Notebookcheck Logo

NVIDIA Quadro M520

The Nvidia Quadro M520 is a DirectX 12 (FL 11_0) and OpenGL 4.5-compatible graphics card for mobile workstations. It is a Maxwell-based GPU built on the GM108 chip with 384 shader cores and manufactured in 28 nm by TSMC. That means its similar to the Quadro M500M (DDR3) but uses faster GDDR5 memory. The GeForce 940MX with GDDR5 memory is the consumer variant of the Quadro M520.

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 with GeForce graphics cards of similar specifications.

Architecture

Compared to Kepler, Maxwell has been optimized in several details to increase power efficiency. Smaller Streaming Multiprocessors (SMM) with only 128 ALUs (Kepler: 192) and an optimized scheduler should lead to better utilization of the shaders. Nvidia promises that a Maxwell SMM with 128 ALUs can offer 90% of the performance of a Kepler SMX with 192 ALUs. GM108 features 3 SMMs and thus 384 shader cores, 24 TMUs and 8 ROPs (64-bit interface).

Another optimization is the massively enlarged L2 cache. The larger size can reduce some of the memory traffic to allow for a relatively narrow memory interface without significantly hurting performance.

GM108 supports DirectX 11.2 (feature level 11.0 only) as well as DirectX 12.

Performance

Currently the clock speeds are not known of the M520 variant. They should be similar to the consumer 940 MX with GDDR5. Therefore, the performance should be similar to the Quadro K620M.

Features

The feature set should include support for up to four active displays. High-resolution monitors of up to 3840x2160 pixels can be connected using DisplayPort 1.2 or HDMI 1.4a (HDMI 2.0 not supported). 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.

Using CUDA or OpenCL, the cores of the Quadro M520 can be used for general calculations.

GM108 integrates the sixth generation of the PureVideo HD video engine (VP6), offering a better decoding performance for H.264 and MPEG-2 videos. Of course, VP6 supports all features of previous generations (4K support, PIP, video encoding via NVENC API).

Power Consumption

The power consumption of the Quadro M520 is rated at 25 Watt TGP (max power consumption including memory and board). That is slightly below the M500M that is rated at 30 Watt. Therefore, the GPU is best suited for laptops 13 - 14-inches in size and above. The M500M also supports Optimus to automatically switch between an integrated graphics card and the Nvidia GPU.

Quadro M Series

Quadro M5500 compare 2048 @ 1.14 - 1.14 GHz256 Bit @ 6606 MHz
Quadro M5000M compare 1536 @ 0.96 - 1.05 GHz256 Bit @ 5000 MHz
Quadro M4000M compare 1280 @ 0.98 - 1.01 GHz256 Bit @ 5012 MHz
Quadro M3000M compare 1024 @ 1.05 GHz256 Bit @ 5000 MHz
Quadro M2200 compare 1024 @ 0.69 - 1.04 GHz128 Bit @ 5508 MHz
Quadro M1200 compare 640 @ 0.99 - 1.15 GHz128 Bit @ 5000 MHz
Quadro M2000M compare 640 @ 1.04 - 1.2 GHz128 Bit @ 5000 MHz
Quadro M1000M compare 512 @ 0.99 - 1.07 GHz128 Bit @ 5000 MHz
Quadro M620 compare 512 @ 1.02 GHz128 Bit @ 5012 MHz
Quadro 5010M compare 384 @ 0.45 GHz256 Bit @ 1300 MHz
Quadro 4000M compare 336 @ 0.48 GHz256 Bit @ 1200 MHz
Quadro M520 384 @ 0.76 - 1.02 GHz64 Bit
Quadro M600M compare 384 @ 0.84 - 0.88 GHz128 Bit @ 5012 MHz
Quadro M500M compare 384 @ 1.03 - 1.12 GHz64 Bit @ 4004 MHz
Quadro 5000M compare 320 @ 0.41 GHz256 Bit @ 1200 MHz
Quadro 3000M compare 240 @ 0.45 GHz256 Bit @ 625 MHz
Quadro 2000M compare 192 @ 0.55 GHz128 Bit @ 900 MHz
Quadro 1000M compare 96 @ 0.7 GHz128 Bit @ 900 MHz
ArchitectureMaxwell
Pipelines384 - unified
Core Speed756 - 1019 (Boost) MHz
Memory Bus Width64 Bit
Memory TypeGDDR5
Max. Amount of Memory1024 MB
Shared Memoryno
APIDirectX 12 (FL 11_0), Shader 5.0, OpenGL 4.5
Power Consumption25 Watt
technology28 nm
FeaturesOptimus, PhysX, 3D Vision Pro, nView, Optimus
Notebook Sizemedium sized
Date of Announcement13.01.2017
Link to Manufacturer Pagewww.nvidia.de

