G3D Mark is a standard benchmark that measures graphics performance in real-world gaming scenarios. It simplifies comparing cards from different brands, where higher scores directly correlate with better fps and smoother gaming experiences.

Head-to-Head Verdict, Benchmarks, Value & Long-Term Outlook

This comparison brings together gaming FPS, raw graphics performance, VRAM, feature set, power efficiency, pricing context, and long-term value so you can see which GPU actually makes more sense.

Quadro K6000

2013

Why buy it

✅50% more VRAM for high-resolution textures and newer games (12 GB vs 8 GB).

Trade-offs

❌Lower average FPS than Quadro M5500 across 49 tracked games in our benchmark data.
❌Poor future-proofing: 2013-era hardware with 12 GB of VRAM is already a legacy-tier option for modern games.
❌
558.1% HIGHER MSRP
$5,265 MSRPvs$800 MSRP
❌Lower G3D Mark per dollar, at 1.5 vs 9.9 G3D/$ ($5,265 MSRP vs $800 MSRP).
❌50% higher power demand at 225W vs 150W.

Quadro M5500

2016

Why buy it

✅7.1% more average FPS across 49 tracked games in our benchmark data.
✅Costs $4,465 less on MSRP ($800 MSRP vs $5,265 MSRP).
✅Delivers 551.7% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 9.9 vs 1.5 G3D/$ ($800 MSRP vs $5,265 MSRP).
✅Draws 150W instead of 225W, a 75W reduction.

Trade-offs

❌Less VRAM, with 8 GB vs 12 GB for high-resolution textures and newer games.
❌Poor future-proofing: 2016-era hardware with 8 GB of VRAM is already a legacy-tier option for modern games.

Quadro K6000

2013

Quadro M5500

2016

Why buy it

✅50% more VRAM for high-resolution textures and newer games (12 GB vs 8 GB).

Why buy it

✅7.1% more average FPS across 49 tracked games in our benchmark data.
✅Costs $4,465 less on MSRP ($800 MSRP vs $5,265 MSRP).
✅Delivers 551.7% more G3D Mark for each dollar spent, at 9.9 vs 1.5 G3D/$ ($800 MSRP vs $5,265 MSRP).
✅Draws 150W instead of 225W, a 75W reduction.

Trade-offs

❌Lower average FPS than Quadro M5500 across 49 tracked games in our benchmark data.
❌Poor future-proofing: 2013-era hardware with 12 GB of VRAM is already a legacy-tier option for modern games.
❌
558.1% HIGHER MSRP
$5,265 MSRPvs$800 MSRP
❌Lower G3D Mark per dollar, at 1.5 vs 9.9 G3D/$ ($5,265 MSRP vs $800 MSRP).
❌50% higher power demand at 225W vs 150W.

Trade-offs

❌Less VRAM, with 8 GB vs 12 GB for high-resolution textures and newer games.
❌Poor future-proofing: 2016-era hardware with 8 GB of VRAM is already a legacy-tier option for modern games.

Quick Answers

So, is Quadro M5500 better than Quadro K6000?

Yes, but this is not really about a huge raw performance gap. Quadro M5500 averages 7.1% more FPS across 49 tracked games in our benchmark data. The broader synthetic picture is also very close at 7,993 vs 7,915 in G3D Mark. The bigger reason to prefer Quadro M5500 is the overall package: you are getting a newer generation, no meaningful modern upscaling stack, plus much lower power draw (150W vs 225W).

Which one is more future-proof for 2026 and beyond?

Quadro K6000 is the more future-proof choice for 2026 and beyond. You are getting more VRAM at 12 GB instead of 8 GB. That extra memory headroom makes it the safer pick for newer games, heavier textures, and higher settings over time.

Which one is the smarter buy today, not just the cheaper card?

Quadro M5500 can still make sense if you find it at the right price, especially around $800 MSRP. Quadro M5500 is still the smarter buy for most people, though, because the raw performance is close while the overall package is cleaner. Quadro M5500 is about $4,465 cheaper on MSRP at $800 MSRP versus $5,265 MSRP, and you are getting 7.1% more estimated average FPS across 49 tracked games in our benchmark data and a lower G3D Mark (7,915 vs 7,993). Quadro K6000 is the more forward-looking alternative, so it still has a real case if you care more about future-proofing than about squeezing out the strongest gaming value today.

When does Quadro K6000 make more sense than Quadro M5500?

