NVIDIA Quadro M5000M vs NVIDIA Quadro M600M

NVIDIA Quadro M5000M

The Nvidia Quadro M5000M is a high-end, DirectX 12 (FL_12_1) and OpenGL 4.5-compatible graphics card for mobile workstations. It is a Maxwell-based GPU built on the GM204 chip with all 1536 shader cores activated and is manufactured in 28 nm at TSMC. Therefore, the GPU is similar to the consumer Nvidia GeForce GTX 980M. The Quadro M5000M is built for the Intel Skylake generation and is a successor to the Quadro K5100M (Kepler-based). The M5000M usually comes with 8 GB GDDR5 VRAM clocked at 1250 MHz (5000 MHz effective, 160 GB/s opposed to 115.2 GB/s of the K5100M). 

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 compared to GeForce graphics cards of similar specifications.

Performance

As the exact clock speed of the M5000M is still not known, we can only speculate on the performance of the card. However, it is the top model of the mobile Quadro line in 2015 and based on the same chip as the GeForce GTX 980M. Therefore, it should be clearly faster than the old Quadro K5100M.

Using CUDA (Compute Capability 5.2) or OpenCL 1.2, the cores of the Quadro M5000M can be used for general calculations.

Power Consumption

The power consumption of the Quadro M5000M is rated at the same TGP of 100 Watt as the K5100M (including the board and memory components). Therefore, the card is suited for large notebooks with 17-inch displays or greater.

NVIDIA Quadro M600M

The 28nm NVIDIA Quadro M600M is an entry-level DirectX 12 (FL 11_0) and OpenGL 4.5-compatible graphics card for mobile workstations. It is a 1st generation Maxwell GPU that is most likely built on the GM107 architecture with 384 of the 640 shader cores activated. Compared to the older Quadro K620M and consumer GeForce 940M, the GPU offers a 128-Bit memory bus that separates it from the GM108-based K620M. The M600M typically comes with 2 GB GDDR5 VRAM clocked at 1250 MHz (5000 MHz effective at 80 GB/s instead of 16 GB/s on the K620M). 

In the Lenovo Thinkpad P70 the M600M is clocked at 837 - 876 MHz (Boost) for the shaders, and 1253 MHz (5012 MHz effektive) for the 2 GB GDDR5 from Samsung (thanks to our reader John for the GPU-Z screenshot).

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 compared to GeForce graphics cards of similar specifications.

Performance

The Quadro M600M is about 20% faster than the previous Quadro K620M thanks to the wider 128-bit memory interface and pretty much right between the siblings Quadro M500M & Quadro M1000M. The consumer GPU GeForce 940MX is beaten by ~10-15%, while the GeForce GTX 950M is another 20% faster.

Using CUDA (Compute Capability 5.0) or OpenCL 1.2, the cores of the Quadro M600M can be used for general calculations.

Power Consumption

The power consumption of the Quadro M600M is rated at the same 30 Watt TGP as the K620M including the board and memory components. Therefore, the card is also suited for thin and light notebooks.