Benchmarks

Performance Rating - 3DMark 11 + Fire Strike + Time Spy
1.1 pt (3%)
3DMark Vantage
3DM Vant. Perf. total +
3DM Vant. Perf. GPU no PhysX +
3DMark 06 3DMark 06 - Standard 1280x1024 +
SPECviewperf 11
specvp11 snx-01 +
specvp11 tcvis-02 +
specvp11 sw-02 +
specvp11 proe-05 +
specvp11 maya-03 +
specvp11 lightwave-01 +
specvp11 ensight-04 +
specvp11 catia-03 +
SPECviewperf 12
specvp12 sw-03 +
specvp12 snx-02 +
specvp12 showcase-01 +
specvp12 mediacal-01 +
specvp12 maya-04 +
specvp12 energy-01 +
specvp12 creo-01 +
specvp12 catia-04 +
specvp12 3dsmax-05 +
Cinebench R10 Cinebench R10 Shading (32bit) +
Cinebench R11.5 Cinebench R11.5 OpenGL 64 Bit +
Cinebench R15
Cinebench R15 OpenGL 64 Bit +
Cinebench R15 OpenGL Ref. Match 64 Bit +
GFXBench (DX / GLBenchmark) 2.7
GFXBench T-Rex HD Offscreen C24Z16 +
- Range of benchmark values for this graphics card
- Average benchmark values for this graphics card
* Smaller numbers mean a higher performance

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.

Prey

Prey

2017
low 1280x720
85.4  fps    + Compare
med. 1920x1080
32.8  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
26.7  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
22  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings low.
low 1280x720
38.1  fps    + Compare
med. 1920x1080
14.3  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
12  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
3.6  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings low.
For Honor

For Honor

2017
low 1280x720
64.6  fps    + Compare
med. 1920x1080
23  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
21.9  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
15.9  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings low.
low 1280x720
84  fps    + Compare
med. 1920x1080
40  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
22.1  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
6.6  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings med..
low 1280x720
72.2  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
52.5  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
21.3  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
17.3  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings med..
low 1280x720
183.1  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
120.6  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
49.8  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
32.1  fps    + Compare
4K 3840x2160
13.7  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
low 1280x720
56.4  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
43.9  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
33  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
28.2  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings med..
low 1024x768
50.8  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
30.4  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
15.2  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
11.7  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings low.
low 1280x720
27.2  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
21  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
11.6  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
5.3  fps    + Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
low 1280x768
23.6  fps    + Compare
med. 1920x1080
14.3  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
12  fps    + Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
low 1280x720
52.2  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
31.8  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
14.8  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
11.2  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings low.
low 1280x720
46  fps    + Compare
med. 1920x1080
20  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
18  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
12  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings low.
low 1024x768
30  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
21.5  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
13.3  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
11.7  fps    + Compare
» The benchmarks indicate that the game is not playable in the tested settings.
low 1024x768
94.5  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
60.1  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
31.8  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
22.8  fps    + Compare
4K 3840x2160
8.1  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings med..
low 1024x768
78.2  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
48.9  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
22.3  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
19.1  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings med..
Anno 2205

