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AMD FirePro M4000 vs AMD FirePro M8900

AMD FirePro M4000

► remove from comparison

The AMD FirePro M4000 is a middle-class mobile workstation graphics card with DirectX 11 support. It is based on the same Cape-Verde-chip found in the Radeon HD 7700M series.

Compared to the Radeon consumer line, the FirePro offers certified drivers for professional 3D applications. Due to optimizations and some unlocked features, the performance when using professional applications is more efficient with the FirePro M4000.

The integrated 512 Stream processors of the FirePro M4000 are based on the new GCN-architecture. 

The gaming performance should be slightly faster than the Radeon HD 7750M. Overall, the card is able to run modern games (2012) in medium details and HD resolution fluently.

The FirePro M4000 also supports automatic graphics switching between the integrated GPU and discrete GPU. Called Enduro, the technology supersedes AMD's Dynamic Switchable Graphics and is similar to Nvidia's Optimus. Furthermore, the card can directly support up to 6 connected monitors using Eyefinity Technology if Enduro is disabled.

Other features of the series include ZeroCore for reducing power consumption when the display is turned off and Power Gating to power down areas of the chip that are not used. PowerTune allows automatic overclocking and underclocking of the graphics card as long as the GPU is within its TDP range. For example, the chip may be underclocked when running FurMark and OCCT, but will overclock in certain games like Lost Planet, Crysis or Resident Evil 5.

The integrated HD audio processor is able to transmit HD Audio (TrueHD or DTS Master Audio) over HDMI and DisplayPort (e.g., for Blu-Ray videos). Additionally, it now allows audio to output simultaneously and in parallel to multiple devices with the new Discrete Digital Multipoint Audio (DDMA) feature.

The power consumption of the M4000 should be best suited for notebooks 15 inches or greater.

AMD FirePro M8900

► remove from comparison

The AMD FirePro M8900 is a high-end graphics card for mobile workstations. It is based on the same chip as the Radeon HD 6970M (Blackcomb XT) and therefore offers UVD3 decoding and slightly improved Tessellation performance compared to cards found in the previous generation (e.g., Radeon 6800 series).

Compared to the Radeon consumer line, the FirePro offers certified drivers for professional 3D applications. Due to optimizations and some unlocked features, the performance when running professional applications is highly improved.

The 960 Stream processors should be still based on the "old" 5D architecture, similar to the 5000 series. Due to the different architecture of the FirePro M8900, however, the core count cannot be directly compared to the 1D cores of current Nvidia GPUs. The Stream processors can be used with DirectX 11, OpenGL 4.1, DirectCompute 11 and OpenCL. With the later two, the cores can also be used for general computations like transcoding videos.

The theoretical performance of the FirePro M8900 is similar to the consumer counterpart, the Radeon HD 6970M. However, due to the specialized professional drivers, games may run a bit slower.  The 6970M is able to run modern games in high settings and resolutions fluently (see benchmarks on the HD 6970M page).

The new UVD3 video decoder supports the decoding of MPEG-4 AVC/H.264, VC-1, MPEG-2, Flash and now also Multi-View Codec (MVC) and MPEG-4 part 2 (DivX, xVid) HD videos on the graphics card.

Furthermore, the FirePro M8900 integrates a HD audio controller to transmit HD Audio (TrueHD or DTS Master Audio) over HDMI or DisplayPort (e.g., for Blu-Ray videos).

The AMD HD3D Technology offers support for Blu-Ray 3D and 3D displays (integrated and external). However, the solution is not as mature as Nvidia's 3D Vision.

Thanks to Eyefinity, the M8900 graphics chip is able to theoretically drive up to 5 monitors simultaneously. However, this only works if the laptop features enough DisplayPort outputs.

The power consumption of the chip should be similar to the HD 6970M and is therefore best suited for large laptops (17-inch or greater) with good cooling solutions.

