AMD Instinct MI300 vs AMD Radeon 860M Comparison

Where Each One Wins

The AMD Instinct MI300 and the AMD Radeon 860M occupy opposite ends of the AMD portfolio, and the recorded data shows they are built for entirely different workloads. The Instinct MI300, with its 47.87 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 5.32 TB/s of memory bandwidth, is a data center accelerator designed for massive parallel compute tasks. The Radeon 860M, delivering 3.072 TFLOPS FP32, is an integrated graphics processor for mobile devices, focused on efficiency and everyday rendering.

In terms of raw compute throughput, the MI300 dominates decisively. Its 47.87 TFLOPS FP32 figure is over 15 times the 3.072 TFLOPS of the 860M. The texture rate tells a similar story: 1,496.0 GTexel/s versus 96.00 GTexel/s. However, the 860M has one clear advantage in the specs: it has 8 ray tracing cores and supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, while the MI300 reports no graphics API support, no display outputs, and zero pixel rate. The MI300 is not a graphics card in the traditional sense; it is a compute accelerator with no rasterization pipeline.

Benchmark data exists only for the 860M, which has an average benchmark score of 26,401 across Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan tests. Its percentile versus all GPUs sits at 72, placing it above the majority of recorded devices. The MI300 has no benchmark entries in the database, so its percentile of 50 is a neutral placeholder rather than a measured result. The head-to-head benchmark array is empty, meaning no direct comparative tests have been recorded for these two products.

The use-case split is stark. The MI300 wins in any scenario requiring massive memory capacity (128 GB HBM3) or extreme bandwidth (5.32 TB/s). The 860M wins in scenarios requiring low power (15 W TDP), portability, and modern graphics feature support. The MI300 consumes 600 W and requires a 1000 W suggested PSU, while the 860M needs no power connectors and is an IGP.

Architecture Differences

The two chips share a manufacturer but diverge fundamentally in architecture. The MI300 uses CDNA 3.0, AMD's compute-optimized design, built on TSMC's 5 nm process. The 860M uses RDNA 3.5, the graphics-optimized design, fabricated on TSMC's 4 nm process. The MI300's chip is codenamed "Aqua Vanjaram," while the 860M uses "Krackan Point."

Transistor counts reveal the scale difference. The MI300 packs 153,000 million transistors on a 1017 mm² die, yielding a density of 150.4 million transistors per square millimeter. The 860M's transistor count and die size are listed as unknown, but its 15 W TDP class indicates a much smaller implementation.

The MI300 has 14,080 shading units, 880 texture mapping units, and zero ROPs, consistent with its compute-first orientation. The 860M has 512 shading units, 32 TMUs, and 16 ROPs, a conventional graphics configuration. The MI300 reports no ray tracing cores, while the 860M has 8.

Memory architecture could not be more different. The MI300 uses 128 GB of HBM3 on an 8192-bit bus, achieving 5.32 TB/s of bandwidth. The 860M uses system shared memory, with type, bus width, and bandwidth all described as system dependent. The MI300's memory clock is 1300 MHz (5.2 Gbps effective), while the 860M's memory clock is simply "System Shared."

Clock speeds also differ substantially. The MI300 has a base clock of 1000 MHz and a boost of 1700 MHz. The 860M has a base of 600 MHz and a boost of 3000 MHz, a much higher boost ceiling that reflects its thermally efficient 4 nm process. The 860M's boost clock is 76% higher than the MI300's, despite the massive compute gap.

The MI300 uses a PCIe 5.0 x16 interface, while the 860M uses PCIe 4.0 x8. The MI300 requires 2x 8-pin power connectors and a 1000 W suggested PSU, while the 860M has no power connectors and no suggested PSU. The MI300 has no display outputs, while the 860M's outputs are portable device dependent.

FAQ

Q: Which chip has higher FP32 compute performance?

A: The Instinct MI300 delivers 47.87 TFLOPS FP32, while the Radeon 860M delivers 3.072 TFLOPS. The MI300 is approximately 15.6 times faster in this metric.

Q: Does the MI300 support ray tracing?

A: No. The MI300 lists no ray tracing cores and reports no graphics API support (DirectX, OpenGL, and Vulkan are all N/A). The 860M has 8 ray tracing cores and supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

Q: What memory does each product use?

A: The MI300 has 128 GB of HBM3 on an 8192-bit bus with 5.32 TB/s bandwidth. The 860M uses system shared memory, with bandwidth described as system dependent.

Q: What is the TDP difference?

