Quadro P400, with its 2 GB of GDDR5 memory, 256 shading units, and 641.0 GFLOPS of FP32 performance, is a relic. Its average benchmark score of 4684 puts it in the 27th percentile of all GPUs. The RTX 4070 GDDR6, while scoring a lower average of 4335 in the 25th percentile, does so on a single, far more demanding test: 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, where it scores 4334.5. This test is a modern, DirectX 12 Ultimate workload, whereas the Quadro’s scores come from Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan, which are less representative of heavy 3D rendering.

The Quadro P400's niche is limited to systems where a tiny, power-efficient card is needed for basic multi-display output or legacy software that requires a professional driver. The RTX 4070 GDDR6 is for anyone who needs actual graphics processing power. The data shows it has 5888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs, dwarfing the Quadro's 256, 16, and 16 respectively. The RTX 4070 GDDR6 is the definitive choice for gaming, content creation, or any compute task. The Quadro P400 should only be considered if the specific requirement is a 30 W card with three mini-DisplayPort outputs and nothing else. The RTX 4070 GDDR6, launched at 599 USD MSRP, is a performance product; the Quadro P400 is a historical footnote.

Architecture Differences

The two cards are built on entirely different foundations. The Quadro P400 uses the GP107 chip on the 14 nm Pascal architecture, manufactured by Samsung. It contains 3,300 million transistors on a 132 mm² die, resulting in a transistor density of 25.0M per mm². In contrast, the RTX 4070 GDDR6 uses the AD104 chip on the 5 nm Ada Lovelace architecture, manufactured by TSMC. This chip packs 35,800 million transistors into a 294 mm² die, achieving a transistor density of 121.8M per mm². The architectural leap is massive, allowing the Ada Lovelace chip to fit over ten times more transistors into slightly more than double the die area.

Memory configurations are equally divergent. The Quadro P400 has 2 GB of GDDR5 on a 64-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of just 32.06 GB/s. The RTX 4070 GDDR6 offers 12 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 480.0 GB/s. The RTX 4070 GDDR6 also features 46 ray tracing cores and 184 tensor cores, which the Quadro P400 lacks entirely. The feature set gap is further emphasized by the DirectX support: the Quadro P400 supports DirectX 12 (12_1), while the RTX 4070 GDDR6 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2). Both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4.

The core clock speeds also show the generational gap. The Quadro P400 has a base clock of 1228 MHz and a boost clock of 1252 MHz. The RTX 4070 GDDR6 starts at 1920 MHz base and boosts to 2475 MHz. The FP32 throughput tells the story: 641.0 GFLOPS for the Quadro versus 29.15 TFLOPS for the RTX 4070 GDDR6. The RTX 4070 GDDR6 also has a 1:1 FP16 to FP32 ratio, both at 29.15 TFLOPS, while the Quadro's FP16 performance is a paltry 10.02 GFLOPS, a 1:64 ratio. The RTX 4070 GDDR6 is a dual-slot card with a 1x 16-pin power connector and a suggested PSU of 550 W, whereas the Quadro P400 is single-slot, requires no power connectors, and only suggests a 200 W PSU.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

Direct head-to-head benchmark comparisons are not available in the data. However, the available scores from different tests can be contextualized. The Quadro P400 scores 4249 in Geekbench OpenCL and 5119 in Geekbench Vulkan, giving it an average benchmark score of 4684. The RTX 4070 GDDR6 scores 4334.5 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, which is its only benchmark result and its average score. The RTX 4070 GDDR6's score, while lower in absolute number, is from a much more intensive test. The 3DMark Steel Nomad suite is a modern DirectX 12 Ultimate benchmark that stresses ray tracing and advanced geometry, a workload that would likely be impossible for the Quadro P400 to run smoothly.