AMD FirePro M4000AMD FirePro M8900
FirePro M Series
FirePro M6100 compare 768 @ 1.1 GHz128 Bit @ 6000 MHz
FirePro M8900 960 @ 0.68 GHz256 Bit @ 900 MHz
FirePro M6000 compare 640 @ 0.75 GHz128 Bit @ 4500 MHz
FirePro M5100 compare 640 @ 0.73 - 0.78 GHz128 Bit @ 4500 MHz
FirePro M4000 512 @ 0.6 GHz128 Bit @ 4500 MHz
FirePro M4100 compare 384 @ 0.67 GHz128 Bit @ 4000 MHz
FirePro M5950 compare 480 @ 0.73 GHz128 Bit @ 900 MHz
FirePro M2000 compare 480 @ 0.5 GHz64 Bit @ 3200 MHz
FirePro M6100 compare 768 @ 1.1 GHz128 Bit @ 6000 MHz
FirePro M8900 960 @ 0.68 GHz256 Bit @ 900 MHz
FirePro M6000 compare 640 @ 0.75 GHz128 Bit @ 4500 MHz
FirePro M5100 compare 640 @ 0.73 - 0.78 GHz128 Bit @ 4500 MHz
FirePro M4000 512 @ 0.6 GHz128 Bit @ 4500 MHz
FirePro M4100 compare 384 @ 0.67 GHz128 Bit @ 4000 MHz
FirePro M5950 compare 480 @ 0.73 GHz128 Bit @ 900 MHz
FirePro M2000 compare 480 @ 0.5 GHz64 Bit @ 3200 MHz
CodenameCape Verde GLMBlackcomb XT
ArchitectureGCNTerascale 2
Pipelines512 - unified960 - unified
Core Speed600 MHz680 MHz
Memory Speed4500 MHz900 MHz
Memory Bus Width128 Bit256 Bit
Memory TypeGDDR5GDDR5
Max. Amount of Memory2048 MB2048 MB
Shared Memorynono
APIDirectX 11, Shader 5.0, OpenGL 4.1DirectX 11, Shader 5.0
Transistors1.5 Billion1.7 Billion
technology28 nm40 nm
FeaturesOpenCL 1.2, 32 TMUs, 16 ROPs
Notebook Sizemedium sizedlarge
Date of Announcement01.07.2012 12.04.2011
Power Consumption75 Watt

