AMD Radeon 610M vs NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 Comparison

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The single recorded head-to-head benchmark in the database is Geekbench OpenCL, and it shows a clear, if modest, win for the NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450. The GTS 450 scores 4893 points, while the AMD Radeon 610M scores 4535 points. This translates to a 7.3% advantage for the older NVIDIA card. The delta is meaningful but not a landslide; in the context of the database, a 7.3% lead is enough to separate the two in raw compute performance.

The AMD Radeon 610M has an average benchmark score of 5444 across all recorded tests, which includes both its OpenCL score and its Vulkan score. The NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 has an average benchmark score of 4893, based solely on the one OpenCL result. This means that when looking at the full suite of recorded tests, the AMD part actually holds a higher average, driven largely by its Vulkan result of 6353 points. The OpenCL score for the AMD part is notably weaker than its Vulkan score, which is an important distinction for application-specific performance.

Looking at the head-to-head OpenCL result, the GTS 450 wins the only direct comparison where both parts have matching test data. However, the average benchmark score across all tests favors the Radeon 610M. The data suggests a split: the NVIDIA card is ahead in the older, more compute-oriented OpenCL API, while the AMD card shows much stronger performance in the Vulkan API, which is a more modern graphics and compute interface.

Where Each One Wins

The NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 wins in the field of legacy compute workloads, specifically OpenCL. Its score of 4893 in that test outpaces the Radeon 610M's 4535 by 358 points. This is relevant for any application that relies on OpenCL for acceleration, which includes some older professional software, certain video encoding tools, and specific scientific compute tasks.

The AMD Radeon 610M takes the win in modern API performance. Its Vulkan score of 6353 is far above the GTS 450's OpenCL score, and while there is no direct Vulkan score for the GTS 450, the Radeon's average score of 5444 indicates it is the stronger overall performer across its benchmark suite. The Radeon also has the advantage of a higher percentile ranking: it sits at the 32nd percentile against all GPUs, while the GTS 450 sits at the 28th percentile. This means that the Radeon 610M is more capable of handling modern graphics workloads that leverage Vulkan, which is increasingly common in newer games and applications.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs are separated by over a decade of architectural evolution. The AMD Radeon 610M is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture, using TSMC's 6 nm process node. It is an integrated graphics processor (IGP) with the chip codenamed Mendocino, and it is part of the Navi II IGP generation. The GTS 450 is based on the Fermi architecture, the GeForce 400 generation, and uses a 40 nm process node at TSMC. The 40 nm process is significantly older and less efficient than the 6 nm process.

The die sizes reflect this difference. The AMD chip has a die size of 100 mm², while the NVIDIA chip has a die size of 238 mm². The GTS 450 has 1,170 million transistors on that larger die, resulting in a transistor density of 4.9M / mm². The Radeon 610M does not have a listed transistor count or density, but its smaller die on a much more advanced process is expected to be far more power-efficient.

The memory subsystems are completely different. The Radeon 610M uses system shared memory, with a system-dependent bandwidth and a shared bus width. The GTS 450 has 1024 MB of dedicated GDDR5 memory, a 128-bit bus width, and 57.73 GB/s of bandwidth. This means the NVIDIA card has dedicated high-speed memory, while the AMD card shares system RAM.

In terms of compute resources, the Radeon 610M has 128 shading units, 8 texture mapping units, and 4 ROPs. It also has 2 ray tracing cores. The GTS 450 has more shading units at 192, 32 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. The GTS 450 has no ray tracing cores. The Radeon's texture rate is 15.20 GTexel/s, and its pixel rate is 7.600 GPixel/s. The GTS 450 has a higher texture rate of 25.06 GTexel/s, but a lower pixel rate of 6.264 GPixel/s.

The API support also differs. The Radeon 610M supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the GTS 450 only supports DirectX 12 (11_0). The Radeon supports Vulkan 1.4, while the GTS 450 has no Vulkan support listed. Both support OpenGL 4.6. The bus interface is PCIe 4.0 x8 for the Radeon, versus PCIe 2.0 x16 for the GTS 450.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU has a higher average benchmark score?

A: The AMD Radeon 610M has a higher average benchmark score of 5444 points, compared to the NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450's 4893 points.