Yes. Quadro K6000 is still an excellent gaming GPU in 2026: it is still comfortable for 1080p and decent for 1440p, though 4K is more situational. It makes more sense if your priority is future-proofing and staying closer to $5,265 MSRP more than squeezing out the extra headroom of Quadro M5500. The trade-off is that Quadro M5500 currently gives you a lower G3D Mark (7,915 vs 7,993) and 7.1% more estimated average FPS across 49 tracked games in our benchmark data. It also leads G3D-per-dollar by 551.7%.

Games Benchmarks

Real-world benchmarks and performance projections based on comprehensive hardware analysis and comparative metrics. Values represent expected performance on High/Ultra settings at 1080p, 1440p, and 4K. Modeled using a Ryzen 7 9800X3D reference profile to minimize specific CPU bottlenecks.

Note: Performance behavior can vary per game. Specific architectures may perform better or worse depending on game engine optimizations and API implementation.

Quadro K6000 Benchmark Check

Quadro M5500 Benchmark Check

Path of Exile 2

Preset	Quadro K6000	Quadro M5500
1080p
low	118 FPS	108 FPS
medium	101 FPS	91 FPS
high	86 FPS	78 FPS
ultra	58 FPS	52 FPS
1440p
low	96 FPS	92 FPS
medium	81 FPS	77 FPS
high	62 FPS	59 FPS
ultra	42 FPS	38 FPS
4K
low	38 FPS	36 FPS
medium	34 FPS	33 FPS
high	21 FPS	21 FPS
ultra	18 FPS	18 FPS

Open Quadro K6000 Open Quadro M5500

Path of Exile 2

Path of Exile 2

Counter-Strike 2

Preset	Quadro K6000	Quadro M5500
1080p
low	111 FPS	229 FPS
medium	89 FPS	198 FPS
high	72 FPS	151 FPS
ultra	52 FPS	120 FPS
1440p
low	74 FPS	170 FPS
medium	55 FPS	144 FPS
high	43 FPS	116 FPS
ultra	30 FPS	91 FPS
4K
low	33 FPS	98 FPS
medium	26 FPS	82 FPS
high	24 FPS	69 FPS
ultra	18 FPS	52 FPS

Open Quadro K6000 Open Quadro M5500

Counter-Strike 2

Counter-Strike 2

League of Legends

Preset	Quadro K6000	Quadro M5500
1080p
low	360 FPS	356 FPS
medium	288 FPS	285 FPS
high	240 FPS	237 FPS
ultra	180 FPS	178 FPS
1440p
low	270 FPS	267 FPS
medium	216 FPS	214 FPS
high	180 FPS	178 FPS
ultra	135 FPS	134 FPS
4K
low	180 FPS	178 FPS
medium	144 FPS	142 FPS
high	120 FPS	119 FPS
ultra	90 FPS	89 FPS

Open Quadro K6000 Open Quadro M5500

League of Legends

League of Legends

Valorant

Preset	Quadro K6000	Quadro M5500
1080p
low	213 FPS	234 FPS
medium	183 FPS	202 FPS
high	148 FPS	164 FPS
ultra	122 FPS	140 FPS
1440p
low	163 FPS	183 FPS
medium	141 FPS	159 FPS
high	109 FPS	125 FPS
ultra	86 FPS	104 FPS
4K
low	92 FPS	100 FPS
medium	72 FPS	80 FPS
high	58 FPS	63 FPS
ultra	43 FPS	50 FPS

Open Quadro K6000 Open Quadro M5500

Valorant

Valorant

Check FPS for your specific build

Technical Specifications

Side-by-side comparison of Quadro K6000 and Quadro M5500

Quadro K6000

The Quadro K6000 is manufactured by NVIDIA. It was released in July 23 2013. It features the Kepler architecture. The core clock ranges from 797 MHz to 902 MHz. It has 2880 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 225W. Manufactured using 28 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 7,993 points. Launch price was $5,265.

Quadro M5500

The Quadro M5500 is manufactured by NVIDIA. It was released in April 8 2016. It features the Maxwell 2.0 architecture. The core clock ranges from 1140 MHz to 1165 MHz. It has 2048 shading units. The thermal design power (TDP) is 150W. Manufactured using 28 nm process technology. G3D Mark benchmark score: 7,915 points.

