AMD Radeon 610M vs NVIDIA GeForce MX230 Comparison

The Verdict

The benchmark data splits these two mobile GPUs into a clear primary recommendation and a narrow secondary one. The NVIDIA GeForce MX230 wins both recorded head-to-head tests: it leads by 26.5% in Geekbench OpenCL (5739 vs 4535) and by 1% in Geekbench Vulkan (6414 vs 6353). Its average benchmark score is 6077, putting it at the 35th percentile of all GPUs, while the AMD Radeon 610M averages 5444 at the 32nd percentile.

Pick the MX230 for any workload that leans on raw compute throughput or general GPU acceleration. Its OpenCL margin is decisive, and even in Vulkan it holds a measurable edge. The MX230 also offers double the shading units (256 vs 128), double the TMUs (16 vs 8), and four times the ROPs (16 vs 4), which explains its higher pixel rate (24.50 GPixel/s vs 7.60 GPixel/s) and texture rate (24.50 GTexel/s vs 15.20 GTexel/s). For older games or OpenCL-based applications, this is the stronger part.

Pick the Radeon 610M only if you specifically need its newer feature set. It supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) versus the MX230's DirectX 12 (12_1), which matters for games or apps that require mesh shaders or other DX12 Ultimate features. It also includes 2 ray tracing cores, something the MX230 lacks entirely. However, those features come with a real performance cost: the 610M trails by 26.5% in OpenCL and sits 633 points lower in average score. The 610M's FP16 output is 972.8 GFLOPS (2:1 ratio) versus the MX230's 12.25 GFLOPS (1:64), so the AMD part is vastly better at half-precision compute, but the MX230 wins FP32 (783.9 GFLOPS vs 486.4 GFLOPS). If your software uses FP16 heavily, the 610M is the only rational choice; otherwise, the MX230's overall performance advantage dominates.

Neither card is a gaming powerhouse. Their percentiles (35th and 32nd) put them near the bottom of the database, so expect entry-level 720p or low-settings 1080p gaming at best. The MX230 is the safer default for most users; the 610M is a niche pick for DX12 Ultimate or FP16 workloads.

Architecture Differences

The two GPUs come from different design philosophies and process nodes. The MX230 uses NVIDIA's GP108 chip on the Pascal architecture, built on a 14 nm process at Samsung. It packs 1,800 million transistors into a 74 mm² die, giving a transistor density of 24.3M per mm². The 610M uses AMD's Mendocino chip on RDNA 2.0, built on a 6 nm process at TSMC, with a 100 mm² die size (transistor count not recorded). The smaller node gives AMD a manufacturing advantage, but the larger die and lower transistor density (not recorded) suggest a less dense design.

The MX230 has 256 shading units, 16 TMUs, and 16 ROPs. The 610M has 128 shading units, 8 TMUs, and only 4 ROPs. The MX230's ROP count is four times higher, which directly explains its massive pixel rate advantage (24.50 GPixel/s vs 7.60 GPixel/s). The MX230 also leads in texture rate (24.50 GTexel/s vs 15.20 GTexel/s) thanks to double the TMUs.

Memory design differs fundamentally. The MX230 has dedicated 2 GB GDDR5 on a 64-bit bus, yielding 48.06 GB/s bandwidth. The 610M uses system shared memory with system-dependent bandwidth, meaning its performance scales with the laptop's main memory speed and configuration. For consistent performance, dedicated VRAM is preferable; for flexibility, shared memory can access more capacity if the system has ample RAM.

Compute feature sets diverge sharply. The MX230 offers FP32 at 783.9 GFLOPS but FP16 at only 12.25 GFLOPS (a 1:64 ratio, meaning it's heavily optimized for single-precision). The 610M offers FP32 at 486.4 GFLOPS but FP16 at 972.8 GFLOPS (a 2:1 ratio, meaning it's twice as fast at half-precision). The 610M also includes 2 ray tracing cores, which the MX230 lacks entirely. API support differs: the 610M hits DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) while the MX230 stops at DirectX 12 (12_1); both support OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4.

Power and interface specs also differ. The MX230 draws 10 W TDP, the 610M draws 15 W. Both are IGP (integrated graphics processor) slot designs with no power connectors. The MX230 uses PCIe 3.0 x4; the 610M uses PCIe 4.0 x8, giving the AMD part twice the interface lanes on a newer standard, though the MX230's dedicated VRAM compensates for its narrower bus.

FAQ

Q: Which GPU is faster in OpenCL?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce MX230 wins Geekbench OpenCL by 26.5%, scoring 5739 versus the AMD Radeon 610M's 4535.

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

A: Yes, the 610M includes 2 ray tracing cores. The NVIDIA MX230 has no ray tracing cores.

Q: Which card has more VRAM?

A: The MX230 has 2 GB of dedicated GDDR5 memory. The 610M uses system shared memory, so its capacity depends on the host system's RAM.

Q: What is the DirectX feature level difference?

A: The 610M supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), while the MX230 supports DirectX 12 (12_1). The 610M's newer feature level enables DX12 Ultimate features like mesh shaders.