Benchmarks

Performance Rating - 3DMark 11 + Fire Strike + Time Spy - FirePro M4000
0.8 pt (2%)
3DMark - 3DMark Cloud Gate Score
7729 Points (8%)
3DMark - 3DMark Cloud Gate Graphics
12587 Points (3%)
3DMark - 3DMark Fire Strike Standard Score
1617 Points (3%)
3DMark - 3DMark Fire Strike Standard Graphics
1713 Points (2%)
3DMark - 3DMark Ice Storm Graphics
94767 Points (11%)
3DMark 11 - 3DM11 Performance Score
min: 2154     avg: 2186     median: 2186 (3%)     max: 2218 Points
3DMark 11 - 3DM11 Performance GPU
min: 1935     avg: 1981     median: 1981 (2%)     max: 2027 Points
3DMark Vantage
3DM Vant. Perf. total + AMD FirePro M4000
3DMark Vantage - 3DM Vant. Perf. total
min: 8611     avg: 8628     median: 8627.5 (3%)     max: 8644 Points
3DM Vant. Perf. GPU no PhysX + AMD FirePro M4000
3DMark Vantage - 3DM Vant. Perf. GPU no PhysX
min: 7942     avg: 7990     median: 7990 (5%)     max: 8038 Points
3DMark 05 - 3DMark 05 - Standard
24574 Points (27%)
3DMark 06 3DMark 06 - Standard 1280x1024 + AMD FirePro M4000
3DMark 06
min: 13689     avg: 13931     median: 13930.5 (18%)     max: 14172 Points
3DMark 06 - Score Unknown Settings + AMD FirePro M8900
3DMark 06
16703 Points (22%)
Unigine Heaven 3.0 - Unigine Heaven 3.0 DX 11
21.3 fps (7%)
Unigine Heaven 3.0 - Unigine Heaven 3.0 OpenGL
17.7 fps (8%)
Unigine Heaven 2.1 - Heaven 2.1 high
min: 28.8     avg: 29.5     median: 29.5 (6%)     max: 30.1 fps
SPECviewperf 11
specvp11 snx-01 + AMD FirePro M4000
SPECviewperf 11 - specvp11 snx-01
min: 23.69     avg: 23.8     median: 23.8 (14%)     max: 23.94 fps
specvp11 tcvis-02 + AMD FirePro M4000
SPECviewperf 11 - specvp11 tcvis-02
min: 18.62     avg: 18.9     median: 18.9 (11%)     max: 19.08 fps
specvp11 sw-02 + AMD FirePro M4000
SPECviewperf 11 - specvp11 sw-02
min: 43.08     avg: 44.5     median: 44.5 (34%)     max: 45.85 fps
specvp11 proe-05 + AMD FirePro M4000
SPECviewperf 11 - specvp11 proe-05
min: 6.01     avg: 6.1     median: 6.1 (7%)     max: 6.27 fps
specvp11 maya-03 + AMD FirePro M4000
SPECviewperf 11 - specvp11 maya-03
min: 52.8     avg: 54.3     median: 54.3 (41%)     max: 55.8 fps
specvp11 lightwave-01 + AMD FirePro M4000
SPECviewperf 11 - specvp11 lightwave-01
min: 55.3     avg: 58.2     median: 58.2 (62%)     max: 61 fps
specvp11 ensight-04 + AMD FirePro M4000
SPECviewperf 11 - specvp11 ensight-04
min: 18.8     avg: 19.2     median: 19.2 (9%)     max: 19.64 fps
specvp11 catia-03 + AMD FirePro M4000
SPECviewperf 11 - specvp11 catia-03
min: 16.28     avg: 17.8     median: 17.8 (9%)     max: 19.37 fps
Windows 7 Experience Index - Win7 Gaming graphics
7.2 Points (91%)
Windows 7 Experience Index - Win7 Graphics
7.2 Points (91%)
Cinebench R10 Cinebench R10 Shading (32bit) + AMD FirePro M4000
Cinebench R10 - Cinebench R10 Shading (32bit)
8477 Points (6%)
Cinebench R11.5 Cinebench R11.5 OpenGL 64 Bit + AMD FirePro M4000
Cinebench R11.5 - Cinebench R11.5 OpenGL 64 Bit
55.4 fps (19%)
LuxMark v2.0 64Bit - LuxMark v2.0 Room GPU
270 Samples/s (1%)
LuxMark v2.0 64Bit - LuxMark v2.0 Sala GPU
470 Samples/s (1%)

Average Benchmarks AMD FirePro M4000 → 0% n=

Average Benchmarks AMD FirePro M8900 → 0% n=

- Range of benchmark values for this graphics card
- Average benchmark values for this graphics card
* Smaller numbers mean a higher performance
1 This benchmark is not used for the average calculation

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 detailed information on the benchmark results, click on the fps number.

low 1280x720
100%
FirePro M4000:
105  fps
med. 1366x768
100%
FirePro M4000:
56  fps
high 1366x768
100%
FirePro M4000:
44  fps
ultra 1920x1080
100%
FirePro M4000:
13  fps
low 1024x768
100%
FirePro M4000:
62  fps
med. 1366x768
100%
FirePro M4000:
23.5  fps
high 1366x768
100%
FirePro M4000:
16.5  fps
ultra 1920x1080
100%
FirePro M4000:
8.1  fps
low 1024x768
100%
FirePro M4000:
32.4  fps
med. 1366x768
100%
FirePro M4000:
23.5  fps
high 1366x768
100%
FirePro M4000:
15  fps
low 1024x768
100%
FirePro M4000:
95  fps
med. 1366x768
100%
FirePro M4000:
47  fps
high 1366x768
100%
FirePro M4000:
38  fps
ultra 1920x1080
100%
FirePro M4000:
23  fps
Torchlight 2

