NVIDIA Quadro K4000M

NVIDIA Quadro K4000M

The NVIDIA Quadro K4000M is a high-end, DirectX 11.1 compatible graphics card for mobile workstations. It is a Kepler-based GPU built on the GK104 chip (but using only 960 shader cores) and is manufactured in 28nm at TSMC. The Quadro K4000M is built for the Intel Chief River generation (Ivy Bridge) and is the successor to the Fermi-based Quadro 4000M (Huron River platform).

The Quadro series offers certified drivers that are optimized for stability and performance in professional applications like CAD or DCC. OpenGL performance, for example, should be significantly better than GeForce graphics cards of similar specifications.

Architecture

The Kepler architecture is the successor to the Fermi architecture that first appeared in laptops with the GeForce 400M series. The GK104 Kepler core offers eight shader blocks, called SMX, that are clocked at the same speed as the central core. In the K4000M, 5 blocks are active leading to the 960 CUDA cores. Although more shader cores are available in the Kepler architecture as compared to the Fermi design, the Kepler shaders are still expected to be up to twice as power efficient. However, due to the missing hot clock of the shader domain, two shaders of a Kepler chip offer similar performance to just one shader of a Fermi chip (as the latter is clocked twice as fast). 

PCIe 3.0 is now supported by the mobile Kepler series and an optional Turbo mode can automatically overclock the Nvidia card by a theoretical 15 percent if the laptop cooling system allows it. The implementation of this boost mode is done in the BIOS, but it is ultimately dependent upon the manufacturer of the laptop.

Performance

The performance is significantly above the level of the older Quadro 5010M and also beats the GeForce GTX 675M. Therefore, the card will manage both CAD software and demanding 3D games of 2012 in high quality settings.

Features

The improved feature set now includes support for up to 4 active displays. Furthermore, high resolution monitors of up to 3840x2160 pixels can now be connected using DisplayPort 1.2 or HDMI 1.4a if available. HD-Audio codecs, such as Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD, can be transmitted via bitstream mode through the HDMI port. However, as most laptops will feature Optimus, the integrated GPU will likely have direct control over the display ports and may limit the feature set available by the Nvidia Kepler cards.

The 5th generation PureVideo HD video processor (VP5) is also integrated in the GK107 core and offers hardware decoding of HD videos. Common codecs such as MPEG-1/2, MPEG-4 ASP, H.264 and VC1/WMV9 are fully supported up to 4K resolutions while VC1 and MPEG-4 are supported up to 1080p. Two streams can be decoded in parallel for features such as Picture-in-Picture. Another novelty is the inclusion of a dedicated video encoding engine similar to Intel QuickSync that can be accessed by the NVENC API.

The power consumption of the K4000M is rated at 100 Watt (TGP according to Nvidia) and is therefore suited for large-sized notebooks 17-inches or greater.

ManufacturerNVIDIA
Quadro K Series

Quadro K5000M

1344 cores @ 706 MHz256 Bit @ 3000 MHz
Quadro K4000M 960 cores @ 600 MHz256 Bit @ 700 MHz

Quadro K3000M

576 cores @ 654 MHz256 Bit @ 700 MHz

Quadro K2000M

384 cores @ 745 MHz128 Bit @ 900 MHz

Quadro K1000M

192 cores @ 850 MHz128 Bit @ 900 MHz

Quadro K500M

192 cores @ 850 MHz64 Bit @ 900 MHz
CodenameN14E-Q3
ArchitectureKepler
Pipelines960 - unified
Core Speed *600 MHz
Shader Speed *600 MHz
Memory Speed *700 MHz
Memory Bus Width256 Bit
Memory TypeGDDR5
Max. Amount of Memory4096 MB
Shared Memoryno
DirectXDirectX 11, Shader 5.0
Current Consumption100 Watt
technology28 nm
FeaturesOptimus, PhysX, Verde Drivers, CUDA, 3D Vision, 3DTV Play
Notebook Sizelarge
Date of Announcement01.06.2012
* The specified clock rates are only guidelines for the manufacturer and can be altered by them.