The nearest rivals for the Quadro P400 highlight its low-end positioning. It sits within 1.2% of the AMD Radeon R8 M445DX and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M. It is 0.6% faster than the AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 16 GB and the AMD Radeon R5 M320. These are all entry-level or older mobile/desktop parts. The RTX 4070 GDDR6's rivals are even more telling. It is within 1.2% of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M and the AMD FirePro W2100, and within 0.6% of the Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 and the NVIDIA GeForce 930M. These are integrated graphics and ancient low-end parts. The RTX 4070 GDDR6's placement in the 25th percentile is a result of the benchmark selection, not its actual capability. The data shows a massive architectural gap that raw scores from different tests cannot directly bridge, but the context of the rivals makes it clear that the RTX 4070 GDDR6 is being compared against a much lower tier of hardware in its percentile ranking.

FAQ

Q: Which card is more powerful based on the benchmark data?

A: The RTX 4070 GDDR6 is significantly more powerful. While it has a lower average benchmark score of 4335 compared to the Quadro P400's 4684, it achieves this on the demanding 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test. The Quadro P400's scores come from Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan tests, which are less representative of heavy 3D rendering. The RTX 4070 GDDR6 also has 5888 shading units versus the Quadro's 256, and 29.15 TFLOPS of FP32 performance versus 641.0 GFLOPS.

Q: What are the major architectural differences?

A: The Quadro P400 is based on the 14 nm Pascal architecture (GP107 chip), while the RTX 4070 GDDR6 uses the 5 nm Ada Lovelace architecture (AD104 chip). The RTX 4070 GDDR6 has 46 ray tracing cores and 184 tensor cores, which the Quadro P400 lacks entirely. It also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, while the Quadro supports DirectX 12 (12_1).

Q: How do their memory specifications compare?

A: The Quadro P400 has 2 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 64-bit bus with 32.06 GB/s bandwidth. The RTX 4070 GDDR6 has 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus with 480.0 GB/s bandwidth. This gives the RTX 4070 GDDR6 roughly 15 times the memory bandwidth.

Q: What are the power and physical requirements for each card?

A: The Quadro P400 has a TDP of 30 W, is a single-slot card, requires no power connectors, and suggests a 200 W PSU. The RTX 4070 GDDR6 has a TDP of 200 W, is a dual-slot card, requires a single 16-pin power connector, and suggests a 550 W PSU.

Q: Which card is better for modern gaming?

A: The RTX 4070 GDDR6 is the only option for modern gaming. Its support for DirectX 12 Ultimate, ray tracing cores, and 29.15 TFLOPS of FP32 performance are essential for current titles. The Quadro P400's 641.0 GFLOPS and lack of dedicated ray tracing hardware make it unsuitable for any modern game.

Q: What is the release date and production status of these cards?

A: The Quadro P400 was released on 2017-02-06 and is end-of-life. The RTX 4070 GDDR6 was released on 2024-08-19 and is also end-of-life. The RTX 4070 GDDR6 has a launch MSRP of 599 USD.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX 4070 GDDR6 wins in every performance-oriented category. Its 29.15 TFLOPS of FP32 power makes it suitable for 3D rendering, video editing, and AI workloads, especially with its 184 tensor cores. The 12 GB of GDDR6 memory and 480.0 GB/s bandwidth allow it to handle large textures and datasets. Its 46 ray tracing cores enable hardware-accelerated ray tracing in supported games and applications. The card's support for DirectX 12 Ultimate ensures compatibility with the latest graphics features. The data shows it has a texture rate of 455.4 GTexel/s and a pixel rate of 158.4 GPixel/s, compared to the Quadro’s 20.03 GTexel/s and 20.03 GPixel/s.

The Quadro P400 wins only in specific, narrow use cases. Its 30 W TDP and lack of power connectors make it ideal for systems with limited power budgets or small form factor cases. Its single-slot design and 150 mm length allow it to fit in tight spaces. The three mini-DisplayPort 1.4a outputs provide multi-display capabilities without requiring a high-performance GPU. Its 27th percentile ranking and nearest rivals, which include the AMD Radeon R5 M320 and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M, show it is only competitive with entry-level parts. The RTX 4070 GDDR6's nearest rivals, including the Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 and the NVIDIA GeForce 930M, are even lower-end, which highlights the benchmark disparity. The RTX 4070 GDDR6 is simply in a different league, and the Quadro P400 should be reserved for legacy systems or basic display tasks where its low power draw and professional driver support are the only advantages.