A: The MI300 has a 600 W TDP and requires 2x 8-pin power connectors with a 1000 W suggested PSU. The 860M has a 15 W TDP and uses no power connectors.

Q: Which product has benchmark scores in the database?

A: Only the 860M has recorded benchmarks: 22,759 in Geekbench OpenCL and 30,043 in Geekbench Vulkan, for an average of 26,401. The MI300 has no benchmark entries.

Q: How does the 860M compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The 860M's average score of 26,401 is 0.1% below the NVIDIA GeForce MX550 (26,421), 0.3% above the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 (26,331), 0.6% below the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT 50th Anniversary (26,553), and 1.1% below the NVIDIA RTX A4000 (26,683).

Specification Differences

| Specification | AMD Instinct MI300 | AMD Radeon 860M |

|---|---|---|

| Chip | Aqua Vanjaram | Krackan Point |

| Architecture | CDNA 3.0 | RDNA 3.5 |

| Generation | Instinct (MIx) | Navi III IGP (Strix Point Mobile) |

| Process Node | 5 nm | 4 nm |

| Transistors | 153,000 million | Unknown |

| Die Size | 1017 mm² | Unknown |

| Base Clock | 1000 MHz | 600 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1700 MHz | 3000 MHz |

| Memory Clock | 1300 MHz 5.2 Gbps effective | System Shared |

| Memory Size | 128 GB | System Shared |

| Memory Type | HBM3 | System Shared |

| Memory Bus Width | 8192 bit | System Shared |

| Memory Bandwidth | 5.32 TB/s | System Dependent |

| Shading Units | 14,080 | 512 |

| TMUs | 880 | 32 |

| ROPs | 0 | 16 |

| Ray Tracing Cores | None | 8 |

| Pixel Rate | 0 MPixel/s | 48.00 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 1,496.0 GTexel/s | 96.00 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 47.87 TFLOPS | 3.072 TFLOPS |

| FP16 | 47.87 TFLOPS (1:1) | 3.072 TFLOPS (1:1) |

| TDP | 600 W | 15 W |

| Slot Width | Not specified | IGP |

| Power Connectors | 2x 8-pin | None |

| Suggested PSU | 1000 W | None |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 5.0 x16 | PCIe 4.0 x8 |

| Display Outputs | No outputs | Portable Device Dependent |

| DirectX | N/A | 12 Ultimate (12_2) |

| OpenGL | N/A | 4.6 |

| Vulkan | N/A | 1.4 |

| Release Date | 2023-01-03 | 2025-02-28 |

| Production Status | Not specified | Active |

| Predecessor | Radeon Instinct | Navi II IGP |

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The head-to-head benchmark array in the database is empty, so no direct comparative test scores exist between the MI300 and the 860M. However, the specification data allows for meaningful comparisons across compute metrics.

The most significant gap is in FP32 throughput. The MI300's 47.87 TFLOPS is 15.6 times the 860M's 3.072 TFLOPS. In texture processing, the MI300's 1,496.0 GTexel/s is 15.6 times the 860M's 96.00 GTexel/s. These ratios are identical because both products achieve 1:1 FP16 to FP32 ratios and have similar architectural efficiency per shading unit, but the MI300 has 27.5 times more shading units (14,080 versus 512).

Memory bandwidth presents the largest single-metric disparity. The MI300's 5.32 TB/s is not directly comparable to the 860M's system dependent bandwidth, but the 8192-bit bus versus system shared memory shows an order-of-magnitude difference in memory subsystem capability. The MI300's 128 GB capacity is fixed and dedicated, while the 860M relies on shared system memory.

The 860M wins in pixel throughput, delivering 48.00 GPixel/s, while the MI300 reports 0 MPixel/s. This reflects the MI300's lack of ROPs and its compute-only design. The 860M also wins in clock speed, with a 3000 MHz boost versus 1700 MHz, and in ray tracing, with 8 dedicated cores to the MI300's none.

In the 860M's recorded benchmarks, it shows a 32% advantage in Vulkan (30,043) over OpenCL (22,759), indicating stronger graphics API optimization. Its average score of 26,401 places it at the 72nd percentile of all GPUs. Against its nearest rivals, the 860M is effectively tied with the MX550 (-0.1%), RTX 5060 (+0.3%), and RX 5700 XT 50th Anniversary (-0.6%), while trailing the RTX A4000 by 1.1%.

The MI300's percentile of 50 with zero benchmark scores and no nearest rivals means it cannot be ranked meaningfully in this database. The data indicates it is a specialized accelerator whose performance profile is measured in TFLOPS and TB/s, not in graphics benchmarks.