Benchmarks

3DMark (2013) - Ice Storm Standard Graphics 1280x720
0% 100%
min: 150781     avg: 150781 (54%)     max: 150781 Points
3DMark (2013) - Cloud Gate Standard Graphics 1280x720
0% 100%
min: 19058     avg: 19058 (41%)     max: 19058 Points
3DMark (2013) - Fire Strike Standard Graphics 1920x1080
0% 100%
min: 2199     avg: 2199 (32%)     max: 2199 Points
3DMark 11 - Performance 1280x720
0% 100%
min: 3673     avg: 3760 (29%)     max: 3830 points
3DMark 11 - Performance GPU 1280x720
0% 100%
min: 3413     avg: 3466 (24%)     max: 3519 points
...
Radeon HD 6790 -17%
Radeon HD 7770 -11%
Radeon HD 5850 -2%
Quadro K4000M
GeForce GTX 560 Ti 16%
Radeon HD 6870 22%
...
0%
100%
3DMark Vantage - P Result no PhysX 1280x1024
0% 100%
min: 15362     avg: 15362 (42%)     max: 15362 Points
3DMark Vantage - P GPU no PhysX 1280x1024
0% 100%
min: 14010     avg: 14049.5 (32%)     max: 14089 Points
3DMark 06
0% 100%
min: 19573     avg: 20223 (69%)     max: 20578 Points
Unigine Heaven 2.1 - high, Tesselation (normal), DirectX11 1280x1024
0% 100%
min: 48.5     avg: 48.5 (32%)     max: 48.5 fps
PCMark Vantage - Gaming Score 1024x768
0% 100%
min: 12870     avg: 12870 (49%)     max: 12870 Points
SPECviewperf 11 - Catia 1920x1080
0% 100%
min: 45.63     avg: 45.6 (66%)     max: 45.63 fps
SPECviewperf 11 - Ensight 1920x1080
0% 100%
min: 40.54     avg: 40.5 (68%)     max: 40.54 fps
SPECviewperf 11 - Lightwave 1920x1080
0% 100%
min: 42.84     avg: 42.8 (53%)     max: 42.84 fps
SPECviewperf 11 - Maya 1920x1080
0% 100%
min: 51.35     avg: 51.4 (46%)     max: 51.35 fps
SPECviewperf 11 - Pro/ENGINEER 1920x1080
0% 100%
min: 12.23     avg: 12.2 (71%)     max: 12.23 fps
SPECviewperf 11 - SolidWorks 1920x1080
0% 100%
min: 39.66     avg: 39.7 (61%)     max: 39.66 fps
SPECviewperf 11 - Tcvis 1920x1080
0% 100%
min: 40.33     avg: 40.3 (68%)     max: 40.33 fps
SPECviewperf 11 - Siemens NX 1920x1080
0% 100%
min: 34.67     avg: 34.7 (55%)     max: 34.67 fps
Cinebench R11.5 - OpenGL 64Bit
0% 100%
min: 70.87     avg: 70.9 (81%)     max: 70.87 Points
Cinebench R10 - Shading 32Bit
0% 100%
min: 6804     avg: 6804 (63%)     max: 6804 Points
Windows 7 Experience Index - Graphics
0% 100%
min: 7.6     avg: 7.6 (96%)     max: 7.6 points
Windows 7 Experience Index - Gaming graphics
0% 100%
min: 7.6     avg: 7.6 (96%)     max: 7.6 points
- Range of benchmark values for this graphics card
- Average benchmark values for this graphics card

Game Benchmarks

The following benchmarks stem from our benchmarks of review laptops. The performance depends on the used graphics memory, clock rate, processor, system settings, drivers, and operating systems. So the results don't have to be representative for all laptops with this GPU. For detailled information on the benchmark results, click on the fps number.

Dead Space 3
Dead Space 3 (2013)
low:
337  fps      Compare
med.:
129  fps      Compare
high:
98  fps      Compare
ultra:
57  fps      Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
Far Cry 3 (2012): Playable with a weaker graphics card in detail settings high. - more...
World of Tanks v8
low:
102  fps      Compare
med.:
73  fps      Compare
high:
62  fps      Compare
ultra:
36  fps      Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
Fifa 13 (2012): Playable with a weaker graphics card in detail settings ultra. - more...
Torchlight 2
Torchlight 2 (2012)
low:
98  fps      Compare
med.:
93  fps      Compare
ultra:
86  fps      Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
Guild Wars 2 (2012): Playable with a weaker graphics card in detail settings high. - more...
Dirt Showdown
low:
89  fps      Compare
med.:
81  fps      Compare
high:
78  fps      Compare
ultra:
34  fps      Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
Diablo III
Diablo III (2012)
low:
247  fps      Compare
med.:
183  fps      Compare
high:
158  fps      Compare
ultra:
83  fps      Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
Risen 2: Dark Waters (2012): Playable with a weaker graphics card in detail settings high. - more...
Anno 2070
Anno 2070 (2011)
low:
181  fps      Compare
med.:
90  fps      Compare
high:
54  fps      Compare
ultra:
29  fps      Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (2011): Playable with a weaker graphics card in detail settings ultra. - more...
Battlefield 3
low:
98  fps      Compare
med.:
72  fps      Compare
high:
51  fps      Compare
ultra:
24  fps      Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
Batman: Arkham City (2011): Playable with a weaker graphics card in detail settings high. - more...
Total War: Shogun 2
Total War: Shogun 2 (2011)
low:
228  fps      Compare
med.:
71  fps      Compare
ultra:
24  fps      Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings med..
Call of Duty: Black Ops (2010): Playable with a weaker graphics card in detail settings ultra. - more...
StarCraft 2
StarCraft 2 (2010)
low:
248  fps      Compare
med.:
115  fps      Compare
high:
69  fps      Compare
ultra:
48  fps      Compare