AMD Instinct MI300 vs AMD Radeon 740M Comparison

The Verdict

The data in the database presents a stark contrast between two entirely different AMD products. The AMD Instinct MI300 is a data center accelerator with no recorded benchmark scores, while the AMD Radeon 740M is an integrated graphics processor with two recorded test results. The MI300 holds no wins in head-to-head comparisons, and the 740M also holds no wins, as there are no direct head-to-head benchmarks between the two. The MI300 is positioned for compute workloads requiring massive memory capacity and bandwidth, whereas the 740M is designed for everyday graphics and display output.

For users seeking a processor with active graphics output, the Radeon 740M is the only viable option, as the Instinct MI300 has no display outputs. The 740M shows an average benchmark score of 12,870 across its two tests, placing it at the 53rd percentile of all GPUs in the database. The Instinct MI300, with an average benchmark score of zero and a 50th percentile ranking, has no recorded performance data to compare directly. The MI300 targets server racks with its 600 W power draw and dual 8-pin connectors, while the 740M operates within a 45 W envelope and requires no power connectors, making it suitable for thin laptops.

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Radeon 740M wins in any scenario requiring a display output. It supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, whereas the Instinct MI300 lists N/A for all three graphics APIs. The 740M also has a production status of Active, while the MI300 has no recorded production status. For mobile computing, the 740M's 45 W TDP and integrated design (IGP slot width) allow it to function without external power connectors, a capability the MI300 lacks with its 600 W TDP and 2x 8-pin power requirement.

The Instinct MI300 wins in raw compute capacity. Its FP32 performance is 47.87 TFLOPS compared to the 740M's 2.867 TFLOPS, a 16.7x difference. The MI300 offers 128 GB of HBM3 memory with 5.32 TB/s bandwidth over an 8192-bit bus, while the 740M relies on system shared memory with bandwidth described as system dependent. The MI300's texture rate of 1,496.0 GTexel/s vastly exceeds the 740M's 44.80 GTexel/s. The MI300 also has 14,080 shading units, 880 texture mapping units, and zero ROPs, while the 740M has 256 shading units, 16 TMUs, and 8 ROPs.

The MI300 uses a PCIe 5.0 x16 interface, double the lanes and newer generation than the 740M's PCIe 4.0 x8. For workloads that fit in memory, the MI300's 128 GB capacity dwarfs any system shared allocation the 740M could access. The 740M does have 4 ray tracing cores, a feature the MI300 does not list, suggesting the accelerator omits RT hardware entirely.

Architecture Differences

The two chips come from different architectural families. The Instinct MI300 uses CDNA 3.0 architecture with the Aqua Vanjaram chip, while the Radeon 740M uses RDNA 3.0 with the Phoenix2 chip. The MI300 belongs to the Instinct generation, and the 740M belongs to the Navi III IGP generation. Manufacturing processes differ: the MI300 uses a 5 nm TSMC node, and the 740M uses a 4 nm TSMC node. Transistor counts are 153,000 million for the MI300 versus 20,900 million for the 740M. Die sizes are 1017 mm² versus 137 mm², giving transistor densities of 150.4M per mm² and 152.6M per mm² respectively, nearly identical density despite the massive size difference.

Clock behavior diverges significantly. The MI300 has a base clock of 1000 MHz and a boost of 1700 MHz, while the 740M runs at 800 MHz base and 2800 MHz boost. The 740M's higher boost clock compensates partially for its smaller shader count. Memory clocks also differ: the MI300 runs at 1300 MHz with 5.2 Gbps effective data rate on HBM3, while the 740M uses system shared memory with no dedicated clock.

The MI300 has no display outputs, no ROPs, and a pixel rate of 0 MPixel/s, indicating it exists solely for compute. The 740M has 8 ROPs, a pixel rate of 22.40 GPixel/s, and motherboard dependent display outputs. The MI300 measures 267 mm in length and 111 mm in height, typical for an accelerator card, while the 740M has no recorded dimensions because it is an integrated processor soldered to a motherboard. Power delivery differs: the MI300 requires a 1000 W suggested PSU and 2x 8-pin connectors, while the 740M has no connectors and no suggested PSU.

Release dates are about a year apart: the MI300 launched on 2023-01-03, and the 740M on 2024-01-30. The MI300's predecessor is Radeon Instinct, while the 740M's predecessor is Navi II IGP and its successor is Navi III IGP. The MI300 has no listed successor. The 740M supports 12 Ultimate (12_2) DirectX, 4.6 OpenGL, and 1.4 Vulkan, while the MI300 lists N/A for all APIs, confirming its compute-only nature.

