NVIDIA Quadro P4000 Max-Q

The NVIDIA Quadro P4000 Max-Q is a mobile workstation GPU built on the Pascal architecture, fabricated on TSMC's 16 nm process. It packs 7,200 million transistors onto a 314 mm² die, with a transistor density of 22.9 million per square millimeter. Released on January 10, 2017, this MXM-Module card is now end-of-life, occupying a niche between the earlier Quadro Maxwell-M generation and the later Quadro Turing-M line. With a 100 W TDP and no external power connectors, it was designed for portable workstations, though its display outputs are dependent on the host device. The data shows a GPU that sits at the 50th percentile of all GPUs, indicating a balanced mid-range positioning rather than a top-tier performer.

Benchmark Performance

Without direct benchmark scores, the P4000 Max-Q's performance must be inferred from its compute and rasterization specifications. The GPU delivers 4.401 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, a figure that places it comfortably in the mainstream segment for its era. Its texture rate of 137.5 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 78.59 GPixel/s suggest it can handle high-resolution texture mapping and pixel fill operations without stalling, though these numbers are modest compared to later generations. The shading unit count of 1,792, paired with 112 texture mapping units and 64 ROPs, provides a balanced throughput for both geometry and fragment work. In practice, this configuration would allow the card to manage complex CAD models and moderate gaming loads, but it would struggle with extreme compute workloads that demand higher FP32 throughput.

A notable weakness is the FP16 performance of 68.77 GFLOPS, which is a 1:64 ratio relative to FP32. This is exceptionally low, meaning any workload relying on half-precision arithmetic — common in AI inference or certain scientific simulations — would be severely penalized. The boost clock of 1228 MHz and base clock of 1114 MHz are conservative, reflecting the power constraints of a 100 W mobile design. The 50th percentile standing among all GPUs underscores that while the P4000 Max-Q is not a laggard, it does not break new ground. For its time, it offered competent performance for professional applications, but the data indicates that it is outclassed by both earlier high-end Maxwell parts and the subsequent Turing line.

Ray Tracing and Feature Set

The P4000 Max-Q has no dedicated ray tracing cores and no tensor cores — both fields are null in the specification. This is consistent with its Pascal architecture, which predates NVIDIA's Turing generation that introduced hardware-accelerated ray tracing. Consequently, any ray tracing workloads would rely on software implementations, which are typically too slow for real-time use. The GPU does support DirectX 12 (feature level 12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, providing broad API compatibility for contemporary applications. However, without RT cores, features like DLSS or hardware-accelerated ray-traced shadows are absent. The card's feature set is therefore limited to traditional rasterization and compute, which is adequate for many professional visualization tasks but not for modern ray-traced content. The absence of tensor cores also rules out any AI-accelerated denoising or upscaling, a capability that would become standard in later professional GPUs.

Memory Subsystem

The memory configuration consists of 8 GB of GDDR5 running at an effective 6 Gbps, with a 256-bit bus. This yields a total bandwidth of 192.3 GB/s. For a mobile workstation, 8 GB is a reasonable capacity for handling large datasets and multi-monitor setups, though it may be limiting for very large simulations or 8K texture packs. The bandwidth figure is moderate; while it is sufficient for 1440p and some 4K workloads, it could become a bottleneck when pushing high resolutions with heavy texture filtering or when using multiple displays. The memory clock of 1502 MHz (6 Gbps effective) is typical for GDDR5 of that era, but the 256-bit bus helps offset the lower per-pin speed. Compared to later GDDR6 solutions, this bandwidth is modest, but for its release date, it was competitive within the mobile segment. The 8 GB capacity also ensures that the GPU can handle professional applications that require large frame buffers, such as video editing or 3D rendering, without immediately spilling into system memory.

How It Compares

Given the absence of direct rival data, the P4000 Max-Q's position is best understood through its generational context and overall percentile ranking. Its predecessor, the Quadro Maxwell-M, would have offered similar rasterization capabilities but likely with lower transistor counts and memory bandwidth. The P4000 Max-Q improves on that with a more modern Pascal architecture, which brings better power efficiency and higher clock speeds. However, its successor, the Quadro Turing-M, introduces hardware ray tracing and tensor cores, along with a significant leap in compute performance. The data shows that the P4000 Max-Q sits exactly at the 50th percentile of all GPUs, meaning half of the GPUs in the database are faster and half are slower. This places it as a mid-range solution, not a flagship but not an entry-level part either. For a mobile workstation, this balance is often desirable, offering enough performance for demanding tasks while maintaining a modest 100 W TDP. The lack of power connectors and reliance on the host system's power delivery further underscores its mobile-first design. Compared to desktop counterparts of the same era, it would likely be slower due to thermal and power constraints, but within the mobile landscape, it holds its own.

FAQ

Q: What is the FP32 compute performance of the Quadro P4000 Max-Q?

A: The GPU delivers 4.401 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, which is a solid figure for a 100 W mobile workstation card.

Q: Does the Quadro P4000 Max-Q support hardware ray tracing?

A: No. The specification lists no RT cores, and the Pascal architecture predates NVIDIA's Turing generation that introduced dedicated ray tracing hardware.

Q: How much memory does it have and what is its bandwidth?

A: It has 8 GB of GDDR5 memory with a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 192.3 GB/s.

Q: What is the process node and die size?

A: It is fabricated on a 16 nm process at TSMC, with a die size of 314 mm² and a transistor count of 7,200 million.

Q: What is the bus interface for this card?

A: It uses an MXM-B (3.0) interface, which is a standard for mobile GPUs, and the card itself is an MXM Module.

Q: When was the Quadro P4000 Max-Q released?

A: It was released on January 10, 2017, and is now marked as end-of-life, with the Quadro Turing-M as its successor.