Anno 2205

2015
low 1024x768
60.1  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
36.2  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
17.7  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
7.4  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings med..
low 1366x768
135.6  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
108.1  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
54  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
36.7  fps    + Compare
4K 3840 x 2160
11  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings ultra.
low 1024x768
145.6  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
75.1  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
40.5  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
18.7  fps    + Compare
4K 3840x2160
14.7  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
low 1024x768
81.1  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
74.2  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
30.4  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
19.6  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings med..
low 1024x768
68.2  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
51.7  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
18.3  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
12.2  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings med..
low 1280x720
54.6  fps    + Compare
med. 1344x756
32.9  fps    + Compare
high 1920x1080
22.8  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
16.2  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings low.
low 1280x720
138.2  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
76.9  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
64.1  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
24.2  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
low 1024x768
188.1  fps    + Compare
med. 1366x768
97.9  fps    + Compare
high 1366x768
59.5  fps    + Compare
ultra 1920x1080
28.8  fps    + Compare
» With all tested laptops playable in detail settings high.
lowmed.highultraQHD4K
Prey85.432.826.722
Ghost Recon Wildlands38.114.3123.6
For Honor64.62321.915.9
Resident Evil 7844022.16.6
Titanfall 272.252.521.317.3
Farming Simulator 17183.1120.649.832.113.7
Battlefield 156.443.93328.2
Civilization VI50.830.415.211.7
Deus Ex Mankind Divided27.22111.65.3
Ashes of the Singularity23.614.312
The Division52.231.814.811.2
Far Cry Primal46201812
Rise of the Tomb Raider3021.513.311.7
Rainbow Six Siege94.560.131.822.88.1
Star Wars Battlefront78.248.922.319.1
Anno 220560.136.217.77.4
World of Warships135.6108.15436.711
Dirt Rally145.675.140.518.714.7
Battlefield Hardline81.174.230.419.6
Dragon Age: Inquisition68.251.718.312.2
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor54.632.922.816.2
BioShock Infinite138.276.964.124.2
Tomb Raider188.197.959.528.8
< 30 fps
< 60 fps
< 120 fps
≥ 120 fps
2
7
9
5
6
10
6
1
15
7
1
20
2




4


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

Add one or more devices and compare

In the following list you can select (and also search for) devices that should be added to the comparison. You can select more than one device.

restrict list:

show all (including archived), 2024, 2023
v1.26
log 16. 15:34:03

#0 no ids found in url (should be separated by "_") +0s ... 0s

#1 not redirecting to Ajax server +0s ... 0s

#2 did not recreate cache, as it is less than 5 days old! Created at Sat, 16 Mar 2024 05:38:32 +0100 +0.001s ... 0.001s

#3 composed specs +0.04s ... 0.041s

#4 did output specs +0s ... 0.041s

#5 start showIntegratedCPUs +0s ... 0.041s

#6 getting avg benchmarks for device 7710 +0.027s ... 0.068s

#7 got single benchmarks 7710 +0.009s ... 0.077s

#8 got avg benchmarks for devices +0s ... 0.077s

#9 min, max, avg, median took s +0.75s ... 0.827s

#10 before gaming benchmark output +0s ... 0.827s

#11 Got 95 rows for game benchmarks. +0.007s ... 0.835s

#12 composed SQL query for gamebenchmarks +0s ... 0.835s

#13 got data and put it in $dataArray +0.015s ... 0.85s

#14 benchmarks composed for output. +0.777s ... 1.626s

#15 return log +0.067s ... 1.693s

Notebook reviews with NVIDIA Quadro M520 graphics card

Lenovo ThinkPad P51s (Core i7, 4K) Workstation Review

Lenovo ThinkPad P51s (Core i7, 4K) Workstation Review

Enduring. Lenovo's mobile ThinkPad P51s workstation is slimmer and more compact than its predecessor. The device can now also offer a modern Thunderbolt 3 inter...
Intel Core i7-7600U | NVIDIA Quadro M520 | 15.60" | 2.2 kg

Lenovo ThinkPad P51s 20HB000URT: Intel Core i7-7500U, 15.60", 2.5 kg
  External Review » Lenovo ThinkPad P51s 20HB000URT

Lenovo ThinkPad P51s 20HB000SGE: Intel Core i7-7600U, 15.60", 2.2 kg
  External Review » Lenovo ThinkPad P51s 20HB000SGE

Please share our article, every link counts!

» Comparison of GPUs
Detailed list of all laptop GPUs sorted by class and performance.

» Benchmark List
Sort and restrict laptop GPUs based on performance in synthetic benchmarks.

» Notebook Gaming List
Playable games for each graphics card and their average FPS results.

Class 0

Arc A380

Class 1

Class 2

Radeon PRO W6600M *

Class 3

UHD Graphics 32EUs
UHD Graphics 750

Class 4

Class 5

* Approximate position of the graphics adapter

> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > Benchmarks / Tech > Comparison of Laptop Graphics Cards > NVIDIA Quadro M520 GPU - Benchmarks and Specs
Klaus Hinum (Update: 2017-04-21)