⚡

Graphics Performance

The Quadro K6000 scores 7,993 and the Quadro M5500 reaches 7,915 in the G3D Mark benchmark — just a 1% difference, making them near-identical in rasterization performance. The Quadro K6000 is built on Kepler while the Quadro M5500 uses Maxwell 2.0, both on a 28 nm process. Shader units: 2,880 (Quadro K6000) vs 2,048 (Quadro M5500). Raw compute: 5.196 TFLOPS (Quadro K6000) vs 4.772 TFLOPS (Quadro M5500). Boost clocks: 902 MHz vs 1165 MHz.

Feature	Quadro K6000	Quadro M5500
G3D Mark Score	7,993	7,915
Architecture	Kepler	Maxwell 2.0
Process Node	28 nm	28 nm
Shading Units	2880+41%	2048
Compute (TFLOPS)	5.196 TFLOPS+9%	4.772 TFLOPS
Boost Clock	902 MHz	1165 MHz+29%
ROPs	48	64+33%
TMUs	240+88%	128
L1 Cache	240 KB	768 KB+220%
L2 Cache	1.5 MB	2 MB+33%

✨

Advanced Features (DLSS/FSR)

Feature	Quadro K6000	Quadro M5500
Upscaling Tech	Upscaling support	Upscaling support
Frame Generation	Not Supported	Not Supported
Ray Reconstruction	No	No
Low Latency	Standard	Standard

💾

Video Memory (VRAM)

The Quadro K6000 comes with 12 GB of VRAM, while the Quadro M5500 has 8 GB. The Quadro K6000 offers 50% more capacity, crucial for higher resolutions and texture-heavy games. Bus width: 256-bit vs 256-bit. L2 Cache: 1.5 MB (Quadro K6000) vs 2 MB (Quadro M5500) — the Quadro M5500 has significantly larger on-die cache to reduce VRAM reliance.

Feature	Quadro K6000	Quadro M5500
VRAM Capacity	12 GB+50%	8 GB
Memory Type	GDDR5	GDDR6
Bus Width	256-bit	256-bit
L2 Cache	1.5 MB	2 MB+33%

🖥️

Display & API Support

DirectX support: 11.0 (Quadro K6000) vs 12 (12_1) (Quadro M5500). Vulkan: 1.1 vs 1.2. OpenGL: 4.5 vs 4.6. Maximum simultaneous displays: 4 vs 4.

Feature	Quadro K6000	Quadro M5500
DirectX	11.0	12 (12_1)+9%
Vulkan	1.1	1.2+9%
OpenGL	4.5	4.6+2%
Max Displays	4	4

🎬

Media & Encoding

Hardware encoder: NVENC 1.0 (Quadro K6000) vs NVENC (Maxwell) (Quadro M5500). Decoder: PureVideo HD VP5 vs NVDEC (Maxwell). Supported codecs: MPEG-2,H.264 (Quadro K6000) vs H.264,H.265,VP9,MPEG-2,VC-1 (Quadro M5500).

Feature	Quadro K6000	Quadro M5500
Encoder	NVENC 1.0	NVENC (Maxwell)
Decoder	PureVideo HD VP5	NVDEC (Maxwell)
Codecs	MPEG-2,H.264	H.264,H.265,VP9,MPEG-2,VC-1

🔌

Power & Dimensions

The Quadro K6000 draws 225W versus the Quadro M5500's 150W — a 40% difference. The Quadro M5500 is more power-efficient. Recommended PSU: 350W (Quadro K6000) vs 350W (Quadro M5500). Power connectors: PCIe-powered vs PCIe-powered. Card length: 265mm vs 0mm, occupying 2 vs 0 slots. Typical load temperature: 80°C vs 85.

Feature	Quadro K6000	Quadro M5500
TDP	225W	150W-33%
Recommended PSU	350W	350W
Power Connector	PCIe-powered	PCIe-powered
Length	265mm	0mm
Height	110mm	0mm
Slots	2	0-100%
Temp (Load)	80°C-6%	85
Perf/Watt	35.5	52.8+49%

💰

Value Analysis

The Quadro K6000 launched at $5265 MSRP, while the Quadro M5500 launched at $800. The Quadro M5500 costs 84.8% less ($4465 savings) on MSRP. Performance per dollar on MSRP (G3D Mark / MSRP): 1.5 (Quadro K6000) vs 9.9 (Quadro M5500) — the Quadro M5500 offers 560% better value. The Quadro M5500 is the newer GPU (2016 vs 2013).