NVIDIA Quadro K4200 vs NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000D Blackwell Max-Q Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The recorded data presents a clear generational split, but the benchmark coverage is uneven. The NVIDIA Quadro K4200 has results in two distinct tests: Geekbench OpenCL and Geekbench Vulkan. The NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000D Blackwell Max-Q has a single result in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. Because the test suites do not overlap, a direct head-to-head comparison on identical workloads is impossible from the database. However, the nature of the tests and the architectural data allow for a qualitative use-case analysis.

The Quadro K4200 wins in legacy and compute-oriented API scenarios. Its Geekbench OpenCL score of 12313 and Geekbench Vulkan score of 12482 place it in a specific performance tier. In the database, this card sits at the 52nd percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 12398. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Tesla K20Xm (averaging 12625, a delta of -1.8%) and the AMD Radeon RX 7600M XT (averaging 12710, a delta of -2.5%). This indicates that for OpenCL and Vulkan computation, the K4200 is competitive with those specific workstation and mobile parts, trailing them by roughly 2% to 3%. It is 3.3% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960A.

The RTX PRO 6000D Blackwell Max-Q wins in modern, high-fidelity DirectX 12 rendering. Its single recorded 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 11088. This places it at the 50th percentile of all GPUs. The nearest rivals in the database for this card are quite telling: the NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q (identical score, 0% delta), the AMD Radeon RX 550 (11075, 0.1% delta), and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER (11047, 0.4% delta). This suggests that in this specific DX12 test, the massive RTX PRO card is performing on par with much smaller and older graphics solutions, which is an unusual result for a top-tier workstation card. The architectural data, however, shows that the RTX PRO 6000D is built for tasks that the K4200 cannot handle, specifically ray tracing and tensor operations.

In summary, the K4200 is the choice for legacy compute workloads measured by Geekbench, while the RTX PRO 6000D is the choice for modern DX12 rendering and any workload that can leverage its dedicated hardware.

FAQ

Q: How do the two cards compare in raw compute benchmarks?

A: The two cards were not tested on the same benchmark. The Quadro K4200 has scores in Geekbench OpenCL (12313) and Geekbench Vulkan (12482), while the RTX PRO 6000D Blackwell Max-Q has a score in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 (11088). Direct comparison is not possible from the recorded data.

Q: What is the performance percentile of each card?

A: The Quadro K4200 sits at the 52nd percentile of all GPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 12398. The RTX PRO 6000D Blackwell Max-Q sits at the 50th percentile, with an average benchmark score of 11088.

Q: Which card has more memory and what type?

A: The Quadro K4200 has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, yielding 172.8 GB/s of bandwidth. The RTX PRO 6000D Blackwell Max-Q has 96 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, yielding 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth.

Q: What is the difference in power requirements?

A: The Quadro K4200 has a TDP of 108 W and uses a single 6-pin power connector, with a suggested power supply of 300 W. The RTX PRO 6000D Blackwell Max-Q has a TDP of 300 W and uses a single 16-pin power connector, with a suggested power supply of 700 W.

Q: Which card supports ray tracing and tensor cores?

A: Only the RTX PRO 6000D Blackwell Max-Q supports these features. It has 188 ray tracing cores and 752 tensor cores. The Quadro K4200 has no such dedicated hardware.

Q: What is the release timeframe for each product?

A: The Quadro K4200 was released on 2014-07-21 and is now end-of-life. The RTX PRO 6000D Blackwell Max-Q was released on 2025-03-17 and is currently an active product.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database contains no overlapping benchmark entries for the Quadro K4200 and the RTX PRO 6000D Blackwell Max-Q. The `headToHeadBenchmarks` array is empty, and the win counts are zero for both. This makes a direct numerical comparison impossible. The analysis must rely on each card's individual performance against its own nearest rivals.

For the Quadro K4200, the strongest recorded wins are in Geekbench Vulkan, where it scores 12482. This is 3.3% higher than the average score of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960A (11998). In Geekbench OpenCL, the K4200 scores 12313. This is 1.8% lower than the NVIDIA Tesla K20Xm (12625) and 2.5% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 7600M XT (12710). The data shows the K4200 is a mid-pack performer in its legacy test suite, outpacing one rival but trailing two others by single-digit percentages.

For the RTX PRO 6000D Blackwell Max-Q, the single recorded score of 11088 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 is essentially tied with its closest rivals. It is 0.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 550 (11075) and 0.4% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER (11047). It is 1.2% behind the AMD FirePro W4300 (11225). The most notable comparison is the 0% delta against the NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell Max-Q, indicating that the "D" variant performs identically in this specific test.

