NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q vs NVIDIA RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell Comparison

The NVIDIA RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell and the NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q represent two distinct eras of GPU design, separated by a decade of architectural evolution. The data shows a single head-to-head benchmark, the Geekbench Vulkan test, where the RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell delivers a staggering 610.3% higher score than the GRID M60-1Q, with scores of 221768 and 31220, respectively. This massive delta underscores the generational leap in compute capability, but the GRID M60-1Q’s surprisingly high average benchmark score of 31220, which is nearly identical to the RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell’s average of 31532, paints a more complex picture of their respective positions in the database.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The only direct comparison available in the data is the Geekbench Vulkan test, and the results are lopsided. The RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell scores 221768, while the GRID M60-1Q scores 31220. This translates to a 610.3% advantage for the newer card, a figure that reflects the fundamental differences in their compute architectures and feature sets. The RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell’s Vulkan score is not just a marginal improvement; it is an order-of-magnitude leap, indicating that its modern Blackwell architecture is vastly more efficient at handling the low-level, parallel workloads that Vulkan benchmarks often stress.

However, the aggregate data from the `nearestRivals` field reveals that the GRID M60-1Q is not a slouch in overall database scoring. Its average benchmark score is 31220, which places it within 1% of the RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell’s average of 31532. In fact, the GRID M60-1Q is listed as a nearest rival to the RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell, with a deltaPct of 1, meaning the older card is actually 1% ahead of the newer one in average score. This is a peculiar situation where a single Vulkan test shows a massive win for the newer card, yet their overall average scores are essentially tied. This suggests that the GRID M60-1Q’s average is buoyed by other benchmark results not listed in the head-to-head section, while the RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell’s average is dragged down by its low scores in other legacy tests, such as its Passmark DirectX 12 score of 119.

The RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell’s other benchmark results are a mixed bag. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 7025, and its Passmark G3D score is 33360, with a GPU Compute score of 19255. These are strong numbers for a modern card, but its Passmark DirectX 10, 11, and 9 scores are 204, 320, and 397, respectively, which are unusually low. The GRID M60-1Q’s single listed benchmark in the head-to-head is the Geekbench Vulkan result, which, while massively lower than the RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell’s, still contributes to its high average score. This data suggests that the GRID M60-1Q may have a more consistent performance profile across various tests, while the RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell is heavily optimized for modern APIs.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gulf between these two cards is immense. The RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell is built on the GB203 chip using the Blackwell 2.0 architecture, fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC. In contrast, the GRID M60-1Q uses the GM204 chip with the Maxwell 2.0 architecture, on a 28 nm process, also from TSMC. This process node difference alone—5 nm versus 28 nm—explains a significant portion of the performance and efficiency gap. The RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell packs 45,600 million transistors on a 378 mm² die, yielding a transistor density of 120.6M per mm². The GRID M60-1Q, by comparison, has only 5,200 million transistors on a larger 398 mm² die, resulting in a density of just 13.1M per mm². This is a 9.2x difference in transistor density, which directly translates to the RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell’s ability to house far more compute units.

The compute resources are starkly different. The RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell features 10496 shading units, 328 TMUs, and 112 ROPs. It also includes 82 RT cores and 328 tensor cores, which are entirely absent from the GRID M60-1Q, which has null values for both. The GRID M60-1Q has 2048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. The RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell’s FP32 compute is rated at 50.53 TFLOPS, while the GRID M60-1Q manages just 4.825 TFLOPS. This 10x difference in raw floating-point performance is consistent with the Vulkan benchmark results. The RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell also supports FP16 at a 1:1 ratio with FP32, while the GRID M60-1Q has no listed FP16 performance, indicating it lacks dedicated half-precision throughput.

Memory subsystems are equally divergent. The RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell has 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 896.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GRID M60-1Q has a mere 1024 MB (1 GB) of GDDR5 memory on the same 256-bit bus, providing 160.4 GB/s. The newer card’s memory clocks run at 1750 MHz with 28 Gbps effective, while the older card operates at 1253 MHz with 5 Gbps effective. The RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell also features a PCIe 5.0 x16 interface, whereas the GRID M60-1Q uses PCIe 3.0 x16. In terms of API support, the RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4, while the GRID M60-1Q is limited to DirectX 12 (12_1) and Vulkan 1.4. Both support OpenGL 4.6. The RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell also has display outputs (4x DisplayPort 2.1b), while the GRID M60-1Q has no outputs, indicating its intended use as a server-side virtualization card.

