AMD Radeon RX Vega 2 vs NVIDIA Quadro M5000M vs NVIDIA Quadro M1000M

AMD Radeon RX Vega 2

The AMD Radeon RX Vega 2 is an integrated GPU for laptops. It is used for the entry level Athlon Silver 3050U APUs, which were launched in early 2020. The GPU is based on the Vega architecture (5th generation GCN) and has 2 CUs (= 128 of the 704 shaders) clocked at up to 1100 MHz. The performance depends on the configured TDP (12-25 W at launch), the clocks, the cooling, and the memory configuration). The GPU should benefit from fast dual-channel DDR4-2400 RAM (contrary to DDR4-2133 single-channel, which is also possible).

The Vega architecture offers some improvements over the Polaris generation and now supports DirectX 12 Feature Level 12_1. More information is available in our dedicated article about the Raven Ridge architecture.

The performance should be clearly lower than the Radeon RX Vega 3 with 3 CUs and therefore in the lowest performance region of modern GPUs. That means, demanding current games may not be playable fluently.

Thanks to the 12nm process and clever power-saving features, the power consumption is comparatively low (according to AMD), so the graphics card can also be used for slim and light notebooks.

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 M1000M

The 28nm NVIDIA Quadro M1000M is a mid-range DirectX 12 (FL 11_0) and OpenGL 4.5-compatible graphics card for mobile workstations. It is a 1st generation Maxwell-based GPU built on the GM107 architecture with 512 of the 640 shader cores activated. Therefore, the GPU is not similar to any current consumer card. The Geforce GTX 950M, for example, uses the full 640 shader cores. The Quadro M1000M is built for the Intel Skylake generation as the successor to the Kepler-based Quadro K1100M. The M1000M typically comes with 2 GB GDDR5 VRAM clocked at 1250 MHz (5000 MHz effective at 80 GB/s compared to 44.8 GB/s on the K1100M). 

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 M1000M is still not known, we can only speculate on the performance of the card. However, it is a lower mid-range model from the mobile Quadro line in 2015. It should be slower than the GTX 950M in 3D gaming due to the lower shader count, but should easily outperform the old Quadro K1100M.

Using CUDA (Compute Capability 5.0) or OpenCL 1.2, the cores of the Quadro M1000M can be used for general calculations.

Power Consumption

The power consumption of the Quadro M1000M is rated for a 40 Watt TGP including the board and memory components, which is 5 Watt lower than the K1100M. Therefore, the card is suited for 15-inch notebooks and greater.