FAQ

Q: Does the AMD Instinct MI300 have any benchmark scores in the database?

A: No. The MI300 has an empty benchmarks array, an average benchmark score of 0, and no nearest rivals listed. The Radeon 740M, by contrast, has two recorded scores: 10,172 in Geekbench OpenCL and 15,568 in Geekbench Vulkan.

Q: Which GPU has a higher FP32 compute throughput?

A: The Instinct MI300 delivers 47.87 TFLOPS FP32, while the Radeon 740M delivers 2.867 TFLOPS. The MI300's FP16 performance is also 47.87 TFLOPS with a 1:1 ratio, same as its FP32 rate.

Q: Can the Instinct MI300 be used for gaming or display output?

A: No. The MI300 lists "No outputs" for display outputs, N/A for DirectX, OpenGL, and Vulkan, and has a pixel rate of 0 MPixel/s. The Radeon 740M supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4 with motherboard dependent outputs.

Q: How do the memory subsystems compare?

A: The MI300 has 128 GB of HBM3 memory with an 8192-bit bus and 5.32 TB/s bandwidth. The 740M uses system shared memory with system dependent bandwidth and no dedicated bus width. This gives the MI300 a massive advantage for large data sets.

Q: What is the power requirement difference?

A: The MI300 has a 600 W TDP and requires a 1000 W suggested PSU with 2x 8-pin connectors. The 740M has a 45 W TDP, no power connectors, and no suggested PSU, making it suitable for battery-powered devices.

Q: Which GPU has ray tracing support?

A: The Radeon 740M has 4 ray tracing cores. The Instinct MI300 does not list any ray tracing cores, and its N/A API support indicates no DirectX Raytracing capability.

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database contains no direct head-to-head benchmark comparisons between the AMD Instinct MI300 and the AMD Radeon 740M. The headToHeadBenchmarks array is empty for both products. This absence of shared tests means all comparisons rely on the separately recorded specifications and the 740M's benchmark scores.

The Radeon 740M's recorded performance shows an OpenCL score of 10,172 and a Vulkan score of 15,568. Its average benchmark score is 12,870, placing it at the 53rd percentile of all GPUs. The nearest rivals in the database provide context: the AMD FirePro W5100 scores 12,847, which is 0.2% lower; the AMD Radeon Pro 455 scores 12,831, 0.3% lower; the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590 scores 12,830, 0.3% lower; and the AMD Radeon RX 580 scores 12,928, 0.4% higher. These margins are all within half a percent, indicating the 740M sits in a dense performance cluster.

The Instinct MI300 has no average benchmark score and no nearest rivals, reflecting its absence from consumer benchmark suites. Its percentile of 50 versus the 740M's 53 shows that despite having no recorded scores, the database's percentile calculation places it near the middle of all GPUs, likely due to its position in the product hierarchy rather than measured performance.

The largest wins in either direction come from specifications rather than benchmark results. In compute throughput, the MI300's 47.87 TFLOPS FP32 is 16.7 times the 740M's 2.867 TFLOPS. In memory bandwidth, the MI300's 5.32 TB/s versus the 740M's system dependent bandwidth represents an enormous gap. In texture rate, the MI300 delivers 1,496.0 GTexel/s against the 740M's 44.80 GTexel/s, a 33.4x difference. The MI300 also has 55 times more shading units (14,080 versus 256) and 55 times more TMUs (880 versus 16).

The 740M counters with a higher boost clock at 2800 MHz versus the MI300's 1700 MHz, and a smaller process node at 4 nm versus 5 nm. The 740M's transistor density of 152.6M per mm² slightly exceeds the MI300's 150.4M per mm², showing that the smaller chip packs transistors more tightly. The 740M also has a working pixel pipeline with 22.40 GPixel/s, while the MI300 has zero pixel throughput.

For graphics API support, the 740M offers modern feature sets across all three major APIs, while the MI300 offers none. The 740M supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, which includes ray tracing and mesh shaders, and its 4 dedicated RT cores enable hardware-accelerated ray tracing. The MI300's API list is entirely N/A, confirming it cannot run graphics workloads. The 740M also has a production status of Active, ensuring ongoing availability, while the MI300 has no production status recorded.