Q: In the head-to-head OpenCL benchmark, which card wins?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 wins the Geekbench OpenCL test with a score of 4893, which is 7.3% higher than the AMD Radeon 610M's score of 4535.

Q: Does the AMD Radeon 610M support ray tracing?

A: Yes, the AMD Radeon 610M has 2 ray tracing cores, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 has no ray tracing cores listed.

Q: What are the memory configurations?

A: The AMD Radeon 610M uses system shared memory, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 has 1GB of dedicated GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus with 57.73 GB/s of bandwidth.

Q: Which GPU is positioned higher in the performance percentile?

A: The AMD Radeon 610M is at the 32nd percentile against all GPUs, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 is at the 28th percentile.

Q: Is there a difference in DirectX support?

A: The AMD Radeon 610M supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), whereas the NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 supports DirectX 12 (11_0).

Specification Differences

The two cards differ in nearly every specification category.

The process node is one of the most significant differences: the AMD Radeon 610M is on a 6 nm process, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 is on a 40 nm process. The die size is 100 mm² for the AMD and 238 mm² for the NVIDIA. The GTS 450 has a listed transistor count of 1,170 million and a density of 4.9M / mm², while the Radeon 610M has no numbers for these fields.

The memory subsystem is also completely different. The Radeon 610M uses System Shared memory with a System Dependent bandwidth. The GTS 450 has 1024 MB of GDDR5 memory, a 128-bit bus, and a fixed bandwidth of 57.73 GB/s.

The clock speeds are not directly comparable. The Radeon 610M has a base clock of 1500 MHz and a boost clock of 1900 MHz. The GTS 450 has no base or boost clock listed, but has a memory clock of 902 MHz (3.6 Gbps effective).

Shader resources vary: the Radeon 610M has 128 shading units, 8 TMUs, and 4 ROPs, while the GTS 450 has 192 shading units, 32 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. The Radeon has 2 RT cores, the GTS 450 has none.

Performance rates differ: the AMD has a pixel rate of 7.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 15.2 GTexel/s. The NVIDIA has a pixel rate of 6.264 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 25.06 GTexel/s.

Power consumption is drastically different. The AMD Radeon 610M has a TDP of 15 W and is an IGP with no power connectors. The NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 has a TDP of 106 W, requires a dual-slot cooling solution, a 1x 6-pin power connector, and a suggested PSU of 300 W.

The bus interface is PCIe 4.0 x8 for the AMD and PCIe 2.0 x16 for the NVIDIA. Display outputs are portable device dependent for the AMD, while the GTS 450 offers 2x DVI and 1x mini-HDMI 1.3a.

API support also differs. The AMD supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The NVIDIA supports DirectX 12 (11_0), OpenGL 4.6, but no Vulkan.

The physical dimensions are listed for the GTS 450: 210 mm (8.3 inches) long and 111 mm (4.4 inches) high. The AMD IGP has no listed dimensions. The release dates are also very different: the AMD was released in September 2022, the NVIDIA in September 2010.

The Verdict

The AMD Radeon 610M is the better overall choice for modern workloads. Its average benchmark score of 5444 is higher than the GTS 450's 4893. It is in the 32nd percentile, which is above the GTS 450's 28th percentile. The Radeon's support for DirectX 12 Ultimate and Vulkan 1.4 makes it a more forward-looking solution, and its 2 ray tracing cores give it capabilities the NVIDIA card does not have. The low TDP of 15 W means it is an integrated solution, making it suitable for thin and light laptops.

The NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 is the better choice for a very specific scenario: an application that is heavily optimized for OpenCL and does not use Vulkan. In that singular benchmark, the GTS 450 is 7.3% faster than the Radeon 610M. It also has dedicated memory, which can be an advantage in certain tasks that do not benefit from shared memory. However, its older Fermi architecture and lack of modern API support make it a poor choice for any new workload.

The data shows a clear generational split. The GTS 450 has higher raw shader counts and TMUs, but its 40 nm process and older architecture limit its relevance. The Radeon 610M, despite being an integrated part, wins the overall average score and the modern API support. The verdict is simple: choose the AMD Radeon 610M for any general-purpose or modern graphics work, and choose the NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 only if you are specifically locked into an OpenCL-based application that is benchmarked. The GTS 450's launch MSRP was 129 USD.