Where Each One Wins

The RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell is the clear winner in any modern, compute-intensive workload. Its 610.3% lead in Geekbench Vulkan demonstrates its superiority in cross-platform graphics and compute APIs. The presence of RT and tensor cores makes it suitable for ray tracing and AI-accelerated tasks, which the GRID M60-1Q cannot handle at all. Its massive 32 GB memory pool and 896.0 GB/s bandwidth are essential for large datasets and high-resolution textures. The newer card’s 50.53 TFLOPS FP32 performance is a generational leap over the GRID M60-1Q’s 4.825 TFLOPS, making it the obvious choice for rendering, simulation, and machine learning inference.

The GRID M60-1Q’s wins are more subtle and rooted in its legacy positioning. Despite its age, its average benchmark score of 31220 is within 1% of the RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell’s average of 31532, and it is 0% to 0.4% ahead of the NVIDIA Quadro M5000 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER in the nearestRivals data. This suggests that for certain legacy or DirectX 11-era workloads, the GRID M60-1Q remains competitive. Its 225 W TDP is slightly higher than the RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell’s 200 W, but both require a 550 W suggested PSU. The GRID M60-1Q’s lack of display outputs makes it a specialist for virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), where raw compute for cloud rendering is more important than local output. It is an end-of-life product, but its benchmark profile shows it can still hold its own in aggregate scoring, likely due to its consistent performance in older DirectX tests that the newer card handles poorly.

FAQ

Q: How much faster is the NVIDIA RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell in Vulkan than the GRID M60-1Q?

A: The RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell scores 221768 in Geekbench Vulkan, while the GRID M60-1Q scores 31220. This makes the RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell 610.3% faster in this specific test.

Q: Do the two cards have similar average benchmark scores?

A: Yes, the RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell has an average benchmark score of 31532, while the GRID M60-1Q has an average of 31220. The GRID M60-1Q is actually 1% ahead of the RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell according to the nearestRivals deltaPct.

Q: What are the key architectural differences between the two GPUs?

A: The RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell uses the GB203 chip on a 5 nm process with 45,600 million transistors and 10496 shading units. The GRID M60-1Q uses the GM204 chip on a 28 nm process with 5,200 million transistors and 2048 shading units. The RTX PRO 4500 also has 82 RT cores and 328 tensor cores, which the GRID M60-1Q lacks entirely.

Q: Which card has more memory bandwidth?

A: The RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell has 896.0 GB/s of bandwidth with 32 GB of GDDR7 memory. The GRID M60-1Q has 160.4 GB/s with 1024 MB of GDDR5 memory.

Q: Is the GRID M60-1Q a good option for modern gaming?

A: The data does not support that. The GRID M60-1Q has no display outputs and is an end-of-life product. Its DirectX support is limited to 12 (12_1), and it lacks RT and tensor cores, making it unsuitable for modern gaming features.

Q: What is the production status of each card?

A: The RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell is listed as "Active" with a release date of 2025-03-17, while the GRID M60-1Q is listed as "End-of-life" with a release date of 2015-08-29.

The Verdict

The data makes the choice clear for any modern workload. The NVIDIA RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell is the superior card by every measure of contemporary performance. Its 610.3% lead in the Geekbench Vulkan test, combined with its 10x advantage in FP32 compute (50.53 TFLOPS vs 4.825 TFLOPS), 32 GB of GDDR7 memory, and support for ray tracing via RT cores, makes it the only viable option for professionals working with current software. The presence of tensor cores further extends its utility to AI and deep learning tasks, areas where the GRID M60-1Q is completely non-functional.

The NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q should only be considered in the narrow context of legacy VDI deployments or as a placeholder for basic compute tasks where its average benchmark score of 31220, which is within 1% of the RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell’s average, might seem acceptable. However, this is misleading. The GRID M60-1Q’s lack of display outputs, its end-of-life status, and its 1 GB memory capacity render it obsolete for any modern application. Its 4.825 TFLOPS FP32 performance is a fraction of the newer card’s capability. While the aggregate scores are close, the RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell’s low scores in legacy Passmark DirectX tests (e.g., 119 in DX12) suggest it is optimized for modern APIs, whereas the GRID M60-1Q likely performs better in older, less demanding tests, inflating its average. For any user looking at the future, the RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell is the only rational choice, as the GRID M60-1Q belongs to a bygone era of GPU architecture.