Q: Which GPU is more power efficient?

A: The MX230 has a 10 W TDP, while the 610M has a 15 W TDP. The MX230 draws less power.

Q: How close is the Vulkan performance?

A: The MX230 leads by 1% in Geekbench Vulkan, scoring 6414 versus 6353. This is effectively a tie.

Specification Differences

| Specification | NVIDIA GeForce MX230 | AMD Radeon 610M |

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

| Architecture | Pascal | RDNA 2.0 |

| Process Node | 14 nm | 6 nm |

| Foundry | Samsung | TSMC |

| Die Size | 74 mm² | 100 mm² |

| Transistors | 1,800 million | Not recorded |

| Base Clock | 1519 MHz | 1500 MHz |

| Boost Clock | 1531 MHz | 1900 MHz |

| Memory | 2 GB GDDR5 | System Shared |

| Memory Bus | 64 bit | System Shared |

| Memory Bandwidth | 48.06 GB/s | System Dependent |

| Shading Units | 256 | 128 |

| TMUs | 16 | 8 |

| ROPs | 16 | 4 |

| Ray Tracing Cores | 0 | 2 |

| Pixel Rate | 24.50 GPixel/s | 7.600 GPixel/s |

| Texture Rate | 24.50 GTexel/s | 15.20 GTexel/s |

| FP32 | 783.9 GFLOPS | 486.4 GFLOPS |

| FP16 | 12.25 GFLOPS (1:64) | 972.8 GFLOPS (2:1) |

| TDP | 10 W | 15 W |

| Bus Interface | PCIe 3.0 x4 | PCIe 4.0 x8 |

| DirectX | 12 (12_1) | 12 Ultimate (12_2) |

| Release Date | 2019-02-20 | 2022-09-19 |

| Production Status | End-of-life | End-of-life |

Head-to-Head Benchmarks

The database records two direct comparisons. The first, Geekbench OpenCL, is a landslide. The MX230 scores 5739 against the 610M's 4535, a 26.5% advantage. This maps directly to the MX230's superior hardware: double the shading units, double the TMUs, quadruple the ROPs, and dedicated GDDR5 memory with 48.06 GB/s bandwidth versus system-shared memory. OpenCL workloads that stress raw compute or texture throughput will clearly favor NVIDIA.

The second test, Geekbench Vulkan, is nearly a dead heat. The MX230 scores 6414, the 610M scores 6353, a mere 1% difference. Vulkan's lower-level API appears to normalize some of the hardware differences, letting the 610M's RDNA 2.0 architecture and PCIe 4.0 x8 interface close most of the gap. The 610M's 1900 MHz boost clock (vs 1531 MHz on the MX230) also helps compensate for its fewer cores.

Across both tests, the MX230 wins 2 and the 610M wins 0. The average benchmark scores reflect this: 6077 for the MX230 versus 5444 for the 610M. In the database's percentile ranking, the MX230 sits at the 35th percentile of all GPUs, the 610M at the 32nd. The MX230's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA RTX A400 (6078, 0% delta), the Intel Iris Pro Graphics 6200 (6117, -0.7%), and the AMD Radeon 760M (6019, 1%). The 610M's nearest rivals are the NVIDIA Quadro M4000 (5467, -0.4%), the AMD Radeon R7 M440 (5483, -0.7%), and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 765M (5501, -1%). These peer groups confirm that both parts occupy the low-to-mid tier of mobile graphics, with the MX230 holding a slight edge.

Where Each One Wins

The MX230 wins in any scenario that depends on raw graphics throughput, OpenCL compute, or dedicated memory bandwidth. Its 24.50 GPixel/s pixel rate is over three times the 610M's 7.60 GPixel/s, so rasterization-heavy tasks like older games, 2D acceleration, or pixel-shader workloads will run markedly better. Its 48.06 GB/s dedicated GDDR5 bandwidth avoids the system-memory bottleneck that affects the 610M, making it the better choice for texture-heavy applications or OpenCL compute jobs. The 10 W TDP also makes it more suitable for thin-and-light laptops where thermals and battery life are priorities.

The 610M wins in specific modern-use cases. Its DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) support means it can run games or applications that require DX12 Ultimate features, which the MX230 cannot. Its 2 ray tracing cores enable basic ray-traced effects, though with only 486.4 GFLOPS of FP32 performance, expect very low settings. The 610M's FP16 output (972.8 GFLOPS at 2:1 ratio) is a massive 80x advantage over the MX230's 12.25 GFLOPS (1:64 ratio), so any workload that leverages half-precision compute, such as certain AI inference or image processing tasks, will be dramatically faster on the AMD part. The 610M's PCIe 4.0 x8 interface also gives it twice the bus width of the MX230's PCIe 3.0 x4, which helps when accessing system memory.

In practical terms: choose the MX230 for general-purpose GPU acceleration, older game libraries, or OpenCL-based productivity tools. Choose the 610M only if you specifically need DX12 Ultimate features, ray tracing support, or FP16 compute throughput. For everything else, the MX230's 26.5% OpenCL lead and 1% Vulkan lead make it the default recommendation from the recorded data.