The key takeaway from the head-to-head section is that the database does not provide a common benchmark for these two products. The K4200 shows its strength in OpenCL and Vulkan compute, while the RTX PRO 6000D shows its capability in a modern DX12 workload. Any conclusion about which card is "faster" overall must be drawn from the architectural specifications, not from direct benchmark results.

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every measurable specification, reflecting the 11-year gap between their releases.

Memory Subsystem: The K4200 uses 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus. The RTX PRO 6000D uses 96 GB of GDDR7 on a 512-bit bus. Bandwidth jumps from 172.8 GB/s to 1.79 TB/s.

Processor Cores: The K4200 has 1344 shading units, 112 texture mapping units (TMUs), and 32 raster operations pipelines (ROPs). The RTX PRO 6000D has 24064 shading units, 752 TMUs, and 192 ROPs. The RTX PRO 6000D also adds 188 RT cores and 752 tensor cores, which are absent from the K4200.

Clocks and Fill Rates: The K4200 runs at a base clock of 771 MHz with a boost of 784 MHz. The RTX PRO 6000D runs at a base of 1590 MHz and boosts to 2288 MHz. Pixel rate increases from 21.95 GPixel/s to 439.3 GPixel/s. Texture rate increases from 87.81 GTexel/s to 1,720.6 GTexel/s.

Compute Performance: The K4200 delivers 2.107 TFLOPS of FP32 compute. The RTX PRO 6000D delivers 110.1 TFLOPS of FP32 and 110.1 TFLOPS of FP16 (1:1).

Power and Physical: The K4200 has a TDP of 108 W, is single-slot, uses a 6-pin connector, and has a suggested PSU of 300 W. The RTX PRO 6000D has a TDP of 300 W, is dual-slot, uses a 16-pin connector, and has a suggested PSU of 700 W. The K4200 is 241 mm long, while the RTX PRO 6000D is 267 mm long; both are 111 mm tall, and the RTX PRO 6000D has a width of 40 mm.

Interface and Outputs: The K4200 uses PCIe 2.0 x16 and has outputs of 1x DVI and 2x DisplayPort 1.2. The RTX PRO 6000D uses PCIe 5.0 x16 and has 4x DisplayPort 2.1b outputs.

API Support: The K4200 supports DirectX 12 (11_0), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.2.175. The RTX PRO 6000D supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

Architecture Differences

The architectural gap between these two GPUs is the primary driver of their performance disparity. The K4200 is built on the Kepler architecture, using the GK104 chip. It is fabricated on a 28 nm process at TSMC, with 3,540 million transistors on a 294 mm² die. This yields a transistor density of 12.0M per mm². Kepler is a generation that predates dedicated ray tracing or tensor core hardware. It relies entirely on traditional shader cores for all computation. The chip is a classic design from the Quadro Kepler (Kx200) generation, succeeding Quadro Fermi and preceding Quadro Maxwell.

The RTX PRO 6000D is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture, using the GB202 chip. It is fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC, with 92,200 million transistors on a 750 mm² die. This yields a transistor density of 122.9M per mm², which is over 10 times denser than the K4200. Blackwell represents a modern design with dedicated hardware blocks. The inclusion of 188 RT cores enables hardware-accelerated ray tracing, and the 752 tensor cores enable AI-accelerated workloads like DLSS and other neural network operations. This card belongs to the Blackwell PRO W (x000) generation, with its predecessor being Workstation Ada.

The process node difference is significant. The 28 nm node of the K4200 is a major constraint on both power efficiency and transistor count. The 5 nm node of the RTX PRO 6000D allows for a massive increase in transistor count, enabling the 24,064 shading units and the specialized cores. The memory architecture also reflects a generational leap. The K4200 uses GDDR5, while the RTX PRO 6000D uses GDDR7, which is a newer and faster memory standard. The bus width doubles from 256-bit to 512-bit, further increasing the bandwidth ceiling.

The API support also highlights the architectural evolution. The K4200 is limited to DirectX 12 (11_0) feature level, which lacks many modern rendering features. The RTX PRO 6000D supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), which includes features like mesh shaders, variable rate shading, and DirectX Raytracing. The Vulkan support also differs, with the newer card supporting version 1.4 versus 1.2.175 on the older card. These architectural differences make the RTX PRO 6000D suitable for workloads that simply cannot run on the K4200, such as real-time ray tracing and tensor-based inference.