Torchlight 2

2012
low 1024x768
100%
FirePro M4000:
96  fps
med. 1366x768
100%
FirePro M4000:
89  fps
ultra 1920x1080
100%
FirePro M4000:
87  fps
low 1024x768
100%
FirePro M4000:
82  fps
med. 1366x768
100%
FirePro M4000:
51  fps
high 1366x768
100%
FirePro M4000:
40  fps
ultra 1920x1080
100%
FirePro M4000:
19  fps
low 1024x768
100%
FirePro M4000:
129 142.9 ~ 136 fps
med. 1366x768
100%
FirePro M4000:
81.3 93 ~ 87 fps
high 1366x768
100%
FirePro M4000:
56.7 81 ~ 69 fps
ultra 1920x1080
100%
FirePro M4000:
40.4 53 ~ 47 fps
Anno 2070

Anno 2070

2011
low 1024x768
100%
FirePro M4000:
125 147.9 ~ 136 fps
med. 1366x768
100%
FirePro M4000:
51 73.3 ~ 62 fps
high 1366x768
100%
FirePro M4000:
33 43.6 ~ 38 fps
ultra 1920x1080
100%
FirePro M4000:
17 20.9 ~ 19 fps
low 1024x768
100%
FirePro M4000:
57.4  fps
med. 1366x768
100%
FirePro M4000:
41.1  fps
high 1366x768
100%
FirePro M4000:
33  fps
ultra 1920x1080
100%
FirePro M4000:
14.2  fps
low 1024x768
100%
FirePro M4000:
121  fps
med. 1366x768
100%
FirePro M4000:
105  fps
high 1366x768
100%
FirePro M4000:
52  fps
ultra 1920x1080
100%
FirePro M4000:
25  fps
Total War: Shogun 2

Total War: Shogun 2

2011
low 1024x768
100%
FirePro M4000:
111  fps
med. 1280x720
100%
FirePro M4000:
21  fps
ultra 1920x1080
100%
FirePro M4000:
9  fps
low 1024x768
100%
FirePro M4000:
158  fps
med. 1360x768
100%
FirePro M4000:
70  fps
high 1360x768
100%
FirePro M4000:
62  fps
ultra 1920x1080
100%
FirePro M4000:
34  fps
Anno 1404

Anno 1404

2009
low 1024x768
100%
FirePro M4000:
287  fps
ultra 1280x1024
100%
FirePro M4000:
64  fps
World of Warcraft

World of Warcraft

2005
low 800x600
100%
FirePro M4000:
248  fps
med. 1024x768
100%
FirePro M4000:
189  fps
high 1280x1024
100%
FirePro M4000:
57  fps
ultra 1920x1080
100%
FirePro M4000:
24  fps

Average Gaming AMD FirePro M4000 → 100%

Average Gaming 30-70 fps → 100%

AMD FirePro M4000lowmed.highultraQHD4K
BioShock Infinite105564413
Tomb Raider6223.516.58.1
Hitman: Absolution32.423.515
World of Tanks v895473823
Torchlight 2968987
Dirt Showdown82514019
Diablo III136876947
Anno 2070136623819
Battlefield 357.441.13314.2
Batman: Arkham City1211055225
Total War: Shogun 2111219
StarCraft 2158706234
Anno 140428764
World of Warcraft2481895724
< 30 fps
< 60 fps
< 120 fps
≥ 120 fps

2
6
6
3
4
5
1
2
7
2
9
2
2






For more games that might be playable and a list of all games and graphics cards visit our Gaming List

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Redaktion, 2017-09- 8 (Update: 2023-07- 1)